Alberta’s theatre community is grieving after the passing of Brian Paisley, the world-renowned founder of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival.
Paisley’s partner, Ti Hallas, announced his passing at 7:46 p.m. on Saturday in a Facebook post, saying he “peacefully let go” after spending 42 days battling severe pneumonia in a hospital in Puerto Escondido, Mexico.
“He rallied, he fought,” Hallas said in the post. “He ‘did not go gentle into that good night.’”
Hallas gave thanks to the friends, family, and well-wishers who offered both emotional and financial support during Paisley’s battle. She said the funds allowed Paisley to stay in a private hospital and afford daily palliative care.
“You sent prayers and encouragement and messages and donations. It didn’t save him, but it helped him have a dignified and gentle death,” Hallas wrote. “We had video calls with him and sent audio messages every day. His children got to see him and spend time with him and say goodbye.
“Brian knew the extent of what his friends and family tried to do for him.”
He made “Fringe” a verb
Paisley’s unfortunate passing comes just over a month before the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival hits a milestone 45th anniversary on Aug. 13.
Over the last 45 years, Paisley helped take the word “Fringe” from a noun to a verb to an indelible part of theatre all across the globe, inspiring Fringe theatre festivals in Australia, the Netherlands, and in American cities like New York and Indianapolis.
Paisley took a bold step in 1982 by taking concepts from the famous Edinburgh Fringe and giving them a platform in the Canadian Prairies.
In a 2011 interview with Postmedia celebrating the Edmonton Fringe’s 30th anniversary, Paisley noted that someone else would have done it if he hadn’t gotten there first.
“I do think that something of that ilk would have happened, inevitably,” Paisley said. “There were too many (theatre) people around, with not much going on in the summer. Something like the Fringe had to emerge. Inevitably.”
That first year, Paisley had 45 theatre groups eager to participate, with 7,500 theatre goers ready to see 200 live performances across five theatres.
“The audience was so much larger than I expected,” Paisley said. “And the bigger surprise is they’re still there. It amazes me. You throw a party, and 30 years later, it’s still going on. They just won’t go home.”
The 2026 Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival runs Aug. 13 – 23.
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