It's not too early to start thinking about the 2012 Ottawa Fringe Festival, is it? Next year's Fringe could feature international productions from Australia and the United States—as well as Canadian productions from B.C., Quebec, and southern Ontario—after the festival announced the winners of its annual lottery earlier this week.

Local theatre reviewer Andrew Snowdon was on-hand when the 36 lucky production companies were announced Tuesday at Patty Boland's. He told us over email a bit about the philosophy behind the lottery system:

Getting into the Fringe is, quite literally, luck of the draw. That's what keeps the Fringe model fair; everyone has a pretty much equal chance of getting one of a limited number of spots. Although we may expect familiar names to crop up year after year, the pool of groups applying to the lottery is ever-expanding. You're just as likely to see a name you've never heard of as one that's been around for ages.

Some of the local companies returning for a second straight year include the Ottawa School of Speech and Drama Senior Acting Company, May Can Theatre, and Garkin Productions, says Snowdon. A fourth company, Dead Unicorn Ink, recently restaged "Playing Dead," its zombie-puppet play from last year's festival, at Arts Court.

As for the 35 troupes that ended up on the waiting list, Snowdon says they can either "accept their lot" or send in a "Bring Your Own Venue" application in January. Next year will be the 16th edition of the Ottawa Fringe.

Image via the Ottawa Fringe Festival