“The largest arts festival in the world” today launched its largest programme yet. In spite of the economic downturn, the 64th Edinburgh Festival Fringe is bringing a total of 2,453 shows, 17% more than last year, to the Scottish capital.
The 2010 Fringe, officially taking place between 6th-30th August, is such an enormous beast that the day of press launches started at 10am with the launch of the official Fringe programme in the Edinburgh International Conference Centre and continued throughout the day with media events around town.
An angular, red-haired model in a floaty, pink dress helped photographers conjure up images as she posed with the brochure in Princes Street Gardens, under a small tree with distinctive, cardboard cut-outs, taken from the brochure design, dangling from its branches. The black-and-white Fringe brochure cover features a collage of objects - such as a whale, a monkey, a microphone - which were submitted by members of the public to the Fringe via Twitter and then illustrated by artist Johanna Basford.
In The Traverse, always a focal point for Fringe theatre, a spread of china crockery and tea cakes came out for the launch of this year’s punkish, retro-styled Traverse brochure. There was even a touch of unexpected drama when the event was interrupted by a fire alarm and everyone had to briefly evacuate the building.
The “Big Four” venues – Pleasance, Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Underbelly – moved into the dark, rarefied space of the latest, late-night Fringe venue, the Ghillie Dhu bar, in the West End, to launch their tabloid-sized brochure specifically for the venues in the evening.
Seen anything good?
As ever, this morning’s launch of the Fringe brochure by Fringe Chief Executive Kath Mainland sounded like a shopping list of names.
First impression, is there's now pictures: colour thumbnail images for each show. The descriptive text and listing info is necessarily small, no doubt for portability.
Flicking through the brochure's 344 pages, from Aberglas in the Kids Section to Zambezi Express at the back in the Theatre section, the breadth and sheer number of shows is almost overwhelming: from a performance called “en route”, by a Melbourne group, for an audience of four, that starts at The Traverse and takes place through the streets of Edinburgh, to the Chinese State Circus, relocated to Ocean Terminal in Leith; from a new version of the musical Five Guys Named Moe written by, and starring, Clarke Peters, who many will know as Lester in Baltimore-set TV cop series The Wire, to an adaption of a children’s book by former US President Jimmy Carter, Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer (Church Hill Theatre).
“Edinburgh in August will be bursting with the most talented artists from every area of the arts world. Nowhere else can you see such a variety of world class talent and range of shows that are guaranteed to engage, enthral, excite and delight,” said Mainland.
Mainland attributes the continuing growth of the Fringe to a greater perception among companies and impresarios that the Fringe carries a great benefit “for their careers, for their souls”. It remains a great place to discover the next big thing, with many household names having cut their teeth in Edinburgh.
Among familiar names scattered through the programme are Fringe veteran Simon Callow who returns with a new play entitled Shakespeare the Man from Stratford (Assembly Hall), Alan Cumming performing songs from his debut album I Bought a Blue Car Today (Assembly), and punk poet John Cooper Clarke reciting at Udderbelly’s Pasture.
This year comedy accounts for 35% of the Fringe programme. Popular Fringe comedians returning this year include Jason Byrne, Paul Merton, Brendan Burns, Arthur Smith, Fred MacAuly, David O’Doherty, Emo Philips, Phil Kay, Idiots of Ants, Adam Hills, Fascinating Aida, Sean Hughes, Jimeoin… the list goes on.
From Stateside comes actress Jennifer Coolidge in Yours for the Night at the Assembly Rooms and former daytime talkshow host Caroline Rhea at Gilded Balloon in her self-titled show.
Comedians are also playing kid-friendly shows, for example Phil Kay’s: Gimme Your Left Shoe in Pleasance Courtyard’s Ciao! Children’s Ark, an eco-energy-powered home to kids’ events, workshops and shows.
At the other end of the spectrum, Fringe collaborations include South Africa working with Scotland in The Girl in the Yellow Dress (Traverse), a co-production between Glasgow’s Citizen’s Theatre and Johannesburg’s Market Theatre. Broadway Asia International works with China’s Huairou Management in Reel-to-Real: The Movies Musical (Pleasance).
Russian company Nochty are working with RSAMD on The Lonesome Foxtrot (New Town Theatre) and the Beyond Borders Productions Ltd brings England and Georgia together, working with Rustaveli Theatre, Tbilisi on Do We Look Like Refugees? (Assembly).
Abi Titmus will be starring in a 25th anniversary performance of John Godber’s rugby league comedy Up ‘n’ Under. Britain’s Got Talent dance hit act Flawless are at Underbelly, Ray Bradbury’s gothic sci-fi musical 2116 airs at C Venues, and people will be getting down to silent disco in the McEwan Hall (Underbelly).
Music stretches from Bach at Canongate Kirk to Dizzee Rascal returning with The Edge festival (more on music in Euan’s music preview next week).
Literary adaptations take in classics by the likes of Dickins, Shakespeare, Orwell, Burgess, Anne Frank, and Checkov.
For those with stamina, cabaret, comedy and clubbing continues at late night/early morning venues such as Gilded Balloon Teviot, Ghillie Dhu, and the Bongo Club until 5am.
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Fringe Stats
- Fringe 2010 features 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows in 259 venues
- Fringe 2009 featured 34,265 performances of 2,098 shows in 265 venues
- Fringe 2008 featured 31,320 performances of 2,088 shows in 247 venues
- Fringe 2007 featured 31,000 performances of 2,050 shows in 250 venues
- Comedy makes up 35% of the programme as it did last year, followed closely by Theatre with 29% (up 1% from last year). Music is next with 16% and then Musicals & Opera with 5%, both the same as last year. Dance & Physical Theatre is down 0.5% at 4.5%. Events are up by 0.5% to 4.5% while Children’s shows continue to make up 4% of the programme and Exhibitions make up the final 2% of the programme.
- An estimated 21,148 performers will take to the stage in Fringe 2010, compared to 18,901 in 2009 and 18,792 performers in 2008.
- 558 shows at Fringe 2010 are absolutely free, compared to 465 last year.
- The Fringe has a 75% market share of all attendance at Edinburgh’s year-round festivals and annually generates around £75 million for the Edinburgh and Scottish economy.