RECORD AUDIENCES AND DIVERSE RANGE OF AWARD WINNING SHOWS MARK GREAT YEAR FOR FRINGE
The 63rd annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe came to
an end yesterday (Monday) having broken all previous records by selling
1,859,235 tickets - a 21% increase on last year's figure and 9% more
than the previous record set in 2007.
Marking the end of this year's Fringe Kath M Mainland, Chief Executive of the Fringe Society said:
"As this year's Fringe draws to a close we can
look back on a month of exceptional ticket sales and one of the best
festivals in my twenty years in and around Edinburgh.
"Even in tough economic conditions festivals
chime with people in a way few other events manage to. Over the last
three and a half weeks I have seen some amazing work, sometimes
perfectly trivial and enormously entertaining, sometimes incredibly
challenging and often hugely moving. I have been blown away by the
creative energy, artistic vision and drive of the people taking part,
from performers and directors, to venue producers and promoters. There
are many reasons why you would chose to bring a show to the Fringe, but
this year it seems as though the process of making art is as important
as ever."
The growth of poetry, the spoken word, puppetry
and a plethora of one-person shows were amongst some of the most
striking facets of this year's programme.
On the awards front poetry-writing Tim Key, picked up this year's Edinburgh Comedy Award for his show The Slutcracker. Meanwhile Ireland's Little Gem written by Elaine Murphy and directed by Paul Meade will be heading to New York having won the Carol Tambor Award and Heroin(e) for Breakfast from The Underbelly will be performed in Australia having won the coveted Holden Street Theatre Award.
Birmingham University's Ophelia Drowning won immediate acclaim for the production's astounding visuals. Site-specific work ranged Mark Watson's Fringe First winning The Hotel and Internal, (Ontroerend Goed and Richard Jordan Productions) to The Bitter Belief of Cotrone The Magician which took place on Inchcolm Island in the Firth of Forth.
Universal Arts, The Arches at St Stephens, The
Invisible Dot and Fuel Productions all won acclaim for their Fringe
venues and programming, with accolades including Scotsman Fringe Firsts and Herald Angels.
The Fringe's 2,098 shows included for the first time Made in Scotland,
a collection of 14 shows helped in part by the Scottish Government's
Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund. Four of the shows picked up Herald Angels, and two received Scotsman Fringe Firsts, alongside five nominations at The Stage Awards and the Total Theatre Awards.
The British Council's biennial showcase at the
Fringe presented an exciting and eclectic programme of work, supporting
34 shows in total and picking up many awards and five star reviews
along the way.
The final Fringe related awards of the season were presented by the International Festival yesterday (Monday) to Lilly Through The Dark (The River People), The Inspector Sands Theatre Company and acclaimed Scottish playwright David Leddy.
- 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 made up 35% of the programme followed closely by Theatre with 28%. Music was next with 16%, Musicals & Opera are tied with Dance & Physical Theatre with 5% each. Children's shows and Event listings were also tied and account for 4% each, Exhibitions made up the final 3%.
- An estimated 18,901 performers took to the stage at the Fringe in 2009, compared to 18,792 performers in 2008 and 18,626 performers in 2007.
- 465 shows at Fringe 2009 were absolutely free, compared to 350 last year.
· Performers registered shows originating in 60 different countries from Albania to Zimbabwe
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