WHY THE FRINGE?
I mean, it's a venal graveyard of art, slowly being destroyed by the cheap roll-call of bad comics and atrocious critics who are just trying to get attention...
Wendy Peace (Listen! The River): This is going to sound very corny, but when I was growing up in Canada my dad, who was my guide to all things artistic (I mean this was the man who took me to my first Kabuki Theatre when I was 7) told me about the Edinburgh Fringe. He'd never been, but he loved theater and the whole idea of all these artistic people coming together seemed absolutely amazing to him. That started, for me, an on going fascination and respect for what the Fringe is and has been for the past 66 years. Aside from my personal dream of coming to the Fringe, it seemed the perfect place for Listen! The River because of the Festival's openness toward new works and ideas that may seem less than traditional, or at least be presented less traditionally. Our play has a talking cat and a one-eyed dog. No one I have dealt with, from Charles Pamment our venue manager to any of the Fringe staff to the woman I'm renting my flat from has once made me feel that I have to explain or justify that. A festival where you can present anything from Shakespeare to politically relevant to socially provocative works to comedy and cabaret is truly rare and wonderful. I'm very excited to see other people's work. I'm coming up a week early to fit in as much as I can.
Eleanor Appleton (Rosie Thorn: The Patsy Cornish Saga): This is the second year in a row that I have come with a ‘Rosie’ show and although I found last year incredibly challenging in many ways I also found it incredibly beneficial. There are so many networking opportunities and you get a great deal of feedback on your show which helps with future development. Also through the contacts that I have built up over the last year and the response that I received from last year I have managed to secure my venue at Surgeon’s Hall for free and have also been offered a slot on the Funny Women stage.
Alexa Kelly (A Man for All Times WEB Du Bois): is the story about and African-American civil rights hero. A man, who his entire life fought for “A fair piece of the pie” for all people. Much like what Occupy stands for today! W.E.B. Du Bois demanded education for all, equal rights, and, most poignantly today: "The right to choose motherhood at her own discretion". The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the greatest festival in the world with the greatest opportunity of visibility for a story about one of the most important, influential yet sadly neglected men in the history of civil rights movement, and we want to carry his story into the world at large.
As one of the atrocious critics trying to get attention, I feel the least I can do is recommend my own book, The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide, which addresses this question and many others. More details at: http://www.edinburghfringesurvivalguide.com
ReplyDeleteI would like to add that Mr Fisher does not come under the category of "atrocious critic." He is both a lovely person and an insightful writer: although I hope that the second edition of his Fringe Survival Guide does come with Don't Panic in large letters on the cover, I do recommend keeping one eye on his social media to see the events that have been arranged around the book.
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