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Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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A street performer on the Royal Mile, with volunteer (2004).

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is often called the Edinburgh Fringe and sometimes just the Fringe. It is one of the arts festivals collectively termed the Edinburgh Festival. It takes place annually in the city of Edinburgh during August. It was originally set up to complement the Edinburgh International Festival but now dwarfs it. The Edinburgh Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival.[1]

Introduction

The Fringe is focused almost exclusively on the performing arts, particularly theatre and comedy. Fringe material can be anything from Shakespeare to modern works; however the nature of the fringe encourages experimental works. At first there was a lot of animosity between the fringe and the official festival, however now this has almost entirely disappeared.

Typical Fringe Scene

The Festival Fringe Society administers the fringe. They publish the programme, sell tickets and offer advice to performers. The office is located on the Royal Mile.

History

The Fringe started when eight theatre companies turned up uninvited to the first year of the Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. They aimed to take advantage of the large theatre crowds and showcase their own, more alternative, theatre. It initially got most of its support from University of Edinburgh students who set up drop-in centres and a central booking service.

In 1958 the Fringe became more organised with the Fringe Festival Society producing up the first guide to all Fringe shows. A constitution was drawn up in which the policy of not vetting or censoring shows was set out. In 1959, 19 companies attended the Fringe. In following years there were problems as competition increased and the Fringe became too big for students and volunteers to deal with. In 1969 the Fringe Society became a limited company and in 1971 it employed its first administrator.

Between 1976 and 1981 the number of companies performing rose from 182 to 494. In 1988 the Society moved to its current headquarters on the Royal Mile. Since then the society has increased the amount of technology used by introducing computerised ticketing and in 2000 the Fringe became the first arts organisation in the world to sell tickets online in real time. In 2005, over 1,335,000 were sold for Fringe performances and the Fringe Society now plans years in advance.

Much of the history of the Fringe has become obscure in popular terms but there is general agreement that the artistic credentials of the Fringe were established by the creators of the Traverse Theatre, John Calder, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. Their work in presenting cutting edge drama to an international audience in the impressive setting of the city's Royal Mile set a standard to which other companies aspired[citation needed].

Fringe legacy

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival has spawned many fringe festivals around the world. These include festivals in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and many around the rest of the world.

The Fringe also has a legacy in the comedians and actors, and groups that have been ‘discovered’ at the fringe these include, but by no means limited to:

The Fringe Today

In 2005 the fringe sold 1,335,000 tickets and was the 3rd year in a row that they sold over 1 million tickets. The website states there was "26,995 performances of 1800 shows in 247 venues, and hosted 16,190 performers". It was the largest festival on record. The 2005 festival was also the first year that the Metro Half Price Ticket Tent was used, offering special ticket prices for different shows each day, it sold over 45,000 tickets.

Today the Fringe exists over many different venues but can be sampled by visiting the Royal Mile around St. Giles Cathedral. This historic and busy area is pedestrianised during the Fringe period and becomes the focal point where members of production casts hand out flyers, attempt to sell tickets for their show.

Link titleThe first fringe was set up in order to commemorate the great Lucis Grolsh who created the well publisced Beer that we drink today. Of all the features of the Fringe the most enchating has to be of the little Bullet yard where one can discover the array of little dogs pooping

High profile shows

In recent years, high profile plays have been performed at the Assembly Rooms on George Street using stand up comedians. 12 Angry Men was produced in 2003, directed by Guy Masterson, starring Bill Bailey and Stephen Frost.

A year later, Masterson directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but quit the project before it opened [2], and was replaced by Terry Johnson. The problems continued when Christian Slater twice contracted chicken pox, and the opening was further delayed. However, tickets for the run sold out before opening. The production subsequently transferred to the Gielgud Theatre in the West End.

In 2005, Masterson's production of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, starring Bill Bailey and Alan Davies, became the fastest selling show in the festival's history [3] despite poor reviews.

Some feel that the fringe is not the place for these high profile shows but should be reserved for more experimental and independent theatre.

Criticism

In recent years the festival is attracting criticism for its growing commercial emphasis [4] and corporate sponsorship: Orange caused concern when they pulled out of the sponsorship deal with the Assembly Rooms after only one year [5].

There are also concerns about high ticket prices, which were once on average £3 but now average around £10-15.

Venues

The Fringe comprised 247 individual venues in 2005. The largest and most popular of these comprise:

The festival is renowned for staging shows in unusual venues; 2003's festival featured shows staged in a public toilet, a red Ford Escort, a lift and a stepladder [6]. In 2006, one new venue, the E4 UdderBELLY, will take the form of a giant upside-down purple cow [7]

See also

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