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2002,
a Faith Odyssey
...or How I Survived the Edinburgh Fringe and Learned to Love Redbull
(Editor's Note: With
the deadline to apply for this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival approaching April 24, we asked
Dance Insider contributor Faith Pilger to recount her experiences
as a performer at last year's off-festival.)
By Faith Pilger
Copyright 2003 Faith Pilger
EDINBURGH -- The following
is an insider view of Scotland's fabulous off-festival: What it
is like to perform and a bit of friendly advice to my fellow producers.
I have created brief chapters, including:
*Festival City, an insider
introduction
*Busking and Beyond,
the art of self-promotion
*Hot Venues, where you
will want to perform
*Living (and dying)
by the Scotsman, press/publicity/awards
Please browse the sections
in or out of order. Keep in mind that this is a subjective piece.
Still I hope to preserve accuracy where possible and I am open to
corrections and opinions.
Festival City
Edinburgh (pronounced "Edinburuh"), Scotland in August is a whirlwind
of festivals and events. Simultaneously and overlapping are the
International, the Fringe, Film, Book and Jazz Festivals, with literally
thousands of shows and hundreds of performance spaces. The Fringe
venues range from theaters and circus tents to converted garages,
hotel rooms, churches and labyrinthian chambers in the famous Edinburgh
vaults to numerous free street performances (check out the awesome
Aussies who put on the very best circus/sideshows on High Street!).
You can simply be entertained by walking up and down the Royal Mile,
drinking free samples of iced tea or gin, watching the endless array
of fully costumed performers vying for your attention in the most
creative ways -- busking (street performing) or simply passing out
flyers for their shows. You may even partake in vendors' wares (including
hand crafts, hair wraps and, yes, massages!) on your way up to the
castle perched on top of the hill, overlooking the Princes Street
Gardens and the entire city. Sound like heaven? Now...imagine it's
raining.
Edinburgh, like all
UK cities, is typically gray and drizzly (if not fully wet and cold)
but in August it is blessed with some sunshine and truly those days
are like Eden -- seemingly perfect! Even though you must expect
(and prepare for) rain, you must not let it hinder your outdoor
adventures. Scottish citizens make up a surprisingly large percentage
of the audience at this international festival and are not at all
phased by rain. They will be out on the street in droves, trudging
through muddy parks and attending to rigorous schedules. And, though
some performers will "take the day off" from busking when it rains,
others will not, and there are only so many days one can avoid the
crowds and not choose to be immersed in the shameless art of self-promotion
necessary for survival at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Busking and Beyond
Upon arrival at Waverly Station (I flew in to Manchester and took
a pleasant four-hour train ride up to Edinburgh, highly recommended
if you are on a shoestring budget), the first place I was told to
find was the Fringe green room. I trudged through the crowds of
Princes Street and across South Bridge, hopelessly in search of
a taxi just as the opening festival parade was coming to a close.
An hour later I arrived at my flat, a musty yet cute little place
with a miniature bathtub more reminiscent of Eastern Europe than
the UK. I dropped my bags, walked across the enchantingly green
Holyrood Park (think "Lord of the Rings") and up the steep incline
of the Royal Mile/High St/Castle Hill which begins at one castle
-- the Palace of Holyrood House, where the queen stays on visits
-- and ends at another, Edinburgh Castle. Sound confusing? Don't
worry, it is.
Edinburgh has the most
intriguing architectural history and landscape, beginning with its
having been built on top of the "crag and tail" of an extinct volcano.
This accounts for the steepness of the "wynds and closes," some
of the oldest recognized tenement housing in the world and the much-discussed
"underground city." (If this stuff interests you, I suggest J. Henderson's
"The Town Below the Ground" for easy but very interesting reading
about Edinburgh's architectural history.)
Tucked away down Writer's
Close, just off the Royal Mile, I discovered the green room. A haven
for festival artists, this cluster of offices provides room to relax
and change in and out of costume before/after busking as well as
every other practical service imaginable. This is where I received
all the information about where and when to perform on Fringe Sunday,
a marathon of performances on outdoor stages in the Meadows. (Free
publicity, folks!) It is also the place where I was advised about
busking on High Street. Our company was given a small 8'/12/index.html' stage
and ten dates and times to perform. There were three stages and
numerous other assigned pieces of "street" that became stages for
performers to present 15-20 minute street shows daily.
Later on, the green
room became a place where our company often met to relax and, I
must admit, it became my FAVORITE place in all of Edinburgh during
the more frustrating days of lugging costumes, props and boombox
around the treacherously steep cobblestone roads. The "Red Bull
Recharge Room" provided a refrigerator full of FREE Redbull (yes,
they got me hooked on that poison!) and comfortable space on rugs,
pillows and couches; friendly staff, groovy music and copies of
all newspapers to be scoured for today's reviews, tomorrow's previews
and any other news.... (Two young girls were missing for weeks and
eventually found dead; one of the children's teachers and her boyfriend
were accused of the kidnapping and murder. And people wonder why
I want to escape from reality!)
Other invaluable services
provided by the green room: the lowest charge for computer/Internet
use in the city (same as Easy Internet, one pound for one hour),
the best prices for copying, printing, fax, phone and free advice
regarding the festival itself and personal issues. A wandering masseuse
offered services for low rates, while bulletin boards provided means
to communicate between performers regarding services, opportunities,
volunteer needs and availability. (Some people do actually come
to the festival and just volunteer so that they can get involved
and see the shows for free!)
Though I didn't take
enough advantage of this, the green room also provided press info,
advice on reaching the media and many free and low cost workshops
and events, mostly regarding help for self-producers and artists
on how to succeed at the Fringe.
Hot Venues
If you want to perform at the festival, you should start by picking
the right venue for your show and for you personally. Go to the
Fringe web site and browse the many categories. Most
of your initial questions will be answered. Ideally, you should
do this at least a year before you plan on attending the festival,
even though you can sign up for the festival as late as the spring.
Many of the venues will have their own web sites, including many
details and even photos of the theatre, inside and out.
There are many venues
and they are very different from one another. Some offer more of
a hodgepodge of unrelated companies and shows, while others are
much more selective in their programming. This can be more important
than you think. Large venues (Like "C" venue) host so many companies
that individuals often feel lost/forgotten and wonder how much publicity
or promotion they are really getting from their presenters. Pick
your venue based on the fee you can afford (dependent on size of
space/number of seats). Also look for location. The closer to the
Old Town hub or any main street, the better.
Get to know your venue
manager. Find out what he or she has to offer. This can range from
the basics -- i.e., you can simply rent the space and take care
of the advertising, etcetera -- to more sophisticated systems like
the cooperative arrangement at Aurora Nova. I found that I was drawn
to venues which seemed more "focused and attentive," smaller and,
I know it sounds superficial, but I was very impressed by some of
the venue programs/booklets which were user-friendly and aesthetically
appealing. Based on this criteria, and my interest primarily in
dance/physical theatre/cabaret, I can say with confidence that the
most interesting/best venues for dance at the Fringe are, in order:
Aurora Nova, The Garage (the venue I was presented by in 2002),
The Bongo Club, Dance Base and The Underbelly.
Aurora Nova: Run by
Wolfgang Hoffmann and Tim Hawkins, as well as all of its performers
collectively, Aurora Nova is a rare and beautiful venue. Amidst
a plethora of money-grubbing, disorganized and careless presenters,
this venue (only in its second year) takes a great deal of care
in the production quality of its shows and the "quality of life"
of it's performers. Even its sponsor, Cafe Direct, is a coffee company
that considers the social and economic environment with a refreshingly
high level of awareness. I had a great conversation with Mr. Hoffmann
after one of the shows and found him to be warm, friendly and without
pretension. He had that presence that one recognizes in a person
who is doing exactly what he should be doing, and doing it well.
I am not the only one who thinks this venue is top notch. In 2001,
Aurora Nova won numerous awards as a venue and for the shows it
presented, and again in 2002. The dance performances were all held
in the majestic St. Stephen's Church, which boasts an indoor and
outdoor cafe. Its visual theatre works were performed down the street
at a smaller studio theatre, equally professional and well run.
The Garage: Run by Shakti, an unusual artist in her
own right, The Garage began years ago at Avignon and now presents
shows in numerous festivals internationally. We performed in the
best of Shakti's four performance spaces, the Garage Chapiteau,
a white tent located in the beautiful Princes Street Gardens. Her
other spaces include the Garage Theatre, The Studio and the Citrus
Club. The Chapiteau has the largest stage and is the most accessible.
What it lacks in some practical areas (dressing rooms, bathrooms,
heat), it makes up for in charm (a circus tent in the park next
to a carousel and an open-air cafe... how much more romantic can
you get!) You just have to laugh and remember that you are at the
Fringe when you find yourself running up a hill to a public bathroom
for your pre-performance pee. We had our share of frustrations with
the venue and manager, though it's difficult still to tell which
were based on our own inexperience and which were simple negligence.
However, I can still recommend this as one of the best venues available
for dancers at a festival which mostly caters to theatre, comedy
and music.
The Bongo Club: This was one of my truly favorite venues,
although I believe it will not return this year unless it's in a
different location. In any case, its nightly cabaret turned out
to be a fantastic variety show featuring tidbits from groups performing
full shows at the venue. It also included Edinburgh locals who were
not performing in the festival, other artists from the UK and (proving
the venue's truly high cool factor) it even featured performers
who were presenting shows at other venues. The space was part club,
part performance space, and part gallery, with a full bar and nightly
dance parties (until 4 a.m.) with DJs and live bands. The stage
is not large, but the environment is excellent, accessible and ideal
for a small company or solo work. In the gallery was exhibited work
by a graffiti artist, "Elph" -- the only interesting looking exhibition
in the entire Fringe, which is infamous for its failure to represent
truly diverse and cutting-edge visual artwork. The Bongo Club throws
the best end-festival party of any venue and draws the grooviest
audience!
Dance Base: Though I was not able to see any shows at
this venue, I can recommend this space because I saw it and it is
beautiful, clean and state-of-the-art and because it is the venue
which presented workshops for those performers/choreographers interested
in teaching. I think that, for dancers this is an ideal environment
for presenting more studio-oriented, education based or conceptual
work with a free or low cost workshop to help draw the crowds.
Lastly, The Underbelly: This is one of the most unique and fascinating
spaces. Located just off of High St. with entrances on Victoria
and Cowgate, this venue presents four floors, five spaces, three
bars and over 60 shows. The performance spaces are connected by
an endlessly spiraling stone staircase that leads down...down...down
into the "underbelly" of Edinburgh nightlife. The Cowgate area is
notoriously seedy, surrounded by nightclubs, dark alleys and the
unrested spirits of the Underground City. If you don't perform at
this venue, at least stop in for a drink or a show. The spaces are
raw, industrial and perfect for pyrotechnics.
Living (and dying) by
The Scotsman
In a world where, as artists, we are encouraged to seek but not
expect media attention, it is very interesting to find oneself in
an environment that caters entirely to the press -- in fact, relies
almost exclusively on press to advertise and compete for one audience.
What I am getting at is this: As a producer at the Fringe you must,
first, list your show in all publications possible (The Fringe program,
your venue program and The List weekly magazine -- none of these
are free listings); second, focus, especially during week one of
the festival, on getting flyers and posters out there and seen;
and, third, and most important of all, you must get press!
You must write a strong
press release and send it out early to all press contacts/publications
(The Scotsman, The List, The Guardian, The Herald, The Metro, The
Times, The Mirror, The Sun, The Daily Record, The Express and the
Edinburgh Evening News). These contacts will be made available to
you through the Fringe staff and/or your venue manager. Television
and radio are not particularly active in the Fringe, but if you
have any contacts there, by all means, use them!
One day, while busking
the mile, I approached a man with a TV camera and, as it turned
out, he was recording live 15 second promos from performers for
a local station (Channel 3). I was appropriately costumed and painted,
and my show would still be running after the date which on the promos
would air (very late in the festival, August 23) and so I was recorded
(in just 15 takes...I'm a real pro!). This was my only personal
interaction with TV, though there where quite a few making sporadic
appearances on High Street. To be honest, it was often difficult
to separate the media from the tourists, whose electronic toys get
fancier every year. I do know that hundreds of people have returned
home from their Scottish vacations, developed their film and found
lovely pictures of me, as the sexy/scary/radical clown.
More advice: Use your
creativity to think of ways to entice people on the streets. Get
to the festival early. Keep your preview ticket prices low. Offer
specials. Get your flyers up and your press out early. The festival
runs for three weeks (last year it was August 4-26). The first week
is press week. It's all about publicity. This is when the press
will be most likely to see your show. If you can't afford to perform
all three weeks (a very common situation at the Fringe) then I don't
recommend skipping the first week. This is what we tried with our
show, and it was very difficult to get press. We opened during the
second week, just in time for rave reviews to be coming out for
shows that had been running for a week and were in full swing. This
is very challenging. Unless your company has performed at the festival
before and developed a following, or is recognized internationally,
I highly recommend running during weeks one and two or all three
weeks.
Word of mouth is also
very important, but is hopelessly tied to the press at the Fringe.
They say that seven people have to recommend your show before the
average Fringegoer will have the confidence to get a ticket. On
the other hand, there are some amazing, maverick audience members
who really do take the risk and see the unknown and the unreviewed.
You may be reviewed
on your first night (after one 1 1/2 hour tech/dress rehearsal)...which
leads me to my next important point. DO NOT BRING A SHOW TO THE
FRINGE THAT HAS NOT BEEN PERFORMED ALREADY, WELL-REHEARSED AND/OR
TESTED ON SOME KIND OF AUDIENCE!!!
Don't be fooled by the
name "Fringe." Some of the shows at the festival have been touring
internationally for months, some performed the same exact show the
previous year to rave reviews and some are ensembles that have been
together for over a decade. These are some of the best shows you
will ever see, and they are your competition.
Awards: There are a
few awards presented at the Festival Fringe and, if you receive
one, it WILL make a big difference in your ticket sales this year
and next. "Fringe Firsts" are announced each week on Thursday in
The Scotsman. The Perrier Comedy Awards host a ceremony towards
the end of the festival. The Bongo Club venue actively discourages
support of the Perrier Awards, sponsored by a Nestle product (click here to find out why) and promotes its own much
more casual/"fringe" version called the Tap Water Awards. And The
Herald offers "Angel and Archangel Awards" to shows and venues respectively.
The folks who decide on these awards are press, not public, so keep
in mind that they are seeing many, many shows. If your show starts
late (not uncommon) they may have to leave before it is over in
order to make their next engagement.
See Faith Pilger tomorrow and Saturday night in "The Fu-Tour,"
performing at the new Theater of the Arts loft-space in Tribeca,
48 Lispenard between Broadway and Church. Doors open at 7:30 for
preshow entertainment and complimentary transformative liquids.
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