Frolicking at the Fringe

This past week and in the coming days it is all about the Fringe. And I don’t mean the tassel trim on the edge of your curtains. I’m talking about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world. It was first established in 1947 and is called the Fringe because it happened on the outskirts of the Edinburgh International Festival. It was meant to be an alternative or an addition to the International Festival; an opportunity for more artists to present their works outside of the International Festival but tapping into the same prospective audiences. It has grown into such a phenomenon that many people hear about the Fringe before they learn anything about the International Festival. Performers come from all corners of the globe to present their goods at the Fringe. Audiences from around the world also flock to the city of Edinburgh to enjoy these offerings. The festival lasts through most of the month of August and during this time the city is absolutely mobbed with visitors partaking in the Fringe. If you ever want to come make sure you book your accommodation early! It is impossible to find an Edinburgh hotel with any vacancies in this time of year.

As part of our course we have been given tickets to see a smattering of shows and forums during the festival. As there are over 2,000 shows available for viewing at the Fringe there is obviously a variety of styles and varying levels of quality. So far we have seen everything from excellent to can-I-have-those-two- hours-of-my-life-back-please. It is to be expected, with so many you are going to get the good, the bad and the ugly. And one person’s nap time is another person’s inspiration. That’s life upon the wicked stage.

Tomorrow we present our own contribution. A reading of a new play called “Smoke” by a new writer called Little Fierce. Yes. There you have it. It is very… avant-garde. I can’t really explain it. It is not a traditional script. It is very, different. I play a cat among other parts. We shall see. I have a 9:30am call tomorrow for this project so I’ll leave you now but not without a few photos.

Enjoy!
-m

Fringe website:
http://www.edfringe.com/



The first “show” we saw was at The Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. It was an audio recording of a play we listened to as we walked around the gardens on a specific route mapped out for us. It was a lovely day for a stroll around the gardens. The play was “Susurrus” by David Leddy.


This is a cat that was wandering about the Botanic Garden. I studied him in the name of character development for my part in the reading “Smoke”.


Our reading will be here at the Mock Turtle on Monday morning.

Rehearsal at the Mock Turtle for the reading: Matt looks clueless, Tony and Eric discuss what’s about to happen.

The Royal Mile slammed with people here for the festival.

Street performers on the Royal Mile.

More street performers.