I’m sure that many of you have been to the Edinburgh Fringe, but for those who are not familiar with the festival, let me quickly paint a picture.
The biggest landmark of the festival is the Royal Mile. It’s crowded, loud, and buzzing. Most acts flock to the mile to advertise their show. Some perform on the temporary stages, while others make do with the street, striking a pose on the floor or parading up and down chanting. Passers by are constantly hounded by eager performers forcing a flyer into their hands, accompanied with generic lines like “it’s a sell out”, “four star sketch comedy” or “don’t miss out”.
Once you’ve escaped the mania of the Mile, you are safe to make your way to your chosen show, without being hounded. From puppetry to physical theatre, jazz to burlesque, improvisation to circus, there is something for everyone. Some shows will be amazing, while others will leave you cold, wishing you hadn’t wasted your money or precious time. But the decision making and risk taking is all part of the fun.The evening will be spent having a few drinks in the Underbelly pasture, Assembly gardens or Gilded Balloon, followed by a club night and maybe even a stereotypical climb up Arthur’s Seat in time for sunrise. The day has been busy, but with a good lie in you’ll be ready to hit Edinburgh just as hard the following day.
Edit this account from a performer’s perspective and you’ll find the experience is equally as great, but twice as hectic.
The crowded, loud and buzzing Royal Mile may initially seem great, but it soon loses its charm. The same songs and promotional slogans from certain companies begin to ware and the constant noise does not aid your alcohol-induced headache from the night before. Worst of all, instead of being pestered, you are the pesterer! Busking and handing out flyers becomes a staple of the Edinburgh routine. You try to maintain an enthusiastic smile despite feeling crippled by fatigue and knowing full well that you’re hated by most of the general public. Then there’s the ‘Battle of the Stages’, where performer politics begin to kick in. To the blissfully ignorant audience, the performers on the stages seamlessly rotate every twenty minutes. Beneath the surface, however, companies fight it out to get a highly coveted slot. Despite attempts to keep on good terms with other groups, the heated discussions and tension behind the scenes are rife. Whilst Fringe visitors usually come to see a wide variety of shows, broadening their theatrical knowledge and musical tastes, you perform the same show day in day out and forcing a smile soon becomes second nature.
Eventually it’s time to clock off from thinking about the show for the day. It is your turn to embrace the Fringe and enjoy. Then you try to cram in as many shows as possible, go to as many buzzing bars and climb all of those big Edinburgh hills. A week into your run, however, and you begin to realise your initial over enthusiastic adopted motto of “work hard, play hard,” was slightly too ambitious. Nevertheless, you will make the most of the Fringe, even if it kills you!
You might fall asleep watching a show, only manage one pint at the Spiegeltent and pathetically clamber up the Crags (Arthur’s Seat being far too much of feat for a performer who has to be back on the mile by 10am) but you’ve made it. Notwithstanding your early mornings, monotonous shows, and many moans, you’ve experienced the festival to the full, even if you are almost dead by the end of the run!
