Edinburgh festival: Forest Fringe

Forest Fringe is a not-for-profit venture run in an old church hall Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

There are performance spaces upstairs where a 15-day programme of intriguing work is running Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

Resident company Paper Cinema melds puppetry, cinema and hand drawn animation Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

Audiences pay only what they can; then the venue and performers split the proceeds Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

'To survive you have to be imaginative,' says Deborah Pearson, a playwright and one of the Forest Fringe organisers Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

The venue runs a small organic cafe downstairs Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

And there's also the Hair & Vodka Salon Snip and Sip Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

It's run by Magda Jednorowicz, who encourages you to have a shot with your trim Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

Co-curator Andy Field acknowledges that there's a 'lo-fi aesthetic' here Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

But, he adds, it's about creating a supportive space where artists can collaborate. This is Tinned Fingers performing a piece called By Breakfast It Will Be Dry Enough For Tennis Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

The company Action Hero are putting on a production called Watch Me Fall Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

The performers are Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

Andy Field says that he and Pearson want to see a bunch of impromptu, artist-led venues spring up around Edinburgh Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk

We want others to look at Forest Fringe, says Field, and realise 'If they can do it, we can do it too.' Photograph: Beth Elliott/guardian.co.uk