The Edinburgh fringe is one of the greatest opportunities to see theatre on the planet, with well over 3,000 shows this year. It is also a giant trade fair for the theatre industry. Companies go seeking reviews, increased profile, networking opportunities, future touring prospects and, of course, audiences – you can’t walk more than 10 paces in Edinburgh in August without someone handing you a flyer for their show. The benefits of being at the fringe can be huge, but it’s also easy to get lost in the melee and find the whole thing a costly and utterly demoralising experience.
For some, in three weeks’ time, Edinburgh 2015 will look like this:
Your show is a hit! You’ve won a series of coveted awards, you’re dripping in five-star reviews and the rest of the run is sold out. Flyering is a distant memory. Venues are falling over themselves to meet you to discuss programming your show throughout the following year, and everyone wants to know what you’re going to make next and how they can help. One of the prizes you have won is flying the show to New York – fully funded, apparently! You are the toast of the town and your excellent financial planning means that you can look forward to a few thousand pounds in profit once the final settlements come in.
You’re tired (so many awards parties) but feeling pretty elated by what’s been a career-defining three weeks.
For others, it will look like this:
You peek out from the wings and through your tears you can see that, despite flyering in the rain for four hours this morning, there are only five people in the 200-seater auditorium. Two of them are members of your family. You have no reviews. Oh, except that one on a student blog that was really very rude and went on about how unbearably hot it was in the venue. Despite a lot of desperate and undignified networking, you haven’t been able to persuade a single programmer to see the show – touring now seems unlikely. In a way, that’s OK because you now hate the show and all your fellow performers – in fact, you aren’t speaking to each other. Then again you really have to tour, because your business model (deeply flawed, you now realise) completely relies on 12 weeks of spring touring for you to pay back the £5,000 advance you paid the venue using your personal credit card and some money you borrowed from your nan to fund what you hoped would be a career-defining three weeks.
You’re tired (in fact, you’re utterly exhausted), but the show must go on and you have 55 minutes to make your mum and dad proud …
So, if it’s your first time in Edinburgh, what can you do to increase the likelihood of success?
- Limited tech. In most Edinburgh venues you will have very limited tech time, very tight turnarounds (10 minutes between shows is common) and will be working with a festival lighting and sound rig. Think carefully about this before you go and adapt your show now, rather than in that one-hour tech when pressure can be acute. If it’s already too late for this year, learn for next year.
- Flyering. Alex Kelly of Third Angel once said to me that the worst thing about flyering in Edinburgh is that it works! No matter how dispiriting you find it, if you stop doing it you will find your audiences drop. Target audiences attending shows you think are similar to yours, and places where you think your audiences will congregate. Queues are a good place to talk to people about your show – they are literally stood there with nothing to do for five minutes. As (good) reviews come in, make sure you photocopy them and staple them to your flyers – get your stars working for you. Social media is useful but it’s not going to reach as many people you don’t know as flyering will reach.
- Network. The fringe provides a great opportunity to reach out to audiences for your work as well as press and industry. See lots of other shows and talk to lots of people you don’t know. Fringe Central runs a whole load of events that are excellent networking opportunities across the festival – check out the programme and sign up for the ones that you think might be useful.
- Share the risk. Share all the risks equitably across all those involved and get something in writing about what you will do if things go well and what you’ll do if they go less well. You are all best friends now, but you might not be in three weeks time, so sort it. Now.
- Look ahead. If things don’t go so well, instead of sinking into apathy start thinking about next year and getting the right kind of venue, of the right size and in the right place. It’s crucial to success. Forty people (not bad for Edinburgh) will feel very different in an 80-seat auditorium than it does in a 200-seat auditorium – and the advance will be considerably more manageable. Spend time this year checking out venues and spaces for next year. And always plan ahead: it can save you money with your fringe registration, venue, accommodation and travel.
- Timing. The time of day that you perform can have also have a big impact. Comedy tends to dominate in the evenings and family shows do well in early-morning slots. On the face of it, 2pm to 5.30pm is the ideal slot for drama, but of course this is also when competition for audiences is strongest – don’t be afraid of looking at those noon or midnight slots.
Edinburgh can be a brilliant experience if you go in with your eyes wide open. The Edinburgh Fringe Society runs a series of roadshow events through the year, and your first port of call should be their website.
See you up there, and most importantly of all … enjoy yourself!
