Edinburgh: Doin' The Fringe
If you are going to be in Edinburgh during August, one of the things you must experience is The Fringe.
After an almost 3 week home exchange in Edinburgh in August 1998, AlteCocker made every mistake in the book. To prevent you from wasting time and/or seeing a lot of drecht, YentaKvetch herein offers her advice.
AlteCocker saw over 30 performances on The Fringe as part of her August 1998 stay in Edinburgh.
There are many "venues" where performances are taking place. The Fringe program is overwhelming. You need to be as certain as you can be that you are not seeing junk. While there are no guarantees, anyone taking Edinburgh seriously in August should buy the local newspaper, The Scotsman, everyday. Many performances are not reviewed and unfortunately for the performers, one lives and dies by The Scotsman review. If you don't get reviewed at all, that is sort of a death sentence, but, with limited time, you don't want to waste your time with amateur hour. There is really nothing else that competes with The Scotsman. While you may disagree with the reviewer's opinion after seeing the performance, more often than not the review was on target. The Scotsman reviews most performances at major venues.
There are 4 major venues at The Fringe.
1. The Observer Assembly rooms.
This is the big venue. If you get in there, you know you are going to have ticket sales. There was an article in The Scotsman in 1998 by one of their writers on how he saw 8 performances in one day by seeing performances exclusively at this venue. AlteCocker's personal best, however, was 6 performances on one day and she did that only once. Don't forget to build in a dinner break and leave time to get from venue to venue if you are moving about. Edinburgh can be quite exhausting (lots of climbing up and down), if you move around a lot.
Theatrical performances and other things are mostly during the day. At night there is lots of comedy.
2. Pleasance
Theater is mostly during the daytime with comedy at night.
3. Calder's Gilded Balloon
Mostly comedy whatever the time of day.
4. Traverse Theatre
Exclusively drama.
Again, do not move around too much. Group your choices around one area. The next day move on to another area. All you can do is sample from the menu. You cannot do it all. It does get expensive after awhile. After 5-7 days you will have seen enough.
In addition to reviewing the performances The Scotsman gives Fringe First awards for outstanding new work. AlteCocker was fortunate to see 3 out of 5 of those that one awards while she was there--mostly by luck.
If you want to go to The Tattoo or events at the Edinburgh International Festival, book ahead.
You do not need to book ahead for The Fringe, although after getting to Edinburgh and reading the reviews you may want to book some things a day or two ahead.
If you are not in the know about UK society, avoid much of the comedy. You won't get the jokes if you are an American. If you are dealing with a north of England accent, you may not understand a word of it. Also, try and see some Scottish events to absorb some of the local atmosphere.
The Fringe is a fantastic experience. AlteCocker liked it so much that she returned on a home exchanege in August 2000? Yup.
AlteCocker has not returned to do The Fringe since 2000, but she'd never say "no" to a home exchange in Edinburgh in August--and the food ain't half bad either. Lots of lamb, fish, sticky toffee pudding, and, my personal favorite, banoffee pie.
After an almost 3 week home exchange in Edinburgh in August 1998, AlteCocker made every mistake in the book. To prevent you from wasting time and/or seeing a lot of drecht, YentaKvetch herein offers her advice.
AlteCocker saw over 30 performances on The Fringe as part of her August 1998 stay in Edinburgh.
There are many "venues" where performances are taking place. The Fringe program is overwhelming. You need to be as certain as you can be that you are not seeing junk. While there are no guarantees, anyone taking Edinburgh seriously in August should buy the local newspaper, The Scotsman, everyday. Many performances are not reviewed and unfortunately for the performers, one lives and dies by The Scotsman review. If you don't get reviewed at all, that is sort of a death sentence, but, with limited time, you don't want to waste your time with amateur hour. There is really nothing else that competes with The Scotsman. While you may disagree with the reviewer's opinion after seeing the performance, more often than not the review was on target. The Scotsman reviews most performances at major venues.
There are 4 major venues at The Fringe.
1. The Observer Assembly rooms.
This is the big venue. If you get in there, you know you are going to have ticket sales. There was an article in The Scotsman in 1998 by one of their writers on how he saw 8 performances in one day by seeing performances exclusively at this venue. AlteCocker's personal best, however, was 6 performances on one day and she did that only once. Don't forget to build in a dinner break and leave time to get from venue to venue if you are moving about. Edinburgh can be quite exhausting (lots of climbing up and down), if you move around a lot.
Theatrical performances and other things are mostly during the day. At night there is lots of comedy.
2. Pleasance
Theater is mostly during the daytime with comedy at night.
3. Calder's Gilded Balloon
Mostly comedy whatever the time of day.
4. Traverse Theatre
Exclusively drama.
Again, do not move around too much. Group your choices around one area. The next day move on to another area. All you can do is sample from the menu. You cannot do it all. It does get expensive after awhile. After 5-7 days you will have seen enough.
In addition to reviewing the performances The Scotsman gives Fringe First awards for outstanding new work. AlteCocker was fortunate to see 3 out of 5 of those that one awards while she was there--mostly by luck.
If you want to go to The Tattoo or events at the Edinburgh International Festival, book ahead.
You do not need to book ahead for The Fringe, although after getting to Edinburgh and reading the reviews you may want to book some things a day or two ahead.
If you are not in the know about UK society, avoid much of the comedy. You won't get the jokes if you are an American. If you are dealing with a north of England accent, you may not understand a word of it. Also, try and see some Scottish events to absorb some of the local atmosphere.
The Fringe is a fantastic experience. AlteCocker liked it so much that she returned on a home exchanege in August 2000? Yup.
AlteCocker has not returned to do The Fringe since 2000, but she'd never say "no" to a home exchange in Edinburgh in August--and the food ain't half bad either. Lots of lamb, fish, sticky toffee pudding, and, my personal favorite, banoffee pie.