One in, one out?

By Fringe Review, Scottish Editor, Donald C Stewart

Right now I would normally be working through my big book of Fringe possible and whittling down to the top 10 Scottish and the top 10 Youth theatre shows for Paul to put up on our website but I am not this year. The Fringe is, however, not silent.

I have had an email and read a bit of news…

This time last year I was musing on how C venue had been chucked out and Gilded Balloon had been thrust into the property in Chambers Street. This year I have been musing over the new style of online Fringe which shall attempt to reconnect with people and get some form of finance together for the future. The Fringe shall return, they tell us but what venues shall be there and who is coming back? I will be there but what venues do I want back? Will the Pleasance be as big? Will top level comedians be confident enough to turn up? What about all the offices and shops that might become vacant – will they become new pop up venues? Will Sweet Venues still be in the Grassmarket? Will C still take the risk with a few Avant Garde and challenging pieces and will the Space hold onto all their… spaces?

Summerhall has just opened their good selves…

The next 12 months are going to be fascinating though, as we try and find out in what shape it shall be, this Fringe thing.

What I hope, more than anything is that it is more compact and bijou. I hope for the trimming and the cutting and the barbering of the output. I hope for the quality enhancement and the genuine opportunity to thrive rather than the holy grail of investing lots of money in becoming an hour long distraction rather than an actor as you leaflet for hours to watch five people turn up, as it is raining.

I am looking forward to seeing if it turns up as I want it or blows a raspberry and turns up when it wants to…

If the Fringe has become a victim of its own success, then this week we also saw another successful Grande Dame say cheerio to a visionary. Morag Fullarton has stepped down after 4 years as the Joint Artistic Director of a Play, a Pie and a Pint at the Oran Mor in Glasgow. I was at Mo’s cheerio dinner in Ayr, nearly 30 years ago, when she stood down as Artistic Director of Borderline Theatre Company. I went into that dinner as a practising alcoholic, came out more sober and with a new wife. I shall body swerve any invite to a farewell do this time.

Mo is not an institution nor a massive figure on the theatre and arts scene, but she is. She has been at the helm of a significant number of Theatrical hits and managed to also develop a successful TV and Film directing career. From my time at Borderline, one of my all time favourites, Glasvegas, where they were Searching for Sadie, has never been repeated but often copied. I am sorry to see her take her leave of the Oran Mor and that stage. She talked in her Facebook cheerio, of the Grande Dame – theatre – being resilient and odds on for a return.

I am absolutely hopeful that what we get shall be new and not the same. But with a bit of the same. Well the same excitement at least and the same…

Actually I just want it back…