Welcome to our coverage of a very different Edinburgh Fringe for 2020. In the midst of the strange times we find ourselves with and a cancelled physicial world version of the world’s largest arts festival, Edfringe has ported online, hopefully just for this year, though we suspect there will be a mch more significant number […]
Edinburgh Fringe Online 2020
Army@TheVirtualFringe is drawing to a close with a delightful final flourish. Yesterday we were delighted to surprise 12-year-old Leila McPhate with a trip to Redford Barracks to be presented with a professional recording made by Army musicians of her rap inspired by the Windrush generation. Leila, from Larbert High School in Stenhousemuir, wrote The World Is A Dark […]
As the final week of Army@TheVirtualFringe gets underway Matthew Shelley takes a look at what’s coming up including more about what looks to be one of the big highlights – Patrick Baty’s talk on The Artists Rifles. From fading Victorian photographs to WWII cartoons – research into an astonishing collection of pictures and memorabilia is […]
Harkirat Kaur Assi, or “just Kirat” as she is more commonly known, artistic director of Punjab Arts, will be leading an Army@TheVirtualFringe webinar on Monday, 24 August. In it she will use her own long relationship with the arts to delve into the increasing correlations and relationships it has with the themes of heritage, culture and […]
As an arts PR Matthew Shelley of SFPR represents a range of shows at the Fringe each year and also looks after publicity for Army@TheFringe. Here he asks leading figures from two review organisations for their top tips for companies hoping to be in Edinburgh next year. Reviews sometimes feel like the most valuable currency […]
Over August I have been watching online content. Not all of these shows are long enough to warrant the full Fringe Review experience but are good, and interesting enough to be talked about. Whilst the review criteria are the same, the brevity is a whole new experience. Anyhow, here are my thoughts on these shows. […]
The Beat Goes On The Glummer Twins Online@theSpaceUK From 15th August 2020 Lockdown? Existential crisis? Social distancing? It will take more than a pandemic to stop the irrepressible Glummer Twins from celebrating the joys, absurdities and indignities of getting older. So David Harmer and Ray Globe (The Glummer Twins) have turned to the wizardry of […]
This Saturday sees the 75th anniversary of VJ Day – the surrender of Imperial Japan and the effective end of WWII. Army@TheVirtualFringe commemorates the anniversary with a streaming of part of Bill Aitchison’s play about life for Hong Kong citizens and Commonwealth troops interned during the brutal Japanese occupation. In this blog Bill explains the origins […]
Like most of us, this is not the August I imagined. I won’t bore you with the same tale, you have heard told again and again. Suffice to say, the image on the left tells its own story. What I would like to talk about is new work, the emergence of a new medium, and […]
Lest We Forget explores the experiences of black Britons in the period around WWI. Co-writer Rasheka Christie-Carter writes about the importance of telling stories about black British history from before Windrush ahead of a reading of the play she wrote with Charlotte Green, which takes place on Tuesday 18 August as part of Army@TheVirtualFringe. There […]
Guerilla art, military musicians and minority voices – Matthew Shelley writes that Army@TheVirtualFringe is on the way and is making a splash in the media. Would you necessarily think of the Army as being on the “front line of arts activism”? For a lot of people it’s not an automatic association. But a feature by […]
14th August – 15th September 2020 “Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2020 is cancelled. Instead we bring you SHEDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL a brand new online festival presenting the very best of the Fringe stalwarts of theatre, music and comedy, and the best new acts, all performed live from sheds across the country and streamed into people’s homes […]
The cancellation of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2020 due to the Coronavirus outbreak has not only led to the cancellation of the paid Fringe. Laughing Horse Comedy’s Free Fringe Fest is also unable to stage its usual hundreds of free fringe shows (Pay if/what you want on the way out). And phoenix-like, the Online Free […]
Usually at this time of year the great & the good of the arts world would be gathering in Edinburgh for a month of drinking, socialising, more drinking and perhaps seeing the occasional show in between (albeit with a drink in hand). Fortunately for all livers involved, the Edinburgh Fringe isn’t going ahead this year […]
Sets, Sound, Vision And Success At The Fringe
Army@TheVirtualFringe is offering the chance to hear from expert designers, artistic directors and military musicians about how to get the best from sound, vision and stage sets. Huge amounts of sand, plus piles of sandbags were necessary to realise Anna Driftmier’s set for the critically acclaimed opera Dead Equal. By contrast, the remarkable projection was […]
The Art Of Being A Ridiculous Goof
Of all the different types of performance artists clowns are perhaps the most funny, charismatic and truthful. Aron De Casmaker, former Cirque du Soleil performer, will be presenting a workshop on the basics of clown performance during Army@TheVirtualFringe. Here he discusses their power to make us look at ourselves, our world, each other – and […]
So Little Gained, So Much Destroyed – An Assassin’s Tale
His name is Gavrilo Princip. He is the young assassin who shot and killed the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the murder that started the First World War. This one-hour play with live music explores his life, his legacy and the world he left behind. It was changed forever. My name is Oliver Yellop and I am […]
Compelling Pictures Win Audiences – Top Tips On Fringe Images
Theatre and performance photographer Mihaela Bodlovic knows all about creating compelling images that make audiences want to go and see shows. She will be leading an online worksop during Army@TheVirtualFringe to help companies ensure their media, marketing and promotional pictures stand out at future Fringe festivals. Read three top tips below. Your promotional image is one […]
Tim Marriott – A Journey From Sit Com To Shell Shock
Actor Tim Marriott became known to millions in the sitcom The Brittas Empire. In recent years he has found an entirely new audience – returning to the stage with plays like Shell Shock that have found success at the Fringe and worldwide. Here Tim talks about his contribution to this year’s Army@TheVirtualFringe – and invites […]
Coming Out In The Army – The Story Of POSTERBOY
James Robert Moore’s play POSTERBOY will be featured as part of Army @ TheVirtualFringe. Here he writes about the origins of a project that explores the real-life experience of a soldier who did much to advance LGBT+ rights in the Army. Back in 2014 I Tweeted that I wanted to speak to openly gay soldiers […]
Veterans and Serving Soldiers Share Experiences of War, Peace and the Arts
While most of those who take part in this year’s Army@TheVirtualFringe are civilians some are serving soldiers or veterans involved in the arts. Experience of military life has spurred many veterans to express themselves through the arts. In other cases their role within the armed forces is one of artistic expression. The full programme of […]
Rosie Kay Reflects on the Army and the Arts ahead of 10 Soldiers Online Premiere
The celebrated choreographer Rosie Kay played a key role in the start of Army@TheFringe and she’s back this year taking part in events and with the online premiere of 10 Soldiers. Here she looks at how this spectacular dance production has emerged and her efforts to encourage the Army to embrace the performing arts. Well, […]
Army@TheFringe Launches Online Programme For 2020
Jordan Blackwood, Producer of Army@TheFringe, introduces a special online initiative for 2020 – Army@TheVirtualFringe. When it was announced that the Edinburgh festivals weren’t going ahead this year, I felt a mix of relief and sadness. Relief that we were out of a strange limbo that meant we didn’t know whether to continue with planning our […]
How do we stay motivated, creative – and sane – during COVID-19? Jo Tomalin (in San Francisco) talks to playwright Matthew Roberts (in London) about what he has been doing since the end of the run of his successful 2019 Edinburgh Fringe solo play, TEACH, which he wrote and performed, directed by Helen Tennison. […]
To thine ownself be careful with your opinions?
By Scottish Editor, Donald C Stewart It was last year that I was compelled to write about the case of Seyi Omooba. Seyi was the actress sacked or let go, depending upon your point of view, as she had expressed feelings on homosexuality that many, I among them, found incompatible with playing the central role […]
“Start a blog,” Paul says, “it will be fun,” he adds, before finishing with “don’t worry it won’t take long”. Whenever Paul ‘suggests’ you give something a go, there is always a point when you think to yourself, ‘why did I agree to this?’. Then you wander around for a bit, scratching your head and […]
My summer is finished. It didn’t even begin but now it has come to a stuttering end. The Fringe is aff. Not just a wee bit aff, not just a little delay, not even just a postponement whilst we think of something a little more creative. It’s done, dead, no longer and ceased for 2020. […]
