High Ticket Sales Bode Well For Revival of In-Person Theatre

As a small venue outside the Edinburgh city centre, with little walk up trade, Army@TheFringe has always had to work that bit harder to win audiences.

Kevin Quantum

Ticket sales tend to build as the Fringe goes on, as the result of reviews and word of mouth recommendations.

This year we decided to return to in-person performances but had little idea, given the ongoing impact of Covid, what the public appetite would be.

But wow!

The Trick That Fooled, which will see magician Kevin Quantum recreate tricks that confounded some of the most famous people who ever lived, sold 90% of tickets within four days.

Two extra performances have now been arranged for 12 and 13 August at 6pm.

And we hope to have sold half of all in-person tickets well before we open on 6 August even though we’ve only just unveiled the last element of our programme.

Note the term “in-person” – some of our shows and events are also being live-streamed such as the Live @ The Drill Hall variety nights and Rosie Kay’s panel discussion series The Mind is the Frontline.  

We suspect that the rapid uptake of tickets points to a strong public desire for a return to (safely managed) in-person events.

If that’s the case it bodes well for the rest of the Edinburgh Fringe, and also for the performing arts more widely.

Hopefully for us it also means people like the look of our shows.

By the way – the final addition to our programme is Duty | Tour, is an experimental, self-guided immersive audio experience which re-imagines East Claremont Street as a front line where military and civilian life meet.