DTF: Doing The Fringe
A podcast about putting on theatre, by people who put on theatre.
In this series we’ll chat with the people who work behind the scenes to make this all happen. We’ll speak with reviewers, people in charge of running venues, we’ll look at the marketing side of things, as well as speaking with actors, writers, and directors who are taking work to the Fringe.
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival takes over the city throughout the month of August. Actors, comedians, clowns, acrobats, writers, producers, directors, singers, dancers from all over the world, descend on the city bringing fresh new work to the largest arts festival in the world. There are over three hundred venues, over three and a half thousand shows and over 55,000 performances.
James Mackenzie - Artistic Director of Zoo Venues
James Mackenzie founded Zoo Venues in 2000, aiming to refocus the Fringe festival on the needs of the artists. Zoo gives the companies bringing their work the time, space, and technical resource to show their work as it was created. Their programming usually focuses on innovative and challenging work across theatre and dance. In this conversation we speak about the difficulties that artists face in adapting shows to the fringe format, the future of Zoo, and what James looks for when programming.
Sam Ward - YesYesNoNo
Sam Ward is one half of YesYesNoNo, with producer Rhian Davies. On their website they state that they: ‘make live performance pieces. Most people call our work theatre. Some people don’t’.
This begins to reveal how Sam and Rhian play with expectations and use the theatrical form to match the story behind the work.
Five Encounters on a Site Called Craigslist – their 2017 debut– helped them to win the Total Theatre Award for Best Emerging Company.
This was followed by shows including The accident did not take place and We were promised honey! They will be returning to the festival in 2024, taking their new play Nation to Summerhall.
Lorna Rose Treen - Comedian
Lorna Rose Treen’s solo show, Skin Pigeon, was a run away success at 2023’s Fringe festival. The show sold out its Pleasance venue, before gaining an additional slot later in the day. This led to the show being transferred to the Soho Theatre, winning the joke of the Fringe, and Dara O’Brian describing one moment in the show as ‘the funniest moment in comedy’. Since that Fringe success, Lorna has been working on a Radio 4 Commission – Time of the Week – a parody of Women’s news and current affairs shows and will be bringing Skin Pigeon back to Edinburgh at this year’s festival. We discuss Lorna's process for creating characters and how she knows which ones are ready to be included in a show. We also talk about her winning Joke of The Fringe, and the press (both good and bad) that this lead to.
Chris Snow - Head of Artist Services at The Fringe Society
Chris Snow has worked as a theatre producer, working on around 30 shows, 9 of which went on to the Fringe. He then had a series of roles working in facilities and management, before landing a job at the National Theatre as Head of Support Services and Procurement. He’s now Head of Artist Services at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society. This role oversees the support and development of artists across all aspects of their career.
Mark Fisher - Guardian Critic
1983 Mark Fisher performed at the fringe, returning to work in the Fringe office in 1986 and has been a part of every Fringe Festival since.
He is currently a theatre critic for the Guardian, as well as contributing to other publications like the List and The Scotsman.
He has also written and co edited several books including ‘The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide: How to make your show a success’ and ‘How to write about theatre’, as well as contributing to books on the landscape of criticism, David Greig, and the arts under the SNP.
Katie Posner - Joint Artistic Director of Paines Plough
Katie Posner is the joint Artistic Director at Paines Plough, a touring theatre company that develop new writers and share their work with audiences around the country. Since its inception in 1974, Paines Plough have worked with over 300 British playwrights and tours to somewhere in the region of 40 places each year.
Katie took over artistic leadership of Paines Plough, alongside Charlotte Bennet in 2019. Before joining Paines Plough, Katie was Associate Director at Pilot Theatre, as well as having a varied life as a director.
1. Pollyanna Esse - 20 Minutes of Action
'20 Minutes of Action' is a piece of verbatim theatre from Pollyanna Esse. Verbatim theatre gives the real words of real people to actors to perform. '20 Minutes of Action' scrutinises one of the most pertinent conversations of our time: women's safety. Using the exact words of the victim, the perpetrator and their families, '20 Minutes of Action' guides you through one of the most controversial sexual assault cases in recent American history.
This episode discusses sexual assault.
2. Anthony Alderson - Director of The Pleasance
Anthony Alderson is the Director of The Pleasance, both in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe. In this podcast, we chat about the support that The Pleasance offers to emerging artists, the impact the fringe has on the arts, and the city of Edinburgh, and how performance is an important part of our society.
3. Fergus Morgan - Theatre Critic
Fergus Morgan is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in outlets like What's On Stage, Time Out, The Stage, Vice and The Independent. In this episode we chat about the realities of working at the Fringe, the issues with ‘social hiring’ and the issues facing arts journalism today.
4. Julian Spooner - Rhum + Clay
Julian Spooner is one of the founders and co-Artistic Directors of Rhum + Clay, a theatre company born out of Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. The Lecoq focus on physical theatre, the body and mime remain a key device in Rhum + Clay’s work. Other graduates from Lecoq include Steven Berkoff and Complicité’s Simon McBurney. In this episode, we discus how 'play' influences the creative process and the influence of the Edinburgh Fringe on Rhum + Clay as a theatre company.
5. Hazel Anderson - Street Performer / 'Likely Story' Co-Director
Hazel Anderson is a performer who doesn’t limit herself to one style of performance. She works as a street performer named Able Mable, and she is also Co-Director of ‘Likely Story’ who focus on making stories come alive with magic, for communities who might not otherwise see professional work. ‘Likely Story’ often focuses on making work for younger audiences by reworking and putting their own spin on classic fairy tales.
6. Lauren-Nicole Mayes - Writer / Performer of Dear Little Loz
Lauren-Nicole Mayes is a Blackpool born and bred actress currently living in Manchester. Lauren is taking her one woman play ‘Dear Little Loz’ to the Edinburgh Fringe. The play started life as a monologue for Burn Bright, before being developed into a one act play. Dear Little Loz explores love, and the price we are willing to pay for it, it is a poetic exploration of love – love for the scabby boys in Blackpool, dodgy dates with Dave and the desperate need for a daddy-daughter connection.
©2024 by Apropos Theatre.