TAKING A SHOW TO EDINBURGH by Julia Negus

As a precursor to the blurb below - remember every Fringe is different, every year the themes, the flavours of the festival, the hype etc is always different. It might be your year, it might be one of the other 1000 companies instead. There is no guarantee of an audience, rave reviews, awards, sunshine, box office cash etc. Nevertheless, here’s some info to consider as you plan to take the high road. Your work Firstly, the show is obviously crucial. You must think your idea/new play/revised play/revue/cabaret/bit in a lift etc is going to be a smash, otherwise why would you dedicate the next 10 months of working solidly on it? It ‘s a tremendous effort. Register with the Fringe (your venue may do this on your behalf - but check, don’t just assume they have) - so that you don’t miss out on being in the official Fringe Programme. They hold generic roadshows for ‘would-be’ Fringe Performers and send out lots of guides and planning schedules etc. Venues If you are thinking of taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe 2005, it is now (Oct 2004) that you should begin planning, as most of the larger venues decide their Fringe programme from about January and then make firm decisions around March. Start pitching your work to them now, make contact and get meeting and talking. I’d always choose one of the bigger venues - there’s usually more potential audience, a printed brochure advertising your work (as well as the main Fringe Programme), and a tighter operation generally in terms of health and safety, crews, box office etc. I’ve taken 4 shows to the Fringe - 3 of which I took to the Pleasance. The Pleasance usually operates on deals. Usually its a box office split, but you will probably have to pay a fee too, some of which is required up front and then the rest taken from the end box office (if there is any). Think about the piece and its time slot - ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL - is it a comedy? Is it a one person show? A serious drama? A children’s piece? Where would it sit best in the overall Fringe timetable? Get a brochure from this year's fringe and check out where other companies placed their work. You can’t always get your ideal time slot but you can prepare a strong case to slog it out with your venue.... Also consider if you want to be there for the full Fringe - 4 weeks now if you include week 0 - the weeks go week 0, 1, 2 ,3 & 4. Is a week really viable? Getting an audience is hard: I think an audience of 12 is about average. I aim to get 35% minimum capacity daily and that’s how I price my tickets and my anticipated box office returns. I hope that by the time the reviews come out, we’re getting beyond that.....maybe trying to push up to 50% plus, if it’s going well. Be realistic with your pricing and your audience figures, there are lots of theatre-goers but they tend to stick to the safe bets and only occasionally take a risk on something a little bit different. - Make sure you thoroughly understand the deal between you and the venue, your responsibility and what they have agreed to provide for you. - Note any extra equipment hire etc they may/will charge for. - Get a ground plan of the venue. - Have seen the inventory of all lights/equipment etc. - Make sure you know the lighting board and sound equipment being used. - Fix the turnaround time between you and the incoming/outgoing shows. Be organised with your get-in etc - practise before Edinburgh. - Watch out for penalties/clauses/extra hire costs. - How long is your tech. time? - Can you preview the show before opening to the audiences? - Try it out in your home space first (5 performances only though & no national reviews) - Be prompt with all deadlines required by the venue promoters. - Meet all brochure deadlines etc. Check with other companies who have done similar work to yourselves, what their most recent experiences were - good and bad - list down some questions and contact them. (Remember - for a lot of people Edinburgh is about making money not art) Marketing Okay its a given that your piece is fab, the actors are fab and you the director/writer/etc are fab but if you don’t consider the fast and furious marketing machine in Edinburgh then how will you get your audiences? I know this is so basic but Edinburgh is a mass market all trying to vie for the same people and frankly yes its great that your Mum and Dad are coming to see you and Cousin Agnes from St Andrews BUT you want to get noticed by the right people....don’t you? I set myself objectives - something like: get 3 national reviews, a preview profile piece about the company, a new partnership with a national producing venue and a tour to Australia in the Spring ...maybe the last one is a bit unrealistic but what I’m saying is have a clear reason for going to the Fringe. That way, in the middle of all the madness pre-Fringe and during the Festival itself , you can focus on what you wanted to achieve and why you are there...otherwise it is very easy to sink and not swim for the 4 long, long weeks....anything else is a bonus. Print Fly posting is now illegal - I used to love jumping out of a van at night with a bucket of paste and a brush, sticking our fab posters over everyone else's but quite rightly it has now been banned and you can and will be prosecuted. Now that I understand how much print costs and the effort it takes to get the right look and feel etc, I feel SO bad for tearing down other companies print in the long and distant past! Get plenty of flyers - organise the flyer rota before the Festival and stipulate it on actors contract in big letters!! Leafleting is a must! And that means you too! Every day do the queues from other hit shows in other venues. Personally, I’m not convinced that posters work anymore - they worked well for us in the past but the big distributors have bought all the advertising space in Edinburgh and if you’re not with them, its hard to get your stuff put up in the good shops/theatres etc where your poster can be seen by potential punters. Mail and email all theatre venue managers, potential contacts etc that you want to see your work at the Fringe, and don’t forget the Arts Council etc. Do this 3 weeks before, just as they’re beginning to think about what to see etc. Press Send press packs to everyone 3 weeks pre- Ed and then, the week before, send the latest press release. Allocate time to ‘phone every journalist you want to review the show. You probably won’t get through, but at least try - lodge your company name in their brain. Let them recognise your glossy print by the time they get to Edinburgh. Have a press show - that’s a good discipline for you all to focus on and gives the press a proper time to slot in your show for reviewing. (This, by the way, never goes to plan ) Go to the Venue’s press launch party - have a press release and flyers ready, know the venue’s press and publicity people. Give them all the information you can. Extras to think about can be a gimmick toy with your show info on it or a tee shirt to draw attention - but each year branding, marketing tricks change. (Always remember you are pitching with over a 1000 other fantastic, brilliant, fab shows!!!!) Accommodation Use an agency. Use an agency. Use an agency (imagine I’m now shouting this point at you!) From bad experience, don’t have a cosy chat with people advertising on the various fringe noticeboards with offers of a cheap flat for the whole of the fringe period or getting the chance to hire a boaty barge thing or a tent etc.... From experience, using an agent means that if the place is a dive (which really it shouldn’t be if the agent is good and has checked it out), you have rights to get new accommodation etc and to keep your company happy.* Saving an extra £250 by hiring that 1 berth caravanette in a field by Arthur’s seat through a private rental agreement can be disastrous. Dealing with an owner that hasn’t used the place in years and currently resides in Japan, so sadly can never be contacted, isn’t a joke. It’s really not a joke... Finance You will lose money. I never begin any project, any show unless I know I can pay for absolutely everything. I occasionally wing the odd extra cost but only if I think that I can pay for it myself in a worst case scenario. Never get a bank loan, thinking you can rake in the box office and clear it at the end of August.... (By the way, most venues don’t settle the box office receipts til end of Sept/early Oct, so also bear that in mind re: cash-flow) Actors AND Crew - PAY THEM SOMETHING - they must be valued!! Yes, Edinburgh is a laugh, there’s lots of people, lots of fun, lots of clubs, parties, YEA! BUT... but its also cold, wet, full of pavement hills, expensive drinks, with long waits from performing one show until the next, and it all feels even worse if other people’s shows actually have an audience, other people’s show’s actually get a reviewer, other people’s shows haven’t been slated......remember keep the company happy** I think the first time we did Edinburgh, I paid a small weekly wage plus provided all accommodation and travel - not fantastic but much better than I got in the olde days and the company appreciated that we were trying to do the best we could. Travel - travelling in a borrowed rickety transit for over 6 hours with a couple of heavy smokers not smoking and 3 lads who drank Guiness the night before is a tough task. For various reasons, I now fly most of the company up to Edinburgh - this actually worked out the cheaper transport option for me over the last 2 visits because I could get flights for around £20 per person - it’s a very short flight and feels a bit more glam for everyone even if it is a budget plane. Remember though a cab into Edinburgh from the airport is approx. £15 (one way) so budget for that too. Mushy Bit at the End Finally, I could go into real minutiae of taking a show to Edinburgh but it is such a massive thing to do. I get completely fired up with the whole Fringe thing and I truly want all who venture up there to have a brilliant, successful experience. It is rare to have a hit and we have been there on great times and on low times. Every time I’m there, I vow never to return (usually whilst slurping my way through a bottle of over-priced wine in the over-smoked Traverse bar; grumbling about the venue capitalists; the people ripping you off with cafe skinny lattes***; slating neanderthal reviewers who fancy anything slightly quirky so long as it’s got Lisa Goddard and Russell Grant in it.....mumble, mumble) BUT funnily enough I return to the Fringe Festival again and again because ultimately (cue music), I believe in our work, I think it‘s truly strong and I always want to shake up the complacent fluffy safe dramas that are trite, slapped together and dished up from ‘the theatre capital’. I suppose I’m saying you must believe in what you’ve got - don’t ever doubt your work ...get it honed, polished and then go for it....the Edinburgh Fringe 2005 is a good year as the British Council descend, sniffing for a bit of something special to sell to the international delegates, so there are more people around than usual, more deals, more scouts, but also more competition. If you do decide to go to the Fringe, good luck, I wish you lots of success and remember to take a brolly. * Company not happy = mutiny ** Company not happy = mutiny *** Coffee Julia is Producer at award-winning Theatre Absolute [www.theatreabsolute.co.uk]