Edinburgh Fringe 2009

Back from Edinburgh, with that familiar sense of both elation at the achievements of my team, and the odd feeling of dejection that I'm back in my tiny flat in Cambridgeshire that has a leaky toilet and a faint smell of bins. Maybe it's always been like that, I am in the fens, of course, but maybe I just didn't notice because I was so wrapped up in that horrible hole known as 'routine'. I've been out of my routine for the last 8 days, and there is nothing like a shock to the system than the Edinburgh Fringe. I feel inspired by what I can achieve; the reminder that the world is actually yours for the taking. Well, that's the feeling you get when you're there, but somehow, having barely been back 'home' for 24 hours, that already seems to be drifting from my consciousness. I must keep this Fringe buzz going, psychologically. For when I'm at the Edinburgh Fringe I feel I am the best version of me there is available.

About this time two weeks ago there was no way I would be taking a show to the Fringe again; too much admin, too much hard work, too much expense - and for ultimately very little satisfaction. Well, so it appears about two weeks before the festival starts. But within hours of arriving in Edinburgh, being handed a handful of flyers by fellow show producers, glancing down the Royal Mile at the spectacular, colourful and often damn-well strange activities of the greatest artistic event on the planet, I have very little doubt I want to do this again - next year, and then year after that, and so on. Even in the Scottish drizzle, after a 9 hour car drive, the warm glow that can only be generated from so much creativity frantically battling for your attention hits you like nothing else can. For those un-initiated, it's probably a little intimidating. But when you embrace it, you realise your own world stops for a bit - however long you're there for, and you will be entertained. The outside world changes all the time, but despite the constant media cynicism, The Edinburgh Fringe will never change.

Our venue, The Grape, had given us a lot of concerning thoughts before our arrival, simply because nobody knew anything about it. I was told a day before travelling by Sarah Pearce, compare for 'Comedy At The Grape', that it probably wasn't designed for theatre; there was no stage and very little space. From the reviews I'd read online, it was apparently going to be a shit hole. On arriving at the venue, weary after a day of travelling up from various bits of Cambs, we had to check on Google maps that we were actually in the right place, because The Grape was actually rather lovely. True, so it was by no means a theatre venue as Sarah pointed out; we had no stage lights and poor old Alan our resident techie genius was behind the play which made things a little difficult for prompting him with music cues, but it was clean, the staff were friendly and probably a lot more comfortable for the audiences than the preview dates. Unconventional, but nothing is conventional at the Edinburgh Fringe. I've attached a short video of our venue, shortly before the 6th performance of the play. I've got a small camcorder and filmed a lot of random nonsense during the run, most of which I imagine the team won't be too happy about me putting online. That doesn't mean I won't do at some point though...

Accommodation-wise we (me, Alan, Pam, Rachel, Victoria, Colin, Vaughan and Kev) started off in the same flat, and then after night one, some of us (me, Alan and Pam) moved over to my friend Steve's flat, realising he had lots of room and realising that the late-night liveliness of certain members of the team would get frustrating a few days in. Night one at 'The Fun House', as Colin later named it, found me angry and frustrated at lack of sleep and throwing my mobile across the room (narrowly missing Vaughan, I didn't realise he was sat there) as I'd been driving for 9 hours and couldn't get to sleep because of the partying of those crazy young actor types. I was rather happy when Steve mentioned he had 3 spare rooms and offered us a chance to stay at his, even if it was, again according to Colin 'The Mediocre House'. That's not to say morale wasn't good though; for a majority of this latest run this cast were by far the most easy to work with I've ever had, we all drank a lot, every night, yet somehow we were still out flyering every day at a reasonable hour (apart from Friday's show - Thursday evening went just a little bit too far). Also, despite the fact this cast are without question the biggest social drinkers I've ever worked with in any form of project (music, theatre), their performances every day were 100% consistent and virtually spot on, which is nothing short of amazing (apart from Friday's show - Thursday evening went just a little bit too far).

Audience-wise, at the Edinburgh Fringe I always set a target of getting at least 15 people in a day, which is still tough considering there are 2000 other shows wanting the same thing. With my second show, 'Frank's Aim Is True' (also starring Vaughan) a few years back we barely hit 5 a day. I'm very happy to report the following audience attendance figures for 2009's show (capacity was 46):

Saturday: 46
Sunday: 36
Monday: 21
Tuesday: 34
Wednesday: 29
Thursday: 24
Friday: 36

Still can't find any press reviews for the show online, even though I know there was at least one reviewer in the audience. Playing 'spot the journo' is a game I like to play, and I'm certain I spotted one of 'them' on the Tuesday. I don't care anyway if they liked it or not - because the audiences seemed to, and as much as a cliche as it sounds, that does actually mean a lot to us. Although a good review would be a bonus as the show next heads over to Burwell for a final Cambridgeshire performance, before 4 nights in London at the start of next month. A good review for the flyer might help things a little.

As always for the fringe I try to catch as many other shows as possible. Due to the fact I was fortunate to have several friends join me for the trip at various times a lot of my time was spent in bars catching up, not actually watching as many other shows as perhaps in retrospect I would have liked to have done. Still, for the record here's the shows I did catch:

Pappy's Fun Club: Somebody should snap these guys up/give them knighthoods/give them the respect they deserve. 5th time in a year I've seen them, 5th time I've come out of the show with near stomach pains for laughing so much. Incredible, incredible, incredible. The introduction of 'Dean' is inspired. 10/10
Stand By Your Van: Chuffed I got free tickets to this. Produced by Menagerie Theatre (from Cambridge), I thought I'd hate it - it was the best piece of 'theatre' I've seen at Edinburgh in years. 9/10
Comedy At The Grape: As always with a mixed-bill of stand-ups it's varied in quality. Lots of enthusiasm all round and some good stuff there, but that woman with the deep voice freaked me out a bit. 7/10
Venus And Mars: Written by my friend Julia Bolden, a decent hour of lunchtime comedy, the least demanding show I've seen in a while and that's a good thing, honestly. 7/10
Matt Kershan: Went on a whim, whilst a little drunk, as wanted to get my 'show stats' up and he was on in 10 mins next to where myself, Steve, Rob and Vicky were drinking. Venue far too hot, very uncomfortable. His act was very 'nice', never a classic but worth a punt. 6.5/10
Farenheit 451: Sorry, I didn't understand this one. I only went because my friends went along and I didn't want to be a loner. Often confusing, 'physical theatre'. 4/10
Improlympians: I usually hate improv but they were in the same venue as us and very friendly. Actually really enjoyed it. 7/10
Luke Tulson: Felt sorry for him - hardly any audience, and a lot of his act revolves around talking to the 'crowd'. Glad he still didn't pick on me though. Struck me as being a genuinely nice bloke, and a decent act. 8/10
The Bone House: Weird shit, whilst pissed. Dull, not sure how you can call this theatre. Annoyed that I was the only person in the room who hadn't worked out somebody would get shot at the end. 2/10
God: A play by Woody Allen. I know the Edinburgh Fringe is for new works, but you can't go wrong with a bit of Woody every now and then. Lovely show, well performed too - 8/10.
James Shepherd At The Piano: Likable, witty songs, some great moments, went on a bit. 7/10
A Personal War: Stunning, heart-breaking theatre, even more incredible considering it's a true story. So happy I saw this - I didn't want to but our director insisted it was worth an hour of my time. Really, really was. 9/10
Newsreview: How can you not like The Newsreview? The longest-running sketch show of the Fringe (30 years). Often hilarious and great performances. The Jade Goody stuff was a close bit to the bone, the Michael Jackson stuff predictable. Bloody funny though. 7/10
Trevor Lock: Like a turbo-charged Harry Hill, I was at times intimidated by his performance but he's a true talent, deserves to be massive. 8/10

Anyway; back to our own show, With Arms Outstretched, I'm really happy with the way it all turned out. The cast were perfect for their selected roles and embraced them, their commitment to the project was encouraging, and they helped make it my most enjoyable run up there so far. The script held out pretty well too - I think snappy, short scenes is the way forwards. Also, on a rather brilliant note, a random theatre company from Sheffield approached me half way through the run saying they loved it and want to perform the play themselves. I'm happy, and chuffed, but not getting too carried away just in case they were lying. Hopefully more on that soon.

I am actually really happy, looking back at the videos of the week that has just been, as much as the exhaustion of yesterdays drive home is still hitting me hard. I like putting on shows, I love my friends who came up to either see it or just meet up with for a drink (in no specific order; Steve - who I ended up staying with all week, Kerry Dear Old Blighty, Rob Toulson and Vicky Hoffman, Chris Reed, Pam Daniel, Paul High, Carl Fletcher, Tracy Harris, Rachel Peck - who became our head flyerer during the run, Emma (surname I've forgotten) and her husband), putting on a show is so much easier when people believe in you. I need to move on. The Edinburgh Fringe is like Christmas - I love it, but I know it can't be Christmas every day. 'With Arms Outstretched' has 5 performances to go before we archive it. So far, including the previews, 299 people have seen the show, and we've turned away at least another 10. Now, if all my plays were seen by that many people, surely someone somewhere will like my material enough to really help push me on to the next level? Even if they don't, I have big ideas that are well above my station, and I'm going to have a lot of fun over the next few months seeing if they actually work.