Cox in drive to help US performers
Brian Cox has launched a campaign to help American acts and companies appear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The multi award-winning star of Succession is spearheading a $350,000 fundraising drive to support productions in 2025.
The Dundee-born actor, who lives between New York and London, pledged that he was “doubly invested” in the new initiative, saying it would “strength the cultural bond” between Scotland and America.
He cited the key role played by Jim Haynes, the Us-born co-founder of the Traverse Theatre, one of the festival’s longest-running venues, 62 years ago. The Fringe Society, the arts charity which oversees the festival, last month announced Cox as the latest high-profile ambassador of the event.
The venture is a spin-off from a “Keep It Fringe” fund launched by Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-bridge to support 50 shows from across the UK at last year’s event.
The US Keep It Fringe initiative, launched ahead of the annual Tartan Week celebrations, will see grants of $4,500 awarded to at least 50 American acts to help them bring shows to Edinburgh next year.
The campaign is being launched with the backing of airline Jetblue, which is launching its first ever route between Edinburgh and New York this year, the American magazine publisher Playbill, and four Usbased supporters of the festival, Heather and Paul Innella, and Scott and Holly Plank.
Cox, who is currently performing in London’s West End, said: “As a Scottish performer who lives in the US, I’m doubly invested in this project to strengthen the cultural bond between our two countries.
“There’s already an incredibly strong shared heritage between Edinburgh and the United States – one of Edinburgh’s foremost theatres for new writing, the Traverse, was founded by a US airman, Jim Haynes, in the 1960s.
“The US Keep it Fringe initiative aims to enable and encourage the next generation of emerging US talent at the Fringe, ensuring that a spirit of adventure and collaboration can continue.”