Fringe hits Ladyboys of Bangkok and La Clique set for switch to Leith Links
Two of the biggest-selling Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows in modern times are set to be moved to Leith in the wake of calls for events to be spread across more of the city.
The Ladyboys of Bangkok and international cabaret show La Clique would be the first Fringe shows to be staged on Leith Links for more than 15 years.
The creators of the shows, which have gone on to become huge international successes after debuting at the Fringe, have struggled to find suitable sites for them in recent years.
Leith Links had been hugely successful as a site for big top venues in the 1980s and 1990s, with Archaos and Circus of Horrors among the hit shows. It has played host to the Mela festival in recent years after it outgrew Pilrig Park.
Next year will mark the 21st anniversary of the Fringe debut of the Ladyboys of Bangkok, an act created after circus and cabaret impresario Philip Gandey was taken to a show during a stop-over in Thailand. They have been seen by around 3.5 million people since 1998 and are now on tour for nine months of the year.
La Clique was created for the Famous Spiegeltent venue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2004, where it debuted in George Square Garden, and went on to be staged in Brighton, London, Adelaide, Melbourne, Dublin and New York. A version of the show has been staged in Festival Square in Edinburgh during the city’s last two Christmas festivals.
A spokesman for the Ladyboys, who have performed on gap sites in Fountainbridge in recent years, said none was available in 2020.
He added “We’re working with the council to find a permanent new home in Edinburgh for the show.
“We have a lot of support from them and the Fringe is spreading out a bit these days.
“Edinburgh is always the highlight of our tour every year and around three quarters of our tickets are sold locally but we are effectively homeless at the moment.”
Mr Gandey added: “The Ladyboys of Bangkok were born at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 21 years ago.
“We have an affinity with the city and even change the end of the show when we are in the city to celebrate and pay homage to our adopted home.
“The Edinburgh audience start booking in December for our visit – they want us to be in the city.
“If the support wasn’t there we wouldn’t be so desperate to find the show a more permanent home.
“We look forward to resolving this with the help of the council and to returning in 2020.”