Racecourse to be a Fringe venue as street theatre makes a return
Shows will be staged at Musselburgh Racecourse under plans to revive the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year.
The outdoor performances of Treasure Island and Much Ado About Nothing are among the first batch of Fringe shows to go on sale this year.
The brunt on theatre in mussel burgh is joining forces with Musselburgh Racecourse to host the productions, as well as performances planned as part of a nationwide tour of the country by Scottish Opera.
Silverknowes Beach and Tynecastle Park have already been confirmed to be hosting Fringe shows this year, while part of the NCP car park at Castle Terrace will be transformed into a pop-up venue, “Multistory.”
The Fringe Society has confirmed more than 170 shows have registered for this year’s event, which will officially run from 6-30 August.
It has also revealed that it has secured permission for street performers to make an official comeback next month, with further details expected to be announced next month.
However, although the festival’s biggest four operators – Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance and Underbelly – have confirmed they will be running venues this year they will not be announcing their programmes until later this month.
Gilded Balloon will be joining forces with the Traverse Theatre, Dancebase and Zoo to run the Multistory venue on Castle Terrace, which will see shows staged on its top two floors. The site will also feature food and drink stalls for local businesses affected by the pandemic.
Morag Deyes, artistic director of Dancebase, said: “Between our four organisations, we have a rich history of bringing the best artists and their shows to the festival and this partnership allows us to continue this work, creating opportunities for artists and event professionals who have endured such a difficult year.”
Assembly and Underbelly will be back in George Square while the Pleasance will be staging shows in its famous courtyard and at the EICC.
Assembly founder William Burdett-coutts said :“The festival has suffered hugely withoutan event in 2020, but we are delighted to coming back for 2021 with some work.
"This won’t be anything like a normal festival given the circumstances and we are having to make what we are doing happen in an extremely short period of time, but the festival spirit is here and we look forward to keeping a presence this year and starting to rebuild for the future.”
The two main promoters of free Fringe shows have confirmed they are also programming line-ups.
Fringe operators are having to plan for this year against a backdrop of uncertainty over what restrictions will be in place in August. The Scottish Government has set provisional dates for the easing of controversial two metre distancing restrictions on venues on 19 July and the total lifting of restrictions on 9 August, but will not make final decisions until the week before.
Fringe Society chief executive Shona Mccarthy said: “After the year we’ve all had, it brings me an indescribable amount of joy to see Fringe shows going on sale.”