The Fringe goes al fresco
Drag acts in a multi-storey, stand-up from a garden shed, Shakespeare at a racecourse and comedy on Arthur’s Seat – festival defies Covid
AMULTI-STOREY car park, a football stadium, a racecourse, an allotment, a beach and even the top of Arthur’s Seat are all about to become bizarre venues for the performing arts as the Fringe returns. Edinburgh’s famous arts and comedy extravaganza is taking many of its shows al fresco this year in a bid to stay Covid-secure.
After being forced to cancel it for the first time in 70 years in 2020, organisers of the Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe have sought out a number of unique, open-air venues across the capital.
Travel restrictions, quarantine rules and continued concerns over coronavirus infection rates in the UK mean the event – which begins on Friday – has been considerably scaled down.
In 2019, the Fringe boasted a record 3,841 shows but this year the number currently sits at just 460 – with many big-name acts not on the bill.
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has also been cancelled for a second year after organisers admitted that they could not take on the financial risks of delivering the spectacle on the Castle Esplanade while the pandemic is ongoing.
Some indoor shows will still be taking place, with reduced audience numbers and a host of strict infection-control measures including one-way systems, ventilation, bubble seating and contactless payment.
Audiences can also view many Fringe shows live and on demand in their home via the new Fringe Player.
However, the new outdoor venues, which have benefited from £1.3 million in Scottish Government funding to enable the festival to take place, are proving popular with acts and festival-goers.
The NCP Castle Terrace car park, which featured in the movie Trainspotting 2, will become the Gilded Balloon’s MultiStory for the month of August – hosting comedians including Jason Byrne and Fred MacAulay as well as theatre, dance, music and poetry. A large stage has been built on the top floor of the 750-bay, four-storey car park, which lies in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, but the other levels will also be used for entertainment and hospitality.
Tickets for MultiStory will be sold in groups of two or four people to allow audiences to sit in socially distanced ‘bubbles’.
Tynecastle Stadium, home of
Heart of Midlothian FC, will also welcome festival-goers for the play
Sweet FA on August 19.
TSisters in Allotment play out their rivalries among the plants
HE two-hour production is the story of the rise of women’s football during the First World War and a factory team from Edinburgh who fight for their right to play after a ban by authorities in 1921. Meanwhile, the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh is joining forces with Musselburgh Racecourse to host outdoor performances of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island on August 13 and 14.
Pop-Up Opera will also perform A
Little Bit of HMS Pinafore and A Little Bit of The Pirates of Penzance there on August 21 and 22.
Also in Musselburgh, the Lewisvale Park allotments will host the outdoor play Allotment on August 27 and 28, which follows the relationship of two sisters through the seasons as they ‘play out their rivalries among the plants’.
Elsewhere, the Traverse Theatre is putting on a ‘participatory’ performance, Move, on Silverknowes beach from Tuesday to Saturday. A mix of storytelling, choral soundscape and Gaelic song, five women portray the ebb and flow of people across the globe throughout the ages, in this open-air performance.
A pair of sturdy walking boots will be needed for those keen to visit the most unorthodox of this year’s festival venues – the top of Arthur’s Seat. Comedian Barry Ferns will perform a free daily stand-up show on the summit at 1pm.
A number of the most famous Fringe venues – including Underbelly, Pleasance and Summerhall – will also be staging shows in their outdoor courtyards this year.
While many Festival stalwarts will not be making the trip to Edinburgh this year, a few big names still appear on the bill.
Fife comedian Daniel Sloss, 30, is bringing his 11th solo show, Hubris, to the Corn Exchange following his record-breaking Australian tour.
And another Festival favourite, British actress, writer and comedian Jo Caulfield, will be returning this year for a four-night run at The Stand comedy club.
Best known for playing Simon in cult television series The Inbetweeners, actor and comedian Joe Thomas will be performing his first ever stand-up show Trying Not To Panic from his shed – streamed live to viewers online on August 21. And for those who have missed live musical performances, Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn will perform at Edinburgh Park on August 24.
Singer-songwriter Laura Mvula will also take to the stage there on August 29, while Dougie MacLean will perform a two-hour concert at the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, on August 14.
Renowned Scots violinist Nicola Benedetti, resident artist at
this year’s International Festival, will lead an ensemble of periodinstrument players in a vivid rediscovery of Vivaldi’s works for the Benedetti Baroque Orchestra at Edinburgh Academy Junior School on August 14.
Classical music lovers will also be interested in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s concert at the same venue on August 15, performing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
The Boogie Shoes Silent Disco Walking Tour offers an ‘immersive’ musical experience while also showcasing some of the city’s historic sights.
Popular stage show Sunshine on Leith, which features songs by the Proclaimers, is also returning to the capital from Friday to August 29 at the MultiStory.
AFTER sell-out shows across the world, The Dolly Parton Story, featuring the country singer’s bestloved hits, will be on at The Space@Symposium Hall from Friday to August 28. Following five Fringe runs, drag act Margaret Thatcher, Queen Of Soho, will be performing her ‘cabaret extravaganza’ at Underbelly, George Square, which sees the Iron Lady lost in Soho on the eve of a crucial vote.
Local drag artist Alice Rabbit’s Aye Con show at MultiStory is also expected to be popular. Returning to the Fringe for their 22nd year, the flamboyant Ladyboys of Bangkok bring their Flight of Fantasy show to Theatre Big Top, Festival Square for the full three weeks.
Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: ‘After the year we’ve all had, it brings me an indescribable amount of joy to see Fringe shows going on sale.
‘Fringe operators and artists have been working tirelessly to make this Fringe not only possible, but as safe, accessible and engaging as it can be.
‘Embracing the unknown and turning it into something magical is what the Fringe does best.’
She added: ‘I’m excited to see the ways that digital platforms are being used to create exciting, accessible work, and I’m inspired by the way producers and artists have adapted to the ongoing restrictions to bring live performance back to our lives.’