Well this will surely be the final installment. A short daily breakdown of the third and final week of the Edinburgh fringe.
Day 15
There is undoubtedly a shift in the type of people here in Edinburgh. During the first 10 days flyers were going in to the hands of the public but they were not converted into audience members, or sales! In fact I got the impression that flyering people on the mile was a waste of time. But that has changed. We are seeing the result of our efforts more frequently now and people are really responsive to the pitch. It is a delight to see people we’ve met on the street then sat wide eyed in front of us at venue 13. Has that review in the Evening News helped? Well no, not really. Friday was tough… a small but perfectly formed audience gave us their appreciation … we loved it and so did they! Later we sat outside the Brass Monkey and talked all things Edinburgh with Ewan and Nic, a couple of wise and friendly locals, and drank some good beer.
Today we saw two very different movement pieces. The first was ‘Leo’ at the Roxy, a smash hit here at the fringe. It is wonderfully performed by a solo mover with hints of Jack Tatti and Jean Cocteau in it’s simple and amusing use of perspective. In fact the whole show is a simple idea, executed very well… over and over again. The second show was Wendy Hostoun’s ’50 acts’, a wonderfully irreverent and biting performance questioning her own, and societies, reaction to aging.
Today’s lesson … it appears people want to see something simple, beautifully executed with very few surprises.
One perky Clark!
Day 16
The Scotsman are back again…. AGAIN! I feel this is some sort of examination and to be honest we are a bit sick of it! We want real punters, not press. We work hard to rally the numbers in the audience, we flyer hard all day, email people, facebook them and leave messages on phones. We also take 30 minutes off to say goodbye to Alison Trower. We met Alison way back at the beginning, in the queue to meet the press and we have become good friends, sharing mint tea, Dhal and theatre shows with her over this intense and wonderful time. She finished her run and was heading off North but I think we will meet again.
The show is a good one… even the reviewer from The Scotsman joined in with the last song … and many of our Calarts friends came back to see the show. They too have finished their shows so we head out for a couple of cheeky beers and then a couple more and then a couple more. We stagger home with pies in our hands at some ridiculous time in the morning. Ridiculous for us but not for this City … oh no, Edinburgh goes on much longer and later.
On reflection it is very satisfying to know that we are not doing the show for the press…. it is for the public, for sheer entertainment, not really for close scrutiny. It just feels brilliant to write that!
Out Of The Fog
Day 17
The hardest day on the mile so far. The night before has wiped away my energy, the voice is hoarse and cracked and my legs feel like lead. We have a 1pm street stage spot, by far the earliest one to date, and boy its hard work. The usual patter seems to fall flat, our demeanour is a little beaten and enthusiasm appears a distant memory. This is made all the more challenging with the knowledge that we have sold a mere 2 tickets for tonight’s show. So we have to work. Now the flyering is working we know we have to be at it to gain a good audience. We yearn for an early night, a home cooked meal and some warm clothes that are not costume.
We have a good show and the ample enough audience comprises of a Spanish couple we had met in a bar last night, some friends from other shows and some hard won punters we got off the mile and down to the venue. It’s a hard but satisfying day and we are grateful to be at home before 8pm for the first time in 17 days! We eat mashed sweet potato and lentils… its all very comforting.
Today’s lesson … stay out all night drinking and the next day will be tough. We know this… and then we forget!
One weary Clark!
Day 18
The sun is shining this morning and despite some rain yesterday it has been fine for most of the time here. After some good sleep and spoonfuls of Manuka honey I am hoping my somewhat battered voice will hold up. We head into the centre for another 1pm street appearance and then meet Lisa, a lady who saw the show last night. She loved it and has a list of questions. Her enthusiasm for the show, and life in general, is incredible and she is promoting it, both the show and life, to everyone she meets. Lisa tells us she is terminally ill. We briskly hike to Summerhall to see ‘How a Man Crumbled’ in the demonstration room and then sprint back to Venue 13 for our show. It is a splendidly weird day… most of the shows that were at Venue 13 have finished and a whole new batch are on offer. This changes our routine in terms of who we see before and after shows. The new companies are brimming with enthusiasm, they have that look that we must have had when we arrived…. I wonder what we look like now?
The show is good… the voice holds up fine and we have fun. There are numerous Welsh theatre people in the house and we manage to get Kevin’s (Theatre Iolo) iPhone off him. He tracks us down rapidly after the show to retrieve it. As it is Monday, and we have a week of shows, a showcase at Dance Base and 2 more street shows, we have another early night. They are strangely addictive. We hear our host, Gemmie, is returning from his long drive to Mongolia shortly… and we look forward to his return. These early nights we hope will serve us well.
Today lesson… have faith and have fun in what you do. You just don’t know when it’s going to end.
If we had a pound for every photo…
Day 19
It is a bloody tough old game in the rain. The sunshine from yesterday has been replaced with heavy showers and this makes the usual trip up the mile more difficult. However once again the rain stops for us to do our street stage show and then starts again with a vengeance. We watch Cancer Time at Venue 13 and this is the perfect antidote to the poor weather. A brilliant play, performed beautifully, it has been getting excellent reviews but still there are only 10 people in the audience. We head out with flyers once again but the rain certainly makes engaging people on the street much more difficult.
The show tonight is our best to date. We have our biggest audience and they loved it. It was raucous, interactive and risque and they just lapped it up. We head out for a couple of beers with Sarah, Trish and the Tin Shed posse, all of who were there supporting the cause, and then returned home at a sensible hour. It is then that we meet our intrepid host for the first time, back from his adventures and The Mongolian Rally. We share stories and Gemmie introduces us to some fine, and I mean ‘fine’, whisky’s of which he has a fair collection. Vocal rest and abstinence was temporarily suspended. In such fine company what else could be done!
Today’s Lesson… enjoy the highs and take the lows for life is an unpredictable beast. That might be the whisky talking.
Spot the flyers
Day 20
It is still only Wednesday. This third week is a long one. In juxtaposition to last nights excellent numbers, by this morning we have sold a fat zero number of tickets. There are two reviewers coming from an online review site and the weather is stormy. We work the social media, leave messages etc and try to drum up a crowd. We take to the street stage for the 13th and final time and we present ourselves once again to a bemused public. This 1pm slot is the toughest … people watch but are reluctant to take a flyer. Today is particularly quiet on the mile… quiet in the respect of real punters, there are hundreds of us trying to sell our shows and for Joe Public it is an assault course of tableau’s, statues, singing nuns, large banners, props and determined flyer professionals. We leave early and get some vegan haggis samosa’s to warm up and then wonder off to see a play… The Eighth Day, which is very good.
We have a good show in the end… there are a number in the audience and they are very responsive. We get one of the reviewers on stage and he looks terrified. After the show I wait for the reviewers outside and gently threaten them… very gently. It is so late in the festival to review anything it seems a little pointless. We eat baked potatoes from Cockburn Street and then see Romeo and Juliet and get blown away by this amazing deconstruction of the play. When you can smell and feel the intensity of the performers you’ve got to love theatre.
Doubling up… the traditional and the strange
Lesson… Carys recommended that we meet our public outside after each show. We’ve done this for the last couple of weeks and it’s a really good way to finish the performance and connect.
Day 21
We met Welsh performers and programmers at a Creu Cymru night and shared stories etc. We also see an 11 minute epic at C-Nova. When something is great and just 11 minutes why try to do more? Remor is a stunning piece of work in a prison cell by a Spanish company. The cell is rebuilt in a wooden box and the audience is limited. Wonderful intimate stuff.
Lesson … don’t flesh it out for the sake of it!
Day 22
We perform at Dance Base to a packed house at 1pm. This is a mixed bill and we do a couple of scenes from the Medicine Show. Then we work the mile, looking for elusive punters. We have some joy. Today we calculate we have performed 37 times in all since we have been here and we’ve seen over 20 shows. It’s such a thrill to be able to present work as much as this… a real thrill.
Lesson… its easy to do 22 shows in 23 nights, its not so easy to do everything else that goes with that.
Haggis Samosa
So we have one show left. One final show at the fringe, one final bout of leafleting on the mile, one final fling with the public. It’s been the most amazing time, we’ve met the most amazing people. I know amazing is overused and even in this context it’s technically inaccurate, but at midnight and after a few beers in the Port Of Leith who cares about accuracy. We have one final review published in the Scotsman and its a good one, there are many useable quotes, much description and some incredulousness.
Next we return south after a couple of days here to chill and catch some more good vibes. We have tickets to see Stewart Lee on Sunday, we have 2 invitations to parties and there is Arthur’s Seat to climb. There is much more to reflect on and many lessons to consider but the whole experience has been quite something and one we would happily do again.
We have to say thanks to so many people and I won’t mention them all here but this would have been impossible without the support of Simon Coates, Gareth Lloyd Roberts, Ian ‘Gemmie’ Gemmill, Ali Williams, The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and all of the excellent venue 13 staff. Massive thanks to Carys and Raf, Alison and all of those people who gave us so much support here in Edinburgh.
Thank you for reading and good night
Gareth
Cheers