Supplement to Theatre Record
Edinburgh Fringe 2009
Introduction
On this page in the 2007 Edinburgh supplement (I’m afraid this collection is so hideously, shamefully late in appearing that I can’t simply say “last year”), I commented on “a marked divergence of views as to which shows deserved to be garlanded” with awards. In 2008, by contrast, they clustered so decidedly around the same shows that, once the International and Traverse shows and Fringe First recipients have been covered, the reviews of all other significant award winners can be accommodated in five pages here. The (hopefully temporary) absence of Aurora Nova and its programme of international physical/visual theatre from the programme left a further gap to be filled. This has been done by trying to make a virtue out of the delay in assembling this supplement, and printing reviews of shows which subsequently came to London.
Even this strategy, however, covers all the usable reviews of seven productions in a mere three pages. It seems the critical net was simply not being thrown as wide in 2008.
This is partly due to that perennial cause for lament, the decline in the space and resources given to Edinburgh coverage; in 2008, I was the only critic to remain in Edinburgh for the entire duration of the Fringe (the redoubtable Lyn Gardner being called away, sadly, by the death of her mother). My prediction for 2008 also came true, as the number of shows in the Comedy section of the Fringe programme for the first time outnumbered that in its Theatre pages. This trend had been recognised by the “big four” Fringe venues, who banded together to promote their collective comedy slate as the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. In the weeks and months preceding Fringe 2008 there had been much speculation as to whether this new beast would deliver a body blow to the main Fringe.
In the event, however, the Fringe Society took care of that itself. The Comedy Festival never really registered a significant effect, because in 2008 it was too much of a problem selling tickets for any production of any kind at any venue. The utter inadequacy and rapid collapse of the newly commissioned Fringe central ticketing system led to chaos, as shows were over-, under- or unsold. Even as I write this, six months on from the Fringe season (and apologies once again for being so late), some companies have not yet received all of their ticket revenue from their venues in a knock-on effect from the Fringe catastrophe. The Fringe Society’s director Jon Morgan rapidly fell on his sword (his successor has not yet been appointed), and the Society’s board promised not one, not two, but three separate inquiries into various aspects of the matter. The report promised for October 2008 publication appeared early in February 2009, and is breathtakingly damning; of the reports due in November 2008 and February 2009, there is no sign. (Mind you, we’re not in much of a position to condemn them for that...)
One way or another, intentionally or not, Edinburgh 2008 was a year of transition; as well as those other factors, the global economic downturn will ensure that Fringe 2009 looks rather different. So here, through the main reviews, is a picture of a changing Fringe.
Ian Shuttleworth