Fringe show from Nigeria cancelled amid visa row
Published Date:
16 August 2008
A VISA row broke out yesterday over a Fringe production from Nigeria cancelled at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds.
The Obong Akwa show, by the Cross River Dance Company, was to bring 27 performers to Edinburgh.
But the company failed to get appointments at the local British visa office in Nigeria until after the end of the Festival, it was claimed.
The production's UK spokeswoman, Fringe producer Marlene Zwickler, said she had seen nothing like it in 20 years at the Festival.
She claimed that the African producer she was working with had to deal with Nigerian officials taking his money and leaving him "totally broken" with last-minute obstructions.
He bought the artists' round-trip air fares as part of the visa application and now had to try to reclaim them.
Hundreds of tickets bought for the show have already been refunded and others will follow, she said.
A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said they had not received the applications as they had been held up in Nigeria.
The full article contains 182 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
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Last Updated:
15 August 2008 8:15 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
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Related Topics:
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
