The freedom fighters

Published on Saturday 8 August 2009 19:53

BEHIND the bar in the Forest Café, Bernie Greenwood is serving Midnight Sun beers and organic elderflower fizz, wearing a necktie, an appropriately hung bar towel, and nothing else.

In Bristol Hall, part of the caf's sprawling domain, reached through a fairy tunnel of green lighting, the duo Panda Su, aka Suzanne Shaw, and Jaxadram from St Andrews, are playing what might be dreamy alternative folk. It's laid-back, free, and unremittingly youthful – there are no camera-carrying American tourists here, or 40-something Fringe veterans. It is set, it is said, to become the trendiest venue of this year's Fringe.

The Forest Fringe doesn't officially open for business until next week, the Fringe's second, with shows like The Marshmallow Test and Sporadical. But the Forest Caf is already a hub for Edinburgh counter- culture, a place, says Greenwood, where "people who don't fit in anywhere else end up".

The planned Forest Fringe, with a daily line-up of free shows through the second half of August, is being hailed as a flagship of the "Fringe of the Fringe". A collection of novel, free-wheeling festival outfits are offering free or cut-price festival shows and low prices for performers to rent space.

They claim they are taking the Fringe back to the future, pledging to operate in stark contrast to the slick commercial techniques of the major operators, and the TV comedians.

Celebrities such as award-winning comedian and television star Robin Ince is performing without charge as part of Peter Buckley Hill's Free Fringe. "We have the support of major names," said Buckley Hill. "He is performing with us this year, he could fill a venue by himself but he prefers to be with us."

The Laughing Horse Free Festival – in an often confusing rivalry – is promising its "biggest and best selection" this year of 233 different shows across 14 venues. Both groups have seen about a 50 per cent rise in line-ups, and Buckley Hill says: "I defiantly believe that in ten years time 70 per cent of the Fringe will be done our way."

Is it the future of the Fringe? "I think it's the past of the Fringe," says Greenwood, who has volunteered at the Forest for several years, and decided with a friend to go naked on Thursday nights. "People who've got a couple of decades on me say that. We are doing our own game. We will never charge for an event. Making it free means you only get people that want to be here."

In 1947, the first Edinburgh International Festival was held in a bid to celebrate European culture and lift spirits after the Second World War. But when eight theatre companies turned up uninvited and staged their own shows, a 'fringe' round the official festival was born, which would eventually dwarf it in size.

The next decade saw the Fringe develop its identity with a central box office and a Festival Fringe Society with a board and constitution. Milestones ran from the premier of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead in 1966 to the hiring of the first administrator in 1971. In 1972, 45 new plays premiered and the Scotsman Fringe First Awards were launched. Eddie Izzard, Frank Skinner and Stephen Fry are just a few of the big names who have cut their teeth during Edinburgh summers.

So far this year, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is not facing the kind of immediate crisis of confidence that the box office failures brought in 2008. Instead, with a new and widely respected director, Kath Mainland, it is taking on broader issues.

One of them is whether the Fringe, and the city, are in danger of killing the impetus and originality of the event with the over-pricing of tickets, venue spaces, and accommodation. When big venues' charges – including infamous up-front guarantee payments – mean performers struggle to break even and when big television comedians are sucking the money out of aspiring newcomers, is it time for a revolution?

The Fringe is a moveable feast, a changing beast that will regenerate itself, it's said. Just as the original Fringe started with a handful of acts in response to the lofty official Edinburgh International Festival, it's said the burgeoning free, or cut-price operations are becoming the new Fringe in a time of recession. Just by sheer weight of numbers, the move is gaining strength.

This year sees the launch of a whole new cut-price venture, the Five Pound Fringe. At least 70 have signed on, including Mark Watson with the last of his 24-hour comedy marathons, stand-ups Stephen Grant and Alistair Barrie, and a sketch comedy show with rising newcomer Mike Wozniak, among others.

"In a nutshell, the logic is that ticket prices are going up and up across the board," said co-founder John Briley. "We particularly felt that 5 in an arts festival was about the right price to pay to come and see a comedy show, especially when you are asking people to take a chance, on things they may not particularly like. For 5 they are more likely to go out and discover talent, try on someone they haven't heard of."

A lot is being claimed for the new low-price Fringe. Calvin Wytner is a US theatre promoter who has brought 85 shows to Edinburgh since 2004, often in the biggest venues. This year he has 15.

Some are shows flown in at a considerable price that demand paying space, like the Australian actresses doing Disney gone horribly wrong in Princess Cabaret. But this year he's putting a variety show, MacKenzie Taylor & Friends, into the Five Pound Fringe.

"The Free Fringe and the 5 Fringe are going to bring things back to what we were," he said. "It gives that opportunity for that independent experience, to do something that's groundbreaking. You have total freedom. "

The problem with performing in a major venue in Edinburgh are the deposit and guarantee system. Some, like the Pleasance, work on formulas published openly on the web: the venue's share is 40 per cent, while the deposit payable in advance is 40 per cent of that. But in some cases acts find themselves paying larger guarantees up front, Wytner said.

"It's impossible to recover your money unless you are a star," he said. "It's the Free Fringe and the 5 Fringe that allow you do to what you want and have a chance to break even." At the moment, the average cost of coming to Edinburgh is 8-10,000," he said. "That's about how much the average artist makes in a year."

A great deal is being claimed for the free Fringe crowd. Will they live up to it? The former Pleasance director Christopher Richardson has seen the event transform over the last three decades.

"We are always going back to the Fringe's roots," he said, caustically. "The Fringe's roots are just to be here, and thrive. Things that don't help is when famous people come and do things for 5. They are stealing money from the ones who are desperately trying to survive, and need it. To do it for less than the commercial worth of it makes everything difficult for everybody else."

The Assembly's gala opening this year, at its big Assembly Halls venue, was a far cry from The Forest. From the Soweto Gospel Choir to Jason Byrne and newcomers like the gut-churning Circa, an Australian circus-dance show, it captured the commercial spirit of the Fringe establishment.

Assembly, under William Burdett-Coutts, celebrates its 30th anniversary next year. Burdett-Coutts announced that it has garnered a quarter of the tickets sold on the Fringe to date this year. He called his venue the bridge between the Fringe and the Edinburgh International Festival.

Asked about the free Fringes, he said: "My view would be it's great for those that want to do it and it fills a gap for the public and it works. If you need a rich mix at the other end of the fringe, you need a section where people pay reasonable prices for shows that sustain the costs of putting them on. We have professional theatre companies here, and without charging a reasonable theatre price they can't earn a living."

Asked if a revolution is in the making, he says no. "I think it's a good stunt. Ultimately, it can't replace quality work, nor should it. I think it will carry on as an interesting bit of the mix, if they have the energy to keep at it, but I don't think it will replace the rest of what's happening here."

Ten performances that won't cost a penny

1. Fooling Workshops In Improvised Theatre

With Jo Tremarco and Danny Mullins from the Nomadic Academy of Fools.

The Forest Hall, The Forest Cafe, 3 Bristo Pl. 10-12 Aug, 1pm-5pm. Tel [phone]

2. Arthur Fowler's Allotment

Performances by magicians, poets, comedians and musicians.

The Counting House, 38 West Nicolson St. 8,15,22,29 Aug, noon (1hr). Tel [phone]

3. Robin Ince Versus The Moral Majority

Angry tirades then quiet musings from the TV star and comedian.

Canons' Gait, 232 Canongate, 19-30 Aug, 8.25pm (1hr). Tel [phone]

4. Afternoon Tea

Gemma Leader and David Kelly perform stand-up comedy.

Speakeasy at the Voodoo Rooms, 19a West Register St. 8-28 Aug, 3.40pm (1hr). Tel [phone]

5. Santino Caberetino

Variety show featuring comedians, music and magic.

Rowan Caves, 16 Niddry St Sth. 8-29 Aug (not 10,11,17,18,24,25), 11pm (50mins) Tel [phone]

6. Gobstoppers

Frances Healy and Julia Sutherland perform their own brand of comedy.

The Grape, 12-13 St Andrew Sq. 22-29 Aug, 7pm (1hr). Tel [phone]

7. The Glitter Kittens

Manchester's first burlesque troupe present their special revue show.

Rowan Caves, 16 Niddry St Sth. 18-22 Aug, 3.30pm (1hr) Tel [phone]

8. Jeff Leach Needs Therapy

A dose of therapeutic laughter to tackle heartbreak, alcoholism and a misplaced fixation on fame.

Rowan Caves, 16 Niddry St Sth. 8-14 Aug, 3.30pm (1hr). Tel [phone]

9. Improvised History Of Poetry

From Shakespeare to Dr Seuss, Homer to Hip-Hop.

Fingers, 61a Frederick St. 8-29 Aug, 3.10pm (1hr). Tel [phone]

10. I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!

Musical show takes on the truths and myths behind "the relationship".

City Cafe, 19 Blair St. 25, 27-29 Aug, 7pm and 11pm (1hr). Tel [phone]