Elizabeth Smith leaves ‘fascinating’ 17-year role on the Fringe chair

Baroness Elizabeth Smith was appointed to the role of Fringe chair just months after taking up a place in the House of Lords in 1995.

Three years after steering the Fringe though the biggest crisis in its history with the collapse of its box office and sudden resignation of its director, she said she had decided to step aside because it was time for “fresh thinking” at the top.

It is thought the Fringe will be seeking a higher-profile chair of its Fringe Society, who will be charged with promoting the event, helping to secure more stable funding and building better links with other major events, such as the Edinburgh International Festival.

Baroness Smith’s tenure has coincided with huge growth for the Fringe, which now sells almost two million tickets each year. She has worked with four different bosses of the festival.

Back in 1995, the Fringe sold just 163,531 tickets and was valued at £69 million. The most recent figures value it at £141m.

However, the last 17 years also saw a bitter row when the Fringe shifted its dates away from those of the official Festival, complaints about the over-commercialisation of the festival and fears about the growing costs for performers and audiences.

The Fringe was also brought to the brink of bankruptcy by the box office debacle, and was rocked by boardroom splits only last year, when two rival promoters went head-to-head to win one seat on the new board.

Baroness Smith, who is the current president of Scottish Opera, succeeded Dr Jonathan Miller in the role, and was only the fifth chair in the Fringe’s history.

She said she would be stepping down formally in August, when the Fringe hosts its annual general meeting, although the post will be formally advertised over the next few months.

“I have decided that it is time for some fresh thinking and for someone new to lead the board into the future,” she said. “However, this being the Fringe there is no prospect of taking the foot off the accelerator or winding down gently.

“Serving the Fringe board has been more fascinating and enthralling than I could ever have imagined when I joined.

“If I have learnt anything over that time it is that the enduring strength of the Fringe is in people coming together and collaborating to create something truly unique and far, far greater than the sum of its parts.”

Fringe chief executive Kath Mainland, who was appointed by the board almost three years ago, said: “Elizabeth Smith has offered many years of sterling service to the Fringe through her chairmanship of the Fringe Society.

“As the Fringe is an open-access arts festival, the society does not select participants but provides services that support the event.

“Therefore, chairing the society is a job that involves rolling your sleeves up and making sure that everything the talented performers, writers and venue managers need is ready and waiting for them.

“It is not the most glamorous job, but a crucially important one. I personally found, like my predecessors, it hugely beneficial to be able to speak to, and seek advice from, someone with such a breadth of experiences of all the challenges we face.”

Pip Utton, vice-chair of the Fringe, added: “Elizabeth played a huge role in helping the Fringe to weather the box office storm of a few years ago.

“There was a lot of flak flying around back then and she was a very calming influence in keeping the boat afloat at what was a very difficult time.”

Through good times and bad, the show always went on

Highs and lows of 17 years at the helm of the Fringe:

1995: Baroness Elizabeth Smith is appointed chair of the Fringe. The full programme is made available on the internet for the first time.

1996: The Fringe is embroiled in a legal action with ice stars Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean over the cancellation of a show at Ingliston.

1997: The Fringe announces it will start on a different weekend from the Edinburgh International Festival from 1998 – breaking a 50-year tradition.

1999: Ms Strong announces she is quitting as Fringe director after five years in the post. She is replaced by the Queen’s Hall’s general manager, Paul Gudgin.

2000: The Fringe extends its run by a week so that it finishes at the same time as the Edinburgh International Festival – but the experiment is an expensive flop.

2001: Two key venues, Cafe Graffiti and The Palladium, are lost, but the Underbelly opens below George IV Bridge.

2002: The Fringe sells more tickets than the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

2003: The 6,500-capacity Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston becomes the biggest ever Fringe venue. More than a million Fringe tickets are sold for the first time.

2004: Hollywood actor Christian Slater brings star power to the Fringe in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.

2005: The Fringe is valued at £75m, but cancels free performances at The Mound claiming it cannot afford to provide stewards and stages.

2006: More than 1.5 million tickets are sold for the first time. Blackwatch, the National Theatre of Scotland’s new show, wows audiences and critics. Perrier ends its backing of the main comedy award.

2007: Paul Gudgin steps down as Fringe director and is replaced by Manchester-based theatre producer Jon Morgan.

2008: The Fringe’s box office suffers repeated problems and ticket sales slump. Jon Morgan quits.

2009: The Fringe scraps the post of director and hires its first chief executive, Kath Mainland. Ticket sales rise again.

2010: The biggest shake-up in the history of the Fringe is ordered by its board to give performers and venues a bigger say. RBS ends its backing of the Fringe.

2011: The Fringe records a profit of £300,000 - two years after being taken to the brink of bankruptcy. A new study finds the Fringe is now worth £140 million.