Lady Boys of Bangkok are bound for Edinburgh despite Fringe cancellation

It is the singalong cabaret show that has been a staple of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for 21 years.

The Lady Boys of Bangkok have built up a huge following at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe over the last 21 years.

Now the Lady Boys of Bangkok are planning to shrug off the coronavirus pandemic and the official cancellation of the event to return to the city this summer.

One of the longest-running Fringe shows, which is believed to sell more tickets than any other in the festival, will have a three-and-a half-week run in the city if it is given the official green light.

A 500-capacity circus tent is again planned to be erected in Fountainbridge, which has been home to the Lady Boys in recent years, despite the plug being pulled on the Fringe, the International Festival, the Tattoo and the city’s book and art festivals on 1 April.

The Lady Boys of Bangkok are seen by around 25,000 fans at the Fringe every year.

Promoters of the Lady Boys, who normally attract an audience of around 25,000 each August in Edinburgh, say they are hoping that Scottish Government restrictions on events will be relaxed in time to allow this summer’s run of around 50 shows to go ahead.

However they have also pledged to try to bring their new show - Flight of Fantasy - back to Edinburgh later in the year if they are forced to scrap the planned run in August.

Theatre industry insiders have questioned the wisdom of selling tickets for the show when it is unclear if any of Scotland’s performing arts venues will be able to reopen this summer.

One producer said: “There is no point in planning or promoting anything until the restrictions start to lift and it becomes clear if events can go ahead. That’s a long way off.”

However the circus director behind the Lady Boys show since it was first stages at at the Fringe said around 80 per cent of tickets for its annual run are sold within the Edinburgh area, with a large repeat audience turning out every year.

Although the Fringe Society, which runs the official box office and publishes the full programme for the festival, has admitted it does not have the power to cancel the “open access” event, the biggest venue operators agreed to suspend planning for this year’s festival and took shows off sale after the joint cancellation announcement.

Refunds have been offered for nearly 500 shows which were already on sale across the festival.

However tickets for the Lady Boys show are on sale on their official website at up to £32-a-head. A final decision on these shows, which are due to feature 17 performers from Bangkok, will be delayed until late June or early July.

A statement from the Lady Boys on their website said: “We’re very sorry to hear the news that this year’s Fringe is cancelled.

“We’d like to reassure all our wonderful customers in Edinburgh that we are independent of the Fringe and intending coming to our adoptive home, hopefully in August, or later in the year, once the restrictions have been lifted.”

Philip Gandey, artistic director of the Lady Boys show, said: “We’d love to be able to come to Edinburgh in August as we feel the show has been very much part of the fabric of the city for the past 21 years. That’s what we’re planning to do.

“When this is over people will want to have fun and that’s what we sell.

“But we won’t even contemplate playing these dates unless the Scottish Government and the city council say it is acceptable and the people of Edinburgh want us there. We won’t put economics over what is safe.”