The Edinburgh Fringe 2007
Here is where it starts!
The 2007 Edinburgh Fringe programme arrived this morning. To be accurate, four copies of the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe programme arrived this morning because, for some reason, they’ve sent me copies for three of our reviewers as well as my own.
And, as I said, this is where it starts. Here’s what’s going to happen:
All 14 BTG reviewers are going to start poring through the 288 page book - that’s what it is: 288 A4 pages listing everything that’s going to happen between 5th and 27th August: children’s shows, comedy, dance and physical theatre, events, exhibitions, music, music theatre and straight theatre, together with a full guide to all 380 venues.
Each of us will be marking the shows we want to see and, at my request, dividing them into Must See, Would Like to See, Would Be Willing to See. Then they’ll send these lists to me and it will be my job to allocate shows to reviewers, being as fair as I can be and trying to ensure that each reviewer gets as many of their Must See shows as possible.
14 reviewers and 2000+ shows - it is going to be a nightmare! But it has to be done because each publication is allowed just one press ticket per show. I will create a massive spreadsheet in which everyone’s wishes will be entered and then the fun part begins: I go through it, trying to allocate shows to reviewers.
Once that’s done - and it takes weeks! - I send the spreadsheet to everyone and wait for the inevitable moans and requests. If I’ve made mistakes - and I defy anyone not to in this situation - I’ll correct them and send out the final copy.
Then it’s up to each reviewer to book their tickets through the press offices. But before they do that, they have to plan their own diaries. With shows startng as early a ten in the morning and some running in the early hours of the morning and with a huge range of starting times in between, careful planning is essential. And, of course, one of the things you have to take into consideration is the distance between venues. It’s OK choosing to see a show which finishes at, say, 7pm followed by another which starts at 7.15 if they are in the same or adjacent venues, but if the venues are on opposite sides of the city…
And those were the right words - press offices, for, although most venues distribute press tickets through the Fringe Press Office, the bigger venues don’t. For them, you have to book through their own offices. In some cases they even have to get clearance from a show’s producers.
Most of us will see between four and seven shows a day, each averaging an hour in length. But, of course, you also have to allow for mundane things like travelling from venue to venue, eating, and even just catching your breath. And then there is the necessity to write the reviews. There’s no point leaving it till the end of your visit: by that time you’ll be so punchdrunk that they’ll all have merged into one, so the reviewer has to work time for writing into the day - and for accessing email so that reviews can be sent to me on a regular basis, preferably daily.
Fortunately there are computers with Net access available in the Fringe Press Office and even some venues which have wi-fi. Landladies are usually good, too, about allowing reviewers to plug their laptops or PDAs into their phone lines - and, failing all else, there are Internet Cafes.
Is it any wonder that most reviewers return home from Edinburgh desperately needing a holiday!