The Edinburgh Festival Fringe defied its doubters and the recession yesterday with the biggest programme in its 63-year history, featuring a drag queen from Alabama who apparently tops the world Tupperware-selling league, Ricky Gervais and theatre from 60 countries.
Despite toiling under the legacy of last year’s box-office collapse — which threw the festival into financial chaos and prompted the resignation of its director — organisers have attracted more performers and companies than ever before: 34,265 performances of 2,098 shows in 265 venues. Last year there were 31,320 performances of 2,088 shows in 247 venues.
Kath Mainland, the new chief executive of the Fringe Society, said: “The fact that the programme is the same size — very slightly bigger — than last year is hugely heartening for us. We were not expecting that.”
She said that the Fringe’s finances were in good shape and that it had met its sponsorship target. Organisers had budgeted for fewer events than last year, she said.
For each of the past three years the Fringe has sold about 150,000 tickets. It generates tens of millions for the Scottish economy.
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Big names this year include Frank Skinner, Clive James, Denise Van Outen — and Alistair McGowan, who will be singing No?l Coward.
There will also be the usual mishmash of performing misfits who make Edinburgh’s streets such fun from August 7 to August 31. Among them is Dixie Longate, who is performing her one-woman hit show at The Pleasance, telling how she became the doyenne of Tupperware-selling. The Chippendales are performing a 21-night run of their male “erotic review”.
For the first time comedy makes up a full third of the Fringe programme. Performers include Gervais, Stewart Lee, Jimmy Carr and Jason Byrne. The Stand Comedy Club, however, is presenting serious drama: a revival of Gregory Burke���s acclaimed debut The Gagarin Way.
Fittingly for Scotland’s Year of Homecoming, a quarter of Fringe shows are homegrown — a big increase on last year. They will include two Muriel Spark adaptations. A special Made in Scotland programme, funded by the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund, includes two shows by the Scottish Dance Theatre.
Musicals feature heavily and this year’s offerings include the new works Chomp: A Zombie Musical and The Great British Soap Opera.
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There is also a rich selection of serious theatre including Palace of The End from the Royal Exchange Theatre Company, Manchester, and, from Balancing Act Productions, A Personal War, which recounts witness testimony of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.