EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009: BEHIND THE SCENES - Today's The Day

Today is the day it all begins. Our show, Time Out of Joint, has its opening night (or day really, as it's at 2.45pm) today, our first audience and our first reviewer in attendance. After weeks of rehearsals, now the performances really count, and as the PR manager I'm hoping I've managed to lure in plenty of punters.

We arrived in Edinburgh on Saturday and since then I have explored the town and met with friends who, like me, are reviewing for Three Weeks magazine, but mostly I have been planning for our publicity campaign, Shakespeare at the Fringe. In a moment of perhaps unwise ambitiousness, I took on the task of organising an umbrella campaign for all of the Shakespeare-related productions at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. Our plans include a photocall where Time Out of Joint's William Shakespeare (played by Peter Ormond) will meet characters from Fringe productions of his plays, and an awards show at the end of the month where we will celebrate the best and the worst of Shakespeare at the Fringe. We've also set up a website to showcase the immense variety of Shakespeare productions at the festival this year, ranging from Ophelia Drowning (set in a swimming pool) to Big Mac, a retelling of Macbeth set in 1950s Hollywood.

Having never been to the festival before, I'm learning quickly about all of the venues and the theatre companies' reputations. It seems that C Venues, where our show will be put on, work their staff really hard and you'll be lucky to find anyone over the age of 25 working there, but nonetheless it does seem to be quite well organised considering how quickly they've had to put together a massive event. The first show I'll be reviewing is in C as well, but I'm looking forward to visiting some of the other venues later in the week. I hope I'll be assigned to see something in the upside-down purple cow, the Udderbelly, at some point, and the Pleasance venues are supposed to be great. I'd prefer to avoid the play which is set in a 'found space', a posh way of describing a squat, though!

Something no-one seems to be looking forward to is the Royal Mile, whether they'll be on the giving or receiving end of the flyers. The road is famed for being a scary place at fesival time, as you have to race through with your head down if you want to avoid being forced to take flyers from every one of the 3,000-plus shows being performed at this year's festival. The Mile is equally difficult for performers, desperate to distribute their flyers without seeming too desperate. Despite my reluctance to take part in either of these activities (why do I need flyers when I already have a programme?) I must admit I'm quite looking forward to seeing what novel approaches other companies have come up with to get all the attention on their show.

I'll update you soon with more gossip from the Fringe and my thoughts on the shows I'll be seeing in the next few days. Until then, leave a comment if you're in any shows and I might just pop along and see you before I get too frantically busy!

 

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