Elsewhere, the story of a religious sect that commands its followers to use “butt plugs” plays out as a musical. In yet another room, a comedian sings the same song over and over for an hour. It is shows like these that have sustained the welcomingly weird and ungovernable lore of the Edinburgh festival fringe.
In recent years, though, the annual jamboree has been accused of becoming an increasingly commercially savvy entity. The radical experimentalism might just be intact, but does this now sit at the fringes of the fringe, rather than its centre? Francesca Moody, one of the festival’s superproducers, says that putting on a show here has become increasingly expensive.
When she produced Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s stage version of Fleabag in 2013, it cost about £10,000. By 2019, when she co-produced Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer, it cost about £40,000. Putting on a one-person show now, she says, costs her closer to £100,000.
The reasons for this, which have been well reported, include soaring accommodation costs, funding cuts and rising production costs. Some have argued that this might dial down the risky spirit on which the fringe was founded. The ethos was different when the financial risks were not as high, says Moody.
As a producer or as an artist, you’re working out what your voice is, and doing that over a number of years.” Artists and producers may now want more out of it too: to be scouted for the big-time with a transfer to London or, the ultimate dream, a television series in the mould of Fleabag or Baby Reindeer. Some high-profile productions have lined up transfers before their shows debut at the fringe. The Australian writer-performer Hannah Reilly’s show Roleplay, about a woman who becomes a “slutfluencer” – which is also produced by Moody – already has a London transfer.
As does Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It, featuring a clown duo who cause chaos in their town after faking Bigfoot sightings. Elsewhere, the musical Bliss, which turns the traditional fairytale story on its head, will travel to London with the backing of the entertainment company ATG. Moody believes the low-budget gems are still out there though.
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