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Dateline: 10th June, 2005

The 59th Edinburgh Fringe

The programme for the 59th Edinburgh Fringe, which runs from 7th to 29th August, has been published. It runs to over 200 pages, but some fascinating facts stand out:

• Fringe 2005 presents 26,995 performances of 1799 shows in almost 300 venues (2004 presented 25,326 performances of 1695 shows in 236 venues).
• An estimated 16,191 performers will be on Edinburgh’s Fringe stages.
• Theatre, as ever, is the most popular art form (653 shows, 37%), followed by Comedy (22%) then Music (21%). Musicals make up 5% of the programme, with Children’s Shows, Dance & Physical Theatre, Exhibitions and Events each providing around 4% of the programme.
• Over a third of all shows are World premieres. 8% are UK premieres, 6% European premieres.
• 167 shows at Fringe 2005 are absolutely free.
• It would take 5 years, 3 months and 25 days to see every performance back-to-back.
• Last year, the Fringe sold 1,253,776 tickets - the second time and second consecutive year that the Fringe sailed past the million-ticket barrier.
• The Fringe has a 75% market share of all attendance at Edinburgh’s year-round festivals.
• The Fringe’s on-line ticketing operation, on www.edfringe.com, fulfils 45% of the Fringe’s sales, making it one of the most successful arts websites in the UK.

Although more than 50% of shows are premieres of some sort, lovers of more classic theatre, old and new, are not left out. Shakespeare is well represented, with three productions of Dream, three of Twelfth Night (plus two musical versions), three of Romeo and Juliet (plus two spin-offs), seven of Macbeth (including the return of Theatre Babel's production and Frantic Redhead's ever-popular promenade version), and one each of The Comedy of Errors, The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew and The Tempest. Fans of Greek Tragedy can see Euripides' The Trojan Women, The Trachiniae and Medea and the complete Sophocles' Oedipus Trilogy.

Then there's Marlowe's Edward II, The Jew of Malta and Faust, and a variation on Ben Jonson's Volpone, as well as two productions of Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters.

For those who like their theatre more up to date, Brecht does pretty well, with, among others, productions of Mother Courage and Galileo. There are two productions of Strindberg's Miss Julie but no Ibsen this year. J B Priestley is represented by productions of An Inspector Calls and When We Are Married.

The perennial Fringe favourite David Mamet gets two productions of Oleanna and one of Sexual Perversity in Chicago (which appears every year somewhere on the Fringe), while Patrick Marber is represented by Closer and Tom Stoppard by The Real Inspector Hound. John Godber, as always, is well represented, with productions of Stags and Hens and Teechers, whilst Jim Cartwright's Two makes its annual appearance, as does Claire Dowie's Adult Child Dead Child. Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist gets two productions, and, of course, Albee's Zoo Story, Jary's Ubu and Becket's Waiting for Godot all make their regular appearance.

On the musicals front, G&S get four productions, including a singalong Trial By Jury. Fame, Hair, West Side Story, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Sweeney Todd, Joseph, Godspell, Guys and Dolls, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Secret Garden all make an appearance, as do The Hot Mikado and The Threepenny Opera. There are shows devoted to the music of Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Disney, Judy Garland and Kurt Weill. There are two musical versions of Twelfth Night and one of A Midsummer Night's Deam - and, with the delicacy for which the Fringe is noted, there's Lee Harvey Oswald - The Musical!

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©Peter Lathan 2005