Edinburgh Fringe venues go dark for 2000
A number of Edinburgh's Fringe theatre venues are to be dark during this year's event. Theatre Workshop is to close because of budget constraints, as director Robert Rae wants to concentrate on producing more consistently from September on. Edinburgh University is closing the George Square Theatre this year for renovation, but intends it to be used as a venue for the 2001 Fringe.
St Brides is to reduce the Continental Shifts at St Brides programme of dance and physical theatre even though last year was its best year ever in terms of box office. Work overload is blamed for the reduction.
Gilded Balloon director Karen Koren is not able to use the Palladium, the Honeycomb and Gilded Balloon 2 this year, but has obained permission to set up a tent in Princes Street Gardens.
"Don't use Assembly price hike as a precedent," Gudgin warns
Edinburgh Fringe director Paul Gudgin has warned venues not to use the huge increase in the rent for the Assembly Rooms as a precedent when setting their own charges. A souce in Edinburgh City Concil, speaking to The Stage agreed.
"If other owners are measuring their rent against that of the one-off deal with the Assembly Rooms," he said, "there will be some empty stages."
No new Welsh TIE deal till 2002?
Welsh TIE companies affected by the ACW's botched TIE strategy have hear unoffiically that there may be no reorganisation of provision until 2002, although originally ACW had expected to have a new programme in place for April 2001.
The five companies which had been awarded franchises in the now-abandoned strategy are still waiting to hear what compensation they will receive.
According to a report in The Stage, an entrant for the Vivian Ellis Prize for music theatre has attacked the judges for their unconstructive and unhelpful comments on this year's entries.
The entrant, an established writer who had entered purely for feedback as his work already has a regional and an off-Broadway production lined up, was horrified to receive comments like "Why oh why is this a musical?"
He felt that, had he been an amateur, he would have been "totally devastated" by the response he received.
The competition has had a record entry this year, with 270 writers creating 170 new musicals.
IR tightens rules: actors beware!
Accountant Robert Breckman has warned performers and others who are considering setting themselves up as limited companies for tax purposes that the Inland Revenue is to tighten up their scrutiny of such changes.
New legislation introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer aims to cut down on employees or freelance workers who seek to reduce their tax burden by turning themselves into limited companies.