The Fringe Launches Today

The Edinburgh Fringe

The Fringe Launches Today

Dateline: 3rd August, 2003

Although many shows have been previewing for some time and many venues launched their seasons on Thursday, officially today is the start of the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe. The BTG's coverage starts tomorrow, Monday 4th, although it may take a day or two before the first reviews are online.

For the reviewer - for the three BTG reviewers certainly! - the Fringe is a hectic time. We try to see as many shows as we can in the time we're there, and that usually means five or six shows a day. We try to arrange things so that we don't have too much rushing from venue to venue to do, but that's not always possible, so mad dashes up (or, oddly, less frequently, down) The Mound, or a sprint the length of High Street, or a dash from the Underbelly to C to the Pleasance and then back again, are part and parcel of the reviewer's days in Edinburgh. And there are so many hills!

Of curse, for us, like for the performers, it all started weeks ago. I've been receiving dozens of press releases a day by email and snail mail since the beginning of July. What amount of bandwidth (and, worse, trees!) is consumed every year by the Fringe I hate to think.

There's no doubt that the number of press releases is higher this year than ever before. Companies are becoming more and more publicity conscious - as they need to be, with so many shows vying for the attention of audiences and critics alike.

But it's not just the reading of press releases which takes up the time. Choosing what shows to see is hell! how do you choose? On the basis of known companies or writers, of course, and from the (brief) descriptions in the Programme, and, of course, from the press releases.

Then comes decision time. Who should review what shows? I make my "wish list": Catherine and Philip send me theirs. Guess what? We all want to see the same shows! Or, at least, our "must sees" overlap to an alarming degree. So slowly, over the weeks, compromises are reached and, eventually, we hope that we've been fair to everyone and that we will be coverng the shows which you, our readers, would most want to hear about. We'll actually cover less than a third of the shows on offer, but it will - we think - be the best third.

Here we go again!

By the way, if we are slower than usual to respond to emails during the next three weeks, please forgive us. We will respond, but it will take longer. Sorry!

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