Theatre that battles against the Edinburgh Fringe money makers

The Socialist Worker Online


Mark Brown picks out some encouraging signs of resistance to the commercialisation of the Edinburgh arts festival.

Taken together, the cultural programmes that take place in Edinburgh each August and September amount to the biggest arts festival on the planet.

The programme for the Festival Fringe alone dwarfs those of other famous festivals, such as Avignon in France.

However, for some time now there has been a danger of the Fringe putting commerce before culture as it becomes an ever larger “arts marketplace”.

The theatre programme seems to have become increasingly frivolous year-on-year, with a greater emphasis on light entertainment and celebrity.

This year, however, there are encouraging signs of resistance to the commercialisation of the festival. The expansion of the programme at the Summerhall venue, which only started last year, is especially exciting.

Brilliant Polish company Teatr Piesn Kozla (TPK) perform two shows, Macbeth, 9-11 August, and Songs of Lear, 12-24 August. And Italian group Teatro Sineglossa are putting on Remember Me from 21-26 August.