The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide


Book Description

'Ah! The Fringe! I can't think of a more delightful way of putting my liver, bank account, relationship, complexion, and mental stability under the greatest strain they've ever known!' Mel Giedroyc It is the world's largest arts festival, attracting everyone from student first-timers to Hollywood stars. Thrilling, inspiring and bewildering in equal measure, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe can make you a star or break your bank. So what is the secret of making it work for you? The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide draws on the experiences of the festival's leading figures - their disasters as well as their triumphs - to take you step by step through the process of making your show a success in the Scottish capital. From choosing a venue to keeping on top of the budget, from sorting out accommodation to securing the best press coverage, from generating word of mouth to making the most of a hit, this unique practical guide for performers, directors and producers helps you get your show the audience it deserves. Among those sharing their expert advice are playwright Simon Stephens, comedian Phil Nichol, actor Siobhan Redmond, producer Guy Masterson, Tiger Lillies front manMartyn Jacques, theatre critic Lyn Gardner, Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award director Nica Burns, as well as the directors of all the major Fringe venues, top press officers, international promoters and insiders from the Fringe Society itself. The foreword is written by playwright Mark Ravenhill.




How to Write About Theatre


Book Description

What do you do if you find yourself weeping in the stalls? How should you react to Jude Law's trousers or David Tennant's hair? Are you prepared to receive toilet paper in the post? What if the show you just damned turns out to be a classic? If you gave it a five-star rave will anyone believe you? Drawing on his long years of experience as a national newspaper critic, Mark Fisher answers such questions with candour, wit and insight. Learning lessons from history's leading critics and taking examples from around the world, he gives practical advice about how to celebrate, analyse and discuss this most ephemeral of art forms - and how to make your writing come alive as you do so. Today, more people than ever are writing about theatre, but whether you're blogging, tweeting or writing an academic essay, your challenges as a critic remain the same: how to capture a performance in words, how to express your opinions and how to keep the reader entertained. This inspirational book shows you the way to do it. Foreword by Chris Jones, Chief theater critic, Chicago Tribune




The Edinburgh Festival


Book Description

True, the city's many summer festivals each maintain their own identities. And yet 'The Festival' has stuck as a shorthand which captures the truly eclectic experience of 'doing Edinburgh' which has made the city's very name synonymous with world-leading culture and performance. This book is the first to tell the complete history of the Edinburgh Festival. Arts writer David Pollock paints an extraordinary portrait of the growth, glory years and struggles of this global cultural phenomenon. He introduces a wide cast of key individuals and shows, including Fleabag, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Joseph Beuys, The Fall and Six The Musical. The Edinburgh Festival: A Biography provides a unique perspective on the social and cultural history of Scotland and its capital in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It will delight and intrigue all who have experience of the greatest festival in the world.




Starting a Theatre Company


Book Description

Exploring everything from company incorporation and marketing, to legal, finance and festivals, Starting a Theatre Company is the complete guide to running a low-to-no budget or student theatre company. Written by an experienced theatre practitioner and featuring on-the-ground advice, this book covers all aspects of starting a theatre company with limited resources, including how to become a company, finding talent, defining a style, roles and responsibilities, building an audience, marketing, the logistics of a production, legalities, funding, and productions at festivals and beyond. The book also includes a chapter on being a sustainable company, and how to create a mindset that will lead to positive artistic creation. Each chapter contains a list of further resources, key terms and helpful tasks designed to support the reader through all of the steps necessary to thrive as a new organisation. An eResource page contains links to a wide range of industry created templates, guidance and interviews, making it even easier for you to get up and running as simply as possible. Starting a Theatre Company targets Theatre and Performance students interested in building their own theatre companies. This book will also be invaluable to independent producers and theatre makers.




My Mum's a Twat


Book Description

Have you ever tried to sustain a relationship with a twat? It's hard work and you need to be completely not a twat yourself if you want any success in this. Which is really hard when you've just started being a teenager. (As if growing up wasn't hard enough already...) I remember thinking if you were 'the chosen' one, why does that mean your dress sense has to be so shit? A celebration of teenage rebellion and resilience. Anoushka Warden's debut play was directed by Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone and Jude Christian.




SWAT!


Book Description

In 'SWAT ' just-hatched housefly Buzzter gets instructions from Professor Halfbottle on how to survive the dangers in life, like being eaten by various animals and plants or killed by humans.




Six: The Musical - Vocal Selections


Book Description

(Vocal Selections). Six has received rave reviews around the world for its modern take on the stories of the six wives of Henry VIII and it's finally opening on Broadway! From Tudor queens to pop princesses, the six wives take the mic to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an exuberant celebration of 21st century girl power! Songs include: All You Wanna Do * Don't Lose Ur Head * Ex-Wives * Get Down * Haus of Holbein * Heart of Stone * I Don't Need Your Love * No Way * Six.




10 Nights


Book Description

"When Yasser decides to take part in itikaf, sleeping and fasting in the mosque for the last ten nights of Ramadan, he soon regrets his decision. But as he navigates smug worshippers, shared bathrooms, and recurring thoughts of chunky chips, Yasser's isolation forces him to confront a side of himself he's been trying to keep hidden."--Publisher's description.




The Scots


Book Description

History has always mattered to Scots, and rarely more so than now at the outset of a new century, with a new census appearing in 2011 and after more than ten years of a new parliament. An almost limitless archive of our history lies hidden inside our bodies and we carry the ancient story of Scotland around with us. The mushrooming of genetic studies, of DNA analysis, is rewriting our history in spectacular fashion. In The Scots: A Genetic Journey, Alistair Moffat explores the history that is printed on our genes, and in a remarkable new approach, uncovers the detail of where we are from, who we are and in so doing colour vividly a DNA map of Scotland.




Lift As You Climb


Book Description