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Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Gyda Arber.
Just wanted to say thanks to Shay and everyone at the IT Awards for letting me blog this week! I've toyed with the idea of starting a theater blog, but I don't think I can keep up with the prolific-ness of the theater bloggers--so this is a fun way to get my feet wet.
I just got back from researching taking my show, Suspicious Package, to the Edinburgh Fringe festival. It was a great trip (and everyone was so nice!!) but wow, is it expensive! For everyone out there who complains about the cost of FringeNYC, let me just say, NY is a bargain compared to Edinburgh! My show has only one actor (me), and doesn't need a theater space, so I thought it would be a relatively cheap and easy show to take. Not exactly. I'm sure it's cheaper than most, but still....
It's £400 just to register. Add to that, everyone strongly recommends you take out an ad, which is upwards of 1000 pounds! I know we're getting killed on the exchange rates, but that's a ton of money. Then you need to find a venue, which usually charges you a 40% guarantee as a rental fee, plus housing, food, press agent, posters, flyers, flights.... I'm not sure how anyone does it, honestly.
I'm still pretty excited about taking my show, though the fundraising will begin in earnest soon! Anyone out there ever gone to Edinburgh? Was it super expensive? Did you make any $ back?
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I did the Laughing Horse Free Fringe last year. If you don't have a producer, I highly recommend doing that instead of the regular fringe. You don't have to rent out a venue and you just collect tips at the end of your show. You're going to lose money no matter what, so you might as well lose less. Also, I did the the early bird sign up and saved lots of money that way. You might want to consider holding off a year since you missed the early bird deadline. Ultimately, you should be prepared to flyer CONSTANTLY. It truly is a grind in that sense. But Edinburgh is beautiful, and I had a great time. Good luck!
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