Features

Best of This Week’s Edinburgh Blogs – 7 Aug 2009

| London's West End |

7 August 2009

Every week our theatregoer reporter Corinne Furness trawls the web to find some of the best gems from the myriad theatre-related blogs and condense them into one easy-to-read “Best of the Blogs” round-up each Friday. Between now and the end of August, guess what her focus will be?…

The Edinburgh Festival may not officially begin until today (7 August 2009) but that hasn’t stopped UK theatre-bloggers already being camped out in the Scottish capital.

Whatsonstage.com’s bloggers were busy acclimatising to Edinburgh, settling into too-small flats and coping with final rehearsals. Edmund Digby-Jones, clutching a pile of flyers, was quick to take position on the Royal Mile – and took the time to share his best marketing ploys with us. Chris Grady reflected both on the floral tribute to Danny La Rue, which is gracing the foyer of his venue and the advice he’d give for those beginning to climb the Edinburgh mountain. Meanwhile, Sammy J pondered the cultural divide caused by the seemingly innocuous BBQ snack “Cheezels”.

Elsewhere, Emma Jones discussed both the caravan she’s intending to stay in during the festival and her role as playwright. For reviewer Louise Ridley, however, it was all about the Udderbelly – and, more specifically, what food each of the acts at the venue launch party could be compared to.

Finally, Cindy Oswin, in collaboration with the British Library, posted the first of her Edinburgh Festival video blogs in her bid to document the Fringe.

Edmund Digby-Jones on Whatsonstage.com –
Early Ruminations on Edinburgh, the Fringe & so on
“I am already getting back into the swing of flyering. My technique – copyrighted, incidentally – is to glare menacingly at all and sundry as though contemplating genocide, pick out a straggler, offer them a flyer, then refuse it on the grounds that their illiteracy makes whole transaction irrelevant.”

Chris Grady on Whatsonstage.com –
Musical Venue, Merry Widow Bar & Think Positive
“Venues often take risks on a show because you have persuaded them to give a space. Don’t put yourselves down. The moment you believe you are ‘just an amateur show’ then that sense will be felt by those around you… and your potential audience will sense failure before you start.”

Sammy J on Whatsonstage.com –
The Difficult Second Blog
“There are quite a few local references which are likely to go over the heads of UK audiences… One particular source of concern is the inclusion of a cheese-baked snack named ‘Cheezels’. Any Aussie will tell you that this is an essential part of any backyard BBQ or teenage party, but the closest I could find over here were ‘Wotsits’.”

The Culture Vulture, Emma Adams –
Butterflies singing around my belly – Forgotten Things enters week zero at the Edinburgh Festival
“It can be a bit lonely being the writer of a play. You’re like a visiting aunt who everyone is fond of (if rehearsals are going well), but who no one feels they can get drunk in front of. So they kind of welcome you into the rehearsal space but look forward to you leaving too!”

Cutting the Fringe, Louise Ridley –
Get That in Your Belly

“Do we ever consider her, this purple beast who sleeps upside-down among us? She has needs, and wants; her belly too must be filled. Perhaps we can imagine tonight’s acts as food inside her majestic stomachs… what would be her dish of choice?”

For full coverage of Edinburgh 2009, including reviews, interviews, news, gossip, blogs, features & videos,
log on to Whatsonstage.com/Edinburgh2009!