To Free or Not to Free?

It’s odd to think that the Fringe, which started out as an antidote to the serious, polished nature of the International Festival, has for some time been by far the larger of the two festivals, both in terms of audience numbers and sheer volume of shows.

Odder still, of course, is that much of the fringe is now at least as expensive and exclusive as the International Festival which it is supposed to be ‘fringing’. Okay, so sold-out events at the International Festival like Porgy and Bess do charge up to £64 a seat, but equally, if you’re on a budget and were organised enough to book in advance, you could have paid just £14 for a ticket (albeit probably not the best seat in the house). And let’s not forget that this ticket is to see an internationally-renowned opera company (including orchestra and all the trimmings) performing one of the great modern operas in a fantastic modern theatre with proper seats, air-conditioning and ice creams at interval. And, of course, it’s the best part of three hours long.

Now, admittedly that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but purely in value terms, £14 spent on a seat ‘in the gods’ at the Festival theatre seems to compare rather favourably with the £18.50 (+ booking fee) that you pay to see a stand-up performer such as John Bishop perform an hour’s stand-up on a Saturday night. I have nothing against Bishop or indeed any of the other famous TV names performing at the festival, but there’s no denying that the dominance of big-name TV comics charging £15-20 for a ticket has meant that the dynamic of the fringe has changed. In short, much of the fringe isn’t really that ‘fringey’ any more.

As a result of this, there seems to have been something of a backlash in recent years. The redoubtable spirit of Peter Buckley Hill and his great Free Fringe has led the revolt, as has the Forest Fringe (which isn’t even part of the official fringe programme) and the Five Pound Fringe has provided a welcome middle ground between free shows and those at the upper end of the price scale.

I was really keen that my show should be part of this backlash. Having produced and performed in shows at the more mainstream venues, it seemed to me that the extra money producers pay for one of the ‘Big Four’ venues is very often not justified; unless you’re one of their flagship shows, the additional press support and kudos that supposedly comes from performing in these venues is very often wasted. The Free Fringe is great – indeed I’ve performed at it several times this year, usually as part of Robin Ince’s show Carl Sagan is still my God – but the standards of the venues vary, and my show is technical enough to need a decent PA system and lighting rig, which the Free Fringe can’t always guarantee.

With that in mind, I settled on the Five Pound Fringe. I’d seen loads of great shows there in 2009, the GRV is a fantastic space and the Five Pound Fringe is building a reputation for hosting some really innovative shows, which on successful days, I like to think my show is. Apart from all this, of course, I really support the fact that all shows are a fiver. It’s a simple idea, but one that to me brings back some of the mythical ‘spirit of the fringe’. Psychologically, it’s much easier to ask someone to come and see your show for a fiver than it is if it’s £9.50, and this means that people are often much more willing to take a risk, which is what the fringe should – at least partially – be about.

So this year, I feel like I’ve made the right choice. Yes, the GRV could be better known despite it’s great location. Yes, there have been power problems that have led to some shows being cancelled. Yes, even if you sell out your entire run, you’re not likely to make your fortune. But all of those points are true to some extent of nearly every venue at the Fringe; indeed because of the way fringe budgets work, you’re perhaps more likely to lose money as a small show in one of the ‘big four’ venue groups than you are at the Free Fringe or Five Pound Fringe.

But if you’re asking punters to place their bum on your seat – especially if that seat is in a roasting hot shoebox of a room, which, let’s face it most fringe venues (even in the ‘big four’ venue groups) are – I feel much better about asking them for a fiver than I do asking them to part with twice that to have exactly the same experience. Just think: if you see 3.7 shows at the Five Pound Fringe rather than the equivalent at one of the ‘Big Four’ then you’ll have saved enough to buy a ticket for John Bishop.

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