The Stand secures Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms as Fringe venue

Salt ‘n’ Sauce Promotions, the company behind The Stand comedy clubs in Edinburgh and Glasgow, were yesterday confirmed as preferred bidders on a five-year lease for the venue. The Assembly Rooms are closed for Fringe 2011, but plans are in progress to relaunch the venue from next year.

It’s a breakthrough for The Stand’s owner, Tommy Sheppard, who has previously criticised the 2011 Fringe’s focus on the Bristo Square area. “One of the thing I’ve been concerned about in recent years has been the centrifugal forces at play in concentrating around the university area,” he told us. “I don’t think that’s good for the Fringe, I don’t think it’s good for Edinburgh. I’ve now got to put my money where my mouth is and rebuild the Assembly Rooms as one of the pre-eminent venues of the Fringe.”

This will be good news to regular Fringe performers, given The Stand’s positive reputation as a venue. Simon Munnery describes them as “a beacon of fairness in a sea of unfairness” and many acts will be hoping to see The Stand’s philosophy carried on into the new venture.

Hopes will also be high that the revamped Assembly Rooms will follow The Stand’s lead in supporting Scottish acts. Sheppard says that it’s early days yet in terms of announcing line-ups but adds; “I hope we’ll be able to put together a programme that not only provides a platform for Scottish talent but brings the best of the world to Edinburgh.”

The new venue will host a full Fringe programme of music and theatre as well as comedy, whilst The Stand will continue with its regular comedy line-up. It will be a long road from here to the 2012 Fringe, but the prospect of a major venue controlled by an independent local promoter is a definite cause for optimism.