Future Artists on The Art of Producing

As someone that has produced theatre at the Fringe for over a decade, how have you seen the Fringe landscape change over time?

Wow, a decade at the Fringe! I guess you can look at it as pre-COVID, post-COVID and then whatever this bit is in 2024 – cost of living post-COVID. The Fringe is always a space for theatre and performance to surprise, experiment and entertain. I would say pre-COVID, themes were autobiographical, lots of Fleabag-esque shows, and then post-COVID, I have started to see shows that reflect politics and technology, shows are becoming more interactive and shorter. The audiences post-COVID are looking for instant sharp hits, they want it to be fun and funny, maybe you can sneak a few messages in there... 

What important lessons have you learned over the years?

For me as a producer, I always tell my artists that the audience comes first: we are creating for them, not ourselves. The Fringe is about the audiences and they do change each year. For example, with fewer student audiences out here, the average ticket holder is 40+. So if you are in your 20s, what theatre or show are you going to create to connect with that audience. I watch documentaries about the Fringe, and see how it was set up to be anti-establishment by students back in the day – I guess the spirit of that is here – so the lesson here is, the Fringe changes, and over a decade of producing, one of my key jobs is to anticipate this change, as we go into production a year before the festival. My job is to imagine what audiences might want to see, before they even know! As you can guess, I am more of a creative producer with a time machine.

As a producer, what do you find special about Tartan Tabletop?

I discovered Tartan Tabletop playing their D&D comedy improv show on the Free Fringe. The entire crew had talent for improv – I thought it was scripted as it was beat perfect comedy and everyone played a role, the dynamic was perfect. I found out later they had a popular podcast, and the Free Fringe was their first outing as a show. That was 2022. I said to them, look if I can work with you, and we can hone this into the perfect 50 minutes, make it interactive, make people feel part of something, like an indie band, then I think we have something. The lesson here is, always nip in for a pint, no matter the time of day, and talent is often found in a backroom somewhere.

Why is the Free Fringe an important element of the festival ecosystem?

For Tartan Tabletop, Edinburgh is in their backyard, as half the crew are from here and the other half are from Glasgow, so it's home turf, but they are priced out – the Free Fringe gave them the space to actually perform at the Fringe in their own city! Crazy right? I've seen lots of cool, talented stuff on the Free Fringe, and every year I always check it out for moments like this, discovering people I am going to work with for a couple of years. It's the best social networking in the world – try it.

What are you hoping this year’s Fringe and the return to Gilded Balloon will bring for Tartan Tabletop?

Gilded Balloon took a risk with the show last year, I really had to blag it – a D&D comedy? Who would come? And we sold out our run, with audiences coming back three or more times to see the story unfold. We then invested everything we had and went to Australia to the Adelaide Fringe, and again, the show sold out and we got our first real reviews. So this year, the adventures are new, but we have some returning characters. Noblin the Goblin is back and each show they are played by a different guest comedian from the Fringe – so this unknown makes the show a comedy tightrope. If you saw us last year, you will know what we mean!

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For tickets head to gildedballoon.co.uk and follow @Tartantabletop on Instagram and Twitter