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FunTranscript
00:00 Hi, my name's Libby and I'm part of Winging at the Musical with Chevron Theatre at Space on the Mile this year.
00:04 Performance name is Roxy Stardust, my name is Kirsty White, I'm from Glasgow and I have got a show called The Big Burlesque Hangover and I'm part of the Illicit Thrill.
00:13 My name is Julia Roofie and I'm in a play called Three Sisters and Them and that's at the Space in Surgeons Hall and it's every night.
00:22 My name is Joseph Richards, I'm from the US and this is my show Breaking Up With Jesus, it's my story about growing up evangelical in the US South and how that warped my sense of sexuality, of gender identity, my relationships with people.
00:36 I couldn't tell them I loved them, I had to talk about Jesus and so this is the show where I get to break up with him every night and get out of that relationship and find a little bit of healing.
00:44 It certainly is more expensive than it used to be, this I think is the first year it's really back to how it was before Covid.
00:53 I've noticed a huge decline in all performers, not tourists that said they're always going to come here but there's been a huge decline in artists that don't live in the city.
01:04 Altogether there's been a huge decline in artists that are actually in the city wanting to participate as well, mainly because of how much everything costs including venues.
01:12 Projects like these are so valuable to just get experience and meet people and network and The Fringe is so integral for that because you can get involved with something almost definitely, there's so much.
01:23 The Fringe means chaos, it means self-doubt, it means love, it means accessibility, it means challenges, it means an opportunity and obstacles, it sort of means all those things.
01:39 It's things like this that keep the faith in the industry to an extent and keep the faith with us as young performers trying to get projects and get work.
01:49 For me The Fringe is about really learning your art and I usually say that you will come to Fringe and regardless if you make money you'll still lose money, it's inevitable.
02:01 I'm even living in the city, you lose money but it really helps you find out what you're good at, how to deal with different audiences, you can try things here that you can't try anywhere else in the world.
02:10 It just really helps you focus and to find out what you're good at, there's a million shows going on, you will always find someone that's willing to give you a chance.
02:18 I think I've always been really fascinated with the way that you can be moved by art.
02:23 I've always been very musically inclined and when you're young and you hear a piece of music for the first time and you feel something, I couldn't understand how that works and I think that fascination with being able to move people just from art.
02:37 I think as a performer it means figuring out how to tell your story in a way that it's not so much that you're trying to get an audience but you're trying to let the audience know who they are.
02:47 This is a story for you and I think you'll like this and then being surprised at the unexpected moments that you have throughout the entire thing.
02:57 Inherently it is a selfish thing to want to pursue, I'm not being a nurse or whatever.
03:03 Equally I don't think there's anything quite as human as feeling and being moved and having hope and all of these amazing things that quite a lot of the time art can bring out and you can indulge in that feeling and I think that's really important.
03:15 The price of things is probably pushing out some people who haven't got very much money to spend and I think that's both creatives and audience because if you come up for a few days and you see a few shows, you can go to Spain for two weeks.
03:30 There is funding available but I wouldn't even be able to tell you what the funding for even Scottish performers are the whole year round.
03:38 Financially not accessible, that is like the hardest thing I think especially as somebody coming from the States, I'm a grad student so I have very little money.
03:46 Fortunately we have some very kind friends who helped us fundraise to get here.
03:50 I think a huge thing is the fact that a lot of the big venues don't take chances in local compilation shows and those are the ones that can create work because we live here.
03:58 It isn't costing us so much to come through especially if you're in Edinburgh and we can create work for people who are travelling, pay them more and then they also have more money just to eat.
04:09 I don't think it's really open to especially international performers for that way just with everything you're paying for.
04:16 But I think it is still the place to be if you've got a show.
04:21 As far as disability accessibility, I'm from the South in the US and we don't really have a lot of options there but I have found a lot of good options here.
04:30 There's been sign language interpreters, there's been low distraction environments so I've found that there's a really good focus on accessibility.
04:39 I associate the Edinburgh Fringe with pure celebration and an outburst of joy and creativity and talent and there's so little judgement with it all, like anything goes.
04:51 A big thing I would like to see, when I was at Adelaide Fringe they gave shows the option to give any pass holder free entry to shows and I would like to see that maybe happen on a Wednesday or a Tuesday on a quiet day.
05:04 I spent a lot of money to go to Australia and when I got there I was like actually this is a nice thing that another artist has done for me.
05:11 Being an international festival, having more opportunities for international performers because I know a lot of the funding sources that are available for fringe artists are often UK based artists only.
05:24 So that's a huge barrier to coming over here and even just a small thing, I was chatting with another group of solo performers today, a small thing of knowing exactly what you're getting with the venue rentals and the money you're paying.
05:36 So where is that going to? It's including this, some itemised sheet, even that transparency I think would go a great way towards that financial accessibility.
05:45 I would generally just like to see there be more support for artists and whether that be everybody being told right you've got to take a Monday off, you have to do that.
05:56 Some people might moan and argue about it but it would also give someone a mental break from the Monday.