Edinburgh 2012 (3)

My friend Milly who is 16 and just about to go to Brit School for two years of study has been staying here in Edinburgh with me. She is assisting with the show; front of house manager, stage manager, publicist and all round good egg support.  She is superness.  Whatever the debates and discussions concerning young people she is the living proof of what good parenting and great (state) education can achieve.  I salute her.

My time here continues to be full of downs and ups, the main issue is in persuading audiences to step away from the hubs of entertainment and come to an independent and (by those that run it) a not very well publicised venue.  I have found the perfect venue for the show but not for the Festival.  I am on the fringe of the Fringe and the mood of the festival appears to be no longer about experimentation and risk and seeing something that you will never see again but about seeing exactly what is known and safe.  I will be much better prepared in terms of what to expect if I return next year.  I have also learnt that you need a really good gang to help you; a gang that contains a variety of skills one of which is the role played by my friend Stephen who endlessly listens to me moaning on, picking and unpicking every nuance of every review and worrying worrying worrying about everything.

I am not yet able to reflect on the actual shows.  There is so much to unpick; my highlights for exploration so far are: the gaze of younger women, the gaze of men who attend not for the Art, the lack of critical and intelligent reviewing at the Festival, and what the whole being naked thing- what is there to say about that? Quite a lot.