EDINBURGH 2017: A Day At The Fringe- James Haddrell

James Haddrell, director of Under My Thumb blogs for BroadwayWorld to give us an insight into his day at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

In my role as Artistic Director of Greenwich Theatre a lot of my time is spent supporting young and emerging theatre companies turn their visions into a reality. Whether that means helping them to set up a company or to book a tour, to learn how to market a show or to work out how to achieve a particular lighting effect, I support companies in finding their voices and starting to be seen by a wider audience.

The Edinburgh Fringe is crucial to that, so every year I'm in Edinburgh with a host of companies helping them get their work on. For some mentor organisations that might mean a weekly coffee to check in and a "how to survive the fringe" pdf download. For Greenwich Theatre, with our very small, committed staff, supporting artists is a much more hands-on part of our work.

For me, a fringe day starts with an early morning email check - who needs what? Of Greenwich's ten supported shows I am working most closely with CultureClash Theatre this year on their production of Under My Thumb (which I have directed for the company) so I'll check in with the producers. That usually leads to a bit of van driving (an essential skill for any fringe artist) - moving print around, buying a cheap set of matching waterproofs (the European heat wave certainly isn't reaching Edinburgh yet!), making sure the cast are ready to hit the streets and promote their show. For a lot of new companies, particularly those making their fringe debut, the importance of flyering is something they've heard about but the reality is still a surprise. If you're not out on the street telling people about your show, the likelihood is they'll choose something else to see.

Then an hour or two of admin - checking sales figures, looking at marketing options for the various supported companies, checking invite lists - before heading to the venue to meet the company. This is CultureClash Theatre's second show, and their second visit to the Fringe, so they know what a visit to Edinburgh is all about but Under My Thumb is much more ambitious than their debut production. Set in a dystopian prison, where women are imprisoned for speaking out against inequality, this award-nominated show performed by six young women is being performed in the Assembly Snug Bar - a new venue for the fringe, a subterranean, dark, dusty space in the basement of Assembly Roxy. It is perfect for the show but whilst the story is one of deprivation, of women living with nothing and working out how to navigate a system that is stacked against them, the technical requirements are far from simple, so arriving at the venue means sound checking, running through projection cues, refocusing lights (sharing a Fringe space can be incredibly exciting for a company - there is a real sense of shared endeavour - but this is a far cry from a London or regional run of a show where you arrive at the theatre two hours before the show to find it still laid out how you left it the night before!).

Then we run a daily fight call. With audiences all around them and a concrete floor, making sure the fight sequences retain all of their energy and remain exciting without taking out someone on the front row is very important!

Then it's the show (at 4.10pm every day), director's notes, and then the promotion continues, but with our supported companies the evening sessions are about promoting themselves to the wider industry. We always aim to bring the companies together for a drink a couple of times during the Fringe, but I always push the importance of not only seeing other companies at work but also talking to them afterwards, making connections. You never know what you might learn or what collaboration it might lead to.

Once we settle into the Fringe, about ten days in, I'll start getting out and seeing other people's shows myself, looking for programming for Greenwich Theatre and for the next wave of supported companies to join the Greenwich family, but while we're still in the first half of the festival I'll still be driving a van, fixing prop issues, joining the companies to flyer and providing an ear for any of the companies who find themselves with a problem. Bringing a show to the Fringe is an amazing experience, but for young companies the costs involved make it a daunting undertaking, and knowing there is someone they can talk to when they have a problem, whether it leads to a solution or just a sharing of their worry, can be one of the most important things that Greenwich Theatre offers.

Timings and ticket information for Under My Thumb can be found on the edfringe website.

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