EDINBURGH 2017: A Day At The Fringe- Sarah Milton

Edinburgh Festival Fringe performer Sarah Milton blogs for BWW to give us an insight into her typical day at the Fringe.

This is mine and my producer's (Helena Doughty) first Fringe show; the first one woman show I've ever written and performed, and the first Edinburgh show that Helena has produced.

Our first day venturing to Edinburgh started with the full team and heaving our bags onto the 10.30am train from King's Cross to Edinburgh, full of Leon breakfast and nerves. Have we done enough pre-marketing? Do I know my lines? Will people like it... or even come?

We don't do our tech run until the day after our arrival, so we meet with our flyering team beforehand: Iona and Morgan. They are the most lovely and enthusiastic two young women, so excited about the show and working to promote it, that is puts us at complete ease.

We do our tech run with Underbelly Iron Belly crew the next day and it's a breeze. This leads me to question why everything is going so smoothly!? We had all heard stories about how stressful and manic Edinburgh can be, but so far the sun is out, everyone's in a great mood and the tech aspect of the show is in great working order. We actually run the show for Iona and Morgan that day, so they know what they're selling and can be genuine with their interactions with people on the street.

The morning of the first show I'm a bundle of nerves. Helena goes out to flyer with Iona and Morgan. Tom Wright (my director) heads out for some last minute prep, and Harry Blake (our composer) goes to catch an early show ahead of ours. Before leaving the flat myself, I carry out my own preparation regime: first I down a berocca - hoping that's going to be a good thing to do. I then do some stretching and yoga exercises on the mat to prepare my body for an energetic show. Next, I venture out to the venue ahead of my first performance.

The first day is going so much better than we all expected and there was no need to be nervous. The whole team is there and the push of flyers in the morning has determined a capacity of nearly half for our first day, which we're all delighted with! The show itself goes down brilliantly with the audience and we all get a sense that everyone is moved by the characters and story telling. It's fantastic!

Afterwards, we celebrate with a drink in the bar and socialise with other performers and production teams, all discussing how excited we are to be here. We marvel at our first day and the achievement that we've brought a show that we love to Edinburgh Fringe, on its 70th anniversary no less. We've actually done it, and get to do it for the whole month.

Our celebrations continue for a while, as we congratulate ourselves on a wonderful opening day. Then we look ahead to prepare for doing it all over again in the morning...

Tumble Tuck

Underbelly Cowgate (Iron Belly), 66 Cowgate, Edinburgh, EH1 1JX

Thursday 3rd - Sunday 27th August 2017 (not 14th), 13:30

Photo credit: Scott Rylander

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