The 56th Edinburgh Festival Fringe boasts 20,342 performances of 1491 shows in 183 venues.
The 56th Edinburgh Festival Fringe (which runs from 4-26 August
2002) boasts 20,342 performances of 1491 shows in 183 venues.
From the powerful and poignant to the funny and frivolous, this year’s
line-up projects and dissects a year gone by, affirming the Fringe’s
position as a completely open platform for artistic debate and
expression.
The attack on the World Trade Center resonates throughout the
programme. Project 9/11 relates seven personal accounts of living in
NYC on the day of the tragedy, whilst Jumpers follows four New Yorkers
coping with its aftermath. Dance, poetry and music are used to examine
the attack’s ramifications in Bodies in Crisis, as are physical theatre
techniques in The Art of War. Most of the headlines will be reserved for
political provocateur Michael Moore, however, who delivers his own take on the events in his first ever live
one-man show; and drag-star Tina C, who performs a biting satire on the media reaction to the event in her
Twin Towers Tribute.
Appearances from Rory Bremner and Tony Benn, the return of America’s premier political comic Will Durst, the
secretly taped girl-talk between Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp in Snatches and Perrier-winning Rich Hall
and Mike Wilmot’s Pretzel Logic ensure that politics at home and abroad is also high up the agenda.
Football and the World Cup are the inspiration for five Fringe shows this year: An Evening with Gary Lineker,
The World Cup is Not Enough, My England, Owen O’Neill’s My Son the Footballer and Theatrum Botanicum’s
outdoor spectacle The Boy with the Magic Feet.
And finally... hat can stand-up Jaik Campbell say about his act? Normally not much, as Jaik has a stutter,
although fortunately he has found that standing in front of an audience and making them laugh has improved his
condition as well as his self-confidence. Fringe 2002 is Jaik’s Edinburgh debut.
Commenting on the launch of the Programme, Fringe Director Paul Gudgin said: "It’s headlines that sell shows
at the Fringe, but this year the headlines are the inspiration for many of the shows themselves. Supporting this
strong news theme, however, is an exceptional programme of home-grown and international performances, of
which a quarter are world premieres".
Ticket Information:
Tickets for all Fringe events go on sale 17 June, on-line at www.edfringe.com or on 0131 226 0000. Last
year’s phenomenally successful 2-for-1 ticket offer on the first two days of the festival (August 4th and 5th)
will also be repeated. For full listings details, check out www.edfringe.com, order a copy of the programme on
0907 159 2002 (calls cost approx £2 p&p), or pick one up from the Fringe Office, 180 High Street, Edinburgh;
Visitscotland, 19 Cockspur Street, London; and many other outlets throughout the country.