@GETINTHEBACK Theatre are taking their Camden Fringe 2010 show to the Soho Theatre this September. Check it out!
A Million Thank Yous Later
Now the end is here and we need to clean the final curtain it is time to say a big thank you to all the people who made this years festival happen:
* All the Performers! A crucial ingredient in the fringe recipe, we had a great bunch of performers working with us this year. I think some of them even read all the information we sent them. Thank you, guys, for being part of the festival. You have all been marvellous. I only wish I could have seen all the shows.
* All the Venues! Thanks venues for hosting shows and being super efficient. Lots of people to mention: Freya at CPT, Vicky at RADA, David at New Diorama, the Family Plews at Upstairs at the Gatehouse and especially Miriam for programming and running the Camden Head for a month, and Ari for building and running our pop-up venue The Sheephaven Bay.
* All the Reviewers! We’ve had a bumper crop of reviews this year, so thanks to everyone from Snipe, Fringe Report, Fringe Review, On The Fringe, Londonist, Remote Goat and all the other publications who took the time to see the show and then write about them. Special thanks to Alan from Snipe who saw so many show that, by the end of the festival, was helping us clear up glasses etc.
* All The Punters! Without you brilliant people we’d all just be shouting into the dark so thank you for coming to the Camden Fringe and taking an interest in everyone’s work. We couldn’t do it without you. Well, we could, but we’d look a bit stupid.
Thanks also to the volunteers at the Etcetera, Sheephaven and Camden Head who kept things moving slickly.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s been a good one.
All in Theatre’s SEIZE THE DAY will be at Lost Theatre, Wandsworth on Tuesday 23rd August at 8pm. Tickets just £6.
Unfortunately, because of the Riots the second Camden Fringe performance of this show at the Roundhouse was cancelled on Tuesday 9th of August, but we’re delighted they’ve managed to reschedule at short notice \nd we won’t mind if you leave Camden for this one!
The Situation in Camden, as of 6pm
The Gatehouse have now closed for the evening. Still nothing much happening in yer actual Camden Town. It’s been a slightly fraught day. There were problems with rioters in Camden last night, but rumours of Camden’s demise were greatly exaggerated. Everything seemed pretty normal this morning, and went along to the clean up this morning but there didn’t seem to be a lot to clean up. Lots of people turned up with brooms though and that was heartening.
Unfortunately last night a few people were kept in the Roundhouse until after midnight because it wasn’t safe for them to leave, but none of the other venues were affected.
We’re now at the stage where a number of venues have been told to close and a number of performers have decided its safer to cancel their shows. This is the roll-call so far.
1.30pm Hardcore Imprography - Happened
2pm Isobel’s Tree - Happened
3pm Life - Happened
3pm Pagan Love Songs - Happened
4.30pm Pandoras Boxes - Cancelled
5pm Broke Wide Open - Happening
6pm Middle Aged Man’s Uncertainty Theory - Happening
6pm Stand-Up Comics - Cancelled
6pm Isobels Tree - Happening
6.30pm Craig Murray’s Really Honest Travel Show - Cancelled
7pm The fan & THE STAR & the star & THE FAN - Going Ahead
7.30pm Macbeth - Cancelled
7.30pm Geoff Norcott - Going Ahead
7.30pm Hamster Town - Going Ahead
7.30pm Seize The Day - Cancelled
7.30pm Peace in Our Time - Cancelled
7.30pm Oblivion - Cancelled
8pm Cabaret of Potty People - Cancelled
8pm Lust Last Lost - Going ahead
8pm Kent Valentine - Going ahead
9pm Brokeback Britain - Cancelled
9pm Jonah Non Grata - Going ahead
9pm James Mullinger - Cancelled
9pm Writers Room - Going ahead
9.30pm Amadeus Martin - Going ahead
We’ll have to see what happens with the others. Camden High street is visible through my window and all the shops have shut up in the last hour. The bars are still open and the police we’ve spoken to say there has been no trouble at all and no signs of anything happening soon.
The Situation in Camden, as of 5pm
Well it’s been a slightly fraught day. There were problems with rioters in Camden last night, but rumours of Camden’s demise were greatly exaggerated. Everything seemed pretty normal this morning, and went along to the clean up this morning but there didn’t seem to be a lot to clean up. Lots of people turned up with brooms though and that was heartening.
Unfortunately last night a few people were kept in the Roundhouse until after midnight because it wasn’t safe for them to leave, but none of the other venues were affected.
We’re now at the stage where a number of venues have been told to close and a number of performers have decided its safer to cancel their shows. This is the roll-call so far.
1.30pm Hardcore Imprography - Happened
2pm Isobel’s Tree - Happened
3pm Life - Happened
3pm Pagan Love Songs - Happened
4.30pm Pandoras Boxes - Cancelled
5pm Broke Wide Open - I don’t know, it’s due to start now.
6pm Middle Aged Man’s Uncertainty Theory - Going ahead
6pm Stand-Up Comics - Cancelled
6pm Isobels Tree - Going Ahead
6.30pm Craig Murray’s Really Honest Travel Show - Cancelled
7pm The fan & THE STAR & the star & THE FAN - Going Ahead
7.30pm Macbeth - Going Ahead
7.30pm Geoff Norcott - Going Ahead
7.30pm Hamster Town - Going Ahead
7.30pm Seize The Day - Cancelled
7.30pm Peace in Our Time - Cancelled
7.30pm Oblivion - Cancelled
8pm Cabaret of Potty People - Cancelled
8pm Lust Last Lost - Going ahead
8pm Kent Valentine - Going ahead
9pm Brokeback Britain - Cancelled
9pm Jonah Non Grata - Going ahead
9pm James Mullinger - Cancelled
9pm Writers Room - Going ahead
9.30pm Amadeus Martin - Going ahead
We’ll have to see what happens with the others. Camden High street is visible through my window and all the shops have shut up in the last hour. The bars are still open and the police we’ve spoken to say there has been no trouble at all and no signs of anything happening yet.
Week One happened - this is how we saw it
That’s it. The first week is over. The Camden Fringe 2011 is 25% finished. Here is a round-up of what went on from an organisers point of view.
One of the main issues of the week was the heat. We often sit around in the planning stages of the festival hoping for a crappy English summer. The venues can get very hot - the combination of lots of people in an enclosed, soundproofed room with theatre lighting is not a recipe for refeshment. And on a day when it’s hot and clammy outside as well, the venues can be even worse. The 1st - 3rd of August were SUPER HOT. The Camden Head started off the week with one large fan and now has at least 3. It’s better if not yet perfect.
The first 3 or 4 days are always difficult for us - there are a million things to do and hundreds of people wanting your attention. With all the shows still forthcoming the questions about ticket sales, press and technical matters are at an all time high. By Thursday it’s possible to relax and start thinking about seeing shows. it is now day 8 and I’ve watched a grand total of 3 performances. Hopefully everyone who I haven’t seen (almost everyone) won’t be offended.
As is the nature of the Camden Fringe we’ve already said goodbye to whole heap of shows. A Midsummer Nights Dream by Pell Mell Theatre Company played a full week at the New Diorama and seemed to have impressive audiences for their 2 hour Shakespearean spectacular.
Ception Theatre also did a great job of getting the audiences in for their outdoor performances of Little Bear. Somehow they also magically controlled the weather ensuring the perfect conditions to entice people to the park for an evening and planned to take the day off the time it rained (Thursday.) They asked us for the moon on a stick on the first day of festival and I am happy to report that we were able to provide.
Helen Keen, James W Smith, Marc Burrows, Scott Capurro and Matt Kirshen all blessed us with their presence briefly before heading up to Edinburgh. Hope all is going well for them up there.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Tread the Boards played for 4 nights at the Gatehouse and was recommended as “a very entertaining evening of Victorian gothic horror” by On The Fringe
My favourite show I’ve seen was The Shoemakers Wonderful Wife, which was a fun bit of Lorca with excellent Spanish guitar accompaniment. Snipe agreed with me and called it “the first diamond of the Fringe”
The Show I’m saddest that I’ve missed (due it to being too sold out) is Walk Like Blackman, which sounded great. Actually now I’ve said hat I’ve also remembered I’d have loved to have seen Bronagh’s Big Weekend and Richard Tyrone Jones has a Big Heart.
There are a few shows that have been reviewed that you can still catch: Hamster Town and Jonah Non-Grata are both still ongoing at the Camden People’s Theatre. The former was called “a fine little hairy gem of a show which manages to be both funny and a little creepy” by Snipe and the latter was recommended in the Ham & High. Of Sirens and Songs at the Black Heart, the Camden Fringe Voyeur said “it is a wonderful, atmospheric show and one of the gems of the 2011 Camden Fringe.” And Morris and Vyse were highly praised by On The Fringe: “I didn’t want the rollercoaster of filth and hilarity to end and was genuinely sad when the show ended. I wait with eager anticipation for more from this duo who hold a lot of promise. In the mean time, make sure you see this show.” What more encouragement do you need
Quite a lot of precious stones at the Camden Fringe this year, then.
Still 3 weeks more of stuff to come. Week 2 is the busiest week with performances happening at the Roundhouse over 2 days and the start of the season at the two RADA studio venues. Theatro Technis are also getting in on the act as well.
Going to try and see a lot more…
See www.camdenfringe.org for the full rundown of shows
Reviews from
http://camdenvoyeur.wordpress.com/
http://www.snipelondon.com/
http://onthefringepaper.co.uk/
Video Streaming live from the Camden Fringe by @camdentheatres
Camden Theatres will be LIVE Streaming an exciting selection of the Camden Fringe 2011 throughout August. You can now see a range of shows LIVE on www.camdentheatres.com or download a show on demand from as little as £2.99
This is a rare chance to catch up and see the best of the Fringe 2011 without ever having to come to London. It is a good way for your family and friends network to see your work at little cost and time.
LIVE Streaming is an excellent way for busy Agents, Bookers and Promoters catch up with your work. Make sure you send the link to the critics at Edinburgh who missed your work! Or your work mates on holiday.
This is a unique collaboration by Camden Producers and Venues who have come together to create new ways to view original work.
This LIVE Streaming service is also available for any venue to screen the work, so now you can get your local pub to screen a show rather than the football- email us if you have a venue in mind and we can advise you how to set it up. info@camdentheatres.com
Here is the Programme of shows to be Streamed LIVE; we will be adding shows as we go, so keep a daily eye on the site www.camdentheatres.com
You can log on to the site up to 15 minutes of a show starting, or download a show a month after the opening.
Streamed performances include:
Little Bear - 7PM on 6th August from St. Martins Gardens
Isobel’s Tree - 6PM on 9th August from Shaw Theatre
Lust Last Lost - 8PM on 9th August from Shaw Theatre
No Comment - 6:30PM on 16th August from Shaw Theatre
Peter - 8PM on 16th August from Shaw Theatre
A Watch in the Tunnel - 8PM on 20th August from Shaw Theatre
How to Climb Mount Everest - 7:30PM on 21st August from Camden People’s Theatre
The Untimely Death of Mr. String - 9PM on 21st August from Camden People’s Theatre
Teju Chosen: Choices & Voices - 8PM on 23rd August from Shaw Theatre
Snow White - 6:30PM on 26th August from Shaw Theatre
Hope - 8PM on 26th August from Shaw Theatre
Chasing Shadows - 9PM on 27th August from Camden People’s Theatre
For the full programme and more information on the Camden Fringe please see www.CamdenFringe.org
Free performances at @StPancrasInt as part of @summerstages & @camdenfringe
For the first time this year St Pancras International is an official performance venue for Camden Fringe, with a series of amazing performances held at the heart of the busy station between 4-7 August 2011.
Camden Fringe, now in its sixth year, showcases the very best of comedy, theatre, music and performance at venues across the borough.
Four acts will be putting on free performances for visitors and commuters at St Pancras International throughout the day on Thursday 4, Friday 5, Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 August 2011. The acts include Lady Bird and The Larks, an all female musical cabaret act and the Blaade Ensemble, a quirky comedy performance combining a supermarket trolley, luggage and a bed!
The performances at the station kick off at 12 noon on Thursday 4 August with Energinmotion performing Be Lonely With Me. This is an 11 strong theatrical group performing simultaneously throughout the station, no doubt to the surprise of visitors to St Pancras International.
St Pancras International is one of the more unusual performance venues, other venues are the Roundhouse, Shaw Theatre and Bloomsbury Theatre Studio.
Thursday 4 August 2011
Energinmotion: Lonely With Me, 12.00 noon
Lady Bird and The Larks, 2.00pm - 6.00pm
Pulse, 7.00pm - 8.00pm
Friday 5 August 2011
Pulse, 1.00pm - 3.00pm
Energinmotion: Lonely With Me, 4.30pm - 6.30pm
Saturday 6 August 2011
Blaade Ensemble, 1.00pm - 3.15pm
Sunday 7 August 2011
Blaade Ensemble, 4.30pm - 6.15pm
For more information visit the St Pancras International website: www.stpancras.com or the Camden Fringe website: www.camdenfringe.com
More (yes more) shows added to the programme
With less than a week to go the brochures have long since hit the streets, but since we had them designed and printed there have been a number of additions to the programme. Here are the latest:
Munmun Productions
Isobel’s Tree
CHILDRENS SHOW!! The year is 2190 and the world is a huge Junkyard. Isobel is a homeless girl who has never seen a tree! She meets two strange Junk Mutants who take her back in time to find out what happened to the tree. Using junk as rhyhmical Lego and a live soundscape from The Junk Orchestra, this will be a journey you will never forget!!
Venue: Shaw Theatre, 100 - 110 Euston Road, London, NW1 2AJ
Date: 2pm & 6pm on 9 August 2011
Tickets: £9.00 (£7.50 concessions)
James Mason: Genius, Madman, Other
A stand-up comedy show show containing- Childish attention seeking, cod philosophising, borderline functioning alcoholic- pseudo insight, Delivered into a world of ambivalence.
Venue: Sheephaven Bay, 2-3 Mornington Street, London, NW1 7QD
Dates: 7.15pm on 18 - 19 August
Tickets: £6.00 (£5 conc)
Unusual Entertainment
My Art, My Passion
We invite you to an evening where real talent will unravel before your eyes. Aboard an emotional rollercoaster of side splitting comedy, mesmerizing and soulful singing, dynamic, electrifying dance and insightful, thought provoking poetry. Don’t miss a chance to say, ‘I was there that night,’ My Art My Passion, today’s glimmers, tomorrow’s stars
Venue: Shaw Theatre, 100 - 110 Euston Road, London, NW1 2AJ
Date: Wed 24 August 2011 at 7:30pm
Tickets: £10.00 (£7.00 under 13’s)
And here are the ones we’ve mentioned before:
Ception Theatre
Little Bear
Set in a darkened forest like those of fairytales, a little girl finds herself in an ancient conflict between goddess and hunter. Yet she cannot waver, she cannot give up – for here in this world is the flower that will save her dying sister. All she must do is find it before Jaeger, the hunter, plunges the forest into utter darkness.
Venue: St Martins Garden
Dates: 1 - 7 August at 7pm (plus 1pm matinee on & August)
Tickets: Free!
Sidetrack Theatre
Catching Flight
Sidetrack Theatre Company presents the UK premiere of a new play by award-winning playwright Lila Rose Kaplan. Two sisters share a dead mother, an impulse to make art, and little else. Set in the Rodin Garden in Paris spanning 26 years, with live jazz composed by Giovanni Cacioppo. Directed by Sarah Scharf,starring Katie Chavez and Margaret Dewes.
Venue: The Sheephaven Bay
Dates: 4 - 6 August 2011 at 8:45pm
tickets: £8.00 (£7.00 concessions)
Anatrope Theatre
No Comment
Emma is powerful. Emma is rich. Emma is successful. And Emma wants to kill herself. What is the daughter of the British prime minster doing alone, on a terrace, in London’s most infamous area? Why would she want to end a seemingly perfect life?
Venue: Shaw Theatre
Dates: 11 - 19 August at 6.30pm
Tickets £10 (£7.50 conc)
Anatrope Theatre
Peter
Do you believe in miracles?
Only a miracle can save Daniel’s mother. Miracles are his brother Peter’s speciality. Can Daniel expose Peter as a fraud, and set himself free, without betraying terminally ill Sandra?
George Hull’s viscerally intense new play explores sibling rivalry, awakening sexuality and the many faces of religious inspiration.
Venue: Shaw Theatre
Dates: 11 - 19 August at 8pm
Tickets £10 (£7.50 conc)
Filskit Theatre Company in association with Quirkas Productions
Snow White
Think you know Snow White? Think Again!
Come and join us on a journey through the dark forest, decipher messages from the mysterious Queen and dabbling with poisoned Apples
Combining a blend of playful ensemble based performance and micro projections, Filskit present a modern and visually stunning twist on this traditional fairytale
Venue: Shaw Theatre
Dates: 20, 23 - 26 August at 6.30pm
Tickets £12 (£8 conc)
Albin Balint Productions
A Watch in the Tunnel
A new black comedy with original music by renowned playwright-composer Sylvie Gral at the award-winning Shaw Theatre.
Three men are trapped in a tunnel, waiting to catch the train that runs through the tunnel only once every year…
A biting, contemporary satire on the human comedy; a tunnel play without tunnel vision. www.awatchinthetunnel.co.uk
Venue: Shaw Theatre
Dates: 20 August 2011 at 8:00pm
tickets: £12.00 (£10.00 concessions)
Petar Miloshevski
Hope
Hope is the story of a lone character who is involved in a very peculiar love-triangle that takes him on a journey of fear, intrigue, darkness and eventually murder.
Venue: New Diorama Dates: 21 August at 6pm, 22nd August at 7.30pm
Venue: Shaw Theatre Dates: 26 August at 8pm
Tickets: £12 (£10 concessions)
Creative Tongues in association with Quirkas Productions
Teju Chosen: Choices & Voices
Playwright/International Spoken Word Artist, Teju weaves 60 minutes of wit, wisdom and her inimitable reflections on this wondrous wide world through a display of comedy, song, poetry and cutting edge drama straight from the heart. Impeccably infused with soulful jazz and urban beats (Chosen Few Band). Challenging, moving, awe inspiring!
Venue: Shaw Theatre
Dates: 23 August at 8pm
Tickets: £10 (£8 conc)
Zupakat Productions
Kat Francois Comedy Show
“A GREAT WRITER AND PERFORMER, EXTREMELY VERSATILE AND ABSOLUTELY FUNNY!!” ANGIE LEMAR.
1 hour, 1 woman comedy extravaganza with award winning playwright & performance poet. A unique and hilarious take on the world. Great observational comedy, boundless energy & amazing story telling. Fresh from Theatre Royal Stratford.
Venue: Sheephaven Bay
Dates: 23 - 25th August at 8.45pm
Tickets: £6.00
More information about all shows can be found on www.camdenfringe.org
Time Out can it really be called a listings mag?
Time Out have as good as said that they aren’t going to list our theatre shows in the magazine this year:
http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/review/2573/camden-fringe-2011#.Tivqw9LjVqE.twitter
But looks like they will be listings things online, which is lovely as that is free.
But it does rather beg the question: what is Time Out for?
I assume the mag’s byline is still “London’s Listings Magazine”, but does it fulfil this function if the listings online are more complete?
Let’s wait and see how much coverage they give the Edinburgh Fringe this year before we pull apart the London bit, but if the past few years are anything to go buy they’ll make a mockery of that as well.
