An actor’s life for me...with Scott Kyle

The show must, and does, go on

For the last 73 years summer in Scotland has meant festival time. This month should have seen the start of three weeks of organised chaos on the streets of Edinburgh as performers from around the world descend on the city for the annual Fringe Festival.

What started as an impromptu event staged by eight theatre groups gatecrashing the newly formed Edinburgh International Festal in 1947, which was set up to celebrate European cultural life in the aftermath of the Second World War, has become a world show business phenomenon.

Now, each year more and more performers from up to 70 countries come to the city to put on a show, attracting bigger and bigger audiences in the process.

Over the years millions have flocked to Scotland’s capital city to perform and/or view shows of such colourful variety, mix of genres and innovation that it has to be seen to be truly believed. It is now the second biggest cultural event in the world next to Olympics.

This month the Fringe should have been welcoming up to 3million visitors, bringing in around £200million to the wider Scottish economy. Instead, the curtain has been pulled down on due to Covid-19.

And, it’s not just the Fringe that has suffered. The Art Festival, Book Festival, International Festival and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (I had a great time there last year) have all been cancelled too. It is unprecedented and, for an actor and producer like myself, completely heartbreaking.

The Fringe holds very special memories for me. This time last year I was there playing in the highly emotive ‘A War of Two Halves’ play at Tynecastle stadium about the Heart of Midlothian football players killed in the First World War.

It is also where I received the Stage Award for Acting Excellence for my portrayal of ‘Billy’ in the smash hit comedy ‘Singin I`m No a Billy, He`s a Tim’.

However, I believe we can all learn a lesson from those pioneers of 1947. Despite facing major obstacles, such as not being uninvited and certainly not part of the formal programme, they found a way to get involved by putting on shows on the fringe of the official festival and create the start of something special.

And, in the same spirit, I’m glad to see there is some light in the wings, if not at the end of the tunnel. While most of the traditional elements of the festival have been halted the innovation and creativity which started the whole concept 73 years ago is still strong so some shows will go on this year - virtually.

The Fringe Society has very cleverly come up with some alternative digital plans, including some live-streamed performances, virtual shows and online community events to keep the spirit of the festival alive.

One of the concepts being unveiled is Fringe on Friday, a 60-minute variety show to be streamed live on the evenings of Friday 7, 14, 21 and 28 August. The aim is to showcase the best of the festival across a range of genres, including comedy, music, dance and cabaret.

There is also the Fringe Pick n Mix in which audiences can enjoy the spirit of the festival in miniature. Artists will upload 60-second films of themselves in action – from snippets of what would have been 2020 shows to snappy set pieces staged in the shed – for viewers to watch from home.

And that’s just the beginning! Despite there being no physical festival there’s still quite a lot on worth checking out on the official website at www.edfringe.com

Theatre is much more than just entertainment. The arts play a major role in society and community. Performances can be educational, inspiring and thought provoking. Thanks to modern technology we might not be able to go to Edinburgh this summer but we can still support The Fringe.