ED2014 News

More spaces and more nova for the C Fringe this year

By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 25 July 2014

You need a very long memory indeed to remember an Edinburgh Fringe without the C venue, it having been a major operator at the Festival for many years now, with its long-established multi-storey base on Chambers Street and a number of other spaces around the city.

And this year that venue network includes two brand new buildings, the all new C south and the newly located C cubed. Introducing them both, C chief Hartley Kemp told ThreeWeeks: “C south is a Festival oasis on the south side of the city, a 19th century church and hall in extensive gardens just off Clerk Street, close to the Queen’s Hall. We’re creating a 120-seat theatre in the hall and a relaxed al fresco café-bar, and have programmed performances into the church and outside too”.

There has been a C cubed within Kemp’s mini-empire many times before, though this year it’s at a new location in Riddle’s Court near the castle. “It’s an a-listed building and is one of the finest surviving burghal residencies on the Royal Mile”, Kemp says. “We’re creating an 80-seat black box performance space which has been very popular with theatre companies from around the world. Meanwhile, on the first floor we have a truly unique studio space in the Geddes Room, with panelled walls and a decorative ceiling”.

In addition to the new buildings, there have also been new developments at C nova, a recent addition to the venue’s operations towering above Victoria Street. C is using more of the complex this year, with Kemp confirming “we have a lot of extra space that we’re using this time with installations and immersive work on the upper floors. Producer Jethro Compton brings back his ‘Bunker Trilogy’, three immersive pieces performed in a replica World War I bunker, and creates a 1920s Chicago hotel room for his newest project, ‘The Capone Trilogy’”.

He continues: “ImmerCity return with a monochrome circus space and Food For Thought are back with ‘Dinner Is Swerved’, an interactive piece including a rather unique dinner that isn’t all that it seems”. In addition to the immersive spaces, C nova also includes a cabaret zone which, says Kemp, includes “the Fringe’s favourite senior Lynn Ruth Miller, and New York cabaret favourite Rosemary George. Nova is packed to the brim with much-loved and brand new shows alike this year, plus there’s our popular Atrium wine bar upstairs and the Registry bar on the ground floor”

Needless to say, with so many spaces hosting shows this year, Kemp isn’t keen on being forced into selecting just a few, and quickly lists way more than we can report. Though amongst his tips were ‘Thrill Me’ which is, he says, “a new musical based on the Leopold and Loeb story, which is already proving popular, as is ‘What a Gay Play’, with actors from ‘Coronation St’ and ‘Casualty’. We also have three pieces from Macao’s Point View Art Association”.

“Other new shows to look out for are Korean company Haddangse (Brush), and Sonic Boom with ‘We Never Land’” he concludes. “And, of course, Fringe veterans will know to watch out for returning favourites Tokyo Tapdo, Movin’ Melvin Brown, Fringe First winners Pepperdine with new show ‘Forget Fire’, the Oxford Gargoyles and Alternotives, and the last ever Edinburgh trip from the Blues Brothers – Live!”