Morgan pledges to make EFF ‘easier for artists, promoters and venues’

Published Tuesday 27 March 2007 at 15:35 by Alistair Smith

Newly-appointed Edinburgh Festival Fringe director Jon Morgan has vowed to make it “more worthwhile” for artists to appear at the annual event.

Morgan, now executive producer of Contact Theatre in Manchester, will succeed Paul Gudgin in June when the current fringe director steps down after eight years in charge of the event. Speaking to The Stage, Morgan said that he felt the fringe’s future success lay in making the event attractive to visiting performers.

He said: “The key is in attracting artists to appear on the fringe. Because artists are often appearing at their own risk, we really have to do a lot to help them get here - not financially but in terms of things like advice and marketing. I’d like to build on that and make it more worthwhile for artists to come here.”

Morgan explained that this would mean more networking opportunities for performers and the chance for companies to get their work seen by programmers so that it could have a life beyond the fringe. He also said he wanted to look at ways of teaming up established acts with emerging artists so that the younger companies could gain from the experience.

“One of the things that attracted me to this job is the fact that it is about partnerships,” he added. “The fringe office works as a support and service agency. It’s our job to make life easier for artists, promoters and venues.”

As well as working for Contact, Morgan has served as general manager of Scottish company TAG and as an advisor for Scottish Arts Council. His appointment has been welcomed within the sector.

Producer Richard Jordan, who regularly takes shows to the fringe, commented: “It has become a much more political job and his experience with the arts council will be very useful. It’s a very good appointment. Contact is such a strong youth company that it will be a good boost for the next generation of fringe artists.”

Anthony Alderson, director of The Pleasance - one of the fringe’s major venue operators - also stressed that Morgan’s experience with emerging artists would be crucial.

He added: “It’s retaining the profile of the fringe that is important, getting the local council to put money into it, getting the Scottish Executive to put money into it. It’s about marketing the festival as a way to get people into Scotland. I think that is the greatest challenge of all. We’ve got to keep this festival as the biggest marketplace for theatre in the world.”