The Stage

Edinburgh fringe participants’ council announced

Published Wednesday 18 May 2011 at 17:53 by Thom Dibdin

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has announced the first members of its new participants’ council with only 11 of the 12 positions filled.

Nominations for the council opened in April, with participants, producers and venues having four reserved places each. With four valid nominations received in each of the produces and venues categories, and only three nominations from participants, all nominees have been declared elected.

A spokesperson for the Fringe Society said: “The council has been set up as part of the overhaul of the constitution of the society. It is designed to make sure that those who take part in the Fringe can have a direct input into the issues being discussed by the society’s board.

“The primary purpose of the council is to promote and protect the interests of those members of the society who actively participate in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It does this by offering advice to the society’s board of directors. The board have a constitutional obligation to consult the council at least twice in each calendar year.”

Jonathan Holloway, writer and director at Red Shift, who is a veteran of 14 festivals and a one-time member of the fringe board will represent the participants, alongside two performers from the PBH Free Fringe – stand-up comedian Gareth Morinan and the poet, storyteller and performance artist, Deborah Rothenberg.

The four posts reserved for nominees of venues include Lorna Brain who is festivals manager at Edinburgh University, the fringe’s largest landlord. The other posts are taken by Fraser Smith, Edinburgh press officer of Underbelly, Ryan Taylor, comedy programmer for the Pleasance and Heather Young who works for C Venues.

The four producers are Louise Callow of Scamp, Ed Collier of China Plate, Mhari Hetherington who works with Wee Stories and David Leddy, and Marlene Zwickler of MZA Artists.

Explaining the status of the new council, the fringe spokesman added: “Under Scottish charity law, the board of the society have to be independent and cannot be instructed to make decisions by anyone else. They can however take advice to help them make better decisions in the interests of the society and therefore the role of the council is to regularly give sound advice to the board on how decisions can better reflect the needs and aspirations of participants.”

The council will meet face-to-face twice a year, although a spokesman for the fringe said that they expect the council to meet more often through video conferencing. Members will generally serve a two-year term and can be elected for two consecutive terms. The first meeting will be in August.