The Stage

Edinburgh Fringe venues go bust owing thousands

Published Wednesday 7 December 2011 at 11:15 by Alistair Smith

One of the Edinburgh Fringe’s leading venue operators, Remarkable Arts, is being wound up, owing tens of thousands of pounds in unpaid box office receipts to companies who staged work at its two theatres during this summer’s festival, The Stage can reveal.

It is thought that, in total, Remarkable Arts owes in excess of £75,000. Much of this money should have been paid out in October to companies who performed at the venues during the 2011 festival.

Remarkable Arts operated the Hill Street Theatre and St George’s West at the 2011 fringe, having launched in 2010 as a single venue operation at the Hill Street Theatre. It was awarded the Jack Tinker Spirit of the Fringe award for its 2011 programme by The Scotsman. At the time, it was praised for taking risks with its programming. However, it now appears that the venue took too many risks and will be forced to close its doors.

A spokesman for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society confirmed that Remarkable Arts was ceasing to trade and said a number of companies had contacted the society for advice about chasing unpaid box office receipts. However, the spokesman warned that while the fringe is “doing all that we can to help those companies, we can’t compel payment to those companies when the funds aren’t there to pay them”.

He added: “Remarkable Arts registered the shows at their venues for inclusion in the 2011 fringe and they were the principal contact as far as the Festival Fringe Society was confirmed. They stipulated when they registered the shows that the box office takings should be forwarded to Remarkable Arts. They would then have their own arrangements for distributing their own funds to the companies.” This means that receipts from the central fringe box office cannot be ring-fenced and returned to the companies.

Remarkable Arts’ two venues hosted 43 shows, including a number of the fringe’s most high-profile theatre productions, such as Audience by Ontroerend Goed and eight productions from the government-funded Made in Scotland showcase. Productions at the venues won a number of awards, including two Fringe Firsts and a Stage Award for Acting Excellence.

But now, an announcement on the company’s website says that “after two Remarkable years on the Edinburgh Fringe, Remarkable Arts is closing its doors”, while its directors have written to creditors indicating their intention to voluntarily wind up the company. It seems very unlikely that creditors will see much of a return on the money they are owed. According to initial estimates, Remarkable Arts’ total assets amount to around £10,000, while its total liabilities are estimated at more than £85,000.

Remarkable Arts’ executive producer Tim Hawkins was unavailable for comment as The Stage went to press.