The Festival Cafe - day one
Post categories: Edinburgh Festivals
|11:05 UK time, Tuesday, 16 August 2011
The Festival Café began a two week run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe yesterday, and the runners have kindly offered to write blogs about their experiences working on the show. Here they are talking about Monday's Café...
Joanne Smithers
How to embody all that Edinburgh is in a 45 minute show? Well the first day of The Festival Café live from Potterrow managed to pull it off.
From flamboyant Finnish a cappella from Fork, to achingly beautiful classical guitar from Xuefei Yang, to a visit from one of Edinburgh's most famous streets, 44 Scotland Street adaption The World According to Bertie, all wrapped up with the record breaking longest running comedy show, the satirical songsters NewsRevue. Phew
Edward Fulton & Clark Devlin from 'The World According to Bertie'
As a runner I was charged with looking after the guest from The World According to Bertie and I struck it lucky. Three nicer gentlemen you couldn't hope to meet in Clark Devlin, Edward Fulton and producer Andy Jordan. As we relaxed in the green room before they went on, they patiently answered all my questions about their show.
The World According to Bertie has been getting great reviews. Watching them run through their lines was amazing as they instantly transformed into their characters, Clark Devlin regressed to a six year old before my eyes - a feat only my husband can match with such aplomb. Also I would like to state that Clark looks nothing like Keith Chegwin (critics can be so harsh!)
My nerves were fraught as the show started. I can't imagine how Clare English and the performers managed to stay so calm, even through the inevitable technical hitches that come with doing live broadcast - Keep Calm and (the Show Will) Carry On being the motto of the day.
This was my first experience of being involved in a production like this and you would not believe the amount of work that goes into producing a forty-five minute radio show. It is testament to the talent of everyone involved that it seems so easy. Am I including myself in that? Why not!
If you didn't manage to catch the show today listen again on the Radio Scotland website to judge for yourself.
Andy Mallon
Our first show at the new BBC facility at Potterrow has been and gone, and thankfully it was a success! Despite a few minor technical difficulties with microphones Xufei Yang treated us to a beautiful rendition of Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega.
Fei is only performing one show in Edinburgh, so if you can't make it to her show, tomorrow in The Queen's Hall at 11am, I would recommend checking out her performance via the BBC Radio Scotland site.
Presenter Clare English on stage with the cast of 'The World According to Bertie' and Chinese Classical guitarist Xuefei Yang
Fei was a great guest to look after, and was joined by PR man Brian and husband Neil who was on guitar carrying and photo taking duty! Before the show we were asked to provide Fei with a hot water bottle to ensure that her fingers were ready to tackle the challenging piece that she was performing. It's a routine that definitely works as she certainly wowed the audience with her technical prowess.
Next up for Fei is a concert in New Zealand, so from Edinburgh to Wellington, Fei is quite the jetsetter!
The first day has been and gone and another great show is planned for tomorrow. Check the blog tomorrow to see what we've been up to. Over and out!
Lalita Augustine
Had a great first day down at the BBC Village in Potterrow. After spending much of last week doing admin and preparing for the shows, it was very different actually being out and about in the thick of it.
My first guests of the fortnight were Comedy cabaret act NewsRevue. This show is usually based down in London for 50 weeks of the year and come up to the Edinburgh Festival with a selection of their best performers in a "best of" compilation.
I was looking forward to seeing this act as the production is a Guinness World Record holder for being the longest running live comedy show (this is it's 32nd year!), and it's helped launch the careers of some fabulous people such as Rory Bremner, Josie Lawrence and Bill Bailey.
The cast of Newsrevue
I found them easily enough and took Chris Peake, Gabby Best, Kerry Louise Gooderson, Ben Watson, Stephen Leask and their producer Alex Smith to the Green Room where I plied them with hot beverages, cake and sandwiches until it was time for them to go on.
I found the experience of looking after the guests and making sure everything ran to schedule quite hectic but exciting at the same time. Bring on tomorrow!
Annabel Cooper
What a way to kick off the first Festival Café of Edinburgh 2011! I could already barely contain my excitement on the way to the BBC Radio Scotland base at the Tun this morning, so when producer Serena told me I'd be looking after a capella glam rock quartet 'Fork', it was almost too much to swallow.
Having played for sold out houses in their native Scandinavia, Fork are dead set on taking over the rest of the world and the Festival Café was lucky enough to pin them down for a quick chat and a couple of songs from their show 'Pink Noise' on the first leg of their world take over at the Edinburgh Fringe. Billed as the show that 'reinvents a capella', the stunning foursome fuse world-class singing, groundbreaking sounds, comic talent, extravagant fashion,..and strictly no instruments.
Finnish a cappella band Fork.
Fork, aka Anna, Jonte, Kasper and Mia certainly lived up to all expectation. Absolutely gorgeous in all their Scandinavian glory and dripping with rock star class they were a joy to be around backstage, treating me and the rest of the crew to a taste of their big hair, cheeky banter and sequined leather outfits...and these were only their second choice get-ups!
On stage they were even more impressive, creating the sights and sounds of a full rock band with only their voices, and a little help from technical producer Gregor (the fifth and unseen member of Fork...too ugly to get in the starting line up apparently!).
My highlight of the day had to be Fork's stunning rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody to close out the show. Leaving audience, crew and fellow guests speechless, it was the perfect way to end a great first Festival Cafe, and really set the scene for the next two weeks of festival madness and mayhem.
Don't forget, if you didn't catch the show live you listen via the BBC Radio Scotland website. And make sure you tune into BBC Radio Scotland from 1315 every day this week and next for the Festival Café live from Potterrow. And as if that's not enough, us runners will be blogging and tweeting all the backstage gossip daily on the Radio Scotland blog, so check it out and keep in touch.
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