Tidemark Edinburgh Fringe Experience 2004
Tuesday 10 August 2004 Edinburgh during the Fringe really is a wonderfully colourful and unpredictable place to be. Walking down the High Street today we passed a giant face, an enormous pink condom strolling along, George Bush and Bin Laden wearing boxing gloves - and chatting to each other like old buddies - fire eaters, sword swallowers, jugglers, a hoard of Tudor revellers, several giant tooth brushes, a couple of clowns, a lion and Richard the Third.  | | Tidemark publicise their show in street theatre |
We've also been doing some more celeb spotting. They can often be seen pounding the street outside the Fringe Office, handing out leaflets for their shows to try to boost audience numbers just like every other show up here. For big names like Hollywood star Christian Slater, Fringe Theatre represents a return to their roots. After all, most actors, however famous, started their careers in small-scale theatre somewhere in the world. Fringe theatre gives stars a chance to experience the immediacy of a live audience again. Making someone laugh or cry by the skill of your performance is such a powerful, life-changing experience and must be in stark contrast to acting to a series of inert cameras.  | | And the children are enthralled! |
And as well as Christian Slater, Edinburgh this year has welcomed Frances Barber, Ricky Gervais, Mike McShane, Paul Merton and Nancy Cartwright (aka the voice of Bart Simpson) to its stages. Also to be seen shortly are Colin Firth for the film festival and JK Rowling for the Book Festival. JK of course, lives in Edinburgh, just a short stone throw from where we're staying this year. Apparently, if I lean out of our bedroom window I should just be able to see the corner of her guttering. Now how's that for celeb spotting? Rebecca will be reporting on Tidemark's experiences throughout this year's Festival. Come back to see how she's doing! Are you taking a production to Edinburgh this year? Do you want to tell the world about it? If so, let us know by emailing threecounties@bbc.co.uk | 
