University of Chichester has a strong presence at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for second year running

This summer sees seven different theatre acts made up of Performing Arts students and staff from the University of Chichester performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Find out more>>

Performing Arts Students at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2010

The Performing Arts department has a strong presence every year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and 2010 has been no exception. From the ground up, there is someone doing something nearly every level.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest arts festival in the world, and represents the best (and sometimes worst!) of theatre and performing arts. The department actively encourages its students to attend, either as audience or as performers, for which – as an experience – nothing beats in terms of learning how to compete with other companies, and the sheer graft required to simply stay afloat in what is the most fickle and challenging industry around.

Among those from Chichester were:

• Robert Daniels, senior lecturer at the University of Chichester, who arrived in Edinburgh early in the festival to act as a judge for the prestigious Total Theatre awards. He was selected for his expertise in contemporary theatre and as a director for his highly successful company; Bootworks. The University of Chichester was also a sponsor of the awards.
• James Baker, an associate lecturer and graduate of Chichester’s Performing Arts programme in 2006, presented a solo, research driven, piece at the cutting-edge Forest Fringe venue.
• Andy Roberts, a graduate of both our BA and MA programmes, worked for James Baker, Bootworks and Total Theatre during the festival.

The University also had a presence through some ex-students that weren’t being supported by the Performing Arts department directly; Connie Glover and her company Spitting Distance enjoyed a second successful festival, as did Katherine Edrupt, and her company Big Smoke Productions. Another student - Vicky Atkin - was due to take a show to Edinburgh this year with fellow graduate Heidi Zimmerman, but has had to put her plans on hold to take a lead role in teenage soap Hollyoaks.

In 2010, the department decided to take a more proactive approach to the way it supported and mentored its students and graduates. The artists and companies have offered some brief words on how we are supporting them. This level of support is of course expensive, but utterly necessary to ensure the work of our graduates is well supported and mentored, as ‘employability’ in the Arts is all-too-often locked into archaic and inappropriate statistical structures which don’t properly reflect how well our graduates do when they leave us. Of course, the kind of support is more than simply giving money. Our staff work tirelessly - and in-kind - to help our young artists and companies by working as creative and critical mentors; feeding into and helping develop the quality of their work. This aspect of the way we work, supporting artists to attend the Edinburgh Fringe and sponsoring one of the awards, only scratches the surface of the work we do to support contemporary theatre, performance and dance; regionally and nationally.

All the shows supported this year launched our 2010/2011 (Autumn) season at The ShowRoom Theatre.

Testimony from supported artists:

Joshua Taylor, James Dunnell-Smith, John Woodburn (current level 3 students; "deadplace theatre")

The University of Chichester has been a great help to us continuously with our process. Firstly, it has provided us with space to rehearse in, which without would have meant the show may never have gotten off the ground. Not only this, but the staff have been a constant source of advice and feedback. Lecturers Rob Daniels, Louie Jenkins, Ben Francombe and James Baker have all individually watched the piece in process and offered their opinion as well as stepping back letting the process be driven and created by us. Chichester Uni have also helped financially with our trip to Edinburgh, they covered a few essential expenses such as programming and travel, which has significantly helped with us all being students and being very low on money. Rob Daniels has also been a large part of our trip to Edinburgh in that he has sorted out (his company, Bootworks also co-financed) accommodation for us while up there. Without all of the combined help of everyone at Chi Uni, there is no way we would be able to perform at the fringe and this is an experience that I hopefully intend to continue for as long as possible.

Robert Taylor (ex student; "i am woof")

I graduated from the University of Chichester in 2009 upon completion of a BA (hons) in Performing Arts. My time at the University prepared me for a professional environment by not only providing excellent training, but offering opportunities such as workshops with established artists and companies such as Reckless Sleepers, Action Hero and Punchdrunk to name but a few. For students wanting to commit more time to their own development, the chance to work with British Council Showcase, Bootworks Theatre Collective, and the mentorship from Robert Daniels has proved invaluable experience for me over the past 4 years and continues to be an integral part of my own development and practice. Since graduating, I have had considerable success with I am Woof and co-founded Wide Eyes Theatre Collective, who are supported by Arts Council England. These achievements in my first year since graduating are in no small part down to the University’s continued help and support. 

Victoria Kember (ex student; "where have all the ladies gone")

The process of Where Have All The Ladies Gone? has been extensively supported by Performing Arts Department and The ShowRoom at the University Of Chichester. The use of rehearsal facilities and opportunities to present formation performances has been invaluable to the project. The 12-month process has also benefited from ongoing consultation with Andrew Wilford to help generate and shape materials before the Edinburgh run. The critical and creative dialogue with Andrew was integral to the direction and devising of my play and performance. After my Edinburgh run I will be performing at the ShowRoom, and will be using rehearsal space and further direction from Andrew Wilford to extend my work.

Paper Birds (Jemma McDonnell, ex MA Theatre Collectives student; "Others")

The MA at The University of Chichester provided a supportive and nurturing environment for the collective to re-engage in academia whilst also challenging and pushing the company to explore and experiment and re-evaluate our place within the current theatrical landscape.