Bedlam Theatre, Forrest Road, Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

11893

Title

Bedlam Theatre, Forrest Road, Edinburgh

Description

Venue banners are displayed on the outside walls of the Bedlam Theatre in Forrest Road, Edinburgh. A board outside has details of shows performing at the venue during the Fringe Festival. The building was previously a church.

Artist / maker

Ansell, Andrew J L

Date

2007

Size

26.4 x 19.7 cm

Type

Digital image

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Bedlam Theatre stands at the meeting of Forrest Road and Bristo Place in Edinburgh. The theatre occupies the former New North UF Church, designed by Thomas Hamilton and built between 1846-48. It takes its name from its proximity to the site of Edinburgh's Bedlam, demolished in the 1870's.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has its roots in the attendance of eight uninvited theatre groups at the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. This unofficial adjunct to the festival grew in both size and organisation throughout the 1950's with more and more performers coming to take advantage of the audiences drawn to the capital by the official events. By the end of the decade a well organised Festival Fringe Society had been established with a constitution, brochure, and central ticket sales. Today 'The Fringe' hosts several hundred productions each year, and ticket sales have exceeded 1.6 million.

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Related subjects

Business > Advertising > Advertisements

Education > Educational facilities > Universities and colleges

Events > Festivals > Fringe Festival

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Sport and leisure > Sports and recreation facilities > Festival venues

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