Show report for "Horror. Through the Open Window" (show nr 697), 3 day run, 11am A lovely, quiet cafe away from the Fringe madness, with lovely staff and great coffee. The performance space is situated in their gallery space downstairs and can seat 10-15 people. The first thing you'll notice there: the ceiling is VERY low. 170cm or 5'5ft. Because the room is painted white and has nice warm lights, it doesn't feel super small, but this venue is not suited for shows that require a lot of movement. Great for readings or talks though (especially if you're sitting down), as it is quite intimate. Because it's so small, you don't need a mic. There's no tech, so if you need any sort of sound, you'll have to bring a speaker yourself. We had a consistent audience of 4 people per show and very different buckets (3,50 one day and 35 the next). The audience was a good mix - some saw the show in the WBB, others we had flyered, someone saw a social media post, and some were regulars at the cafe and decided to check out a show. I think that can be a great benefit for this venue - getting locals in who want to avoid the bustle of Old Town, but would still like to see a show. One punter remarked: "This, reading poetry in a caf basement, with a bucket at the end - this is what the Fringe is about!" I could imagine that a full run in this venue would be hard, because it is just a little too far from the centre to get people out there. But I think there's great potential here for shorter runs that get more of the local residents in (once someone's seen a show there, they might just come back for another one!).
Show report for Apocalypse Kapow (show 641) I was 6 days here at Kafe Kweer. Had a great time! As already mentioned, very small. Low ceiling but incredibly light feeling and not 'basementy' at all. There is no door and the kitchen just outside the room is used by the cafe occasionally, as is the toilet. A curtain at that door might help. As much of this venue is all about how far out it is, here are some thoughts on getting the word out. The cafe staff were all absolutely lovely - but I never saw them talking about shows to those in the cafe and most people I spoke to in the cafe were surprised that shows were going on. A number came as a result of the chat, including a guy just waiting at the bus stop outside. In terms of getting more people out from central fringe venues - making bigger connections between those visiting LGBTQ+ venues and Kafe Kweer would be great. Kind of 'take a trip out to a chill space after the bustle' sort of thing. I think this venue would suit similar-themed niche shows who are expecting (or want) small audiences and maybe already have a following. It was nigh-on impossible to get people to come out to the venue. What we tried: lots of schmoozing and posters at Brewdog lothian, our nearest venue. Posters / flyers / Blue Books in cafes and shops at Fountainbridge. Flyering / chatting to people on the canal. If I was to be at this venue again, it would definitely be great to try aiming to get people to come for a few connected shows. come and spend the day.
Show report for A Bike Called Lizzie (show 610). I was here for the entire run at Kafe Kweer and here are some things to note about the venue. As previously mentioned the ceiling height is very low, I am 59 and I could only just stand up straight. It is a small space that seats a maximum of 14 people so is very intimate. There is no room for a lighting rig so you are lit by whatever lights are in the space (the cafe put fairy lights and a few lamps in the space which made it cute!). You may be able to bring your own plug in lights to the venue? There is also no sound equipment so any sound you want in your piece you will need to bring a speaker. We had an average audience of 3 throughout the whole run and there were only 2 shows where no one came. Like others have stated before, it is very challenging to get big numbers of people to come and watch to due the location. Flyering at the canal is the nearest location with foot traffic but it can be very hit and miss. A lot of my audience had found the show on the free fringe website so there is definitely traffic on the site! I have really enjoyed the run at the Kafe Kweer, however if I were to come back I would plan much more dedicated time to self marketing the show to get as many people to come and see as possible. Oh and the staff were all lovely!
Show report for James Ross Does Guess Who (show 281). I did eight days at Voodoo Rooms (Speakeasy), 1650-1750. Staff were beyond lovely and helpful, very supportive of the show and nice as people. The main rule they hadn't that wasn't immediately obvious was no flyering people in the bar when they're eating, which is fair enough and wouldn't be all that worthwhile anyway. Crowds were much bigger at the weekends - c80 capacity venue was standing room only on the two Saturdays, and very full on the Friday and Sunday. Lowest crowd was 20, but they were 20 of the right people. Flyering just outside the venue with a bit of top-up from the little space opposite the Apple store at the north end of North Bridge was the only bit of general flyering that seemed to get any bums on seats - the Mile and St Andrew's Square were pretty pointless. There's a lot of mileage in chatting to people, saying obviously come to my show but here's the PBH guide, what sort of thing are you interested in and then pointing them at that sort of show - if someone obviously wouldn't enjoy yours but would probably enjoy a comrade's then send them their way. Works really well at a multi-space venue like VR, especially if you're recommending shows immediately before or after yours!
Show report for Let's Start A Cult 1755 Voodoo Rooms Carte Blanche. The staff are very friendly and helpful, the room is set up well with the stage in the best possible position now. It heats up by the afternoon but there is a fan and the windows open. On Saturdays it can get overcrowded in that the "overspill" seating in the other side of the stairs can fill up with casual daydrinkers with a rudimentary grasp of the performing arts. Perhaps quieter than other areas of the city for flyerering purposes. I loved performing there.
Show Report for The Cashmere Papsmear (862) I did an 8 day run at Kafe Kweer 12.10-12.45. The venue is great, very different from the buzz of the Fringe, it's more of a lullaby. But magical even if you only have a few people in the space with you. The staff were really nice and I enjoyed chatting with them everyday. I didn't have much success with turnout, 2 shows of 1 person each and 2 shows with no people. However, I was a late fill-in for the timeslot only 2 weeks before the festival started. So I didn't have much momentum and doing another show at night I had no energy to flyer. Its a sleepy neighborhood, but the scene in Fountainbridge is great if you want to attract locals who want something low-key, unique, queer, and thoughtful. It is a sober space as well. I feel like that should be mentioned.
Show report for THE BALKAN BRAIN (show 738) As some of you already knew, my limited series with the Free Fringe was travelling around the venues for eight days (Aug 3-10). Those were: CC Bloom, Hot Toddy, Pilgrim, BrewDog Lothian, Uno Mas, Slow Progress Cafe, Voodoo Rooms, Satyr, and Globe Bar. All in all, the experiences were pleasant. The staff in the venues were welcoming and helpful, same goes with the fellow performers prior or following to my show. If I was to emphasize the positive, that would perhaps be the Slow Progress hosts, as well as those from Uno Mas. I also liked the Pilgrim staff although that was the only show I had to cancel due to the (Monday 1pm slot) zero turnout! If I was to file a complaint, that would only be a concern about the background noise at the Globe Bar in the afternoon/evening slots.
Show Report Part One for I Am Your Tribute, Voodoo Rooms, Ballroom, 12.05pm (venue 68). Full run. Firstly, a huge thanks to Luke and the team for programming us in the space. This is the second time I have played this room with the PBH Free Fringe. Overall we had a good experience, with a few notable challenges. Below is some feedback which I hope might help people in the future decide whether its the right space for them. It is in two parts because my message was too long to post in full. Positives: The Voodoo Rooms team running the actual venue were incredible. Nora, Beth, Rory, Courtney, Tanisha & Leo were very friendly, collaborative and supportive. The room is stunning and we sold between 50-75% capacity, breaking even in the final week. Our PBH Venue captains Chris and David were super helpful and proactive, for example when the shared storage room was becoming untidy and they needed to reach out to performers.
Part 2 for I Am Your Tribute Challenges: Having performed in this venue four times before, both on the paid and Free Fringe, I was disappointed by the tech set up this year. I had advance notice that the in-house sound system was not being made available to Free Fringe shows (after it was damaged by a previous company a few years ago). With this knowledge I embarked on a lengthy series of messages with the technical manager at Voodoo Rooms who reassured my stage manager and me that there was enough working kit to make our show sound good. He also arranged with us to be with us for a tech induction to show us the set-up. Unfortunately he did not turn up to that allotment so we lost our tech time and were unable to use the hour to programme lights as the desk had not been set up correctly. We were the first people in so other people may not have run into these issues. After some persuasion he agreed to come in early the next day so we could have an hour in the room before our first performance. The sound system made available to the Free Fringe was not of a good enough quality to deliver our needs. Despite providing our own microphones, the sound on the show was compromised and as a result, I would not bring a music based show back to this room in the future. If you do not need fold back and you're not using a head mic, then the room might work perfectly well for you. Its just not set up for head mics and EQing. The tech manager also told us that he did not like the Fringe and intended to be away for the month doing corporate events. To be honest, once he left the building and we could get on with troubleshooting ourselves, the run was much more enjoyable. I hope it is okay to be this candid, but it was disappointing given our previous history in the space not to be able to achieve what we wanted to artistically. The day-to-day staff in the venue made up for him tenfold.
Final part 3 The other thing to be aware of is that the storage cupboard for all of the rooms in the building is inside the performance space. It means a lot of people coming and going during your show. A sign was put up on the door by the venue captains asking people to be as quiet as possible but unfortunately people were still very noisy collecting their stuff. Up to four interruptions most days. Again this would not be a problem if your show is quite noisy. My other learn was that the venue itself does not open until midday. So with our show starting at 12:05pm it only gave the audience five minutes to get into the building, use the bathroom and get a drink. In order to avoid overrunning in our slot and having a negative impact on the rest of the days schedule, we had to go up late and shorten the show. Thankfully, the show on after us was very accommodating as well. It also means there isnt much passing trade or people in the bar to scoop up and entice folk into your show. I was fortunate because I had a second production running and could cross-pollinate publicity, but worth bearing your mind if you are taking the first slot of the day in any venue. So thats it, we had a great month with some challenges and I hope the above is helpful information and is received in the spirit it is given. Huge thanks.
You've posted this in #kafe-kweer instead of #voodoo-rooms
Thanks Dave. Ill post in Voodoo. Not familiar with Dischord and just following the link in the email! Apologies