Richard Herring: elitism of Fringe ‘makes me sick’

Veteran Fringe performer Richard Herring has said he will not be taking a show to this year's festival, citing concerns about its lack of inclusivity as a key reason.

Herring, who first performed at the event more than 35 years ago, said it has "become a festival that only people with a fair amount of wealth can attend", either as participants or to watch.

Writing on his website, Herring said he found last year's Fringe "quite upsetting and stressful".

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"Not the shows themselves which I was very pleased with, but everything else," he said.

"I don’t like how it’s become a festival that only people with a fair amount of wealth can attend.

"It should be for everyone, as it felt back in 1987 when I first went there.

"But accommodation is so expensive that even attending the Free Fringe requires quite an investment unless you live in the city or can sleep on someone’s floor, or are prepared to commute from another town."

Incurring debt

Herring said in the 1990s performers were likely to incur a couple of thousand pounds of debt putting on a show, adding that he lost about £10,000 himself on each of the plays he put on – due to them having large casts.

But he said a loss of £10,000 is now a reasonable expectation for any performer, unless they are able to "sell a couple of hundred tickets a day".

Herring added that the Fringe has been an "incredible force for learning my craft" and moving on his career, attributing the ability go back every year to improve and experiment as being key to the success he has enjoyed.

"If we lost money we were likely to get a job from the Fringe that would pay back some or all of the debt," he said.

"Nowadays I just don’t think it’s possible for anyone without a rich mum and dad or means of their own to come back year after year and the explosion in the number of acts means the chances of it leading directly to more work are slim.

Herring said that "it would be a shame" if his decision not to attend became permanent, but added that "all the stuff about the expense and the elitism of it still makes me feel sick".

"I don’t know if I want to participate until there have been at least some attempts to address this," he said.

'Impossible costs'

The organisers – the Fringe Society – have already urged prospective 2023 performers to investigate the likelihood of being able to find accommodation before they register amid concerns around availability and cost.

Last week London-based Danish comedian Sophie Hagen, who won Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2015, said they are considering not attending due to the cost of accomodation.

Tweeting a quote for a 30-night stay – £27,210 – they said: "I’m actually considering not going up this year because I can’t afford to pay £6,000+ for a place to stay.

"It’s January. I mean. It shouldn’t already be impossible."

For the 2022 festival the Fringe Society secured 1,200 rooms for performers for £280 or less a week, but Chief Executive Shona McCarthy admitted at the time that this wasn't enough to meet demand, and the organisation is continuing to try to address the situation.

It has set out an intention of doubling the number of affordable rooms for artists by 2024 and tripling it by 2027.