So here we are...finally made it to Edinburgh Fringe 2010. My post to this blog is rather late so I feel there's a lot of catching up to do. We now just have 10 days left of the festival and it really feels like I haven't stopped for breath. Ever since Monday 2nd of August when we teched and got in to our venue it has been a very hectic few weeks. Our tech was extremely unusual for the Fringe, in that it was 8 hours long... an average tech in the fringe is about an hour, I have been informed. But we needed every little minute of it. At times it felt slow and at times we got frustrated but at the end we got what we were all hoping to achieve.

Lucy's set has received widespread praise for accurately grasping the atmosphere of the piece and transporting the audience into the world below ground. This was not a lucky accident and Lucy used the tech to ensure the look of the world was just right, making compromises where needed but overall ensuring the aesthetic vision of the show was intact and no individual element would let that down.

The show is very detailed and relies heavily on the lighting and soundscape to focus the attention of the audience. In a 45 minute show there are 42 sound cues and 34 lighting cues. These were plotted quite quickly in the tech, however, as they had been considered in some detail in the rehearsal room. But on the other hand we couldn't have plotted such a detailed show without the allotted technical time so our relationship with the venue was a key consideration in how the show was directed and if we had only 45 minutes tech time (as we had the year before) the show would have been an extremely different beast.

I dont think I have ever before realised just how hugely important a tech is... even more so at the Fringe. A good tech means you can realise your ambitions within your space and you don't have to cut your ideas completely short and settle for a spot light and the odd blue wash. This is what helps you stand out amogst the enormous amount of competition and even more importantly ensure you are happy and proud of your production. We've been very lucky to have such a great venue as Hill St and would recommend a long tech to anyone.