As we launch this year’s £10,000 Edinburgh Fund, it seemed about time we caught up with last year’s winning companies, RashDash and Bridge Theatre Company, to find out what the fund meant for them…
Helen Goalen and Abbi Greenland, aka RashDash Theatre, won £10,000 for their devised play Scary Gorgeous…
“We did a lot of preparation for our pitch to IdeasTap,” says Helen. “We really thought about why the money would make a difference to us, benefit the company and move us forward. We decided what our weak points were, what we wanted to improve on and how the Ideas Fund would enable us to achieve that.
“We went to Edinburgh the year before with a show that won a Fringe First, so it was really important for us to go back and prove we weren’t one hit wonders. Edinburgh is such a special place for young companies; you get feedback from your audiences and other artists who are up there.”
“Also, we were making a show that we really, really cared about,” says Abbi. “The previous year we’d done the whole thing on my student loan, so it had been a huge risk. We did manage to make the money back, thank God, but we could have lost £7,000. We wanted to be able to go up there and put all of our energy into the shows – the financial pressure the year before took such a toll on our health and our bodies.”
“We are getting to the point with our company where we want to be able to pay the people who are working with us and be a professional endeavor,” explains Helen. “Winning the fund meant a huge amount for us. It put us on the map for a lot of people, because they’d heard about the show through IdeasTap. It’s quite a high-profile fund among young companies.
“It was also really nice to have the IdeasTap team up there,” adds Abbi. “They were so supportive.”
Jack Ayres, along with the rest of the Bridge Theatre Company won £10,000 for their play Show Me the World. He describes their experience…
I’d been an IdeasTap member for about a year before I saw the brief and just thought we’d be perfect,” says Jack.
We were going to go to Edinburgh no matter what. But people from our school who had done it before were only able to go up for two weeks, because they hadn’t raised enough money, whereas we got to stay up there for a month.
It was hectic. You want to get enough sleep so you’re good for the shows, but on the other hand, you’re at the Edinburgh fringe. You want to see everything, go out for drinks and meet people.
We spent a lot of the money on accommodation so we’d be comfortable. Our director warned us that if you’re in bad accommodation, you’ll all start to hate each other very quickly.
One of the best things about winning the fund was our mentor, [producer] Simon Bedford. He was our Edinburgh legend and gave us loads of great advice.
When you take a show up to Edinburgh you have to make a decision: do you want a good venue, or a good time? Also, you need time to flyer around your show. I’d say 3, 4 or 5pm are the primetime slots and you should try to be close to one of the main streets.
Also, take a good raincoat and waterproof shoes.
To apply for the Ideas Fund Edinburgh, visit the brief.
RashDash image by Richard Davenport; Bridge Theatre image by Kirsten Short.