Simone Lewis and Steve Mosley as Margot and Phillip flyering on the Royal Mile

There is little that can prepare you for the reality of the Edinburgh Festival.  I have just returned having spent the last 5 days in an alternate universe of intense theatre overload and it has taken its toll! But lets not get ahead of ourselves…

The week started with two pieces of fantastic news.  First: You’ll remember Trundle the miniature rusty caravan from the 1960’s had to undergo a ‘Dad check’ to make sure she was roadworthy… Well she failed when she was found to be suffering from rotten bearings and numerous other defects.  So it looked like she couldn’t be used. Only then Jane and her Dad did two days of open caravan surgery and finally the day before we were due to travel she was pronounced ‘safe!’  Hurrah!

Then I got even better news when I found out that Forgotten Things had been shortlisted for the Meyer – Whitworth Award for playwriting!  I rang Stef Gasgoine at Red Ladder (the companies fantastic marketing manager) to tell her.  We both got really giddy.  With the show about to open this news felt like a portent of good things to come… So, by the time Jane and I were making our way up the A1, my spirits had gone sky high…

Fast forward to mid afternoon on the 7^th of August… It is 3.30pm.  I have just watched the show. I am gutted. The pace and energy that was there at the dress rehearsal is missing now and I don’t know what to say.  I don’t want to be negative.  I don’t want to put a downer on things.  That night I get invited by the cast to go round to their flat to have a party.  We have a real laugh, it is a lovely evening… But as I make the journey back across Edinburgh to Trundle I am really troubled.  Is it my job as a writer to say anything now? I don’t sleep very well.  I know reviewers are going to be in the following day.  I feel sick.  I’m not sure if I’m being rational.  I can’t work out what is the best thing to do…  Morning comes… I’m still mythering on.  In the end Jane quietly says ‘Emma, just ring Rod and talk to him’.  I pick up the phone…

Fast forward to 10.30 in the morning on the 8^th of August.  I am sitting in the Elephant and Bagel café with Rod.  We are drinking coffee.  I have a hangover.  We make small talk, which is difficult because Rod and I are hopeless at making small talk.  Finally I take a deep breath and bring up my worries.  I do it with all the elegance of a belly flop from the high board into a diving pool.  Even so, when I come up for air, Rod is nodding.  He says its ok for me to bring this stuff up. We end up having a really good chat and he says that it’s helped him clarify the notes he was thinking of giving the actors. I feel relieved but still nervous.  Will todays show work?

Yes it does! Its 3.30 that same day and I’m now grinning like a goose!  The show today was fantastic!  In fact it’s the best version I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen quite a few performances!)  The actors absolutely nail the show.  Nail it!  Plus Callum the fantastic stage manager (who is like a Dad, big brother, social worker and dodgy cocktail maker for the whole crew!) finds a copy of ‘BroadwayBaby’ a review sheet…  We’ve got a four star review!  Once again my spirits saw! We’re back on track!!!  Read the reveiw online at:  http://www.broadwaybaby.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3611:forgotten-things&catid=46:current-edinburgh-festival

So now all the anxiety of yesterday slips away.  Finally its time to have some fun!  We start off by going onto the streets of Edinburgh to flyer the crowds.  The cast stay in costume and in role!  It is a bizarre and wonderful thing to see this surreal family bumbling up the Royal Mile enticing people to come to the show!  But we’re not alone.  There are hundreds of performers and companies out flyering.  At one point I almost get my head taken off when enthusiastic actors suddenly erupt into a fight sequence plugging a production of A clockwork orange… It is mayhem but an incredible thrill to be here.

I could tell you so much more.  About the shows that I saw while I was there.  About some of the best veggie cafes and restaurants I found.  About really falling in love with Edinburgh as a city (it’s a labyrinth of architectural surprises)…  About the dark side of it all – the scrum, the fear you see in people’s eyes (promoters frightened they’ll lose money, punters frightened they’ll miss the ‘hot’ show, artists frightened of not getting noticed)… Edinburgh is a fantastic experience but it is brutal too… There is so much to tell but only so many words allowable!  So I’ll finish by saying…

Fast forward to Monday the 10^th August.  Jane, me and Trundle are slowly rolling out of Edinburgh.  Since the 8^th we have been rushing around, seeing shows, drinking beers, eating snacks!  I have sensory overload and a huge hangover.  The only thing that got me out of bed this morning was a lovely Linda Mac veggie sausage sarnie with egg and tommy sauce. I grumble ‘I wish we could have stayed longer’. Jane smiles at me and tells me to cheer up ‘we’ll be back next year’.  And suddenly I’m grinning from ear to ear!

Trundle - possibly the smallest caravan in the whole wide world