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Festival Café at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 17 Aug.

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Rich Preston | 16:29 UK time, Tuesday, 17 August 2010


It's hard to think that we're nearly half way through our second week of live shows at the .

OBs (Outside Broadcasts) are always an interesting kind of programme to work on. For starters, you've got two different audiences to think about. We are a radio programme, with people tuning in up and down the country (and indeed around the world through bbc.co.uk/radioscotland). But we also have a couple of hundred people sitting in front of a stage, watching the event unfold and expecting to be entertained and hooked as much as the listeners at home.

So whilst the production team are booking acts, lining up their items and preparing their programmes they have to think about how it will sound AND how it will look. We can't have any dead air, everything has to flow smoothly, and of course we have to ensure high technical standards. But we also need acts that can engage with a live audience, performers who will have a great stage presence, and interviewees who have such interesting stories to tell that both audiences are glued to what they have to say.

But that's what's great about doing these things too. Radio - more so than television, in my opinion - is all about the audience: grabbing their attention, getting them hooked to the audio and connecting with them on a very personal level. To be able to do your programme in front of a live audience is a fantastic experience and a terrific buzz. For Clare, Janice, the guests, and the entire production team it really gives you the opportunity to interact with the people who make up your audience. You're performing directly to them and get that instant feedback. Every single day people from the audience have come up to our guests and staff to tell us how much they enjoyed the show. And that's always very special.

There's so much work that goes in to preparing for Outside Broadcasts, from preparing the programme itself and making sure we can actually go on air, through to making sure there are enough bottles of water and everyone has copies of the script. When we go on air at 1:15 we've already been on site for a good few hours, and 45 minutes later it's all over. It whizzes by every day - and now there are only three more shows left from our home at the EICC. But it doesn't end there - on Mondays 23rd and 30th August we'll be live at the . Watch this space...

For more on today's programme I'll hand over to two of our runners, Fiona and Melanie...

Festival Cafe guests 17th August

Clockwise from top left:
Top left: Arts critic Jane Graham and Sponsorship & Development Director for the Edinburgh International Festival Christopher Wynn discuss the appeal of the Festival for younger audiences
Top right: Annie Ryan from Dublin's Corn Exchange Theatre alongside John Tiffany on the Festival Café couch
Middle right: Singer Barb Jungr with three impressive performances for our audience
Bottom right: John Leary performing an extract of "Just McBeth" - their Shakespearian Festival show for 7-77 year olds (or was it 8-88 year olds?)
Bottom left: Christopher Wynn and Candida Alderson, the brains behind this year's 'Kidszone' at The Pleasance courtyard
Middle left: Patrick Brammall tells Clare how 'Just McBeth' came about

Photos by Melanie Morides.

Fiona Carlyle

Another day, another Festival Café successfully broadcast! Once again the show went really smoothly, with all our guests being very well behaved, despite there being so many of them. Today showed that there really is something for absolutely everyone at the fringe - in fact even some high quality Shakespeare for kids. Just Macbeth (amusingly clad in tartan trousers and shorts) performed a short extract of their children's play, demonstrating that there are shows out there that can make subjects as daunting as Macbeth accessible to kids, whilst still retaining some of the Shakespearian language AND being both funny and entertaining for the parents! In fact our panel discussion featuring Arts Critic Jane Graham and International Festival representative Christopher Wynn reached the conclusion that the festival is a great place to keep kids entertained.

But thankfully if it all gets too much Candida Alderson told us about the crèche she has ingeniously started which allows the parents to take a well earned break. But of course the festival isn't just for children, as The Corn Exchange Theatre Company from Dublin demonstrated with an extract from their gripping play "Freefall" which explores subject matter as dark as the effects of a stroke. We also had the chance to chat to John Tiffany, the man behind Black Watch and a new reworking of Peter Pan, about his upcoming directing Masterclass. And if all that wasn't enough, we were also thoroughly entertained by singing sensation beautiful voice, treating us to three different songs (my personal favourite being the closing number "Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache"). What more could you ask for?!


Melanie Morides:

Once again the Festival Café did not fail to impress. I was very excited to be in charge of taking the photographs today as I got the chance to escape from my backstage duties and enjoy the live broadcast with the rest of the audience!

Barb Jungr opened the show today with "You Ain't Going Nowhere" and wowed the audience with her beautiful voice. I couldn't help but notice how the expression on her face matched the intensity of her voice. She sung about broken hearts and romance with such emotion and feeling that it felt like she identified with the words in the song. You should go and see her and let me know what you think! Send us a Tweet - @³ÉÈËÂÛ̳FestivalCafe.

What I also loved about the show today was how it managed to combine beautiful music and touch upon some serious issues at the same time. Have you ever had a near death experience? If so how did you feel afterwards? Did it change things for you? Clare English spoke to the director (Annie Ryan), playwright (Michael West) and the cast of Freefall. This fascinating play by the Dublin's Corn Exchange deals brilliantly with these sensitive issues using a blend of comedy, shock and the truth.

Have you ever wondered where you can put your kids during the festival? Well this was another issue discussed on today's show. Candida Alderson (wife of director Anthony Alderson) talked about how she had the great idea of creating a fun environment for the many children that visit the festival. She revealed how this is how the Pleasance Kidzone came about. Children can now enjoy playing in a big wooden boat (sounds like fun) and a baby sitting service is also available.

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