News

The Fringe Society is looking for a Scotland-based artist with Fringe experience to deliver a seven-week, co-creative project with one of our Fringe Days Out partners, LGBT Youth Scotland, in central Edinburgh.

The project will run in weekly sessions on Fridays between 14:00 and 16:00, from Friday 26 April to Friday 07 June 2024, with one additional session in August. This will lead to the group presenting a family-friendly performance, up to 30 minutes in length, in August, either on the community stage or at a community event as part of the festival.

About Fringe in Communities

This project aims to encourage and enable local community groups to engage with the Fringe and give them an opportunity to perform on a stage during the festival. It is part of the Fringe Society’s commitment to give anyone a stage.

About the role

The role is open to artists and facilitators in any discipline who have Fringe experience or are in the 2024 Fringe programme, and who wish to develop their practice by co-creating a performance with a community group made up of young people aged 16 – 25. You will be supported by an experienced mentor.

What will be expected of you:

• You will arrange a meeting in person or by phone with a member of staff from LGBT Youth Scotland to touch base before the first session and discuss LGBTQ+ awareness.
• You will prepare and deliver seven weekly sessions on Fridays between 14:00 and 16:00, from Friday 26 April to Friday 07 June 2024, plus a two-hour session in August before the performance.
• We'll be in touch with you to discuss any access requirements you might have – we’re aiming to make this process as flexible as possible to ensure you can deliver your project in the way that works best for everyone involved.
• You’ll deliver all sessions in person.
• You’ll be working with around six to eight young people aged 16 – 25 years old.
• The end of the project will culminate in a short performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024, either on the community stage or at a community event during August. The details of the style and content of the performance should be decided between you, the LGBT Youth Scotland staff and the group members during the sessions.
• We’re aiming for this to be co-creative and collaborative – the content, themes and ideas used in your creative process should stem from those of the young people. These should arise within a structured format that will be developed with the young people and staff. The final performance must be family friendly as it will be at a community event or on the community stage in August.
• You will attend a launch session with your mentor.
• Your mentor will attend two of your workshop sessions and you will have one-to-one support sessions with the mentor in person after those sessions.
• You will attend a reflection and feedback session with a staff member from LGBT Youth, your mentor and the Fringe Society online or in person and you will contribute to the project evaluation and documentation.

Person specification

The successful applicant will:

• live within travelling distance of Edinburgh (we can cover travel expenses from inside the Central Belt, to be agreed in advance with the Fringe Society)
• have previously been an artist or participant of a Fringe show or have registered a show for 2024
• have experience / interest in performing arts for teenagers and young adult audiences and working with young people as collaborators
• be willing to learn, take on feedback and receive support from an experienced mentor
• be flexible, compassionate and thoughtful in planning and delivery when it comes to any access needs of the group
• be willing and able to strike a balance between flexibility in co-creative work with young people and a structured, scaffolded approach to delivery
• possess an up-to-date PVG background check or be willing to apply for one (the Fringe Society can cover costs of this)
• be sympathetic with the values of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and LGBT Youth Scotland.

About the community group

We are working with the Edinburgh branch of LGBT Youth Scotland on this project.

• They are Scotland’s national charity for LGBTQ+ young people, working with 13–25-year-olds across the country. 
• Their vision is that Scotland is the best place for LGBTQ+ young people to flourish and thrive.
• Their mission is to support LGBTQ+ young people to flourish and thrive in all aspects of their lives through the provision of amazing youth work. They support LGBTQ+ young people to use their voice and create change in equality and human rights.

Key information

This project will include:

• An initial chat in person or by phone with a member from LGBT Youth Scotland to touch base and discuss LGBTQ+ awareness.
• One session per week for seven weeks between Friday 26 April and Friday 07 June 2024 from 14:00 to 16:00 on Friday in central Edinburgh, plus one additional session in August before the performance. The time of the last session in August should be arranged between the artist and LGBT Youth Scotland before the end of the seven sessions.
• A launch session with the project mentor.
• Two additional one-to-one support sessions with the project mentor.
• A reflection and feedback session with a staff member from LGBT Youth, the Fringe Society and your mentor, online or in person, and to contribute to the project evaluation and documentation.

Fee

• Total fee of £1,680 (inclusive of all delivery, planning and expenses).
• Additional support is available for access requirements.

Application process and key dates

Application deadline: Monday 11 March 2024 at 09:00 GMT.

After the application deadline we will consult with LGBT Youth to decide on the selected artist based on what works best for their members.

We will aim to let all applicants know the outcome by Friday 22 March 2024. All applicants will be asked if they would like written feedback.

The dates of the project delivery are Friday 26 April to Friday 07 June 2024, with one final workshop prior to the performance in August (date tbc).

Additional budget is available if you have any access requirements for meetings and / or for the project itself, including providing BSL translators. Please contact us via [email protected] if you would like to set that up

If you would like to apply in writing, please send us a covering letter (one or two pages of A4).

If you would like to apply by film or voice recording, send us a link to your recording via email (no more than three minutes). If you use BSL, you can record your film in BSL.

All applications

Please include the following information in all applications:

1. Artist name.
2. A bit about yourself.
3. Why you are interested in the role.
4. Number of Fringes in which you have creatively participated in total.
5. Name and year of your most recent Fringe show.
6. Your relevant experience and / or your artistic practice.
7. Main contact name.
8. Main contact phone number.
9. Main contact email address.
10. Where you are based in Scotland.

Please email the link to [email protected] with ‘Fringe in Communities artist application’ as the email subject.

Please do not send us any CVs or any other additional documents.

Application deadline: Monday 11 March 2024 at 09:00 GMT.

We are particularly interested in hearing from artists who identify as under-represented in the arts, or are neurodivergent, D/deaf or disabled.

We are open to having conversations with the selected artists about their access requirements to participate in all aspects of the project.

You can contact the team on [email protected] or 0131 226 0033 with any questions about this opportunity or to talk through any access requirements.