Curtain up on pay-per-view theatre! Fringe set to broadcast performances on the internet

Published: 4th November, 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

FRINGE theatre is widely ridiculed for its papier mâché props, dodgy accents and tired jokes.

And as commercial ventures go, broadcasting pay-per-view shows that regularly play to two people above a pub across the world sounds like the script for an opening night flop.

But in Camden – where fringe theatre has gone from strength to strength since the creation of its own festival in 2006 – streamed sonnets could make perfect sense.

A consortium of 14 venues are working on plans that would see performances streamed live on the internet to bring in a wider audience and insulate against severe cuts to arts funding.

It will be the first time that fringe theatre has been broadcast live in Britain.

Chris Mellor, who is coordinating the switch-on as a leading member of the consortium, said fringe theatres needed a “shake up” if they were going to survive.

“We have been looking at ways of growing our audience,” he added. “What we find is a lot of people come to shows from the Home Counties, often friends of the producers, but they find it hard to get to London to see more. At the moment fringe ­theatre is really struggling and with the competition out there it’s only going to get worse. 

“The average audience size is 21 people on any given night in Camden. So we thought, why reach 60 people in the Lion and Unicorn when you could be reaching six million worldwide.”

Trial runs scheduled for Christmas have been organised at the New Diorama and Shaw theatres in Euston and the Camden People’s Theatre, with the help of Roundhouse technicians.

The scheme will cost around £100,000 and organisers are ­hoping to get corporate sponsors on board. 

It follows news that a new ­theatre will open in the Grand Union pub in Kentish Town in January. The Grand Union ­Theatre, as it will be known, promises to showcase “gritty and hard hitting” new writing.