Fringe 2025 – festival reviews and how to get them

Edinburgh Reporter

4 hours ago

August is fast approaching, and with it the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, International, Book and Art festivals.
Performers and promoters need reviews – but just how (especially when there are far fewer reviewers than there are requests for their services) can they get them?
I've reviewed in all of these festivals for some years now, and here I have gathered together some tips that might help.
Tiny Little Town Photo – David Monteith-Hodge
Here goes:
1. Press releases
Make sure yours is well written, not cobbled together at the last minute. Reviewers are inundated with these things – and what they need from them is information, not gimmicks, so take care to include full details of your cast, writer, manager, lighting manager, the name and contact details of someone who can provide more information. If I have to scrabble around looking for these things I'm already losing patience before I start.
UPLOAD YOUR PRESS RELEASE TO THE FRINGE MEDIA SITE. I can't emphasise this enough. It makes reviewers' lives so much easier if they can find everything they need in one place.
Contact reviewers well in advance. I sort my schedule in early July, and it has very little slack. Panicking about a lack of reviews during the festival is unlikely to prove fruitful – nor will it reduce your stress levels.
My emails are always open, but please, if you contact me to request review, tell me about the themes of your show, not just how many stars somebody else gave it.
Please address me properly – 'Dear BLANK' will not impress – but don't bother will all the 'how are you doing?', 'Hope you're enjoying the Fringe' stuff. Cut to the chase and tell me why I, particularly, should see your show.
3. Respond!
If a reviewer emails you with a request for information, please, please reply quickly. They are probably halfway through a review – a review which can't be published until you respond. We know you're tired – believe me, so are we.
4. Be polite!
Never criticise reviewers in public. I have sat behind people on a bus who spent their entire journey talking about the writer of a less than glowing review. Of course everyone wants five stars, but reviews are written to assist readers, not to stroke egos or cosset eggshell personalities. If you are putting yourself out there, you need not only to be able to cope with criticism but also to learn from it.
5. Be flexible
If a reviewer asks for a ticket at the start of your run, don't refuse – they may well not be able to come when it suits you. Reviewers do understand that previews may lack the polish of later shows, and they can make allowances for that. If they don't see the show at all, they can't review it.
Similarly, please don't make us sit in the middle of a row or at the front – we know you want to 'fill up from the front', but it's really difficult to make notes if you're jammed in. And would you not find it off-putting to see me scribbling away two inches from the stage? Let us hide away at the back if we ask to. We're a lot safer there.
6. Does it make sense?
I have heard performers complaining (publicly – see 3!) that a reviewer 'missed the point' of a play. Reviewers are experienced. If they don't get it, how likely is it that your audience will? You have only 60 minutes, sometimes less, to make an impression – be clear, be audible – and do practice getting on and off your stage, it really does make a difference.
7. Appreciate your reviewers!
Believe it or not, most reviewers (apart from the few from the national press) are often doing this unpaid, often fitting it around their own jobs. They rush from one venue to another, usually writing reviews in their lunch breaks and late at night. They do it not only because they want to let the paying public know what's worth seeing, but also because they want to help you.
Be nice.
Our main email address for contacting Rosemary is [email protected] (please put FAO Rosemary in the subject line).
And you can read all the articles she has written on The Edinburgh Reporter by clicking here.
Heartbreak Hotel Photo – David Monteith-Hodge
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