East 15 heads to the Fringe!

An amazing array of East 15 talent will debut work at this year’s Camden and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals.

A whopping 30+ shows from East 15 will be performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with a further 14+ joining the Camden Fringe line-up.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival has grown to become the single biggest celebration of arts and culture on the planet and provides an important showcase for talent.

East 15 graduate Ami Okumura Jones, who will be directing two different shows in Edinburgh, said: "Edinburgh Fringe is a huge, unpredictable, seething marketplace of new, exciting theatre. There's no better place in the world for a young theatre company just starting out to be. We really hope this will be the exact springboard we need to take our show ‘Pits’ further afield and really launch ourselves.”

Camden Fringe, established in 2006, aims to provide lower-cost opportunities to emerging talent.

Olugbeminiyi Bammodu, whose work will debut at this year’s Camden Fringe, graduated from East 15 with a BA (Hons) Acting & Community Theatre.

Olugbeminiyi Bammodu said: “This experience will give ‘Concept Theatre’ the chance to receive professional feedback on our work and see the beginnings of our exciting new company. East 15 has taught us how to create engaging and socially-conscious theatre - theatre that is reflective of the world we live in and the human experience.”

East 15 Acting School recently topped the rankings for drama in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide and the Guardian University Guide, and in the most recent National Student Satisfaction Survey, 100% of East 15 Acting School students expressed overall satisfaction with their course (NSS 2019). 

East 15 students are encouraged to create their own work and become Theatre Makers whilst learning their craft.

Uri Roodner, Head of our BA (Hons) Acting and Contemporary Theatre course, said: “We develop our actors as a creative & expressive force that can lead and collaborate from strong artistic ambitions. We recruit young practitioners who are not afraid to call themselves artists. While receiving a full acting training they also experiment with European physical theatre, cross-media art, script writing, music composition and devising. We encourage them and lead them to create original work.”

Ami Okumura Jones said: “I cannot think of a better place than the Acting & Contemporary Theatre course at East 15 to prepare you for (Edinburgh Festival Fringe) - not just artistically, but also on a very practical level. I feel very ready to go, perform our brilliant show, meet other exciting young creatives and soak up some excellent theatre as an audience member!"

Over the past 9 years, companies from East 15 have received multiple awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe including: The Edinburgh Comedy Award (Eddies), Scotsman Fringe First, Herald Angel, Total Theatre, Best Musical Edinburgh, The Stage for Excellence, Chortle Best Comedy - Amused Moose New Comedy Award, Voice Pick of the Fringe and Holden Street Awards.

The Fringe is one of the biggest celebrations of arts and culturein the world, with over 3,548 shows performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018. 

Heading to the Fringe? Take a look at our East 15 list of ‘What to Watch’.