Scroll through the listings on the edfringe app and you’ll find dozens of productions have been cancelled since their announcement. These ghosts at the feast are a reminder of how hard it is to get any show up and running, whether at the world’s biggest arts festival or not.
Among the cancellations in 2022 was Dance Body, choreographed by writer-performer Yolanda Mercy, who previously had a hit with Quarter Life Crisis. She now returns to the fringe with the tale of a 33-year-old British Nigerian playwright, Ade, navigating the rocky road on the way to getting her script staged by a major London theatre. Ade finds herself patronised by producers, replaced as lead actor by an influencer who will guarantee more ticket sales, and slowly erased from her story. The future of the project is jeopardised by forces beyond her control but Ade still asks herself if she is at fault.
