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A view outside the Palatine Centre

Durham Fringe Festival 2024 sees record visitor numbers over five days

29 July 2024
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More than 120 volunteers and 90 different artists and companies took part with 250 performances across eight stages.

The fourth Durham Fringe Festival, with its distinctive stretch-tent marquee and mobile box office on Palace Green, has drawn to a close with record visitor numbers and record ticket sales. With our support as a key partner, the Durham Fringe brought a programme of arts and culture to Durham in the City's biggest arts festival. This included the festival’s first-ever dedicated dance hub in the Fonteyn Ballroom, Dunelm House.

Performers travelled from as far afield as the United States and Western Australia to be part of Durham Fringe with several sell-out shows. 

The diverse programme included everything from children climbing magic spirals into the air accompanied by a Cheshire cat, to AI projection augmented dance, new musicals, stand up, sketch reviews, magic shows, song and spoken word. The range of talent on show was amazing and acts received fantastic receptions from their audiences.

This included productions by six of our talented student performing arts groups:

  • 'From Retro to Remix' by Northern Lights A Cappella
  • 'Sonder' by Wrong Tree Theatre
  • 'Mid-Laugh Crisis' by The Durham Revue
  • 'Newspaper Punchlines' by Shellshock! Improvised Comedy
  • 'Technically: A Musical' by Foot of the Hill Theatre Company
  • 'Payback Party' by the Woodplayers Troupe

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>>Watch ITV Tyne Tees talk to The Durham Revue's Co-president Teagan Booker (coverage starts from 01:24)

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Continuing to the Edinburgh Fringe 2024

Many of the student groups who performed at this year's Durham Fringe will be taking their productions to the internationally-renowned Edinburgh Fringe in August. Read on for a full line-up of Durham student productions and come along!

  • 'Mid-Laugh Crisis' by The Durham Revue
  • 'From Retro to Remix' by Northern Lights A Cappella
  • 'Newspaper Punchlines' by Shellshock! Improvised Comedy
  • 'Payback Party' by the Woodplayers Troupe
  • 'Technically: A Musical' by Foot of the Hill Theatre Company
  • 'On Board: A Cappella' by Durham Dynamics
  • 'At the Foot of the Castle' by Foot Notes
  • 'Brace Yourselves!' by Full Score
  • 'Love and Freindship!' by Ooook! Productions
  • 'Too Close to the Sun' by Wrong Tree Theatre
  • 'La Bella' by Suffragette Theatre Company
  • 'milk teeth' by Durham University Sightline Productions
  • 'Undecided: A Musical Misadventure' by Durham University Musical Theatre Troupe

There will also be a number of Durham alumni-related productions, amongst which:

  • 'Bucket List' by Show Don't Tell Productions - written by alumna Imogen Usherwood (English Literature, St Cuthbert's Society, 2018-21)
  • 'Rosalie Minnit: Clementine' by BIGHEAD Comedy - created by alumna Rosalie Minnit (History, Van Mildert College, 2015-18)
  • 'Influenced' by Marc Twinn - created by alumnus Marc Twinn (Geography, Hatfield College, 2021-24)
  • 'Four More Short Plays Loosely Linked by the Theme of Crime' by Low Bar Theatre - written by alumnus Charles Edward Pipe (Anthropology, St Cuthbert's Society, 2017-2020)
  • 'Timeless' by John Rayment - directed by alumnus Charlie Turner (Economics, Hatfield College, 2017-20)
  • 'Bellringers' by Atticist, Ellie Keel Productions and Hampstead Theatre - with alumna Natasha Ketel (English Literature, Grey College, 2019-22) as assistant produced
  • 'Nish Kumar: Nish, Don't Kill My Vibe (Work in Progress)' by Plosive Live in association with PBJ Management - featuring alumnus Nish Kumar (English & History, Grey College, 2004-07)
  • 'Stevie Martin: clout' by Avalon - featuring alumna Stevie Martin (English Literature, St John's College, 2006-10)
  • 'Amy Annette: Thick Skin' by Brass Tacks Comedy - featuring alumna Amy Annette (Politics, St Mary's College, 2008-11)
  • 'Hot Concrete: Too Hot (and Too Concretey) for TV' by Hot Concrete - Charlie Billingham (Modern Languages, Grey College, 2017-21)
  • 'KAREN' by Sarah Cameron-West - created by and featuring alumna Sarah Cameron-West (Liberal Arts, Hatfield College, 2016-19)

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Images by Richard Eyers photography