Dear Pleasance,
This is an open thank you letter from all of us here at Wildcard. You have supported our journey as an emerging company more than you could ever know. Without the time, advice, generosity and belief that your team has given us we would never have been able to achieve many of our goals and ambitions.
We are so saddened by the cancellation of the Edinburgh Fringe this year and for the devastating impact this has had on the venues that rely on the Festival so heavily. We, amongst hundreds of other artists, comedians and companies, were really excited to present a new piece of work with the Pleasance this year.
However, even as the pandemic crippled arts organisations across the country, the Pleasance were still there ready to listen to any ideas of how they could support and champion the work that would have been in their programme.
This kind support is not unique to this situation either. We premiered our second production, After Party, with you in London in 2017 where you showed your support by donating one night in your main house, free of charge, to raise funds for the show. The following year we opened Electrolyte with you in Edinburgh where you helped us, through your partnership with Les Enfant Terribles and their LET Award, with a fantastic space and time slot and went above and beyond to assist us with PR support through Chloe Nelkin Consultancy.
We then joined you as London Associates and through this relationshop you have supported us with equipment, free rehearsal space (when our building set on fire), application writing, a financial contribution towards starting our own artist development programme and advice, support and mentorship that has proven invaluable. When we then returned with Electrolyte to the Fringe in 2019 you still made time for us, helping to shout about our work, introduce us to individuals and organisations who could help us moving forward and to discuss our upcoming projects.
This level of support for a young company that was literally just a group of actors, fresh out of drama school, blindly finding their feet as writers, directors, producers, production managers, tour bookers & so many other roles which we hadn’t trained to be, has been, and continues to be, phenomenal. It is absolutely second to none and the Pleasance encapsulates so much of what is brilliant about the Edinburgh Fringe and leads the way by demonstrating what a charity in the arts should and can achieve.
If you were planning on heading to the Edinburgh Fringe this year and now can’t, and you have the means to do so, please donate whatever you can to this fantastic organisation, led by a team of people who truly believe in the power of theatre and in helping emerging artists to achieve their full potential within this difficult industry.
Hopefully, together, we can help open the gates again!
Yours sincerely and with love,
