MONDAY 5 AUGUST 2019

Black artists need safe spaces to

tell black stories – the Fringe

isn’t one of them

‘Pyneapple’ (seen here) is running as part of This is Black (SPYCE Collective)

STEVEN KAVUMA

Like many artists in theatre, taking work to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has
always been a goal for me. In a city where everyone is looking out for new, young
and exciting voices, it’s an amazing opportunity to showcase new work. Two years
ago, however, my desire to go was challenged by an upsetting account of another
black performer’s experience: Selina Thompson’s painful article “Excerpts from the
diary of a black woman at the Edinburgh Fringe”, which articulated the isolation Thompson felt as a black
artist in Edinburgh.

Voices