Becky Edgington and Sam Buist, the organisers of Preston Tringe

“We just want Preston Tringe to be accessible to anyone and everyone”, says Sam Buist enthusiastically, “and allow people to experience a range of theatre, music, literature and other contemporary stuff for a week.”

In the week leading up to the world famous Edinburgh Festival, a small-scale version will be taking place in Preston, Lancashire.

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Organised by the team behind Screaming Theatre it’s a chance for Preston to enjoy a diverse range of comedy, music and drama in rather unexpected places.

The venues will include the Adelphi, Ship Inn, The Angel, New Continental and the Avenham Park Pavillion.

Buist said: “We wanted to take this event to the people and make it in places you wouldn’t expect to see drama or these type of events.

“I’d like to think we can detach the stigma that’s sometimes attached to drama and live performance, that’s it’s for those with money and needs to be in a big swanky theatre.”

The Preston Tringe is planned to run from 27th – 31st July and anyone can submit an application to put on a show.

“We’re not being picky,” says Buist, “we want everyone to be involved and have a chance to perform. It doesn’t matter if you’re a semi-professional or complete amateur, there is a place for you at the Tringe.”

The idea for organising the event came when Sam Buist and co-organiser Becky Edington, were at the Edinburgh Festival after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire in 2004.

He said: “Originally we wanted to set up a theatre group, and we did that with Screaming Theatre, but then it evolved further and we thought wouldn’t it be fantastic if Preston had some sort of fringe festival.

“We wanted something that was a bit offbeat and edgy but not too abstract. It’s important that the events are relevant to people and accessible.”

Having the event the week before the Edinburgh Festival means the team are hopeful they can attract some of the acts due to appear at the Edinburgh Festival to put on preview shows for Preston Tringe.

“I think we might be able to pull in some of the shows due to appear at Edinburgh,” says Sam, “but it’s not just about getting touring or big acts in – we want it to be put on local people for local people.”

The Preston Tringe will also be looking to connect with younger people, particularly the 20-40 community in Preston.
He said: “Youth theatre is very well catered for and the big theatres tend to have a strong client base in the over-40s – and generally pretty affluent. I think there’s a real gap for good quality and affordable theatre for 20-somethings.”

The deadline for applications to be submitted for Preston Tringe is May 6th.

The Screaming Theatre Company will next be performing at the Adelphi on April 24th-26th with their show, Bollocks. It tells the story of a solider sent to fight in Northern Ireland, who is shot in the bollocks. It then follows his relationships with people and his struggle finding employment after being discharged from service.

You can connect with Screaming Theatre on Facebook or connect with Preston Tringe on Facebook