UPDATE: Our original offer to encourage people to vote seems to have bothered some people, and we’ve some mildly alarming suggestions that we could get in trouble for doing so. Unfortunately our legal team can’t advise us because we’re a tiny arts business and they don’t exist.
So we’ve unconditionally withdrawn our original offer in its entirety, but replaced it with an entirely different completely unconnected deal. Instead, you can get free tickets if you go near a polling station. Because it’s a totally different offer, we’ve also upped the age bracket to anyone under 30. Updated text highlighted below.

In a few days, the country will go to the polling stations again. If you include the Scottish referendum, this will be the sixth national vote in seven years. And this one arguably offers the biggest difference in ideals than any general election in decades.

At the last election, 77% of over 55s turned up to vote, vs less than 43% of under 25s. Some people think that’s a good thing, that elderly voters have wisdom and experience and know what’s best. We think that’s rubbish. We were only 18 when we set this venue up.

So we very much encourage you to vote.

Anyway, now for something completely unrelated to the previous two paragraphs.

As a purely cynical marketing exercise designed to appeal to young people who probably like twitter and things like that, we’re offering free tickets to any show for anyone under 30 who can prove they stood outside a polling station on polling day – one each week of the fringe. No restrictions, no exclusions, and it doesn’t matter who you vote for. Or if you voted at all. Tweet/email a selfie at the polling station* and you’ll be added to a list, and as long as there’s space you can come into any show for free. And you can have everything after that at half price.

We’ve got some world-class stand-ups to choose from, as well as impro, sketch and musical comedy, and an unparalleled programme of thrilling theatre. For just three weeks each year, a cacophony of international talent flies** into Buxton, so take a look at who’s coming to town.

The more engaged young people are, the stronger our voices are. By definition, elected officials have to pay attention to the groups who might actually vote for or against them. So just by turning up, we make sure politicians listen to the whole electorate, whatever the result, now and in the future. And the younger we get engaged, the better we can hope for the future.

We challenge other local and national businesses to do the same thing. And also separately to encourage young people to vote (but obviously don’t offer them any extra incentives because that might not be legal). Democracy is strongest when turnout is high, and the earlier people engage, the better informed the electorate becomes.

We shouldn’t leave it to someone else’s voting habits to decide our lives, and for once young people have the power to determine the election. The High Peak is one seat that could go either way, so whoever you think about when you stand near a polling station, get out and do it.

 

*A picture outside is best, there are various rules on photos inside.
**I mean, arrives on the slow train from a connection at Stockport.

 

HOW IT WORKS / TERMS etc

To be fair to our artists, we can only offer freebies to shows that aren’t selling out, so you can only claim on the day, and in some cases you might have to wait until just before. But we can normally squeeze extra people into most shows. You can have one free ticket each week, between the 5th and 23rd July. No rollovers unfortunately, and the week restarts on a Monday.

To prove you stood near a polling station on polling day, you should send us a selfie at the polling station, on polling day. The rules around photography in voting booths are complicated, so even if you happen to vote while you’re there, a picture outside is best. Obviously make sure you’re in it, and it’s at our discretion whether we’re convinced by your photo. (You don’t actually have to be standing).

You can genuinely have the offer whether you voted or not, even if you’re not on the electoral roll.

Also, ‘half price’ tickets means you’ll pay what our performers pay, which is roughly half price but varies a little show to show.

Underground Venues is the leading venue-group on the Buxton Fringe, hosting 75 shows in three different theatre spaces. We operate for three weeks every July, bringing together an exciting mix of artists, producers, audiences and festival volunteers.

This year our venue operates 3-25 July (including get-in and get-out).

The Buxton Fringe is the 3rd largest Fringe in the UK and our programme of work this year includes a fantastic range of top-class touring theatre, award-winning stand-up comedy and Edinburgh Fringe previews.

We are looking for a theatre technician join our existing team for the three weeks and manage one of our 40-seat studio spaces. The post involved rigging and plotting lights, helping acts with tech rehearsals, managing changeovers between shows, familiarising companies with the technical equipment and sometimes operating shows.

We offer all accommodation in Buxton, all transport costs, plus £300 towards expenses for the time. Volunteers also have the opportunity to see a wide range of Fringe shows for free and the post is a great opportunity to meet artists and others working at the venue.

Some experience or training of working as a theatre technician is essential. Experience working in a Fringe or festival context is desirable. The post is open to all but may well be suited to a student or recent graduate looking to further their experience working with professional companies.

You will need to be free to arrive in Buxton on the afternoon of 3 July and leave the afternoon of 25 July. All accommodation and transport to/from Buxton is covered.

For more information, or to apply, simply contact jobs@underthefringe.com

For more information about the venue, visit underthefringe.com

Bookings are now officially open for Underground Venues at the Buxton Fringe!

We’re using a new system we’ve developed ourselves. It’s designed to be fast and simple, and lets you book tickets for up to ten shows at once.

You don’t need to sign up for an account. You don’t need to print anything or remember any complicated booking references.

And as usual, there are no booking fees for online sales, ever.

But be careful, a lot of our shows sell out on advance, so spread the word and get booking now!

You can book straight from our bumper 2012 Fringe programme, or click here to buy tickets direct.

Underground are looking to grow our team for Fringe 2012!

For three weeks in July, we gather a team of extraordinary young people to turn a few simple rooms into a buzzing, bustling hub of creativity. With our biggest programme ever –  75 acts, 250 performances – we decided it’s time to bring some more people into the team.

We’re looking to recruit at least two new members:

• A technical manager to oversee one of our spaces, liaising with artists, operating shows and overseeing tech rehearsals
• A box office manager to join our front of house team, with considerable responsibility for our public-facing operations

Both roles offer a huge amount of hands-on experience of managing a venue. You’ll join a tight-knit team of young people, all working together to realise something wonderful.

(more…)

For those of you who haven’t seen, our 2012 Buxton Fringe programme is now online, in all its glory, at http://2012.underthefringe.com/programme/.

We’ve got a huge programme this year: a veritable banquet of arts and entertainment. From big-name comedians, to fledging first-time live artists; international folk music and local magicians, returning Fringe Favourites, and much much more.

Don’t know where to start? Just take a lucky dip.

Edinburgh Fringe has for decades been accepted as the leading arts festival in Britain – and indeed the largest in the world. Each year, thousands of acts from the UK and abroad head north to expose their shows to an unequalled popular, critical and industry audience.

And for the last few years, a number of smaller Fringes have been growing up to support this cultural migration. There are many other festivals in the early summer months and these are increasingly been used by acts to preview their shows and hone them before August, allowing their work to be seen by an even larger and more diverse audience along the way.

The 2nd largest Fringe in the UK – Brighton – has gained a reputation as a Fringe preview location. Its timing, in May, may be too early for some of the more last-minute acts but a huge number of the popular hits start off here.

Smaller but closer – both in time and space – the Buxton Fringe has become a very popular proving ground for comedians and theatre shows, with Underground Venues and its four performance spaces running 4th-22nd July.

And now the youngest, Oxford Fringe, has sprung up between them all, with its dates of May 30th – June 10th.

Without (it seems) any conscious planning, what has emerged is nothing less than a perfectly formed Fringe Trail. Moving from south to north, spring to summer, and culminating in the world’s greatest arts festival, it represents an ideal mini UK tour. And what’s best, each stop involves not just a theatre or theatres but a whole Fringe festival, involving the whole town and (by ethos) any act that wants to take part.

So, in order to increase the profile of this wonderful opportunity, we wanted to collect the key details together in this post.

1. Brighton Fringe, 5-27 May 2012, brightonfringe.org, @brightonfringe
2. Oxford Fringe, 30 May – 10 June 2012, oxfringe.org, @oxfringe
3. Buxton Fringe, 4 – 22 July 2012, buxtonfringe.org.uk, @buxtonfringe
4. Edinburgh Fringe, 3 – 27 August 2012, edfringe.com, @edfringe

Let us know by posting below if you’ll be attempting the Fringe Trail this year – and how you get on. Or talk about it on Twitter / Facebook

#fringetrail
@underthefringe

Just a quick note to confirm that Underground Venues will be back for its 5th Buxton Fringe this summer. We’ll be running the Paupers Pit and the Barrel Room as spaces from 7th-25th July.
Applications will be open February 3rd 2010. Just head to the main page from then for full info. Applications are officially open until April 10th but we may be able to accept late entries.

To celebrate our new online bookings system, we’re offering a web-only discount for customers who reserve tickets in advance for our shows.

Just enter the discount code earlybird into the discount box on the booking form to save a cool quid from your booking for every two tickets you reserve.

But hurry! This offer is only running for ten days… so browse our programme, check your diary, call your friends and get booking!

Don’t say we never give you anything…

• Full terms & Condtions »

PS. Three weeks exactly until the fringe launch party!

Our full programme for 2009 is now online! To celebrate, we’ve given the old website a complete overhaul so this also marks the launch of the new Underground website.
So why not have a browse around and find out which of your favourites are back – as well as searching out this year’s soon-to-be-uncovered gems.