After a welcome from pretty Press Manager Lucy Jackson, acts at the launch include 'The Ordinaries… in an awkward silence', brought to Bedlam by The River People.

This play about child abuse is anything but ordinary, with singing, rhyme, rhythm and puppetry, all kicked off by what appears to be a talking sofa, but turns out to be the hidden cast of Kathryn Bond, Joe Bone, Ed Kiren, Andy Gray and Clare Ponting.

Next up is Odyssey, the emotional journey of twin brothers, world premier of a new play by Mark Quartley, who may only be 22, but is already commissioned by the BBC.

To play out his tale, he’s joined by Jonny Scott, with both dressed in school uniforms and verging into the dark side. However, the rest of the play also offers physical theatre, music and humour in a piece that promises to also confront issues including male depression and self-harm.

This is followed by Mousewings – commissioned by Bedlam and describing itself as a post-apocalyptic urban fairytale – new writing by Rachel Lynn Brody saw a cast of four set up the premise of a world where a tin of tomatoes is a thrilling find.

The narrator, Rob Flett introduces the story of Jonah and the whale, while Alistair Gillies, Catriona Grozier and Rachel O’Connor bring to life the dark world fraught with moral issues.

Finally we’re treated to the Improverts, back for their 18th year at the Fringe, who provide late-night laughs with spontaneity and speed, tonight, courtesy of dynamic Martin Cavannagh, geeky-looking quick-wit Robin Stewart and smiley brunette Freya Slipper.

Their games included 'should have said' where the audience demand rewrites, and another guessing where you’re a foreign visitor from, while also working out what you’re smuggling and where they’re hidden.

They have to work with audience suggestions including ending a sketch on the word 'boobs', lion-taming at high speed, and hiding orange and green tic tacs in a copy of the American Constitution – a surprisingly difficult document to explain within character.

Busy Venue Manager Matt Wieteska extolled the virtues of being a venue all year round to make set-up easier. Meanwhile Press Manager Lucy Jackson explained that making the venue look a little different each year keeps it exciting for the staff, including Theatre Manager Colleen Patterson and Technical Manager Neale Dutton.

Improverts producer Amy Tweddle was keen to meet and greet potential fans, admitting that producing an improvised show provides a different set of challenges than those many producers face.

Box Office Managers Alex Hall and Mike Smith were kept busy, while Sponsorship Manager Rebecca Camp could relax by the time the launch was underway, unlike Café Managers Bruce Sinclair and Holly McIay.

Their work was cut out, as the event also showcased the quality food on offer at Bedlam, with copious nibbles supplied by eager, friendly staff.

(c) Gill Smith - Bedlam Theatre - Tuesday 31 July 07 - www.fringereport.com 2007

People round the streets and bars of Edinburgh include:

Adrian Berry (Union Theatre). Caroline Diep (Press, Roman Eagle Lodge). Ewan Spence (The Edinburgh Fringe Podcast). Ella Walker (BBC). Michelle Farr (BBC). Duncan Fraser (press, Edfringe). The cast and crew of C's Shakespeare for Breakfast and Cinderella: Jessica Fostekew (Puck, Rat), Sarah Lark (Nurse, Cinderella), Sara Pascoe (Hamlet, Madagasca), Alastair Watson (Macbeth, Footman), Gemma Whelan (Cleopatra, Catalina), James Witt (King Lear, Rat), Damian Sandys (director Shakespeare for Breakfast), the fantastic Brian Donaldson (The List), Katie Lewis (assistant director), Jo Kennedy (lighting, stage manager). Debonair Gareth Kane and Marcus Garvey, pimping their ace impro show The Reduced Edinburgh Fringe Impro Show, the nice girls from Spread, Caroline Pearce. producer Alex Donald, actor Alex Dee, Green Room impresario Calvin Wynter, Newsrevue producer Emma Taylor, Madelaine Bennett (PR), gorgeous PR Kim Morgan (on the streets, but not professionally) (or so she says), journalist Veronica Lee, Sheridan Humphreys (PR), Paul Sullivan (PR), Toby Smith, Arts Theatre London supremo Martin Witts, Ines Wurth (Ines Wurth), Ana Prelog (PR, Ines Wurth), James Campbell, Nathan A Thomas (comedian), David Burns (PR), Simon Neville (Edinburgh Evening News, and in Guilds - a comic opera - at Augustines), Howard Reed (Howard Reed), Natalie Reed, Hils Jago (AmusedMoose). Paul Levy. Many more to follow.

John Park and other FR writers around Edinburgh August 07 - (c) www.fringereport.com 2007

Fringe Report's officially accredited writers to Edinburgh Fringe 2007 are: (alpha order): Peter Andrews, Dan Geary, Lea Harris, John Park, Sara Pascoe, Gill Smith. We review 50 shows at Edinburgh and cover about 10 launches and parties. The launches and parties are on this page, just scroll up or down.

Editor John Park selects the list of shows we review like this: We put every show in the printed Edinburgh Fringe Official Programme across all the genres - there are 2,037 this year (2007) - into an Excel spreadsheet and put a random-number generator against each one. We run the spreadsheet to create random numbers for each show (using the formula =RAND() for number enthusiasts), sort the entire spreadsheet in order of the random numbers, and take the first 150 items, deleting the rest. This random list of 150 events and shows across all genres is further randomised and reduced to produce the list of 50 shows that form our core review list.

The result is a list that covers small and large venues, well-known and unknown acts. Advantages of this method, which we have evolved after trying others, include being suggestion-proof, you've-really-got-to-see-this-show-proof, friend-proof, PR-proof, and perhaps most importantly, us-proof. We hope you will find it visibly fair, and a reasonably representative snapshot across the biggest arts event in the world.

The reduction process does involve discarding events or shows that are only on once, or last for several hours, or are on for very short or spread-out runs (eg shows on four times or less, or only once a week), because we have to face the practicalities and logistics of organising review tickets for shows that could be sold out or suddenly cancelled leaving our reviewer with an empty space in a tight schedule. It's probably best described as as random a list as is humanly practical.

In addition to our core 50 random shows reviewed at Edinburgh, we add any Edinburgh shows which (a) our reviewers see after completing the core 50 shows, or (b) we've reviewed at preview elsewhere, or (c) we have reviewed in recent months eg at festivals such as Brighton Fringe. Please bear in mind that shows may be works in progress, and that any shows reviewed earlier may have evolved. All our reviews state clearly when and where the review took place.

John Park - Edinburgh - August 07 - (c) www.fringereport.com 2007