Performers and producers say arts are being ‘sanitised’ amid more sensitive attitudes towards swearing and sexual politics
An annual “poster war” has raged between rival promoters for as long as the festival fringe has been filling Edinburgh’s small theatres and pop-up venues. But now the battleground has shifted. For some, what was once just a simple process of pasting up a silly or striking poster in order to get noticed has been weaponised, as tastes change and sexual politics becomes more controversial. As a result, at this year’s festival, some of the more provocative imagery printed by performers has already been censored or even defaced.
Posters, including those displaying a lineup of bare buttocks, a large pair of breasts, a woman wearing cat paws and a drag queen children’s entertainer have all become embroiled in censorship rows and gender disputes as the festival begins this weekend.
