James Mellor writes:
This summer the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation was invited to exhibit work at BedFringe – the 2024 Bedford Fringe Festival.
Poster illustration © Clive Goddard
The festival is a ten-day showcase of over 150 acts across three venues comprising of theatre, comedy, film, dance, music, children’s theatre, poetry and, as of this year, cartoons. Many of the acts are previewing their performances before heading to the Edinburgh Fringe itself so it seemed an illustrious and appropriate enough occasion to shake the dust off the PCO Cartoonists Go To The Theatre exhibition from the West End.
Cartoon © Dave Brown
Originally exhibited in the heart of London’s theatreland, this collection of gags and caricatures featuring humorous takes on the stage, stand-up, Shakespeare and more has been revamped for 2024. Some cartoons have been given a tweak or update and some of the PCO’s newer faces have been able to add their work to the show too.
In total, over 30 PCO members contributed to the exhibition, which runs from 18th-28th July in the lobby of the Quarry Theatre on St Peter’s Street in Bedford.
James Mellor draws a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions
The theatre was also able to run a ‘meet the cartoonist’ session on 20th July & 21st July with Bedfordshire-based PCO member James Mellor. Many of those who attended expressed an interest in becoming cartoonists themselves which is good news for the profession although slightly worrying for their own sanity’s sake
Cartoon © Nathan Ariss
Public response to the exhibition has been overwhelmingly positive and the local press marked it as one of their 5 top tips for a visit to the festival this year.
Cartoon © Kerina Strevens