Edinburgh Festival Fringe: US performer outraged after her Fringe show poster is censored

American theatre actress Cindy D'Andrea is furious that posters for her one-woman Edinburgh Fringe show about animal rights and the role pets play in people’s lives, ‘Cat Sh!t Crazy’, has been censored by design print company Out of Hand.

After paying for the posters and having them approved by Out of Hand weeks ago, Cindy was disappointed to see the posters on the streets had been censored when she arrived in Edinburgh from Los Angeles this week for her show’s run at the Space Triplex venue in the Prince Phillip building.

Out of Hand specialises in working within the arts, culture and entertainment sector, and is working in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council to operate the official outdoor poster scheme for the Fringe. It told Cindy that they have censored her posters due to them being in contravention of advertising standards.

Speaking to the Evening News, Cindy recalled seeing the posters when she arrived in Edinburgh: “My heart sank. I love the title of my show and it has gotten so much recognition, like being named one of the 10 most eye- catching titles for Fringe 2023 in the WhatsonStage journal. Now I’m very upset and discouraged.

“Out of Hand didn’t tell me. The way I found out was through an email that I had sent asking for proof of posting. Only then did they let me know it was censored. I took a closer look at the photos my colleagues had showed me and there was the censored stamp right across the Sh!t.

“I called Out of Hand today. They spoke to me and said they were sorry, but those were the rules and sent an email explaining.

"They told me they could hold the posters for another day and I could have my graphic artist put the ‘censored’ into the poster. So I emailed my graphic artist. All this is costing more money or course.

“This is my first Fringe run. I’m in a complete state about it all. Trying to stay positive.”

Cat Sh!t Crazy is the third solo show Cindy has written, performed and produced. She has been acting in the theatre for several decades and did her first solo show in 2016.

Nigel Muntz, Out of Hand commercial director, said: “As part of our obligations, we have a duty to ensure all outdoor advertising we display within the scheme is appropriate for the context and environment it is going into and complies with the non broadcast CAP code from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

"Last year we experienced a small amount of unsuitable artwork getting produced but stopped before it was installed on the streets, this incurred delays and extra production costs for the clients, so as a result, this year we have an enhanced checking system in place, which flags anything which we feel might cause an issue, to then get further checked internally and externally to make a final decision if it can go ahead or not.

"Cindy’s Cat Sh!t Crazy artwork got caught in that process. We got advice from the ASA saying that is wasn’t acceptable to use the word or any variations of it such as sh!t, or s**t as you can still fairly easily work out the word, and it may cause offence.

"Therefore, due to tight timescales, we put the word ‘censored’ over the offending swear word, which is the same solution we suggested and was adopted by a number of other shows with outdoor advertising booked with us, who also had the word in their title, such as Sh*tfaced Shakespeare and Reginald D Hunter’s show.

“As per previous years, it is worth noting a very small number of other submitted artworks from Fringe shows for the outdoor scheme have been rejected or had to be changed due to the content being unsuitable for the outdoor advertising environment, eg images featuring smoking, swearing, drug use or weapons. Once flagged up, in all instances, these are resolved with minor artwork amends, and the advertising then runs as booked on the streets of Edinburgh during the Fringe.”

Cindy D’Andrea’s Fringe show at the Space Triplex (venue 38) runs from August 4-12, 14-19 and 21-26, 1.05pm.