Underbelly

The Underbelly is a venue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe off Cowgate. From 2001 to 2004, Underbelly was the only venue operated by Underbelly Limited. In 2005, Underbelly added the Baby Belly venue. In 2006, these venues were joined by the E4 UdderBELLY and the Cow Barn. History of the Underbelly Underbelly was first opened in 2000, as a small performance venue for five shows brought to the Fringe by Double Edge Drama. The Double Edge directors had heard of the venue through a production of Gargantua, performed by the Scottish company, Grid Iron in the vaults below the central library of Edinburgh. The site was discovered by Judith Doherty and named 'Underbelly' by Judith and Ben Harrison. Grid Iron staged a show there. The location's and Double Edge's shows won a Fringe First for its critically acclaimed productions of Bent and Marat Sade. In 2001, "Underbelly Limited" and "By Popular Demand Productions Limited" were set up to turn the Underbelly into a professional venue with a number of performance spaces and a wide range of productions. The venue was set up with performance spaces in the Iron Belly, White Belly and Big Belly. The Belly Laugh (then named the Belly Bar) was also used for late night cabaret as well as the venue's second bar. Space downstairs which is now used for Belly Dance was used to exhibit a film installation by Nick Hornby.