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Overwhelmed by 53,323 performances over 25 days in 300 different venues? Here’s the Mail’s guide to the must-sees at this year’s 70th Edinburgh Festival

WELCOME to the greatest show on Earth. With 53,232 performances over 25 days in 300 venues, the Edinburgh Festival is celebrating its 70th anniversary in style.

This year sees an astonishing array of theatre, comedy, music, dance, opera and, yes, those ubiquitous jugglers on unicycles – meaning if you are heading to the capital next month to catch a few shows, it can be difficult to know just where to start.

Here, we whittle down some of the must-see performances at the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh International Book Festival.

With offerings including a Wagner opera, a Samuel Beckett play and Brexit the Musical – not to mention appearances from Judy Murray, Clare Balding, Ruby Wax and even Alex Salmond – there’s bound to be something for everyone.

LETTERS LIVE

King’s Theatre, August 27 FIRST performed in 2013, this emotional rollercoaster is based on the book Letters of Note, a collection of inspiring and often moving letters such as Virginia Woolf’s suicide note and the Queen’s recipe for drop scones (she sent it to President Dwight D Eisenhower).

The show features a range of performers – kept strictly under wraps until the night – reading exceptional letters from across the centuries.

Previous performers have included Benedict Cumberbatch, Kylie Minogue, Nick Cave and Thandie Newton, so expect some star-studded names for Letters Live’s Edinburgh debut. Tickets: eif.co.uk or 0131 473 2000

BBC AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

Venue 25 (George Heriot School), August 4-25 THE BBC is back with its annual smorgasbord of live shows broadcast from the Fringe.

Offerings include recordings of Radio 4 stalwarts Just A Minute – hosted by Nicholas Parsons – Front Row, Loose Ends and the Now Show, as well as various TV link-ups such as Kirsty Wark’s Edinburgh Review for BBC Two and the finals of the Comedy Award. Tickets: bbc.co.uk for details, or apply in person at the BBC venue

PAULA HAWKINS

Baillie Gifford Main Theatre, August 12 FEW debut novels have had the impact of Paula Hawkins’s Girl On The Train, which became a number one smash hit worldwide when published in 2015 – only to become an even bigger hit in cinemas the following year.

Now back with a second novel, Into The Water, the Zimbabweborn novelist will read from her latest offering in her first appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Tickets: edbookfest.co.uk or 0845 373 5888

IN CONVERSATION WITH…JUDY MURRAY

New Town Theatre, August 16 MOTHER to Andy and Jamie, tennis coach, Davis Cup captain … there’s little Judy Murray hasn’t seen or done when it comes to the world of tennis.

Here, in conversation with BBC sports presenter Hazel Irvine and promoting her new memoir, Knowing The Score, Murray will discuss her career, her sons, and her passion to bring tennis to the under-privileged. Tickets: tickets.edfringe.com or 0131 226 0000

BREXIT THE MUSICAL

C venues – C (Venue 34) August 2-14, 16-28 WRITTEN by Brexit lawyer Chris Bryant, who spent 15 years advising on competition and anti-trust laws in Brussels and London, there are no fewer than 20 original songs in this musical about the biggest political event of the last decade.

With ‘appearances’ from Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Michael Gove and David Cameron, no one is expected to get off lightly in this world premiere. Tickets: tickets.edfringe.com or 0131 226 0000

WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? – LIVE AT THE FRINGE

Assembly Rooms, August 3-13, 15-27 YES, it’s back. Years after Whose Line Is It Anyway? disappeared from the small screen, everyone’s favourite improv show is back for a live run at the Fringe.

Hosted once more by Clive Anderson and featuring a bevy of old favourites, including Greg Proops, Josie Lawrence, Colin Mochrie, Mike McShane and Phill Jupitus, producers promise no two shows will be the same.

Expect plenty of laughs and deprecating humour from Anderson. Tickets: tickets.edfringe.com or 0131 226 0000

CLARE BALDING

Baillie Gifford Main Theatre, August 13 FROM Olympics presenter to stalwart of the racing world, Clare Balding is fast approaching national treasure status in sporting circles. Here, she dips a toe into the world of children’s books with her debut novel for youngsters, The Racehorse Who Wouldn’t Gallop.

Reaching into her own childhood as the daughter of a racehorse trainer as well as her experiences as a racing presenter, this should be an afternoon of horse-filled fun. Tickets: edbookfest.co.uk or 0845 373 5888

THE CRAIG FERGUSON SHOW

Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, August 7-11, 14-18 IT has been more than 20 years since comedian Craig Ferguson last graced the Fringe with his presence, during which time he moved to the US, bagged his own talk show and became a superstar.

Here, he hosts his live radio show, featuring current events, celebrity guests, all the gossip from the Fringe and live phone calls from his American listeners. Expect the unexpected. Tickets: tickets.edfringe.com or 0131 226 0000

VERDI’S MACBETH

Festival Theatre, August 18-20 FIRST performed at the inaugural festival in 1947, this is a major new production of Verdi’s operatic take on the dark Scottish tale.

Performed by the Teatro Regio of Turin, the International Festival’s resident company for 2017, this dramatic retelling by director Emma Dante – one of Italy’s brightest operatic stars and a veteran of La Scala in Milan – promises fiery emotions and brooding performances. Tickets: eif.co.uk or 0131 473 2000

ALEX SALMOND… UNLEASHED

Assembly Rooms August 13-27 LOVE him or loathe him, there’s little chance of ignoring Alex Salmond this festival season.

The former first minister will be regaling audiences with tales about the highs and lows of his political career in a show that will be produced by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, another former Nationalist MP who lost their seat at the General Election. Each night promises a different

guest for him to chew the fat with, plus ‘behind-the-scenes revelations about his time in power’. Tickets: tickets.edfringe.com or 0131 226 0000

KRAPP’S LAST TAPE

Church Hill Theatre & Studio, August 4-27 THIS production breathes new life into one of Samuel Beckett’s most moving plays. Performed by the renowned Irish actor Barry McGovern, a Beckett specialist, this one-man play gives voice to the conversations we all have with our former selves, and asks whether we should confront our past.

Directed by Michael Colgan of Dublin’s Gate Theatre, this is an immersive and deeply personal drama. Tickets: eif.co.uk or 0131 473 2000

SUE PERKINS LIVE! IN SPECTACLES

Pleasance Courtyard, August 23-27 THE much-loved comedian and former presenter of The Great British Bake Off – who jokingly refers to herself as ‘one quarter of double act Mel and Sue’ – returns to Edinburgh for her latest onewoman show. Described as an ‘animation’ of her 2015 memoir Spectacles, there are reminiscences of her childhood in Croydon (complete with slide show and dozens of cringe-worthy family snaps) and lots of behind-thescenes Bake Off gossip. Watch out for the ‘user’s guide to Mary Berry’. Tickets: tickets.edfringe.com or 0131 226 0000 Star-studded line-up: TV host Craig Ferguson, broadcaster Clare Balding, radio presenter Nicholas Parsons, tennis coach Judy Murray, and comics Sue Perkins and Ruby Wax are among the big names on stage at this year’s International, Fringe and Book festivals

JAN RAVENS: DIFFICULT WOMAN

Gilded Balloon Teviot, August 2-15, 17-27 THE star of Radio 4’s long-running comedy show Dead Ringers has impersonated everyone from Theresa May to the Queen with uncanny accuracy.

In her first one-woman show the former Spitting Image star reflects on the political climate, musing on what it means in today’s world to be a ‘difficult woman’. Help comes from a few ‘special guests’, including Nicola Sturgeon, Diane Abbott and of course, the Prime Minister. Tickets: tickets.edfringe.com or 0131 226 0000

DIE WALKÜRE

Usher Hall, August 6 THIS year the second part of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Die Walküre, gets an airing.

Perhaps Wagner’s best known opera – or at least his most listened to thanks to the famous Ride of the Valkyries – it is an exhilarating journey into the at times bonkers world of the Viking gods.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra performs with worldclass singers, including US soprano Christine Goerke as Brunnhilde and famed Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel as Wotan. Tickets: eif.co.uk or 0131 473 2000

RUBY WAX: FRAZZLED

Underbelly, George Square, August 10-12 THE outspoken American comic is back, this time with a live show based on her latest book, A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled.

While she has never been afraid to be outrageous, Wax’s work has focused almost exclusively on mental health in recent years – she even has a master’s in mindfulnessbased cognitive therapy from Oxford. Expect practical and hilarious advice on living a saner life, as well as ‘a tour of the mind’. Tickets: tickets.edfringe.com or 0131 226 0000