Welcome to the greatest arts show on earth
Our guide to hottest acts lined up for this year’s Edinburgh Festival
WELCOME to the world’s biggest arts festival – the month-long extravaganza that turns the Scottish capital into a city-wide open air stage.
But with more shows than ever before and a baffling array of programmes from the Fringe to the TV festival, sifting the quality performances from the dodgy experimental student theatre at this year’s Edinburgh Festival can seem a daunting task.
So instead of tramping the cobbled streets looking for that mythical fivestar show in the backroom of a pub, the Scottish Daily Mail presents you with the indispensable guide to the Best of the Fest – from the unmissable to the extraordinary. THIS whip- smart satire i magines the Conservative MP for Uxbridge and current mayor of London taking the parliamentary recess to pop up to Edinburgh and put on a play about his busy life.
A one-man show performed by David Benson, who has previously portrayed Kenneth Williams and Noël Coward on the stage, expect a painfully accurate and amusing portrait of Boris Johnson – the man who, as a child, told people that when he grew up he wanted to be ‘world king’. Pleasance Courtyard, Aug 5-31 (0131 556 6550) FOR the first time in 25 years, Scots actor John Hannah is back at the Fringe, this time playing the role of Harry Houdini in the UK premiere of this play, which won an International Playwriting Award for author Hristo Boytchev. A rare treat. Pleasance One – Pleasance Courtyard, Aug 5-31 WITH A-list actress Juliette Binoche playing the title role and a stellar director in Ivo van Hove (Cate Blanchett calls his work ‘everything you want theatre to be’), this new translation of the classical Greek tragedy promises to be the International festival at its spellbinding best.
King’s Theatre Aug 8-22 THIS two-man play about bereavement comes to Edinburgh fresh from a sell-out run at the National Theatre in London.
Written by Tim Crouch, it is performed by the playwright and a second, different actor each night – one who has never seen the play or read the script until they walk on stage. It sounds gimmicky, but the rhapsodic reviews suggest it is anything but. Traverse Theatre, Aug 4, 8-9, 11-16 YOU may know him as the lovable buffoon from Stephen Fry’s QI, or from his acting on Jonathan Creek, but here, comedian Alan Davies returns to his stand-up roots – this time taking as his subject the frazzled exhaustion of middle age. Still one of the best standups of his generation.
Gilded Balloon, Aug 9-15 IT’S ten years since Flintoff was crowned the hero of the historic 2005 victorious Ashes England team. Here, in conversation with comedy writer and podcast co-presenter Clyde Holcroft, he shares his memories of that hot summer, and might even bowl the odd bouncer to keep the audience on its toes. The Grand – Pleasance Courtyard, Aug 27-29 IF you’ve never heard of Trevor Noah, then you’re about to. The slick young South African comedian has just been named the new host of the Daily Show, the primetime American chat show that propelled Jon Stewart to superstardom.
Noah has nevertheless found the time to return to the Fringe this summer with a brand new standup act. Catch him now, before he goes stratospheric.
Assembly Hall, Aug 24-30 A FRINGE veteran and unofficial national treasure, the patterned jumper aficionado and former Tory MP is back in Edinburgh this year with a brand new one-man show about language – a sort of Radio 4’s Just A Minute meets QI. Brandreth’s appeal has always lain in his ability to send himself up, so expect plenty of self-deprecation along with the jokes. Pleasance One, Pleasance Courtyard, Aug 5-30 JESS Thom first rose to prominence in a Channel 4 documentary which revealed her to be suffering from a rare form of Tourettes that makes her say the word ‘biscuit’ 16,000 times a day.
Her warmth and appeal led to a job as a Channel 4 continuity announcer and an award-winning, sell-out show at last year’s Fringe. This year the biscuit lady is back, as endearing and honest as ever. Pleasance Courtyard, Aug 24-30 RADIO 4’s favourite panel show in which guests must speak for a minute on random subjects without hesitation or repetition returns to the Festival for a live recording, with Nicholas Parsons in the chair alongside panellist Paul Merton and a few surprise guests. Such is the popularity of the show that although tickets are free, they will be distributed via a random draw. Visit the BBC website for details.
BBC @Potterrow, Aug 11 THE BBC’s outgoing political editor Nick Robinson shares his general election adventures. After having a tumour removed from his lung earlier this year, Robinson bounced back in time to watch the SNP descend on Westminster, and to pen a diary about his experiences.
Wonder if Scot Laura Kuenssberg, who takes over the reins of the biggest job in political journalism later this year, will be in the audience? Baillie Gifford Main Theatre, Aug 20, returns only THE beloved comedienne has turned her hand to novel writing