The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Take your SEATS
In Edinburgh during August, some of the biggest names and most prestigious shows are to be found within the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) programme; the “original” festival as opposed to the supposedly more informal and rebellious Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Although this distinction doesn’t always work like that, there are a few extremely high-profile and exciting shows at this year’s EIF.
A well-established staple is the free Opening Event (August 2, Tynecastle Stadium). Usually held in big squares, this year it’s moved to Heart of Midlothian FC’s, newly-finished stadium in Gorgie, with the LA Philharmonic orchestra performing classic movie themes, including John Williams’ Star Wars and ET scores.
Elsewhere in the EIF schedule, Sir Ian McKellen (August 22 to 25, Assembly Hall) stops off during his 80-date UK tour for his 80th birthday, performing excerpts of his stage and screen roles in Shakespeare, Lord of the Rings and more, and discussing his life.
Stephen Fry’s Mythos (August 19 to 25, Festival Theatre) sees the actor, presenter and writer break down his book on Ancient Greece into three instalments – Gods, Heroes
and Men. If you want to experience the lot, it’ll take seven and-a-half hours.
Meanwhile, in association with the National Theatre of Scotland, the EIF will also host the stage adaptation of Scottish Makar Jackie Kay’s memoir Red Dust Road (August 14 to 18, Royal Lyceum), the story of her youth as an adopted mixed-race girl in 1970s Glasgow and her search for her biological parents in Nigeria. The NTS’ other big premiere in Edinburgh, also part of EIF, is Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation (August 7 to 21, The Studio at Festival Theatre), a participatory play about truth, lies and the end of the world.
Meanwhile, amid a Fringe programme of nearly 4,000 individual shows across 323 venues, a couple make a feature of their association with music stars. Muzik (August 5 to 24, not 12, Assembly Rooms) sees film, television and stage actor Frances Barber return to her character Billie Trix in a cabaret featuring six new Pet Shop Boys songs, while Hold On Let Go (July 31 to August 25, Summerhall) is an intergenerational play about memory featuring a new soundtrack by Maximo Park’s Paul Smith.
A couple of returning shows are notable for their soundtrack.
Playwrights Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair’s Square Go (July 31 to August 25, Summerhall) has a score by members of Frightened Rabbit, and was a hit last year for its funny tale of a teenage Scottish boy preparing for a fight after school. This year’s cast includes Daniel Portman, aka Game of Thrones’ Podrick.
Meanwhile, What Girls Are Made Of (August 1 to 25, Assembly Hall) is back for a full run in a larger venue. It’s Fife-raised Cora Bissett’s story of her brush with indie-rock through her band Darlingheart in the early 90s. There are plenty of shows for children, including the Selladoor company’s live version of Mr. Men and Little Miss On Stage (August 1 to 26, Underbelly George Square), which brings Roger Hargreaves’ characters to life through theatrical storytelling, music and puppetry. Elsewhere, Wallace and Gromit’s Musical Marvels (August 15 and 16, Pleasance at EICC) promises a spectacular experience for young audiences.