Theatre

In an EIF programme that has abandoned the idea of separate sections for theatre, opera and dance, it can be difficult, at first, to work out that the theatre programme comes in two distinct parts.

There’s the main section of the programme, which features David Hare’s new Peter Gynt – co-produced by EIF with the National Theatre in London – alongside Robert Icke’s 2018 production of Oedipus for International Theatre Amsterdam, and the European premiere of Sydney Theatre Company’s acclaimed stage version of Kate Greenville’s great Australian novel, The Secret River. There are also solo shows from two great British national treasures, Sir Ian Mckellen and Stephen Fry –in Fry’s case, a trilogy adapted from his own best-selling book about the Greek gods.

That’s not all, though; because this year, in addition, there’s the programme called You Are Here, co-created by the EIF with producer Kate Mcgrath, and backed by the Scottish Government/ Edinburgh City Place Fund, which aims to focus on questions about what internationalism and belonging mean, for artists and audiences today.

This programme features, among other events, the Nigerian women’s show Hear Word!, the European premiere of 1927’s new show Roots ,and the world premiere of the new National Theatre Of Scotland stage version of Jackie Kay’s memoir Red Dust Road; along with a powerful series of forums and discussions led by the Royal Lyceum’s artistic director David Greig.

It’s a slightly tough programme to navigate, in other words, and lacking the big blockbusting British premieres of great European shows for which Edinburgh was once famous – but it is designed, it seems, to take the Festival’s theatre programme in the new directions that are necessary to meet the challenge of the times we live in.