So this week marks the beginning of the 66th annual Edinburgh Festival. For those who don’t know, the Edinburgh Festival began as a post-war effort to ‘provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’, initially founded by the General Manager of Glyndebourne Opera Rudolf Bing and Henry Harvey Wood, the Head of the British Council in Scotland, amongst others. Edinburgh was chosen not only for its beautiful urban setting, but also due in part to the fact that the city was not subjected to air raids during the war, meaning that very little reconstruction was necessary to accommodate a major festival. Furthermore, the festival sought to reinvigorate Scottish tourism, arts and culture. They were certainly successful – today, the term ‘festival’ covers a broad range of events from theatre, art and literature, making it one of the largest gatherings of its kind. It draws a wonderful mix of performers and spectators from around the globe, and is responsible for launching some of today’s greatest talents out of obscurity and into the spotlight.
Beginning on August 2nd and running until September 1st, this year’s festival features literally thousands of things to do and see. And while this list barely begins to scrape the surface of the many things on offer, I’ve itemized a few things that definitely seem worth seeing.
Performance:
Tobacco Merchant’s Lawyer: Set in the late 18th century in Glasgow, the play centers around the lawyer Enoch Dalmellington. While the city prospers with astonishing speed around him, Enoch faces difficulties in his domestic life that may ultimately undo him. Throw in Enoch’s dull, virtually unmarriageable daughter and his ruinous, future-telling housekeeper and hilarity ensues. This comedy comes highly acclaimed, with rave reviews from all the major newspapers.
Iain Heggie/ Assembly Rooms – 13:00 (Jul 31st-Aug 25th)
An Actor’s Lament: Steven Berkoff stars alongside Jay Benedict and Andree Bernard is this wonderful comedy that pulls the acting profession apart by the seams. In a play that showcases drama in the wings, the audience begins to understand the roles of the director, the critics, the playwrights, the actors. Through examining the riots, the irritation and the odd, bohemian underbelly of modern theatre, this trio exposes all the guts behind the glory.
Assembly Hall – 14:30 (Aug 1st-26th)
The Shawshank Redemption: This is a classic. Director Lucy Pitman-Wallace breathes new life into Stephen King’s existential story of a men’s prison and the desperate yet hopeful prisoners inside. Acting/comedy legend Omid Djalili provides a new edge to this much-loved tale, as do writers Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns. A must-see.
Shawshank Redemption / The Assembly Rooms – 16:50 (Aug 1st-25th)
Ciara: If you love the Scottish crime drama Taggart as much as I love Taggart (which is a lot…) then you don’t need me to tell you that Blythe Duff is the best. I mean, really, who doesn’t love DI Reid? Anyway, Duff stars in this one-woman play about redemption and temptation, as Ciara – the daughter of a Glasgow mobster – who seeks to build her own success without retreating into the life she knew and her father’s brutal methods of handling conflict.
Traverse Theatre & Datum Point – various times between 10:00 and 21:00 (Aug 1st-24th)
4.48 Pyschosis: Sarah Kane’s final play is said to be an incredibly moving, provocative piece of work that delves into the nature of depression. The piece is written in such a way as to dissolve the boundaries between the writer’s interior and exterior life. By using dialogue that vacillates between prose and verse, the actors create a surreal template that explores the way we think privately and interact publicly.
DEM Productions, C Venue/C Nova – 20:20 (Aug 14th-26th)
David Sedaris: Anyone who has read his books will know that David Sedaris is a brilliantly funny man (seriously, if he doesn’t make you laugh, see a specialist because you’re broken). From his musings on Paris to his trials with quitting smoking in Tokyo, his essays are equal parts acerbic wit and clever writing (his seemingly perpetual embarrassment and dashed expectations gets overruled by his charming ‘oh-what-the-hell-why-not’ mentality.) He is a delight to read and listen to, and if nothing else, his essays on working as a P.A. and dabbling with performance art always reassure me that maybe it is possible to make it through your 20s relatively unscathed…
Venue150 @ EICC – 18:30 (Aug 17th-24th)
Adam Hills’ Happyisms: You know Aussie Adam Hill from Mock the Week as well as the host of Channel 4’s The Last Leg. If you haven’t figured it out from the title, Hills is known for his optimistic, lighthearted take on comedy. While he may enjoy interacting with the audience, you have nothing to fear – apparently he is as warm and lovely as sunshine.
Exhibitions:
Coming into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Condé Nast: Rare images from Condé Nast’s photographic archives.
City Art Centre—Mon-Sat: 10:00-17:00, Sun: 12:00-17:00 £5.00 (£3.50)
Gabriel Orozco: Exhibition tracing the creative process of famed Mexican contemporary artist Gabriel Orozco, including a series of the artist’s prints from the 90s displayed to the public for the first time.
The Fruitmarket Gallery—Aug 1-26: Mon-Sun: 10:00-19:00, Aug 27-Sept 1: Mon-Sat: 11:00-18:00, Sun: 12:00-17:00
Witches and Wicked Bodies: A ghoulish look at artists’ depictions of witchcraft spanning the last five centuries and featuring great masters such as Dürer, Goya and Blake alongside contemporary artists, including Paula Rego and Kiki Smith.
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art—10:00
Amazing Amber: Exhibition exploring the various properties and uses of fossilized amber.
National Museum of Scotland—Mon-Sun 10:00-17:00
Man Ray Portraits: The first major retrospective of the artist’s work focuses on his contributions to both the Surrealist and Dada movement and features several famous faces from Picasso to Hemingway.
Scottish National Portrait Gallery—10:00
Dazzle@Dovecot: Contemporary Japanese printmaker Emiko Aida’s work displayed alongside that of 70 international jewelry designers. The best part? Of the 3,000 works on display most are for sale.
Dovecot—Mon-Sun: 10:30-18:30More updates on the Edinburgh Festival to follow over the next month. Stay tuned for information on activities and reviews!
Got any suggestions for this guide? Comment below:
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