N E W S N E W S A N D G O S S I P F R O M A C R O S S T H E F E S T I V A L S
WHAT A SELL OUT C EU LATER
fast facts
• The Edinburgh International Festival heads back to Leith Theatre for the i rst time in 30 years with its 16-day-strong music programme, Light on the Shore, featuring performances from the likes of Mogwai, King Creosote, Julie Fowlis, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Django Django and Karine Polwart. • Street show performers will be able to collect tips by contactless card for the i rst time ever. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society have partnered up with the tech company iZettle after noticing the effects of an increasingly cashless society on street performers livelihoods. It makes the festival the i rst in the world to introduce this concept.
• Made in Scotland celebrates its 10th birthday in 2018. The programme dedicates itself to showing off the very best of Scottish talent with 23 shows selected each year. In its ten years, it has enabled 74 productions to visit 35 countries around the world. • Access and inclusion is at the heart of this year’s festival with organisers making it a priority for the city and its summer events to be open to all. Examples of this include changing place toilets and comprehensive access guides from the specii c festivals.
• The key themes of the festival in 2018 across different art forms include the centenary of WWI, class, the 70th anniversary of the NHS, sex and consent, family, our lives online, disability and faith from different perspectives. Social issue-based shows have seen a huge surge in representation in recent times with nearly 25% of performances based on such topics in a recent survey by the SIT-UP Awards.
DON ’T JUDGE A SHOW BY ITS Po s t e r
P H O T O :
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N C K R A S M U S S E N
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P H L P G A T W A R D
GOING, GOING . . . Jessie Cave, Dylan
Moran, Alan Bennett’s Green Forms, Banana
Boys, The Greatest Play in the History
of the World . . . , Iain Stirling Does Jokes
With Pals
GONE . . .
Lost Voice Guy, Guilty
Feminist, Daniel Kitson, Laughing for Palestine
with Frankie Boyle, Nish Kumar, Alan
Bennett’s A Visit from
Miss Prothero, ABBA
A-Rival, 1895-1927 in New Orleans: The Red
Hot Roots of Jazz
P H O T O :
K A R L A G O W L E T T
It’s the last festival before we bid adieu to our European friends, so check out these Brexit-themed shows before we crash out, softly leave or – who even knows anymore? These guys probably don’t have the answers, but at least you’ll be entertained as we wave our hankies across the Channel
ALL WE EVER WANTED WAS EVERYTHING How did we get from Cool Britannia to Brexit Britain? Follow the i rst three decades of Leah and Chris’ life, from their childhood raised on Harry Potter and New Labour to a turbulent future where dreams might not always come true. Roundabout @ Summerhall, 20–26 Aug (not 21), 11.30pm, £15 (£13).
ANTIGONE NA H’ÉIREANN A re-imagining of Sophocles’ play, set in a not-too-distant future where a hard-border Brexit has severed Ireland in two, reigniting factional violence. Paradise in the Vault, 3–26 Aug (not 12, 19), £10 (£8). Previews 3–5 Aug, £7 (£5).
MATT FORDE: BREXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP Political comedian Matt Forde takes to the stage for his last show as an EU citizen, and he uses the hour to skewer the politicians responsible with his usual sardonic wit. Pleasance Courtyard, 4–26 Aug, £14 (£12). Previews 1–3 Aug, £8. JONNY WOO’S ALL STAR BREXIT CABARET The headlines are given the musical treatment in this bedazzled satire from drag superstar Jonny Woo, with other Fringe stars playing the part of major political players. Assembly George Square Gardens, 4–27 Aug (not 13, 20), £14 (£13). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £8.
A VERY BREXIT MUSICAL Relive ‘Cavid Dameron’s’ decision to hold the referendum and ‘Joris Bohnson’s’ thinly veiled power grab through the eyes of a ‘Maily Dail’ journalist on the hunt for his big break. Just the Tonic at La Belle Angele, 2–26 Aug (not 13), £5.
1–8 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 13
FELICITY WARD: BUSTING A NUT | NATALIE PALAMIDES: NATE | MADDIE CAMPION: 20 USES FOR A LOVE DOLL You know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words . . . well we’ve got about as many questions for these three comedians based on their posters. Amid the glut of Fringe paraphernalia adorning every surface of this city, they’ve managed to tickle our funny bones before they’ve even spoken a word, and that is truly worthy of some kudos.