Festival
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HITLIST THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE The International Festival’s exploration of the rich cultures of the East continues with this stage adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s celebrated novel. See feature, page 16. ■ King’s Theatre, 473 2000, 20–24 Aug, 7.30pm (matinee 21 Aug, 2.30pm), £10–£30. See feature, page 16.
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Anton’s Uncles Joyfully absorbing version of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya by LA’s Theatre Movement Bazaar. See review, page 69. Bedlam Theatre, 225 9893, until 27 Aug, 2pm, £7–£9 (£5–£7).
Allotment Witty, site-specific play charting the love-hate relationship of a pair of green-fingered sisters. See review, page 72. Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 623 3030, until 28 Aug (not 22), times vary, £10. The Wheel Zinnie Harris’ play looks at the impact violence and deprivation has on the youngest members of society. See review, page 72. Traverse Theatre, 228 1404, until 28 Aug (not 22), times vary, £17–£19 (£12–£13).
The Girl with the Iron Claws The Wrong Crowd mine the darkness in the Beauty and the Beast fable for this fine production. See review, page 74. Underbelly, 0844 545 8252, until 28 Aug, 1.35pm, £8.50–£10 (£7.50–£9).
Alma Mater Glasgow company Fish & Game create a lovely, immersive look at childhood innocence and loss in this digital media piece. St George’s West, 225 7001, until 29 Aug, every ten minutes from 11am–6.50pm, £5.
Hotel Medea Brilliant all-night, interactive, promenade production of the Greek tragedy. Possibly the best show you’ll see this year. See review, page 74. Summerhall, 226 0000, 19 & 20, 25, 26 & 27 Aug, 11.45pm, £29.50 (£25).
Belarus Free Theatre The exiled Belarus Free Theatre team up with Fuel to make their Edinburgh Fringe debut. See feature, page 66. Belarus Free Theatre, Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 22–29 Aug, 1pm, £10 (£8).
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Stage WHISPERS CHRIS GOODE COMPARES THE FRINGE TO A SEXY DENTIST
I’m getting ready for my 14th Fringe and I’m thinking about what it might be like to have a sexy dentist. A dentist you quite like to visit. You gaze up into their sexy eyes and you open wide for them. And then they say, ‘This won’t hurt,’ and suddenly you remember that, actually, it will hurt. But there’s nothing you can do now, you’re trapped in the chair.
That’s what it’s like, the Edinbugh Fringe. A sexy, confusing, agonising dentist. And consequently, now that I’m old, the things I look forward to most about Edinburgh are all about escaping the hubbub. Walking down by the Water of Leith, say, or out to the Royal Botanic Garden to see whatever exhibition is on at Inverleith House. Guiltily I think back to my first ever Fringe, as a wide- eyed, optimistic 21-year-old, happy in the thick of it. I remember watching a young Phil Kay thumb-tack his beard to the ceiling; a forgetful but radiant Eartha Kitt doing James Joyce; my own play, though I got lost and missed the first 20 minutes.
But also I remember being in love and walking hand-in-hand down Princes Street and feeling like the fireworks were just for us. Festivals are always about escape: but an escape into a space where we can live together more intensely, more exaltedly.
Never mind the pain. When the chair tips back, open wide. ■ The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley, Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 20–29 Aug, 12.10pm, £10 (£9).
18–25 Aug 2011 THE LIST 65
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