Edinburgh Festivals Magazine 2017

BEST OF COMEDY MUSIC THEATRE BOOKS DANCE ART

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

ADRIAN EDMONDSON

SHAPPI

JARVIS COCKER

JUDY MURRAY

SUMMER 2017

DRAG RACE

DAVID WALLIAMS HIPPOS OVER THE MOON

RUBY WAX

TALKS FUN AND FRAZZLE

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30/06/2017 15:35

EDFESTMAG.COM CONTENTS

What’s Inside

30

COMEDY 20 RUBY WAX

Is feeling frazzled 24 COVER STAR SARA PASCOE

Gets real about body talk 30 TEZ ILYAS

On being British and brown 34 CRAIG FERGUSON

The Late Late Show host returns 68 THE MARK THOMAS SURVIVAL GUIDE

The Fringe veteran's top tips 74 ONES TO WATCH

Our rising comedy stars 79 MY DAD WROTE A PORNO

For those with daddy issues 80 HANNAH GADSBY

The stand-up goes for

the jugular 174 COMEDY GUIDE

All the belly laughs

46

011_013_EF_Contents.indd 13

28 “There's nowhere like the Fringe” CRAIG FERGUSON, PAGE 34

THEATRE 22 IRVINE WELSH

Brings three plays to the Fringe 32 SIR ALAN AYCKBOURN

His dystopian tale for our times 36 ZINNIE HARRIS

Talks her Festival takeover 46 THE FLYING LOVERS OF

VITEBSK

True love takes to the skies 61 THE B*EAST

Monica Dolan's dark solo debut 63 WILD BORE

The critics don't stand a chance 73 SEAGULLS

Flood the stage 162 THEATRE GUIDE

It's show time!

44

DANCE 38 YO, CARMEN

Carmen goes modern 44 TUTU

Why so serious, ballet?

70 BLAK WHYTE GRAY

The hottest hip hop around 172 DANCE GUIDE

Feel the rhythm

CABARET & CIRCUS 28

83

84

90

92

MUSIC 49 JARVIS COCKER & CHILLY

GONZALES

A blast of the past 87 KANDACE SPRINGS

Pours her soul into the Jazz &

Blues Festival 88 THE TOXIC AVENGER

A green-tinted rock opera 158 MUSIC GUIDE

Follow the beat

92

MEOW MEOW The one and only CIRCUS ABYSSINIA Juggle their way to success CIRCUS GUIDE Roll up, roll up!

COURTNEY ACT The drag star hits Edinburgh CABARET & DRAG GUIDE Get your stockings ready

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EDFESTMAG.COM CONTENTS

26

120

149

ART 112 JAC LEIRNER

Finds beauty in the everyday 114 STEPHEN SUTCLIFFE

On creating layered meaning 154 ART GUIDE

Explore the city's artistic side

FOOD 116

119

CHILDREN

FOODIES FESTIVAL A delicious paradise RESTAURANT GUIDE Feast through the capital

BOOKS

106 FIRST HIPPO ON THE MOON

David Walliams's hippos on stage 108 THE ROAD THAT WASN'T THERE

A Gothic tale for older kids 111 ADAM HARGREAVES

The Mr Men writer branches out 170 KIDS GUIDE

Introduce the wee ones to the

Fringe fun

74

REGULARS

26 ADE EDMONDSON The comic takes up the pen

95 JUDY MURRAY

The tennis mum tells her story 97 NICOLE KRAUSS

On her Israeli inspiration 98 ANDY HAMILTON

On the dark side of celebrity 160 BOOK GUIDE

Get your nose into these pages

40

18 DIARY DATES

The dates not to miss 40 A TO Z

All of the Festival fun 50 FESTIVAL FAVOURITES

The acts we can't get enough of 64 AWARD WINNERS

Last year's Fringe victors return 186 MY EDINBURGH

Shappi Khorsandi leads the way

101

CITY GUIDE 101 21 THINGS TO DO

The best outside the fest 149 SHOPPING

Unleash your inner fashionista 153 SPA GUIDE

Treat yourself www.edfestmag.com

011_013_EF_Contents.indd 15

EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

15

30/06/2017 10:44

Fight the power A

“

rtists are by their nature progressive,” RuPaul’s Drag Race star Courtney Act tells us ahead of her Edinburgh debut. While it might be the Aussie's first time on the Fringe, she couldn’t have summed up its essence better.

In the aftermath of Brexit, Trump and fake news, fears of Orwellian-style censorship are at an all time high. Yet a stroll through Edinburgh mid-August will prove the resistance is alive and well – and its wearing a feather boa.

Drag and cabaret take centre stage this year with an army of fabulous divas, including Meow Meow, Gingzilla and Reuben Kaye. The idols lead a revival of the intelligent, anti-establishment shows that kickstarted the movement.

Fringe queens are not the only ones championing gender and sexuality in all its forms. From Wild Bore’s rebellious satire on gendered reviews, to Hannah Gadsby’s defiant look at homophobia, there's a whole host of hilariously poignant acts to choose from. The male dancers of Chicos Mambos take a tongue-in-cheek stab at toxic masculinity in comedy dance piece Tutu, while our cover star Sara Pascoe talks body autonomy and burning her padded bra, cementing her place as one of the most influential comedians of our times.

Edinburgh legend and enfant terrible of the literary world Irvine Welsh has stepped out of his comfort zone this year with a step into musical theatre, of all things. Never fear though, Trainspotting Live is also making a comeback, as well as Welsh's brand new play inspired by the cult film, Performance.

Another veteran who's not afraid to embrace change is the eternal Ruby Wax. At 64 years old, she's still at the forefront of comedy with her interactive new piece Frazzled, which invites audience participation in a bid to effect social change. On the 70th anniversary of the Fringe, comedy pro and former The Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson returns to his Festival roots after 20 years, while Sir Alan Ayckbourn heads up the theatre billing with a futuristic dystopian epic in his International Festival debut.

Whether you join this year's genre and gender bending mavericks in the revolution or simply watch it unfold, remember to take each vibrant experience as it comes – usually with a flyer.

EDITORIAL Editor Sue Hitchen Deputy Editor & Website Editor Chiara Margiotta Art Director Angela McKean Digital Imaging Grant Paterson Production Sarah Hitchen Sub Editor Lidia Molina Whyte Editorial Assistants Emily J. Hall & Jacqueline Peskett Advertising Design Stephanie Finlay

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Erin Culley ADVERTISING Nicky Carter CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rob Adams, Kelly Apter, Stephen Armstrong, Kate Copstick, Mark Fisher, Chiara Margiotta, Craig McLean, John Nathan, Lucy Ribchester, Jay Richardson, Fiona Shepherd and Claire Smith

Front cover image: Sara Pascoe by Matt Crockett

Don’t forget to bsite check our we ag.com www.edfestm ws for daily revie

HOW TO BOOK Festival Fringe 4th - 28th August Box Office: 180 High Street Tel: 0131 226 0000 Web: edfringe.com International Festival 4th - 28th August Box Office: The Hub, Castlehill Tel: 0131 473 2000 Web: eif.co.uk International Book Festival 12th - 28th August Box Office: 5 Charlotte Square Tel: 0845 373 5888 Web: edbookfest.co.uk Jazz and Blues Festival 14th - 23rd July Box Office: 89 Giles Street Tel: 0131 473 2000 Web: edinburghjazzfestival.com Military Tattoo 4th - 26th August Box Office: 1-3 Cockburn Street Tel: 0131 225 1188 Web: edintattoo.co.uk Edinburgh Art Festival 27th July - 27th August Box Office: 2 Market Street Tel: 0131 226 6558 Web: edinburghartfestival.com Foodies Festival Edinburgh 4th - 6th August Inverleith Park Tel: 0844 844 0444 Web: foodiesfestival.com Edinburgh Mela Festival 26th August - 3rd September Leith Links Tel: 0131 661 7100 Web: edinburgh-mela.co.uk

Edinburgh Festivals Issue 1 5 Published annually by The Media Company Publications Ltd, 26a St Andrews Square, Edinburgh EH2 1AF www.edfestmag.com Printed by Buxton Press. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is strictly forbidden.

All prices and offers correct at time of going to press but subject to change. ISSN 1478-9078

16

EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

016_EF_Welcome.indd 16

www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 11:23

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30/06/2017 15:37

DIARY DATES EDFESTMAG.COM

Pencil these dates into your diary to make each day at the Festival one to remember 3 AUGUST Milton Jones is Out There Assembly Hall The award-winning comic and undisputed king of one-liners one-ups the Fringe.

4 AUGUST Edinburgh International Festival Standard Life Opening Event: Bloom Bloom Arena The 70th International Festival kicks off with this epic outdoor art display.

5 AUGUST Susie McCabe: Let's Get Physical The Stand Comedy Club Get pumped for some highenergy laughs in McCabe's third hour.

6 AUGUST Ed Byrne: Spoiler Alert Assembly George Square The TV comedian returns to his stand-up roots.

18

EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

018_019_EF_Diary.indd 18

10 AUGUST

7 AUGUST Frankie Boyle: Prometheus Vol. I Venue 150 at EICC Boyle's trademark acid humour.

8 AUGUST

Martin Creed's Words and Music The Studio Minimalist yet hard hitting music from the Turner prize winner.

11 AUGUST Hot Dub Time Machine Royal Highland Centre Take a trip down pop memory lane.

PJ Harvey Edinburgh Playhouse The two-time Mercury prize winner comes to Edinburgh.

12 AUGUST

9 AUGUST

13 AUGUST

Alexei Sayle Underbelly Med Quad The godfather of alt comedy is back.

Al Porter in Campus Maximum Underbelly Med Quad An hour of feel-good camp comedy.

John Bishop: Winging It Underbelly Med Quad See the comedy superstar live.

www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 10:15

EDFESTMAG.COM DIARY DATES

Clockwise from top: Jason Manford, Macbeth, Sabrina Mahfouz, John Bishop, Charlotte Church, Nederlands Dans Theater, Susie Mccabe, Rain, Alexei Sayle, Sue Perkins, Bloom, Isla Fisher, Real Magic, Fleabag, Hot Dub Time Machine, Ed Byrne, Milton Jones, Al Porter, Simon Amstell

14 AUGUST

20 AUGUST

25 AUGUST

Jason Manford: Muddle Class Underbelly George Square More witty charm from Manford.

Jemima Foxtrot, Iona Lee, Sabrina Mahfouz & Sophia Walker Garden Theatre The masters of the spoken word scene perform hard hitting works on womanhood.

Charlotte Church's Late Night Pop Dungeon Summerhall Join Charlotte Church in a celebration of pop.

21 AUGUST

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with Nicola Sturgeon Baillie Gifford Main Theatre The First Minister interviews the renowned feminist author.

15 AUGUST Vir Das's Alien Chutney Gilded Balloon Teviot Discover India's favourite comedy rock group.

16 AUGUST Requiem for Aleppo Pleasance at EICC A one-off show in aid of Syria Relief.

17 AUGUST Simon Amstell: Tour Previews Pleasance Courtyard Rate Amstell's work in progress.

18 AUGUST

Fleabag Underbelly George Square The award-winning play behind the hit BBC show returns to the Fringe.

22 AUGUST Nederlands Dans Theater Edinburgh Playhouse A trio of powerful works from the acclaimed dance company.

23 AUGUST

Macbeth Festival Theatre A reimagining of Verdi's dark opera.

Sue Perkins Live! in Spectacles Pleasance Courtyard Laugh with the former GBBO host in a live comedy Q&A.

19 AUGUST

24 AUGUST

Isla Fisher Baillie Gifford Main Theatre The Hollywood actress talks about her latest children's book.

Rain Edinburgh Playhouse An emotive piece featuring ten talented dancers.

26 AUGUST

27 AUGUST Real Magic The Studio A unique piece from legendary theatre-makers, Forced Entertainment.

28 AUGUST David O'Doherty Assembly George Square Theatre A musical comedy piece from the TV comic.

www.edfestmag.com

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30/06/2017 10:15

COMEDY RUBY WAX

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30/06/2017 09:20

RUBY WAX COMEDY

R

uby Wax is frazzled. To be specific, she’s hungover.

“I stayed up late last night,” the fast-talking, fastthinking comedian, author and campaigner says by way of apologising for her occasional jumbling of words.

It’s the morning after the General Election. Now, with the dawn of a hung parliament, she admits to bafflement as to the next political steps. “I don’t know what’s happening – I’m an American!” she splutters.

Wax is also Frazzled. The 64-year-old’s new stage show is based on her bestselling 2016 book A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled. When we speak she’s one week into the show’s four-week run in London’s West End, after which she brings it to Edinburgh for a hot-ticket three-night stand.

“This is the most fun I’ve had doing a show. It’s kind of reckless,” she says. Or, she might have said “breathless.” Either adjective, it seems, would work. “It’s not so much a play. It’s not stand-up ’cause I’m sitting in a chair, but I feel like I’m connecting with the audience. Then in the second half they get to talk, which is hilarious and always interesting. They want to just speak their minds.”

What kind of things are her audiences saying? “Well, you know, the world is kinda frazzled, so people just want to be able to be heard. So whether it’s their kids, or they are kids, they’re pulling their hair out. Or you’re at work and there’s too much pressure.

Everybody has a question to do with how they’re supposed to live their lives and how they keep up with the next guy. And everybody wants to get it off their chest. So they start to form a community.”

In that regard, the mother-of-three is putting her activism where her mouth is. In partnership with Marks & Spencer, this woman

On British TV in the 90s, Wax was all front: the brash American chatshow host and actress, the cameo performer on Absolutely Fabulous (on which she was a script editor). But on stage she needed to be different.

“I was never a stand-up (‘a funny thing happened to my cat, and aren’t I fat?’). There are geniuses who can do that. I like to follow a narrative, and there’s a point to it. And then you want the audience to go: ‘I never thought of that’. So it’s good to have the academic background to use as raw material. It’s like AbFab. You can’t do better editing than when you have great material to work with.”

Meanwhile, back in the mists of time, in 1987 – “Oh my f*cking god! Was it 30 f*cking years ago?” – Ruby Wax made her Edinburgh debut. She starred alongside John Sessions in Wax Acts, directed by Alan Rickman, who she’d met when both were members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Wax had come to the UK to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, but never considered herself a good actress – a point rammed home at the RSC, “where they all, one by one, told me that I was awful. But at least I met Alan. He told me to start writing comedy.

He said: ‘You should write the way you talk’. Otherwise I never would have thought about it.”

Her memories of 1987 feature her and Rickman “running around Edinburgh with Blu-Tack, sticking up posters ’cause nobody publicised the show, and gluing those on to trees, hoping that somebody would come see the show.”

The Wax Acts plot, such as it was, involved Sessions being locked in a dressing room. The then unknown Wax, unable to get into the dressing room, ended up sitting on a chair and applying

Fabulous and foul-mouthed as ever, comedy legend and mental health activist Ruby Wax is back with another hilarious hard hitter WORDS CRAIG MCLEAN PHOTOGRAPHY STEVE ULLATHORNE

with an OBE for Services to Mental Health has launched Frazzled Cafés. M&S are periodically shutting down some of their in-store cafés so Frazzled fans can meet in small groups with the aid of a facilitator, “and continue the conversation they started in the theatre.” This, she clarifies, has “nothing to do with mental illness, it’s just the state we’re in, the state of the nation, your nation,” she rattles.

Wax’s personal-but-public journey towards better mental health – for herself, for us all – is ongoing, never-less-than-candid and invariably hilarious. In 2008, her Edinburgh show Headroom, performed after she’d completed a degree in psychology at University of California, Berkeley, discussed her breakdown.

In 2010, she was back in Edinburgh with Losing It, in which she opened up about her stay at The Priory after the birth of her third child. She followed that with a bestseller book, Sane New World (2013), which begat a show of the same name. The same year, she graduated from Oxford with a master’s degree in mindfulness. No one could ever accuse the energetic Chicago native of letting illness get the better of her.

Explaining the beginnings of Losing It, she’s typically spade’s-aspade: “Comic Relief put up posters of me all over the tube in London. It said ‘one in four people have mental illness and one in five people have dandruff – I have both’. And I was outed!” she hoots. “I didn’t give them permission to do that. So I decided I’d write a show and pretend it was my publicity poster and I’d done it on purpose.

“I’ve done two shows since then, but you can’t keep harping on about the same thing. You can’t use your disability forever!

So Frazzled is different.”

www.edfestmag.com

020_021_EF_Ruby.indd 21

her make-up. “And that became the show,” she recalls. “But somebody didn’t understand that it was my show and took the chair away. Eventually, Alan had to rip the chair out of their hands and say: ‘it’s her show!’

“It was a tiny theatre, three people came, but the show was f*cking great!”

Thirty years on (“Can you imagine me hearing that?” she wails), Wax is back on the Fringe, still the star of the show – but now making the audience the stars, too. She’s also busy finishing another book. Wax is writing How To Be Human with a monk and neuroscientist. It sounds like a joke set-up. But remember, this bigthinking entertainer was never a stand-up.

That said, “I think laughter is the greatest foreplay for reflecting back on things that are very dark. And with comedy, the point is to be dark. To point out that it’s not about ‘have a nice day’. And when people laugh, they’re all together on the same page. To me, talking is half the cure.”

For her brilliant ability to talk, Ruby Wax isn’t promising any cure with Frazzled.

“I want people to feel like they ate really great food, that they’ve had their brain fed, and to wet the floor with laughter.”

WHERE & WHEN Sounds like a great night out for head Ruby Wax: Frazzled, and belly, if not for other body parts.

Ruby Wax: Frazzled is also touring Nationwide this Autumn. For further details visit www.rubywax.net

Underbelly George Square, 10-12 August, 5.10pm, from £20 Tel: 0844 545 8252

EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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THEATRE IRVINE WELSH

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EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:19

IRVINE WELSH THEATRE

SPOTLIGHT ON LEITH The ever notorious Irvine Welsh returns to Edinburgh with three stage productions set in three cities he loves, including a reimagining of his infamous cult classic, Trainspotting WORDS MARK FISHER PORTRAIT JEFFREY DELANNOY

A

s a novelist, Irvine Welsh needs no introduction.

Since the publication of Trainspotting in 1993, he has turned out a dozen or more bestsellers, all infused with his blackly comic take on lowlifes, pill poppers and sexual adventurers.

“The stuff I tend to do is quite dialogue-intensive which lends As a dramatist, however, he is less well known, so it’s all the itself to the stage,” he says. “It’s a surprise to me that I’ve not done more surprising to find him arriving on the Edinburgh Fringe more. I like the set-up of working with people in theatre because with not one but three shows. “We’ve got Edinburgh, Chicago and you’re immersed in this little world and you get to work with London, which are three cities very close to my heart,” says Welsh actors very closely. Actors are amazing storytellers. They tell more about the settings of each. stories than you do, because they’re playing different characters all Representing Edinburgh is a revival of Trainspotting Live, the time, so you do learn a lot from them.” an immersive version of his debut novel that’s being performed Unlike his singular approach as a novelist, Welsh as a in a tunnel in the old railway arches beneath the Edinburgh playwright is a team player. He co-wrote Creatives with fellow novelist Don De Grazia and co-wrote Performers with Dean International Conference Centre. “They’ve taken something that Cavanagh. “When you collaborate with somebody, you have to was 20 years old and totally rebooted it for a new generation,” know them well,” he says. “You have to have a deep bond and says Welsh. Flying the flag for Chicago is Creatives, a musical about a class of dysfunctional students taking part in a songwriting trust. Don and Dean are two of my best friends and it means competition. It’s performed by a US company following try-outs at you can say anything to each other and have that honesty. You Chicago Theatre Workshop where it was devised. Then to London can also look after each other when things aren’t going well.” with Performers, a black comedy set in the swinging 60s during He and De Grazia began working on Creatives as an alternative the making of the film Performance. The Mick Jagger/James Fox to spending yet another summer hanging around and drinking. favourite was co-directed by Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell, The set up at Chicago Theatre Workshop allowed them to try a cult figure with a taste for the high life. out ideas in work-in-progress performances “You’ve got London gangsters in the 60s, and get feedback from audiences. “It gives it an WHERE & WHEN Edinburgh junkies in the 80s and music students extra layer,” he says. “We wanted not so much a Creatives, in contemporary Chicago,” says Welsh. “I don’t musical as a pop opera, something dynamic, big Pleasance Courtyard, know if there’s any overarching theme, but they and powerful, but that wouldn’t be cheesy and 2–28 August (not 15, are all about outsiders trying to find their place.” that would say something about where we are 22), 4pm, from £8 In truth, Welsh’s interest in theatre is now, about our obsession with being creative Tel: 0131 556 6550 and the proliferation of MFA programmes and longstanding. Not only was Trainspotting adapted art school places.” for the stage before the iconic film, but Welsh was Performers, In contrast, he describes Performers as working with Edinburgh’s Boilerhouse as early Assembly Rooms, “Waiting for Godot meets Ray Cooney,” a show as 1994, before writing for the West Yorkshire 3–27 August (not 14), with an “almost Brian Rix music hall” quality.

Playhouse and the Exit Theatre in San Francisco.

4.45pm, from £10 It’s set at that curious moment in the 1960s Tel: 0131 623 3030 when, as he puts it, “artists and villains mixed for the first time.” “Artists have got this conceit Trainspotting Live, that if they’d turned up in a different way, they EICC, 2–27 August (not would have been gangsters,” he says. “And 9, 16, 23), times vary, gangsters have this conceit that if they’d taken from £10 a different direction, they’d have been artists.

Tel: 0131 519 4150 There’s something about that outlaw sensibility that both are attracted to.”

“Actors are amazing storytellers”

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COMEDY SARA PASCOE

A strong sense of self Comedian Sara Pascoe talks feminism, padded bras and improv jazz WORDS KATE COPSTICK PHOTOGRAPHY MATT CROCKETT

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eminist but not activist” is how she has described herself.

But a canter through her career and a dip into any of her performances, live or on TV, reveals a powerful and persuasive female voice. There is a great intelligence to what Sara Pascoe does. Her opinions are never simple or polemic.

Loud and spikey, frequently, but never just hot air for correctly politicised laughter.

Her book, Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body, revealed her as, amongst other things, an almost lifelong (ages 14-31) padded bra wearer turned vehement opponent of body fascism and cosmetic surgery. It was incredibly powerful stuff. It created waves on many shores, and a veritable tsunami when she dared opine that no subjects are out of bounds for comics. But, she explained at the time, “people are forgiving of subject matter when we find things funny.” Having said which, she continued “there are definitely things I would never be able to make sound funny.”

She has a brilliant analytical brain when it comes to comedy and how and when and why it works. In another interview she once compared being onstage doing stand-up as being like playing a musical instrument, a comparison I have always thought quite brilliant, and illuminating. Does she play improvised jazz? Classical concertos? “It is an interesting thing to think about. My dad is a musician, he does jazz improvisation actually, and he is the first person I ever talked to about craft. He has dedicated his life to playing, and when I get to talk to him about what I do, it is always both of us trying to understand the other via different mediums.

Speaking onstage, and working out what feels right, or what people respond to I guess is a bit like picking up lots of instruments until one ‘feels’ right. There is a very strong sense of self when one is speaking honestly as a comic, and I have only recently found that feeling. And it is so connected to confidence; you have to trust yourself to be honest. And I guess, in the early years, all of us are practicing our scales, waiting to get good enough to play freely – but unfortunately, we can’t practice in private. We have to show everyone from the beginning!”

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To paraphrase the classic Norm McDonald Hitler gag, “You know, with Sara Pascoe, the more I learn about her, the more I like her.”

Pascoe’s comedy beginnings were in 2007, playing creative comedy clubs like Invisible Dot. “New wave” was one description used of this “slightly surreal, slightly political” (Pascoe’s own description) group of up and comers. “A Noel Fielding tribute act” is how Sara describes her early work, with characteristic searing honesty.

2010 brought her to Edinburgh and 2014 saw her nominated for a Foster’s Comedy Award. Since then she has stormed Live at the Apollo, won QI, played ditsy blondes in Twenty Twelve and W1A, grabbed a slew of comedy-boy dominated panel shows by the hairy bits (“a great way to get people to come to your gigs,” she says) and taken home the Pointless trophy with Josh Widdicombe. Pretty much no performance stone has been left unturned.

Google her and she is generally described as “writer, comedienne, actress,” in that order. Is that how she sees herself? “I think that might be the order of difficulty/loneliness,” she replied. “Writing a book takes a long time and a lot of effort and thought. Stand-up is a completely delightful job that can weigh on the ego and be competitive but it’s also a bit more social than writing, and acting is the most fun ‘cause someone tells you what to wear and when to speak and in between takes you have a gossip and eat biscuits.”

Growing up in Dagenham, Essex, she was spurred to success by her first job. In McDonald’s. “My first job was in McDonald’s and I knew I was going to have to become very successful if I was going to buy the whole company and close it down so that no one ever has to work there ever again. I’m still working on this.” Of course, she is now famously a vegan. How, I wonder, does that work with the

“This year I’ll still be flat-chested but the show is more about what’s going on underneath, in my flat heart” www.edfestmag.com

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SARA PASCOE COMEDY

traditional EdFest Diet? “Very very well,” is the surprising answer.

“Edinburgh has more vegan places every year and has always had David Bann and that jacket potato place, so I’ve always been fed.

Being skint in Edinburgh makes it hard to eat, but not veganism.

Also, this year I’ve spent a fortune on accommodation and I have access to an outdoor pizza oven so anyone skint come round mine and I’ll knock up some kind of cheese-less pizza for ya.”

Given her increasing telly success as stand-up, panel show regular and actress, what brings her back to Edinburgh? “The socialising is part of it. There are comics I long to see but I only get to hang with at festivals as we are all so busy. And did I mention my house has an outdoor pizza oven? Plus, the length and scrutiny of the festival sharpens one’s work. The hard shows or low self-esteem can increase focus on the material in an odd way. It keeps you trying to improve and I have missed that. Also, like everyone else who has had a couple of years off, I’ve forgotten just how dream-crushing it can be and think it will be ‘fun’.”

So after a heavy-duty year in 2016 focusing on the book and the politics of the female body (and coming out as a flattie), what is this year’s show about? “This year I’ll still be flat-chested but the show is more about what’s going on underneath, in my flat heart. It’s the show I have most enjoyed writing and saying, and it’s about being a lone, single woman, happy without love and trying not to hate herself. It’s not worthy, or deep, but I do talk about the big shit as always.” One would expect no less.

At one point in her chequered past, Ms Pascoe was a tour guide.

I wondered where she would take us on a tour of Edinburgh.

As you might expect, Greyfriars Bobby and the Fudge Shop this is not. “Oh, I wish I knew more about Edinburgh’s history and I would do a proper tour,” she says. “This year my big mission is to research the Ghost Brothel. A few hundred years ago there was a ghost whorehouse in Edinburgh where people would pay to watch through a window at all the ghosts doing it. Actually, there is a city of the dead tour in Edinburgh that takes you to see all the ghostly places, let’s all do that!” Form an orderly queue now. www.edfestmag.com

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WHERE & WHEN Sara Pascoe: LadsLadsLads, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 (not 14) August, 7pm, from £7 Tel: 0207 609 1800 Sara Pascoe: Anatomy of a Female Body Studio Theatre, 23 Aug, 3.45pm, from £10 Tel: 0845 373 5888

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BOOKS ADE EDMONDSON

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ADE EDMONDSON BOOKS

“I guess they must have seen something in me” As the comedian-turned-actorturned-author lends his hand to children’s book writing, it seems there’s nothing British comedy legend Ade Edmondson can’t do WORDS CLAIRE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY KAREN ROBINSON

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e didn’t set out to write a book for children, Adrian Edmondson was forced into it. “Some kids moved in next door to me. These kids were storybook age; five, seven and nine. I thought, this is great because I love reading to kids.

“I suggested Roald Dahl and they said: ‘No, we’ve heard that’. I said: ‘I’ll read you Wind in the Willows’. They said: ‘No, we have heard that’. So I said ‘I’ll write one of my own because you won’t have heard that’.”

So that’s how the founder of The Comic Strip, The Young Ones and Bottom came to create Tilly and the Time Machine, the story of a little girl who accidentally goes back in time. It’s funny, silly and designed to be read out loud, with hilarious illustrations by Danny Noble. Tilly, aged seven, is forthright and direct – even when speaking to Queen Victoria or Horatio Nelson.

“I like reading out loud. I read adult books moving my mouth. I’ve always liked history and read a lot of history.

I can do ten minutes on Nelson. He’s a very interesting Gothic character. No one really knows what his last words were, so that is why you are allowed to interpret it.”

When Edmondson started writing, he didn’t know the book was going to be so much about death and grief.

“You don’t know where these things come from. But I have reached the age where people have started dying around me. I think some of my friends have started to avoid me

“Joyous is a better word than funny” www.edfestmag.com

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because they think I’ll just start talking about death.

“People treat death differently but I feel a girl of seven is able to cut through that and talk about death more openly. When someone asks if her mum is in, Tilly says: ‘No. She’s in a box in a hole in the ground near the church, all covered up with mud and dirt’. I’d been trying to write a novel for 20 years, but if you tried to write an adult novel about grief it comes across as whining.”

Edmondson lost his friend and comic partner Rik Mayall in 2014. “He was like a brother to me,” he says, although the pair stopped working together regularly in 2003.

Together, Mayall, Edmondson and the other members of The Comic Strip, including his wife Jennifer Saunders, revolutionised comedy.

“At the time there was a circuit for racist men in tuxedos but there wasn’t anything else. ‘Alternative comedy’ is what they called us, but it is a terrible name. ‘Funny comedy’, I like to call it.”

There are some good jokes in Tilly, but the humour is incidental. “She’s a joyous character rather than funny.

Joyous is a better word than funny.”

He’s already started a new book for children, about ‘kindness and unkindness’. And he’ll be appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford as Malvolio.

“I worked with someone at the RSC on the Rocky Horror Show. I guess they must have seen something in me.”

WHERE & WHEN Time Travels with Adrian Edmonson, Baillie Gifford Main Theatre, 13 August, 3.15pm, from £5 Tel: 0845 373 5888

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CABARET MEOW MEOW

“Post, post modern diva” and queen of 21st century cabaret Meow Meow brings her dazzling retelling of The Little Mermaid to the International Festival WORDS CLAIRE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY ANDREW GOUGH

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qually at home in a Berlin nightclub or appearing at Shakespeare’s Globe, singer Meow Meow has long been fascinated by fairy tales and folklore.

The cabaret artist, whose songs explore the agony of love, will be bringing her version of The Little Mermaid to this year’s International Festival.

Her interpretation addresses the dark, cruel heart of the Hans Christian Anderson story and promises to sparkle it with sex, politics and dark humour.

“It couldn’t be more visceral in the original. The deal the little mermaid makes with the Sea Witch is that she must give up her beautiful voice as a sacrifice in order to get legs so she can meet the Prince. But that doesn’t give her a happy ending. In Hans Christian Anderson it only gives her the chance to dance with the Prince. He falls in love with someone else.”

The Australian singer and songwriter first conceived of The Little Mermaid as an agit prop fairy tale when she was working in Shanghai and saw a 1960s film version made in the Czech Republic.

“It reflected the experience of being a showgirl and travelling the world looking for love. Does true love exist and does it mean you have to negate part of yourself?”

Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid includes her own songs, alongside music from Radiohead and new compositions from Thomas Lauderdale, Amanda Palmer, Megan Washington and others. The Edinburgh International Festival production is the European premiere of a show originally created for the Sydney Festival.

Accompanied by the Siren Orchestra and directed by Cal McCrystal, her Little Mermaid promises to be epic and imaginative on a grand scale, while retaining the mischief, intimacy and humour of Meow Meow’s cabaret shows.

It begins on a bleak stage, set at the end of the world.

“We go into the psyche through the ocean, through the sea of the mind.”

“I’ve never seen the Disney version,” she says. But Disney femininity, in all its bland saccharine sweetness, informs her vision of the impossible expectations placed on modern women.

“I am absolutely a feminist in all my work. But what is so clear in this story is the Prince isn’t an evil person at all. He doesn’t ignore the little mermaid – he simply doesn’t see her. It is extremely poignant for that reason. It is a story about projection, and I find it incredibly contemporary.”

Meow Meow performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company as Titania last year, and also appeared at last year’s Festival with Barry Humphries and the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Silenced Voices.

Politics is one of the reasons Meow Meow keeps returning to the songs of Weimar. “I feel right when I’m singing Brecht. I feel it right in my bones”.

She is looking forward to Edinburgh. “It’s got such a special energy, all these hearts and hopes and dreams. I also feel very aware of the history of Edinburgh. What is it, 20 thousand witches burned?

“It is perfect for Hans Christian Anderson, because you feel so connected to another time.”

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MEOW MEOW CABARET

“We go into the psyche through the ocean”

WHERE & WHEN Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid, The Hub, 3-27 August (not 8, 15, 22), 10.30pm, from £15 Tel: 0131 473 2015

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COMEDY TEZ ILYAS Tez Ilyas takes on prejudice with his trademark blend of optimism and sarcasm

BRIT, MUSLIM & PROUD WORDS STEPHEN ARMSTRONG,

Comedy Critic for The Sunday Times

PHOTOGRAPHY STEVE ULLATHORNE

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he greatest thing about the British isn’t our sense of humour. It’s that if you can make us laugh we’ll think, ‘ah, they must be alright’,” Tez Ilyas believes. The fact this young stand-up has sold out on the Fringe for the past two years with shows about the complexities of being a British Muslim – at a time when if you’re not being strip searched at Heathrow, you’re being told to apologise for other people’s crimes – pretty much proves his point.

Tez is part of a wave of irreverent young British Muslim stand-ups who are tearing up preconceptions from every side. His solo debut TEZ Talks was part stand-up, part emotional immersive theatre based on the idea that he was delivering the final lecture in the audience’s conversion to Islam. His follow up, Pak Life, bounced through his life story, including the moment in Mecca when he looked around at the crowds, worried about his personal space and feeling “more British than ever.”

This year he’s back with TezTify: “basically, me testifying against the assumptions that people might have about me,” he explains. As with all good comedians, Ilyas’s perspective is that of the perpetual outsider. He grew up in Blackburn’s close-knit Muslim community, went to an infant school with one white pupil and a secondary school split 60/40. But as an Asian kid with divorced parents, he was never really at the heart of the community.

“Growing up there was me and Faizer Dah whose parents were divorced,” he gives a quick smile. “It was only when I got to university and started hanging out with white people that I realised every second person had divorced parents and I could relax.”

As a result, his quick wits started on the playground, partly as a survival strategy. “Taking the mick out of each other was a big part of growing up – I mean you could call it bullying,” he laughs. “But there are a lot of sarcastic people in Blackburn and we were always riffing on who was best. Of course, the Muslims had the trump card of Muhammad Ali and he always trumped everyone.”

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His resulting complex battle with identity saw him start university a month after 9/11 sporting the full bushy beard of the truly devout. “I was praying five times a day and I never thought about it,” he explains. “But the majority of my friends were white English guys and girls and I really enjoyed hanging out with them. I even started liking Oasis.”

He graduated, bummed around America for a year.

“I never had any trouble going in or out of the country,” he shrugs. Then he got fast-tracked into the civil service, eventually helping oversee security at the 2012 Olympics.

“I had the very first meeting with the army after the G4S failure where we asked them to help us out,” he gives a quiet smile. “Their answer was, hell no! Then they rang back half an hour later and said ‘let’s discuss the options’.”

There was so much comedy, he felt he had to write about it. “There were no brown faces doing comedy on TV when I was growing up – which is odd because I don’t think people realise how much of a sarcastic sense of humour British Asian Muslims have,” he muses. “I started stand-up to learn how to write and meet new people. I didn’t expect a career.” www.edfestmag.com

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TEZ ILYAS COMEDY

“I’m quite an optimistic person”

Gradually, he found his voice as audiences responded to riffs on how hard it is being Muslim in the country you love. “I was slightly worried that people would take offence, but I’ve had no negative reaction at all,” he explains. “Which is another good reason to be proud to be British.”

His Fringe shows led to getting his own radio series, panel shows and talks about a sitcom, and he finally quit the Home Office last October. Since starting comedy, however, he has noticed a subtle change in attitudes in the UK towards and within the Muslim community – for the better.

“It’s only the political fringes on every side that have got worse,” he smiles and shrugs.

“I’m quite an optimistic person.

WHERE & WHEN The main thing is to listen. We Tez Ilyas: Teztify, can’t change people’s minds if we Pleasance Courtyard, just patronise them. And that’s 2-27 Aug (not 16), 8.30pm, the great thing about comedy. If from £10 you’re making someone laugh, Tel: 0131 556 6550 you’re definitely not making them feel patronised.” www.edfestmag.com

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THEATRE SIR ALAN AYCKBOURN

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SIR ALAN AYCKBOURN THEATRE

Like Verne, Wells and Atwood before him, Sir Alan Ayckbourn embraces sci-fi to explore the human condition with his Edinburgh International Festival debut WORDS CRAIG MCLEAN PHOTOGRAPHY TONY BARTHOLOMEW

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n summer 1956, a young Londoner magnetically drawn north by a passion for theatre found himself in Edinburgh. He was in the city as acting stage manager for the impresario Sir Donald Wolfit, working on a production of Austrian playwright Fritz Hochwälder’s The Strong Are Lonely. The Festival was only nine years old, the lad not much older at 17. But Alan Ayckbourn knew he’d found his calling.

As the playright remembers, he was “less than two weeks out of school, passionately in love with theatre, suddenly finding myself in the middle of the Festival with everything happening around me: opera, ballet, legendary international theatre companies, street theatre… Teenage cloud nine!”

Back in London, he was already a regular visitor to The Old Vic. According to the 78-year-old, who was knighted for services to theatre in 1997, that theatre “gave me, back in my youth, my first taste of professional Shakespeare.”

A year after his Edinburgh debut, Ayckbourn was in Scarborough, employed as an actor and stage manager at the Yorkshire seaside town’s Library Theatre. Within two years, disgruntled with the quality of a role he’d been given, he had taken matters into his own hands and written a play, The Square Cat. By the end of the same year, 1959, he had written a second, Love After All. And he was off. So began the career of perhaps Britain’s most celebrated popular playwright, quite possibly our most prolific and, as some attest, also our most performed. To date, Ayckbourn has written 81 full-length plays – but, remarkably, he has never had a work performed at the Edinburgh International Festival. Until now.

Like its author, The Divide has history: Ayckbourn first unveiled it via a “gala reading” in Scarborough in 2015, and the performed piece was drawn from an 80,000 word prose manuscript. Indeed, also like its author, this new work – which is a co-production with the theatre that inspired him all those years ago, The Old Vic – is hugely ambitious. Even in an edited form, the debut staged version runs to six hours split into two parts. And anyone expecting a domestically set, quick-witted study of relationships from the author of The Norman Conquests and Bedroom Farce is in for a surprise.

As the tagline describes it, The Divide is “a tale for our own turbulent times that unflinchingly examines a dystopian society of brutal repression, forbidden love and seething insurrection. England has been decimated by a deadly contagion. Contact between men and women is fatal. They are forcibly separated by a divide.”

I talk to Ayckbourn via email. Since suffering a stroke in 2006, this is his preferred method of conducting interviews. But his enthusiasm, passion and energy are clearly undimmed, shining as they do through his emails.

When I ask him to explain the genesis of the idea behind The Divide, he replies: “It came from various sources, simultaneously, as most of my ideas generally do.

“Chiefly, I wanted to write something that, for once, I couldn’t envisage ever directing myself, on a scale and of a size that with the limited resources at my disposal here in

Scarborough was simply beyond my reach. I decided, too, to write something that I hoped would reach a younger generation of theatre-goers. The ‘bridge’ to achieve this appeared to me to be through the medium of sci-fi.”

Still, he clarifies, there is “plenty” of humour in The Divide. “I could never write a play without humour, not now, nor would I wish to. As I often say, you can’t show light without shadow, and vice versa.”

The Divide premieres at a propitious moment, politically and culturally. But Ayckbourn points out that his inspiration came not from the lurch to the right in western democracies. It was “probably in response to the Ebola virus and other pandemics which threaten now and then to wipe out humanity altogether. Fortunately, thanks to our medical skills, they haven’t yet managed it. We’ll probably manage to achieve it ourselves via other means!”

Still, as The Old Vic’s Annabel Bolton, who is directing, points out: “Alan has brilliantly packed The Divide with themes that could easily be interpreted as a reflection of a number of current political and social issues that are at the forefront of many people’s minds right now. But ultimately, I think this is a thrilling, touching story of personal lives and love in a different, dark world that has relevance both for today and historically – if you want it to.

“The wonderful thing, of course, about setting anything in the future or in an alternate world,” she continues, “is that it allows one to explore, unfettered, some extreme version of all sorts of situations.”

Indeed, these specific issues – of segregation, of gender politics, of “brutal repression” – are very much abroad in the world right now, from Trump’s America to the small screen.

The adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale – which, like The Divide, deals with catastrophic inter-gender dysfunctionality – is the most talked-about TV drama of recent times. Whence our fascination with this topic?

“Haven’t we always been fascinated by the ‘what if’ genre?” Ayckbourn replies. “Back to Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, et cetera. I’m delighted to see the Atwood classic has resurfaced. It’s nice to be in the buzz! Even though I wrote The Divide two years ago and had no idea then there was even going to be a buzz.”

The Divide has undergone various changes since its Scarborough all-day try-out. Enough, certainly, to make its author as keen as anyone to witness the Edinburgh premiere of a play that already feels like an important, landmark work. “[In 2015] we had a cast of about 30, WHERE & WHEN with guest readers supplementing the The Divide Part 1, resident company,” Ayckbourn recalls.

King’s Theatre, 8-20 August “It was in five parts and read in excess of (not 9, 10, 14), times vary seven hours. Fortunately, Annabel Bolton The Divide Part 2, was in the audience that day. She saw the King’s Theatre, 9-20 August potential, accepted the challenge and ran (not 10, 14), times vary, with it. Since then, they’ve cut it, reduced both from £14 the cast, added music and it now has Tel: 0131 473 2000 new opening and closing sections. Totally different, in fact! Can’t wait to see it.”

“I hoped to reach a younger generation of theatre-goers”

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COMEDY CRAIG FERGUSON

F O G KIN EDY

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The former Late Late Show host returns to his stand-up roots and the festival that jumpstarted his career WORDS STEPHEN ARMSTRONG, Comedy Critic for The Sunday Times PHOTOGRAPHY SONJA FLEMMING

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f you’ve ever wanted proof that the Fringe changes lives, take a look at Craig Ferguson. The Scottish stand-up cut his teeth there, was talent spotted by a Hollywood agent in the Assembly Rooms and whisked away to write and star in movies and sitcoms and host the legendary CBS Late Late Show (currently hosted by James Corden) before returning this year – older, wiser, a legend in the USA, but keen to be just another turn at the Gilded Balloon.

“There’s nowhere like the Fringe,” he says with a youthful enthusiasm belying his 55 years. “I remember seeing a theatre company from a former Soviet state doing a play where they didn’t talk, they just used brooms, then heading over to Late and Live to see my friend Lewis Black dying worse than anyone I’ve ever seen – all on a single night. I don’t know how it will go. I don’t even know if I care how it goes. I’m just happy to be here.”

Ferguson’s showbiz career technically began in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, with a series of high school heavy metal bands called Stag and Night Creatures. “I was still living with my mum, so we were Night Creatures but home in bed by 10 o’clock,” he laughs. He dropped out to pursue rock’n’roll, joining a punk band called Bastards from Hell with Peter Capaldi – which explains Capaldi’s guitar playing in Doctor Who. “Being in a band back then was like Instagram now,” he points out. “Everybody was doing it. The Glasgow scene was so cool

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at that point – you had Orange Juice and Aztec Camera and we were all hanging out and partying together.”

It was Capaldi who introduced Ferguson to stand-up comedy – and also came up with the name for his first comedy persona, Bing Hitler. “I thought the name would be useful publicity and attract attention,” he explains.

“It worked. I only did him for two years but people still talk to me about it.”

There’s some old recordings of Bing Hitler lurking on YouTube – sporting wild hair and a damaged suit, delivering frenetic and surreal material like the alarming child of Rik Mayall and Nick Helm. “I had a very aggressive style because I’d usually be on the bill with bands,” he laughs. “The audience were shouting ‘wanker’ before I even got to the microphone, which makes you a little raucous in your delivery.”

Ferguson’s first festival break came in 1986 with a show upstairs at the Café Royal beginning at 1am and stretching into the night, with bands, guests and Bing Hitler as the demented host. “Everything I’ve done in my career really comes from that three week period,” he muses. “Without trying to aggrandise myself, I think that was my Cavern era – wild drunken mayhem.”

“Stand-up is a bit like crack, you’re never really free of it”

And he was very drunk. He was an alcoholic. He tried to kill himself on Christmas day 1991 after waking up in a London pub having missed his train and facing the festive season alone. He was leaving for Tower Bridge to throw himself in the river when the barman begged him to have one glass of seasonal sherry.

It cued up another binge which would prove to be his last – he checked in with Alcoholics Anonymous and he’s been sober ever since.

“I’d never, ever performed sober. I found I wasn’t as good as I thought I was but everyone else seemed to think I’d gotten a lot better,” he laughs. “I won’t lie, it was a tough and uncomfortable transition, but completely necessary – I was pretty out of control.” www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:27

CRAIG FERGUSON COMEDY

WHERE & WHEN Show, The Craig Ferguson se Ro at n Gilded Balloo (not 12, Theatre, 7-18 August £16 13), 10.45pm, from Tel: 0131 622 6552

He started working with Harry Enfield, Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson and two years later he was at the Assembly Rooms doing stand-up and performing in The Odd Couple when he was spotted. “I went out to LA for two weeks and suddenly it’s 23 years later,” he still sounds slightly surprised. “I didn’t plan on being away so long. I was cast in The Drew Carey Show and then I got The Late Late Show and I was always working when the Festival was on, so I just never got back.”

He’s kept his hand in with the stand-up though. “When I got The Late Late Show, Eddie Izzard said ‘you have to be careful if you do this job, it’s so visible that people will think it’s all you do,’” Ferguson explains.

“He’s a smart guy and it made sense. I was working for such a big slice of corporate America that the only way they wouldn’t www.edfestmag.com

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own me is if I re-started my stand-up life.

All you have to do is turn up in a town and get on a stage. There’s no-one else involved.

And, of course, stand-up is a little bit like crack, you’re never really free of it.”

Having left The Late Late Show – “I swore I’d only do eight years, but they filled my mouth with gold and I did ten” – he now splits his life between LA in term time, where his two sons go to school, and his Ayrshire home. He hosts a two hour talk show on SiriusXM Satellite Radio and that’s the basis of his Fringe run.

“Edinburgh is a city of ghosts and some are still a bit scary”

“Basically, I’m hosting the show live from Edinburgh,” he shrugs. “I’ll have my buddy Joe Boulter, then I want as many guests as possible. I don’t think I’ll do material as such, but I’ll definitely be riffing with everyone.” The show will also be broadcast live to his American fans each night, and include live phonecalls from the US. As for Auld Reekie itself, his heart is torn in two. “There’s so many happy memories but so many sad ones too,” he explains. “People who are no longer around and places that mean a little too much. I’m glad to be back and I’m raring to go, but for me this is a city of ghosts and some of them are still a bit scary,” he pauses for a heartbeat then gives a quick laugh. “But hey, what could possibly go wrong?”

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THEATRE ZINNIE HARRIS

POWER OF THREE Playwright Zinnie Harris brings her talents to the International Festival with a triptych of new works WORDS MARK FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY TIM MOROZZO PORTRAIT SUSAN TORKINGTON

I

t’s shaping up to be some summer for Zinnie Harris. As recently as June, she was named Best Director in the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland for her work on Caryl Churchill’s A Number at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum earlier this year. And in October, she’ll be in Leeds for the premiere of her translation of Ibsen’s The Master Builder at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Sandwiched in between is the small matter of three productions opening in the Edinburgh International Festival.

For a dramatist to have one play staged in the prestigious festival is a coup. To have this many is exceptional. “It’s rather wonderful,” she says.

The most ambitious of the three is Oresteia: This Restless House, not least because it is three plays rolled into one. First seen last year at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre, it is a bold femalecentric updating of the trilogy written by Aeschylus 2500 years ago.

Harris takes the archetypal story of a family cursed across the generations and turns it into a stunning vision of a society

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driven to psychological breakdown by a bloody cycle of revenge. The show was the big winner in last year’s CATS, picking up Best New Play (for Harris), Best Female Performance (Pauline Knowles), and Best Director (Dominic Hill).

“For a while, I thought that would be enough of a festival,” laughs Harris about the trilogy, which is being staged in a single four-and-a-half hour marathon with two intervals.

But it just so happened she was also talking to the Royal Lyceum about her translation of the Eugene Ionesco absurdist classic Rhinoceros. She thought it should be staged by the Turkish director Murat Daltaban, with whom she has worked in Istanbul and rates highly.

“We wanted a way to talk about what’s happening in Turkey, Scotland and Europe, and whether there could be a proper collaboration between the two countries,” says Harris. “It’s often said Rhinoceros is about the rise of the right – and it is, to some degree – but I actually think it’s about how public opinion changes almost overnight and how www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:28

ZINNIE HARRIS THEATRE

“They’re about how the individual breaks through”

“They are all set in moments of personal crisis”

unrecognisable the people around you are.

That was the experience of Brexit, but it’s also happening in Turkey, which is changing so astronomically.”

Fergus Linehan, artistic director of the Edinburgh International Festival, liked the sound of that – and once Harris mooted the idea of Meet Me at Dawn, a new two-hander at the Traverse, he had a trilogy on his hands. “Fergus felt it would allow audiences to see a whole strand of work by one writer,” says Harris, whose latest play draws loosely on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as it tackles the sensitive topic of grief.

“I’d wanted to work with the Orpheus and Eurydice myth for a while and found it quite difficult,” she says, recalling the story of the husband who blows his chance of bringing his dead wife back from the Stygian realm when he breaks his agreement with Hades by turning to look at her. “Where do you start the story in order to care enough for the couple? And if he’s not able to look at her, how would you stage the moment they’re together? So I thought, what if www.edfestmag.com

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WHERE & WHEN Rhinoceros, Royal Lyceum, 3-12 August, times vary, from £10 Tel: 0131 473 2000 Meet Me at Dawn, Traverse, 4-27 August, times vary, from £21.50 Tel: 0131 228 1404 Oresteia: This Restless House, Royal Lyceum, 22-27 August, 6pm, from £10 Tel: 0131 473 2000

you staged the whole play in the moment of the look? If you expanded it and made the look a day, you’d be able to be with your loved one for a limited time – and what would the experience of that be like?”

On the face of it, the three productions are unrelated, but Harris believes audiences will spot common themes. “They all set moments of personal crisis against a backdrop that is changing, evolving and holding people back,” she says. “They’re about how the individual breaks through.

“Meet Me at Dawn and Oresteia: This Restless House are looking at old stories and reinventing them in relationship to the female characters. Rhinoceros is less that – there is a male lead – but it is also talking about how the individual keeps a sense of internal morality in a world where morality is changing. They’re all representative of themes I’ve been working with for a long time. And all three plays work on a mythical level.”

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30/06/2017 09:28

DANCE YO, CARMEN

FIERCE FLAMENCO Riverdance star María Pagés transforms Bizet’s classic into a masterful exploration of modern womanhood in Yo, Carmen WORDS KELLY APTER PHOTOGRAPHY DAVID RUANO

G

rowing up in Seville, María Pagés was surrounded by the sights and sounds of flamenco. Like other baby girls born in the region, one of the first outfits her mother bought her was a flamenco dress. And at parties, flamenco music and dancing would always play a large part.

For Pagés, however, it quickly became clear that flamenco dancing was much more than a fun way to pass the time at a family gathering.

“Flamenco is part of our culture, part of our sentimental education,” she says. “But it’s not the case that everybody can dance, or is dedicated to it – and I discovered that dedication very early on.

“As a child, whenever adults asked me that classic question, ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I always said I don’t need to think about it – I’m already a dancer. I can’t say how I knew, I just felt as though dance was inside of me. As a

“I just felt as though dance was inside of me” child, I would go to flamenco class and ballet class, and I was very serious about all of it. It was never something I just did for entertainment or treated like a hobby, I always took it seriously.”

By the age of 15, Pagés had moved away from her family home to Madrid and was dancing professionally, touring all over the world. Ten years later, she formed her own company and quickly became known for combining international influences with traditional Spanish culture. So, in 1995 when composer Bill Whelan was looking for a flamenco dancer to make a guest appearance in his new Irish music and dance project, he knew who to call.

“I didn’t realise just how big Riverdance would become,” says Pagés. “And of course, the section I danced in is just a small expression of what flamenco can be. But after watching it, many people who had never seen flamenco before thought maybe they’d like to see more of it.

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“Although my own work is quite far away from Riverdance, I have many fans who come to see my company because they’ve been introduced to flamenco by seeing me in Riverdance.”

Pagés’s own style has been shaped over many years of choreographing for stage and screen, picking up numerous awards along the way. From a young age, she was aware of the story of Carmen, and felt a desire to address the way women are portrayed within it, but wasn’t sure how.

Then in 2014, after “reflecting for a long, long time”, Yo, Carmen (I, Carmen) was born.

Turning this most famous of female characters into an ordinary woman, the show blends music, choreography, poetry and theatre to debunk the Andalusian stereotypes of Mérimée’s novella and Bizet’s opera.

Working alongside her husband, the dramaturgist and poet El Arbi El Harti, Pagés was not only responsible for the production’s choreography and direction, but is also credited with the costume design.

“For me, the idea of choreography and costume is joined together,” she explains. “Choreography is not just about the steps, it’s about many other ingredients – the lighting, costumes, stage, music.

For me it’s natural that the ideas for the costume design comes at the same time as I’m creating the piece. It’s not something I do when I’ve finished choreographing – it all comes together, it’s part of the process.”

Yo, Carmen is performed by seven musicians and singers and seven dancers, including Pagés herself, who feels she brings more to the stage now than ever before.

“With everything you do, you grow, and when you reach a mature age, you have a much better idea of who you are and what you want,” she says. “You need a lot of life experience to discover that, and the good thing about having different experiences is the knowledge you acquire. It’s the same with your body. I’m 53 years old and have to manage my body and what it can do – but I know it better now, and how I can use it to express myself.”

www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:19

YO, CARMEN DANCE

“Flamenco is part of our culture”

WHERE & WHEN Yo, Carmen, Edinburgh Playhouse, 12-13 August, 8pm, from £11 Tel: 0131 473 2000

www.edfestmag.com

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A TO Z EDFESTMAG.COM

BRUCE Underbelly Cowgate, 3-27 Aug Everybody's favourite block of foam returns with a new heartmelting adventure.

CREATURE C Venues – C South, 3-28 Aug In its UK premiere, this visceral piece of dance theatre explores what it means to be human.

ABANDOMAN'S ROB BRODERICK Assembly George Square Gardens, 3-27 Aug Rob Broderick's dream hip hop musical comes to life.

DJUKI MALA Assembly George Square Theatre, 3-28 Aug The award-winning Aboriginal dance stars bring their highenergy show to Edinburgh.

P U D N A T S D AN S E G N O P S , RE A E P S E K A H S KAT BOND Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 Aug Bond's anticipated debut blends character comedy, stand-up and clowning in a feat of comic wonder.

IMPROMPTU SHAKESPEARE Just the Tonic at The Caves 3-13 Aug Back for their fourth run, Impromptu Shakespeare act out the hilarious plays the Bard never wrote.

JAMES AND JAMSEY Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-27 Aug The award-winning sketch artists channel the Mad Hatter in their wonderfully chaotic latest hour.

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30/06/2017 09:29

EDFESTMAG.COM A TO Z

FAGIN'S TWIST Zoo Southside, 20-27 Aug Oliver Twist meets contemporary dance in this powerful retelling of the Dickensian classic.

GIANTS Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 Aug After a sell-out run last year, Giants are back with their unique brand of musical sketch comedy.

HALF BREED ELF LYONS Underbelly Med Quad, 2-28 Aug The Gaulier graduate shows off her weird and wonderful clowning skills.

Assembly George Square Theatre, 3-27 Aug Natasha Marshall's darkly comic, semi-autobiographical look at racism and finding yourself.

E R O M D N A LL A T I S A H E G RIN F S ' R A E Y S I TH

MARKUS BIRDMAN Laughing Horse @ Bar 50, 3-27 Aug Birdman takes on classic tales of dastardly deals in a wickedly dark comedy hour.

LUCY PORTER

NO SHOW

Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 Aug The TV comic and Fringe favourite returns ready to fight her battles.

Summerhall, 2-27 Aug This all-female troupe present a behind the scenes look at the truth of circus.

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30/06/2017 09:29

A TO Z EDFESTMAG.COM

THE POLAR BEARS GO UP Pleasance at EICC, 10-27 Aug This imaginative show will delight kids of all ages.

QUARTER LIFE CRISIS Underbelly, Cowgate, 3-27 Aug A solo theatre piece that tackles that age old problem of growing up

BETH VYSE AS OLIVE HANDS IN A SHOW OF HANDS Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 5-27 Aug Succumb to Olive Hands', Beth Vyse's unique comedy creation.

WANK BANK MASTERCLASS VUELOS Church Hill Theatre & Studio, 11-13 Aug Kids can experience the International Festival with this awe-inspiring exploration of flight through dance and costume.

Gilded Balloon Teviot , 4-26 Aug An interactive and playful class on sexuality and self love.

UN POYO ROJO Dance Base, 4-27 Aug In a study of masculinity, this performance combines dance, acrobatics and physical comedy.

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30/06/2017 09:29

EDFESTMAG.COM A TO Z

RAIN Edinburgh Playhouse, 25-27 Aug An emotive dance piece from Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, featuring ten dancers.

TOM SKELTON SOFIE HAGEN Bedlam Theatre, 2-28 Aug Former Best Newcomer award winner Hagen is back with a new show about anger and anxiety.

Underbelly Med Quad, 2-28 Aug Join blind character comic Tom Skelton in a wild careen through the most famous blind people in history.

YIANNI AGISILAOU Banshee Labyrinth, 5-27 Aug Agisilaou takes on gender equality in this hilarious hour.

EXHIBITION: BRICK CITY Riddle's Court, 4-25 Aug Unleash your inner kid and join master LEGO artist Warren Elsmore backstage at his studio.

ZADIE SMITH Baillie Gifford Main Theatre, 19 Aug The insightful English writer talks about her latest novel, Swing Time.

www.edfestmag.com

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30/06/2017 09:29

DANCE TUTU

s Mambo bring out Phillipe Lafeuille’s Chico t in Tutu the comic side of balle HAEL CAVALCA PHOTOGRAPHY MIC WORDS KELLY APTER

brasserie ing in a stylish Parisian hilippe Lafeuille is sitt . “You ice o my recording dev making funny noises int I’m s, iou ser ile, “I can’t be see,” he says with a sm .” wn clo a always e of dance When it comes to his lov Which isn’t strictly true. lle is deadly eui Laf g it accessible to all, and his passion for makin mbo perform Ma s ico Ch y pan tched his com serious. But, having wa knows how lle eui night before, it’s clear Laf its latest show Tutu the . to bring home the laughs cheek look rgh, Tutu is a tongue-innbu Edi in ive arr Soon to ctionate dig affe male dancers take an at the world of dance. Six and more, tics nas gym , dance, ballroom at ballet, contemporary ans if you want edic sketches. Which me through a serious of com you need do y onl Mambo team, not to be part of the Chicos humour. of se sen y lth hea but also a excellent dance training t when I’m “Bu base,” explains Lafeuille.

“Their technique is the for them and es typ y bod o want different , the looking for dancers I als ugh me, tho dance backgrounds. For to e abl to come from different be to d nee the personality, they ‘oh no, say most important thing is y the – ’t can s cer ause some dan laugh at themselves. Bec al ballet!’” can’t make fun of classic I w, sho r you in I can’t be all: the famous by ble isa es will be recogn Most of the Tutu sketch cers link arms, only an Lake, where four dan Pas de Quatre from Sw tango dancers ddling ducks; leg-flicking this time danced by wa e of My Life Tim ous fam half female); the (top half male, bottom lift from Dirty Dancing. to the dramatic w, there are references Then, for those in the kno etimes serious som the , sch Bau grapher Pina style of German choreo lets. But bal al dance, and specific classic nature of contemporary each cts inje lle eui intended joke, Laf a laugh. even if you don’t get the ers com new ce dan n to give eve create routine with enough wit to d nte wa I pany it was because “When I started this com can nce “Da lle. eui Laf s audience,” say shows that are fun for an e it a twist, and we wanted to just giv s, iou ser y ver be sometimes this. at gh lau and say relax, we can s they to wink at the audience nce ere ref are re the about ballet nsky’s “For people who know avi Str as h Dying Swan or music suc ause it’s will recognise, like the bec ody ryb eve to Tutu can speak dance, n Rite of Spring. But I think der mo pictures of classical ballet, ce to dan more about the general up n ope me . Humour has helped dance on TV, gymnastics it.” ut abo doesn’t know another audience which career before d a broad performance oye enj f sel him lle Lafeui he came day the He recalls with joy starting Chicos Mambo.

P

044_045_EF_Tutu.indd 44

uesting his on his answerphone req home to find a message h Madonna. wit ce dan to l Film Festiva presence at the Cannes nch Fre s about performing on Then speaks with sadnes cer was dan at gre the reyev, when television with Rudolf Nu . eer car his of declining near the end n, d to adapt to any situatio Lafeuille quickly learne s. As cer dan his of s and dem he and that’s exactly what s – one be dancers, actors, clown he says: “They have to ere are Th n. me wo t nex men, the minute they’re playing ters. rac cha y have to play a lot of only six of them and the s cer dan ny ma w ‘ho r the show, Some people ask me afte .” six y onl re’s the e iev are there?’. They can’t bel . So easy to see the confusion Watching the show, it’s ts. exi and ces ran ent so many many costume changes, e, the next Lak an Sw to ing anc akd One moment they’re bre pointe. dancing beautifully en w, they look backstage after the sho s cer dan the g Meetin tumes very cos and nge character tired but happy. “We cha y tired ver ’re we “So r. rcie ien Me fast,” agrees dancer Jul re are the , ally s with a laugh, “re ng at the end.” Then he add goi one the and ge sta see on two shows – the one you on backstage.”

30/06/2017 15:54

N I N E M S T H G TI

“The most important thing is personality” www.edfestmag.com

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MEN IN

WHERE & WHEN Tutu: Dance in All Its Glory, Pleasance Grand, 2-28 August (not 9, 15, 22), 4pm, from £8 Tel: 0131 556 6550

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30/06/2017 15:54

THEATRE THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK

I

t was an early decision of director Emma Rice’s that The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk should not fly.

Rather than use Peter Pan-style harnesses, the multitalented Marc Antolin and Audrey Brisson – who play romantic impressionist painter Marc Chagall and his wife Bella – defy gravity with remarkable athleticism aided by Sophia Clist’s stage design, which is a triumph of the off-kilter. The criss-crossing wooden beams wouldn’t look out of place in an urban playground.

There are ropes to swing by and the stage is set at the angle of a cocked hat. No upright is vertical. No angle is, geometrically speaking, right.

“The set is intended to keep the production off-balance, just like Chagall’s paintings,” explains Rice.

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk imagines the relationship between Chagall and his wife and muse, a relationship that spanned many of the most tumultuous events of the 20th century.

The play first premiered over two decades ago, inspired by a trip to Poland that Rice made with playwright Daniel Jamieson in the 1980s. Back then, the play was called Birthday, after one of the many portraits Chagall painted of himself and Bella. In this one, the couple are kissing in their kitchen, their feet off the ground as if levitating through the sheer force of their love. Taking his cue from that image, Jamieson’s script taps into the joy of that feeling. If nothing else, Flying Lovers is a celebration of what it’s like to be swept off your feet.

“Dan and I were actually together at the time,” explains Rice at the Bristol Old Vic, where Antolin and Brisson are rehearsing. “So The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk was made by two young people in love about two young people in love.”

Jamieson and Rice eventually parted as lovers, but the play they made still tells the story of Chagall and Bella’s relationship as vividly as ever. It takes in the couple’s whole relationship – from the love-at-first-sight moment, to their life in America after fleeing Communists and Nazis.

Chagall was 22 when they first met. Bella was just 14. Yet that moment informed some of the painter’s greatest works. Many depict them floating over the rooftops of Russian villages in a state of lightheaded joy. But like millions of other Jews, they were also swept along by the tide of history.

“We include Chagall and Bella being caught up in St Petersburg during the October Revolution,” says Jamieson, “at which point the play surges with optimism and excitement.

Avant-garde art becomes the new institution in Russia overnight. Chagall was thrust right to the top of the artistic establishment. Then his work was deemed ‘unacceptable’ as the Communist party favoured social realism.”

The world into which Chagall and Bella were born no longer exists. As Antolin’s Chagall puts it, “every atom” of Jewish life was wiped out in the Holocaust. “The villages we visited had a Catholic or Russian Orthodox identity,” recalls Jamieson. “But it felt like a third of each village had been removed, and a hole was left behind. On one occasion, an elderly woman took us to a Jewish graveyard in a wood.”

Don’t expect a history lesson, though. Do expect to be elated by Chagall and Bella’s parallel passions, for each other and for their art. There’s a scene in which Chagall is on a painting binge while Bella – whose talent as a writer was overshadowed by her husband – gives birth to their daughter. It was four days before Chagall saw them.

Back in rehearsals, Rice is working on the delightful marriage scene. Being a twohander, there is no one to hold Chagall and Bella aloft on chairs in the manner of a traditional Jewish wedding. So Antolin and Brisson carry the chairs themselves, fake legs dangling cheerfully from the seats. It’s a scene of typical playfulness, a quality that Rice developed over her 15 years at Kneehigh, where she became one of the country’s most distinctive directors before moving on to Shakespeare’s Globe.

“I work in a different way from the way I think other directors do. I’m very messy,” she chuckles. “At Kneehigh we call it being part of a youth club. Someone sings a song, or plays with a ball while someone else makes a pair of false legs. What’s nice is that if I get my youth club working well, the acting creeps up on people so they’re not starting with the most frightening thing, but with stuff that is very immediate. You surprise yourself with the emotions.”

For Jamieson, much of what inspired him to write Flying Lovers remains vivid, including that visit to Poland. That’s when he and Rice fell under the spell of physical theatre as practiced by the Gardienize institute in Lublin.

“There was almost a violence in their work,” remembers Jamieson. “On the first night we arrived for what we thought was going to be quite a sedate cultural exchange, they whisked us off to the Belarus Polish border where we had to run through forests. Later they’d make us run up walls and flip us over. It really felt as if we were flying.”

“Flying Lovers is a celebration of what it’s like to be swept off your feet”

WHERE & WHEN The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Traverse Theatre, 15-27 August (not 21), times vary, from £15 Tel: 0131 228 1404

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30/06/2017 09:30

THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK THEATRE

LOVE IS INTHE AIR Take to the skies with The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk WORDS JOHN NATHAN PHOTOGRAPHY STEVE TANNER

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30/06/2017 09:30

#EDINTFEST

T he Di vide �

Pa r t 1 & Pa r t 2 � ALAN AYCKBOURN

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THE TELEGRAPH

THE OLD VIC

Funded by Sir Ewan and Lady Brown through the Edinburgh International Festival Commissioning Fund The Pirie Rankin Charitable Trust

Photo Daniella Boutin / Alamy Stock Photo Charity No SC004694

8–20 AUGUST BOOK NOW EIF.CO.UK 0131 473 2000

Ayckbourn ‘unfailingly explores themes that tap in to the Zeitgeist’

The Old Vic and Edinburgh International Festival Production

30/06/2017 15:38

JARVIS COCKER MUSIC

A

s frontman of Britpop veterans Pulp, Jarvis Cocker has proved his songwriting form when it comes to exposing the sadness and seaminess behind our social structures.

And as a much loved broadcaster, he has finessed his storytelling chops on BBC Radio. Now he has combined those skills and returned to the stage with a show called Room 29, written and performed in collaboration with his former Parisian neighbour, the pianist/composer/showman Chilly Gonzales.

Inspiration for the project struck when Cocker was upgraded to the eponymous room in Los Angeles’ (in)famous Chateau Marmont, which has long been the playground of choice for the stars of stage and screen, from Jim Morrison to Johnny Depp, and Billy Wilder to John Belushi, who overdosed there in 1982.

“When you book into a hotel room, you can’t help but think ‘I wonder who else has stayed in this room?’” says Cocker. “It’s almost like you’ve broken into somebody else’s room. You think ‘ooh, I wonder where they keep the hairdryer?’ You know the room is yours for a particular amount of time and that opens up all these possibilities and fantasies.”

With its location at the end of the Sunset Strip, Chateau Marmont has cast-iron rock’n’roll credentials, but Cocker found that he was drawn to the earlier history of the hotel, which opened in 1929, the same year that sound came to motion pictures.

And so Room 29 is an examination of the golden age of Hollywood, populated by the likes of Jean Harlow, the original blonde bombshell, and eccentric tycoon and studio boss Howard Hughes.

“It was more like trying to tell some kind of origins story,” he says. “It was the birth of modern pop culture and celebrity culture as we know it now. I thought maybe we could learn more from those stories because that’s a time when people weren’t so blasé about screens. This was when we

first started looking to screens to tell us something about how to live.”

The studio recording of Room 29 is already out there, featuring Cocker’s dulcet tones over Gonzales’s evocative chamber piano pieces. “We’ve called it a song cycle.

We didn’t want to make a concept album because that sounded a bit too much like it would have to have a dragon in it,” says Cocker.

However, the stage show, accompanied by old Hollywood film footage, is the real thing. The duo have already performed the piece in a number of intimate theatres, where audiences are given a key as they enter the auditorium.

“It’s a chamber piece, quite literally, so we want people to feel like they’re in the room with us and the stage is set out like that,” says Cocker. “The great thing for me is that I have a bed onstage. This is a lifetime’s ambition come true, that I can have a little lie down if things get too much.” Truly, in the words of the Pulp song, a live bed show.

Through music, dance and film, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and musician Chilly Gonzales take a nostalgic look at classical Hollywood WORDS FIONA SHEPHERD PHOTOGRAPHY JEAN-BAPTISTE MONDINO

Golden Years WHERE & WHEN Room 29, King’s Theatre, 22-24 August, 8pm, from £22 Tel: 0131 473 2000

www.edfestmag.com

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FESTIVAL FAVOURITES COMEDY

RED BASTARD WORDS KATE COPSTICK

So the Bastard returns. What brings you back to Edinburgh?

Why LOVE of course! I want to reconnect with the people of Edinburgh. I miss the soothing sound of an un-sober Scot! Edinburgh!

Edinburgh! I long for your swollen mounds, your towering, uh... castle.

PHOTOGRAPHY STEVE ULLATHORNE (RED BASTARD), MATT CROCKETT (TAPE FACE)

How do you see your unique form of audience interaction?

My previous show was a confrontation and an invitation. I only show people a line and ask, “will you cross it?” I was surprised at the reaction to the Red Bastard show. For a person who merely moves on stage and asks questions, there was a lot of fear.

The thing people didn’t realize was that I was not actually the monster.

It was the monster they brought with them they were afraid of. So now Red Bastard returns with a new show. He will ask, “how free is your love?” – what monsters will you bring this time?

Anything we should be warned about in this new show?

It’s a show about you! That is the same as the first one. But this show will be different. There will be dancing. There will be live music. Perhaps a striptease.

Someone will be exposed in a way that cannot be undone. See you there.

WHERE & WHEN Red Bastard: Lie With Me, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 (not 14), 9.30pm, from £10.50 Tel: 0131 556 6550

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COMEDY FESTIVAL FAVOURITES

TAPE FACE WORDS KATE COPSTICK

Is this what you wanted to be when you grew up?

I’m not sure that I’ve actually grown up yet. The more I see what grown ups do, the more it makes me think that I’ve made the right decision to not join them in the grown up way they’re destroying the world.

You’re an international tape-faced megastar, but what brings you back to old Edinburgh?

It’s a good festival. I really wanted to bring a best of show, as since appearing on America’s Got Talent, a whole new audience has appeared that are only now aware of my work.

You’ve played Vegas, the West End and now you’re back here. How do the audiences stack up?

Edinburgh audiences give performers a challenge rather than a creative boost. The challenge comes from the fact that there are thousands of shows and if you can get the attention of an audience then you’re doing something right.

That’s where we are knowing these talented stars will be returning to the Fringe this year

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And when the tape comes off?

I hear you want to open a bookshop?

Yes indeed. A delightful little bookshop that is very small. One bookcase with only 100 books, a small rack of T-shirts, as I like T-shirts and a very, very small cabinet of curiosities. I will make only two types of coffee – double espresso and long blacks – and you can only stay in the shop for 20 minutes. The plan is to call it ‘No Parking’.

WHERE & WHEN Tape Face, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 15), 9.40pm, from £17 Tel: 0131 556 6550

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PHOTOGRAPHY STEVE ULLATHORNE (RED BASTARD), MATT CROCKETT (TAPE FACE)

FESTIVAL FAVOURITES COMEDY

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COMEDY FESTIVAL FAVOURITES

SAM SIMMONS WORDS KATE COPSTICK

Have you always been slightly crazy?

My defence mechanism as a child was always to be an unabashed idiot, always has, always will. I’m a proud dickhead, and being a daddy now allows me to be an even bigger dickhead publicly, because I have a baby girl to entertain. It looks almost pedestrian to act the fool in front of an infant. Long live the dickhead. The older I get, the less I suffer bores. I’m a curmudgeonly clown set in my ways of being an idiot, and I shan’t stop, not now, not ever.

How do you cope with the bad nights?

I still chuck tantrums but I don’t take it to heart. I like Sarah Millican’s approach of shaking it off the next day at 11am. You wake up in a panic feeling like a fraud, the un-funniest prick in the world, brood, eat a crumpet then reset.

Do you think bald men are intrinsically funnier?

Possibly not – once, as I walked out on a mixed bill night, I audibly heard a guy in the second row say, “oh no a bald c***,” like the musings of a bald man would be ultimately disappointing. I guess my ugliness acts as a kind of prop. I don’t trust good looking comics — not even the moderately good looking ones. I’ve had it both ways; I was gorgeous when I had a full main of mahogany curls, then as soon as they fell off, the more the people laughed.

Do you feel people pretend to ‘get’ you because now you are, critically, a comedy genius?

Yes, those people are very easy to pick out because they laugh at the wrong bits, looking around like “ha ha, I get it, you don’t get it you must be dumb.” Absurd comedy is hard to get right — anyone can put a bucket on their head and say, “I am an omnibus” — but if it doesn’t have some semblance of truth it loses the people. I’ll take mild profundity over an easy laugh any day of the week.

It may surprise you that I find Bill Burr and Romesh Ranganathen to be the funniest stand-ups working today.

That irate Bostonian/Crawley thing makes me laugh hard! Funny is funny, it’s about enjoying the funny stuff you do, not second guessing your audience and making it easy to digest. If I’m having fun, I expect my audience are having fun too.

Funny doesn’t sag, no matter how old you get. You have funny bones or you don’t.

WHERE & WHEN Sam Simmons A-K, Assembly George Square Studios, 11-27 August, 9.40pm, from £16 Tel: 0131 623 3030 www.edfestmag.com

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SCOTT AGNEW WORDS KATE COPSTICK

How are you with the Edinburgh audiences?

Genteel Edinburghers see me as some kind of enfant terrible, like a National Geographic documentary about things and practices they had only heard rumours of.

But Fringe audiences are prepared for anything. Last year, I had two guys in the audience who stared straight ahead throughout the show. I thought they hated it, so I was surprised they were waiting for me after the gig.

One was French, the other Brazilian. They said, “we didn’t understand a word, but we are HIV positive too. We just thought it important to show our support.”

What’s this year all about, show-wise?

It’s kind of a response to last year’s show. I had a lot of folk, very kindly but slightly oddly, saying they thought I was brave, but I kinda think I’ve been stupid for a lot of my life. So this year I’m looking at bravery, stupidity, HIV and my own Catholicism and how they all intertwine.

But, essentially, it’s me perched on a barstool telling stories. My favourite thing in the world to do.

WHERE & WHEN Scott Agnew: Spunk on Our Lady’s Face, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-28 August (not 15), 10.15pm, from £10 Tel: 0131 622 6552 54

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PHOTOGRAPHY STEVE ULLATHORNE (SCOTT AGNEW), PATRICK LAZIC (CIRKOPOLIS)

Last year, you coming out as HIV+ was huge. Why did you decide to make this massive thing in your life your Edinburgh show?

I had lost my way in a sea of sex parties and crystal meth for four years so it was all I had to talk about when I decided to sober up and come back. I realised I missed the Fringe, so Gilded Balloon took a punt on me. They thought they just bought a brochure entry but they bought so much more than that for me. Shite, I’m getting sentimental.

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CIRCUS FESTIVAL FAVOURITES

CIRQUE ELOIZE WORDS CHIARA MARGIOTTA

How would you describe your show in three words?

Energy, musical, contagious!

What do you think it is about circus that captivates audiences?

It’s the human body’s language and it appeals to everyone. We are all amazed by feats that others can accomplish, on a grand or smaller scale. I remember seeing a stilts walker for the first time, it seemed so surreal to me at the time. Now we have been creating the same reaction with our productions all over the world.

Is your act focused more on the tricks or on the story?

All of our productions have a narrative theme. In Cirkopolis, for instance, we were inspired by the aesthetics of the movie Metropolis, and the world of Kafka. Cirque Eloize productions are a blend of music, theatre, circus, and dance. We have a narrative theme, but we also leave room for personal interpretation – that’s the beauty of what we create.

What do you love about the Fringe?

It’s simply crazy, there’s nothing like it. Where else in the world could you see ten different shows in the same day!

It’s about discovering new talents, new artistic views. I try to visit every other year, and every time I’m in awe by what I see.

WHERE & WHEN Cirque Eloize: Cirkopolis, Pleasance at EICC, 4-28 August (not 9, 16, 23), times vary, from £17.50 Tel: 0131 556 6550

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FESTIVAL FAVOURITES COMEDY BUTT KAPINSKI WORDS KATE COPSTICK

How was Butt born?

Butt was born out of a love of mystery, a delight in darkness, a passion for changing the way we think about theatre, and a commitment to treating audience members with trust and love.

Also, my slight case of gender dysphoria. There’s a lot in the mix.

Butt makes the whole room feel involved. How do you do that?

I used to teach high school English. I care about everyone feeling engaged, not picked on. It’s more of a Rocky Horror vibe, where everyone is in on the joke. I used to work with other performers more, but I realized that the people I really wanted to play with were in the audience. The audience always has your back. They are always smarter and more generous than you think they are.

Audience members restore my faith in humanity, nightly.

What did you take away from your first time in Edinburgh?

Obviously it’s an electric vibe and there’s so much art to be inspired by. Also, I felt more understood by Brits than by North Americans. There is more of a tradition of physical comedy, weird comedy, women being funny... I felt almost normal in Britain, which is really saying something.

How did you find Fringe audiences were to work with?

You Brits are where it’s at. Although I think offbeat theatre/ comedy audiences are a pretty self-selecting bunch, and so, whoever turns up for my show anywhere in the world tends to be pretty game. And when they see that I’m not out to embarrass anyone, everyone relaxes. Mostly. It’s always part-comedy/partsociological experiment. But that’s where the surprises are.

PHOTOGRAPHY NATHANIEL MASON (BUTT KAPINSKI), JAMES ROBERTSON (FERN BRADY)

WHERE & WHEN Butt Kapinski, Pleasance Dome, 2-27 (not 9, 14) August, 8.10pm, from £9 Tel: 0131 226 0026

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COMEDY FESTIVAL FAVOURITES

FERN BRADY WORDS CHIARA MARGIOTTA

Your profession as a stripper was last year’s big reveal – what made you want to include this in your act?

There’s a lot of bitter old comics on the circuit who kept telling me I had no life experience despite knowing nothing about me. I wanted to respond to it onstage, and my response to it had been playing out in my head over and over for about five years. I actually was really hesitant to talk about it, as I couldn’t be bothered with people being weird about it and my mum texting me abuse about what a terrible daughter I am. But I had so many funny stories from it, and my friend kept saying “you have to do a show about this.” It was weird when people would come up saying “were you really a stripper?” No pal, I just like horribly awkward silences and wanted to bring that into my act. www.edfestmag.com

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Do you think there has been a change in the reception towards female comedians in recent times?

Some days I do, other days I don’t at all. In the last year, panel shows have definitely gotten a little better in putting on actual stand-up comedians instead of just some pretty woman who’ll look good laughing at the ugly male comedians’ jokes. The fact we’re still treated as a genre of comedy shows the snail pace progress moves at. Katherine Ryan and Sara Pascoe have had a profound influence on girls going into it, which is amazing to see.

When I was new, I couldn’t find any female comics I identified with and would look to stuff like Tig Notaro and Joan Rivers.

The way I measure progress for female comedians is how many people use my set to get up and go for a poo. Less people go for a poo when I walk onstage now.

You’re known for your no-holds-barred aggressive approach to comedy. How do Fringe audiences compare to others when it comes to appetite for acid?

I don’t think I’d be called aggressive if I was a middle class English guy. I always thought of myself as just a person but then I started doing comedy and realised I was actually Scottish, and this was now to be the number one thing that defined my personality and a lifetime of experiences would be distilled down to “HAHA DRUNK JOCK, DEEP FRIED MARS BAR, KNUCKLE DRAGGERS”. I think I’ll talk about this in the show, actually.

WHERE & WHEN Fern Brady: Suffer, Fools!, The Stand Comedy Club 2, 2-27 August (not 3, 14, 15), 12.05pm, from £10 Tel: 0131 558 7272 EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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FESTIVAL FAVOURITES COMEDY JAYDE ADAMS

WORDS JAY RICHARDSON

Will last year’s operatic finale be hard to top?

Yeah, a lot more people know me. But the singing still catches people out. And I’ve got other strings to my bow that I won’t be giving away because that’ll ruin the surprise.

Singing, dancing and funny stories. Are you a triple threat?

I’m very much an all-rounder. My career has just been me saying “yes” to things.

Once, someone phoned me up and asked if I knew how to palm read. I asked how much? They said £200, so I taught myself how in three weeks. That’s the clown I am.

I tend to pick up skills to impress people or party tricks to make them like me, which is what this show’s about.

About popularity and fitting in?

Yeah, it’s about my obsession with trying to get people to like me in a world where that’s currency. Social media is the new tobacco. I make friendships but I struggle maintaining them. I’m exploring why I desperately need love.

Has performing on the drag circuit influenced your comedy?

I love drag queens. The world of drag and the East London queer collective are the first people that took me in when I moved to London. In the queer cabaret

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scene, everyone rallies together, it’s really relaxed. You can just escape your everyday pressures, and have a drink and a sing-song.

Why are you dressed like Forrest Gump in your poster?

All of my favourite films involve a solitary person who isn’t understood by the community around them – so, Forrest Gump, Edward Scissorhands, Phantom of the Opera. Even Michael Flatley, because Irish dancing is so strict and he just wanted to wave his arms a bit. I’ve seen Forrest Gump so many times I recited the entire script once at a house party.

What’s next?

Disco dancing. I did it for 12 years and I’m terrible at it but that’s the start of a comedy show. It’s a world not many people know about, but it’s very exuberant and colourful and there are a lot of pushy mums. And I want to prove I’m not that bad a dancer.

WHERE & WHEN Jayde Adams is Jayded, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August, 9.30pm, from £9.50 Tel: 0131 556 6550

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PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHANIE SIAN SMITH (JAYDE ADAMS), BAPTISTE MOREL & ANAÏS WULF (TRYGVE),

COMEDY FESTIVAL FAVOURITES

TRYGVE WORDS KATE COPSTICK

So, this year your show features a co-star. How is that working out?

Well, it’s a good thing he’s charming because he has a terrible work ethic in the rehearsal room. He constantly wants to go have lunch or nap, he lacks focus, and he can’t remember his lines. He’s very “method.” I think it’s a bogus technique.

I’m constantly misquoting Laurence Olivier and telling him “try acting, dear” but he’s not interested. I think I’m going to have to do most of the heavy lifting on this show. Also, I just asked Phineas how he’s found it working with me. He said “da da da da... da,” pointed at an electrical socket, stared me in the eyes, “DA!” I hear you are looking at television possibilities. Could TV contain you?

I would love to be contained by www.edfestmag.com

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a television. The goal is to find ways where I can still spill out, just a little, into people’s brains. Where months later they can’t help but giggle when a certain song plays in the supermarket as an image of a face suddenly flashes back to them.

What does training at the Phillipe Gaulier school give you as a performer?

As a performer, Gaulier gives you a taste of what it is like to be truly beautiful/ funny/open/pure/loved onstage. It is the most delicious thing, and that performer then spends the rest of their career trying to taste that once more.

Sometimes they may never find it, sometimes they might taste it for the briefest moment one Thursday night during a month-long season, but they will always be searching for it.

Did you ever want a ‘real job’ or is this always what you wanted to be when you grew up?

I’ve wanted to do this since I first saw Mummenschanz appear on The Muppet Show. My dad encouraged me to go into writing advertising copy to make some good money from my creative skills, but it didn’t have much appeal to me. I was fairly convinced that I didn’t need a backup plan.

What can we expect from this year’s show?

I have absolutely no idea!

WHERE & WHEN Trygve vs a Baby, Assembly Roxy, 3-27 August (not 14, 21), 3pm, from £11 Tel: 0131 226 0000 EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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DISCOVER NZ AT EDINBURGH 2017 EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL

EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL

www.nzatedinburgh.com

AND AND AT AT THE THE EICC EICC

Nina Conti

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30/06/2017 15:55

THE B*EASTS THEATRE

Embark on a journey to the morbid corners of the human psyche with Bafta winning actress and burgeoning writer Monica Dolan WORDS MARK FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY ALAN HARRIS

W

hen audiences turn up for The B*easts, Monica Dolan’s debut solo show, which Monica Dolan should they expect to find? Will it be the Monica Dolan who starred as Tracey Pritchard, the Welsh communications officer in W1A, solemnly repeating her catch phrase, “I’m not being funny or anything”? Or will it be the Monica Dolan who gave such a harrowing portrayal of Rosemary West in Appropriate Adult that it won her a Bafta?

“I hope it’s neither of those,” she laughs. “It’s very much a piece of storytelling theatre. There might be some grim humour in there, but I wouldn’t expect to be skipping out of the theatre.”

This, then, is the serious face of Monica Dolan. Her play has some weighty concerns: the sexualisation of children, the pornification of our culture and the inescapability of social media – especially for a younger generation that has known nothing else. It asks whether a child whose world has been redefined by technology can trust her own desires. “If you’re immersed in a sea of information, then how aware can you be of other choices?” she says. “The play is to do with what’s feeding into our brains.”

There were two triggers for the play. The first came while researching another play, when Dolan kept having conversations with teachers about the pressure children were under to live up to impossible sexual ideals. The other, when she was away on a Groupon spa holiday with friends. In the swimming

Heart of darkness

“The play is to do with what’s feeding into our brains”

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pool, a statue caught her eye: “It was a visual trigger, a statue that looked like a child but an adult as well.”

Am I right, I ask her, to suppose the asterisk in The B*easts stands for the letter “r” or is that just my warped imagination? “Whatever’s in your head is fine!” she says. “And that’s how I want it to be for everyone. If you put an asterisk in something, it draws more attention to that word. The good thing is it leaves a bit to people’s imagination.”

Although known as an actor, Dolan has been quietly branching out as a writer. As well as completing WHERE & WHEN a screenplay, she has The B*easts, re-written a four-part Underbelly, Cowgate, historical drama currently 3–27 August (not 14), with an independent 6pm, from £6.50 television production Tel: 0131 510 0395 company. “I’ve been a secret playwright in my bedroom,” she says. “When I did The Twits at the Royal Court there were parts where you would improvise with the audience, and I really enjoyed being able to say what I liked.”

Despite her acting pedigree, she didn’t initially imagine she would star in The B*easts. Only when she conceived the narrator as a character in her own right did she think herself into the part. “I had to think outside the box after I’d written it to make it theatrical and feel like it was happening now,” she says. “We live in interesting times and I’d like people to think about these themes with me.”

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‘SPECTACULAR AND DAZZLING!’ Beijing Daily

‘HIGHLY ENTERTAINING!’ Shanghai Daily

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23/06/2017 17:00 12:15 30/06/2017

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“We all make tions the assum rform. We mind a bit of ou Wild Bore ques out how we pe e ab s os th ow ly if sh t r ar ul ha ou ic w in But – part get over ideas. made by critics all use tricks to ve a boring ga d an e ag st on we just got up

BARE CHEEK D

“I wouldn’t mind a bit of outrage”

WHERE & WHEN Wild Bore Traverse Theatre, 8-27 August (not 14, 21), times vary, from £21.50 Tel: 0131 228 1404

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AWARD WINNERS EDFESTMAG.COM RICHARD GADD

EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARD BEST COMEDY SHOW 2016

Describe your show: It's a crazy inner monologue whilst I'm out training for the Man's Man final. I want to be the most macho man around but there is a monkey constantly chasing me.

HOT BROWN HONEY

TOTAL THEATRE AWARD FOR INNOVATION, EXPERIMENTATION & PLAYING WITH FORM 2016 Describe your show: Hot Brown Honey is an unapologetic, empowering, genre-defying rollercoaster of a show featuring phenomenal women storming centre-stage.

It’s a theatrical explosion that shatters all preconceptions, where you get to feel all the feels, celebrating of our similarities and differences at the same time.

Boom!

How does it feel returning to Edinburgh after your success last year?

We're so excited to be heading back to Edinburgh. It was truly thrilling to be on the international

stage and connect with local, national and international audiences. It definitely felt like the movement was moving – so we're ready to take it to the next level.

This year we're looking forward to bringing back the One Million Stars Against Violence project, collaborating with Indigenous Activist Artists Article 11 at the Canada Hub, insightful dialogues with the Artists Of Colour Meet Up created by the Pursuit of Nappiness and keeping it real with The Sick of The Fringe.

Top Fringe survival tip?

Decolonise and moisturise.

Every. Single. Day.

What's the best and worst thing about the festival?

The worst thing about the festival is not being able to be everywhere we want to be.

There's so much amazing work to see and things to experience!

The best thing about the festival is just how many game changers there are in one place at one time. From artists to audiences, there is a sense of possibility at the festival that is like nothing else.

WHERE & WHEN Hot Brown Honey, Assembly Roxy, 2-27 August (not 9, 14, 21), 9pm, from £16

Top Fringe survival tip?

Night nurse. Also, don't read reviews until the last week. Good reviews make you complacent, bad reviews make you doubtful. Save it all for the end.

What's the best and worst thing about the festival?

The best and worst thing is the cut-throat, knife-edge nature of the whole thing. But if Edinburgh was not so cut-throat then the rewards would not be so great either.

WHERE & WHEN Richard Gadd: Monkey See Monkey Do, Summerhall, 18-27 August, 11pm, £15

WINNER, WINNER Discover what last year's award winners have in store for this August WORDS CHIARA MARGIOTTA

HENRY NAYLOR FRINGE FIRST AWARD

Describe your show: This year we’re doing a drama called Borders. It’s a story describing the current refugee crisis from the perspective of a refugee, inspired by the experience of many refugees I met and spoke to after last year’s show, Angel. It’ll be dealing with serious issues, with jokes too.

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How does it feel returning to Edinburgh after your success last year?

Exciting and inspiring. It’s great having done well last year – it gives me a bit of a platform, which I’m keen to use. I think it’s very important that we all stay humane, so I’m keen to try to help put a human face on the crisis.

Top Fringe survival tip?

Have fantastic in-laws. My motherand father-in-law come and stay with us in Edinburgh. Without them, quite frankly, my wife and I would be stuffed.

EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

What's the best and worst thing about the festival?

Seeing all your buddies. It’s great doing the Fringe circuit, the same faces pop up all the time. You bump into friends from all over the planet.

The worst thing is seeing all your enemies. It’s a nightmare doing the Fringe circuit, the same faces pop up all the time. You bump into bellends from all over the planet.

WHERE & WHEN Borders by Henry Naylor, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-28 August (not 16), 4.30pm, from £11.50 www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:34

LEMON BUCKET ORKESTRA FRINGE FIRST AWARD

Describe your show: We're back for one gig, performing as part of the Canada Hub and Nothing Ever Happens Here live music season. Last year we played a bunch of underground concerts during the Fringe, and this is going to be our first proper headline concert.

How does it feel returning to Edinburgh after your success last year?

It’s going to be wild! We're playing with Ben Caplan – he’s like a Jewish Tom Waits.

Top Fringe survival tip?

Take risks and talk to everyone about what they see. Word of mouth sold out our shows last year, and we hope people take our word of mouth hint for 2017: go to Canada Hub at King’s Hall.

What's the best and worst thing about the festival?

The best thing for us was getting to meet so many new people and sharing our work. We were overwhelmed with how successful Counting Sheep was, especially since it talks about events that will never leave us (the Maidan Protests in Ukraine in 2013/14), and now we’re getting to tour because of it. The worst is that the entire city becomes a cash grab.

Everything gets so expensive.

WHERE & WHEN NEHH Presents: Lemon Bucket Orkestra & Ben Caplan, Summerhall, 8 August, 8pm, £12

Top Fringe survival tip?

Last year, I had no idea really what we'd made, or if it was actually any good. So in order to keep the head down and look after myself I decided not to read any reviews. Some friends and peers had done it and recommend it. I found it pretty liberating and I’ve still not read anything that anyone has written about it.

TOM WARD

CHORTLE AWARD 2017 Describe your show: It’s a show about re-tracing your steps. Expect very poor attempts at seriousness and sincerity somewhere in the middle, either side of highly relatable stuff on love, doomed romances, music, trying to stop your brain from turning to mush and learning to accept your mother. I will say it’s a personal show. Which is good.

How does it feel returning to Edinburgh after your success last year?

Oh yes good. I have my bag packed and my lunch box ready.

I want it now, next week please.

Don’t keep me waiting. I’ve peaked too soon. It’s like child birth, I’ve forgotten how painful it is and I want another one now.

Top Fringe survival tip?

Eat greens, don’t get pissed more than twice a week, get

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064_065_EF_Award winners.indd 65

away from it, live with outsiders (to comedy, not just socially), read books, remember how irrelevant you are and it all is as often as possible. You’re a self-involved moron, keep that in mind, and dance with the innerbastard, but not too close.

What's the best and worst thing about the festival?

Everyone is in a crisis, it never ends, you discover that you’re not as incredible as you thought.

On the good side you see some good stuff, get inspired (darling), and you’re away from the thrust and clamour of London. It’s kind of like a holiday that should of ended on August 15th but actually never ends…

WHERE & WHEN Tom Ward: Love Machine, Just the Tonic at The Tron, 3-27 August (not 14), 3.40pm, from £7

KIERAN HURLEY FRINGE FIRST AWARD

Describe your show: It's a story about the end of the world. But really it's about anxiety, alienation, and late capitalism, told in second person. And there are jokes in it too, honest.

How does it feel returning to Edinburgh after your success last year?

It’s nice to be part of the British Council showcase and a bit of a treat to only be performing for the last week.

What's the best and worst thing about the festival?

The best thing is having artists and companies that I love and admire show up on my doorstep.

The worst thing? Unsustainable exploitative labour practices.

A debt-inducing pay-to-play culture that excludes whole demographics from participating.

The "you can sleep in September" type celebration of pressure and exhaustion. Ticket prices. Inflated Edinburgh rents. All the stuff that you can file under “hyperaccelerated capitalist art fair.”

WHERE & WHEN Heads Up, Summerhall, 22-27 August, 7.40pm, £12 EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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EDFESTMAG.COM AWARD WINNERS

RASH DASH

LARRY DEAN

Fringe First Award

Amused Moose Comedy Award 2016

Describe your show: Two Man Show is part essay, part play, part movement piece, part punk gig. It’s about how patriarchy has defined our culture, our sense of self, our relationships, our gender, the language we speak, the thoughts that we think. We play men for a lot of it. It’s funny.

How does it feel returning to Edinburgh after your success last year?

It feels great! We were excited but terrified last year. It’s nice to go back having had an amazing response from our audiences.

Top Fringe survival tip?

SLEEP. Sleep becomes difficult quite quickly because of all the adrenaline and there’s so much happening that it always gets ridiculously late super quickly.

Drinking valerian tea helps. But just before bed…

What's the best and worst thing about the festival?

The best thing is all of the amazing shows you get to watch. The fact that there is exciting international work on offer every day. The worst thing is losing perspective on your show because of what everyone else is saying about it (or not saying about it), and losing perspective on the rest of the world.

WHERE & WHEN Two Man Show, Summerhall, 21-26 August (not 23, 25), 10.15pm, £12

Describe your show: It’s about feeling obligated and deluded, so I cover topics like pray the gay away camps and Brexit. I tend to just take the piss out of anything I disagree with.

How does it feel returning to Edinburgh after your success last year?

I love it so I'm dead excited at the moment.

Last year I felt the pressure because of the nomination for Best Newcomer the year before, but then I won the Amused Moose thingy. So long as audiences (and the edfestmag reviewer obvs) like my show, I'll be happy come September time.

Top Fringe survival tip?

My rule is that I don’t drink all festival. For others with good livers though I'd say bring a wee fan to shows, as it can get hot. Also bring an umbrella...its Scotland.

WHERE & WHEN Larry Dean: Fandan, Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 3-27 August, 6.40pm, from £5

SCOTT GIBSON

Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer Describe your show: I will be looking at the relationship between my father and I, and what it means to be a Dad. So another light-hearted topic.

How does it feel returning to Edinburgh after your success last year?

Honestly…it doesn’t feel any different than last year, except that I’m in a bigger room.

However, it does feel great to be going back.

Top Fringe survival tip?

Just remember that no matter how much fun you're having, week three will be hell, and when it’s over, you'll wish it wasn’t.

What's the best and worst thing about the festival?

Best: seeing friends and a 3am Chicken Shawarma from Palmyra Pizza.

Worst: missing my dogs and Fringe flu.

WHERE & WHEN Scott Gibson: Like Father Like Son, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-28 August, 3.45pm, from £9

PIPPA EVANS

Chortle Award for Sketch Variety or Character Act 2016 Describe your show: Joy Provision is an hour of frolicking with Pippa and her band as we figure out how to find the fun when the world is going completely bonkers. There are jokes and songs and larks galore.

Also sparklers! And a fire exit.

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How does it feel returning to Edinburgh after your success last year?

I'm always excited to come and it's like I never left. Am I actually returning or did I just pass out in Bristo Square and fall into a comedy coma? You decide!

Top Fringe survival tip?

Bring a tea towel to mop the damp off the seats in venues.

WHERE & WHEN Pippa Evans: Joy Provision!, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August, 2.40pm, from £12 EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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30/06/2017 09:34

SURVIVAL GUIDE MARK THOMAS

ing while playing or imagin ud alo ad re be to e ar ** These tips st for Life ** ence for Iggy Pop’s Lu qu se ss ba d an um dr the opening E HOBSON PHOTOGRAPHY JAN

Get the train up.

Go veggie. bition.

Give up alcohol or am tch the news.

Read a newspaper, wa yourself.

Don’t read reviews of Go to the Free Fringe. ge gig, Pay for the Free Frin there. someone is trying up Festival.

Go to the International okshop.

Go to Word Power bo somewhere If you find yourself near serving Pimms, leave.

Never mention deep blic fried mars bars in pu en in jest. and never eat one, ev hen.

Go to the Mosque Kitc Walk everywhere.

Carry an umbrella.

Carry Fringe programmes.

Never use a pac-a-mac, these are pensioner greenhouses in origami form.

068_EF_Mark Thomas.indd 68

shout When your instincts get involved. “this could be weird,” rth Berwick, get Hire a bike, cycle to No a train back. e future of art.

Attend an event on th th.

Listen to word of mou st person to You will not be the fir h Bridge as walk across the Nort eap shots the sun rises full of ch your own and self-loathing at smile. infidelity, so f*cking .

Never sleep with actors y shows an m No one cares how ngle day so you have seen in a si don’t tell them. n’t that Don’t point and say ,”is almost Nicholas Parsons?” It invariably will be. t kill you.

Take a flyer – it won’ ime.

Never stop for street m shows. Do Go and see student s attended not go and see show by students. ’t normally See things you wouldn eatre, go to. Comics go see th ics, theatre people see com st finish performance artists ju job in your MA and take the teaching. e Portrait Get a cup of tea in th f*ck down.

Gallery and calm the stop doing it.

If it’s becoming a chore, ts fest in the This is the biggest ar world. Enjoy it.

30/06/2017 10:08

2017

BEDLAM august 4th - 28th

GILDED BALLOON AND FRINGE FIRST WINNER, MORAG FULLARTON PRESENT...

««««« "Witty, impressive, rapturous” GLASGOW HERALD

@bedlamfringe /bedlamfringe www.bedlamfringe.com

11 NEW SHOWS

CATCH THE FUTURE OF FRINGE

AT BEDLAM THEATRE

8.45pm

“SCOTLANDS MOST SEASONED COMIC PERFORMERS”

««««« SECRETS, SONGS AND THE LOVE LIVES OF FIVE LEGENDARY DIVAS IN 5 STAR SMASH HIT

2 - 28 August (not 14, 21)

"Genuine showbiz magic” BROADWAY BABY

Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre Main Theatre

“A MASTERCLASS IN COMIC TIMING” Broadway Baby

The Scotsman

STARRING ANDY GRAY & GRANT STOTT WRITTEN BY PHILIP DIFFER DIRECTED BY RYAN DEWAR PRODUCED BY GILDED BALLOON

7.15pm

2 - 28 August (not 14)

Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre Main Theatre

GILDED BALLOON & SEAN HUGHES PRESENT

HANNAH NORRIS “Phenomenally talented”

THE BLANK BOOK 4.00pm

14-17 & 21-24 August

The Skinny

CARL DONNELLY “Excellent, fast-rising comic with pacy anecdotal routines” The Sunday Times

JOE ROWNTREE “A frank and energetic performer with a talent for voices” The Stage

Gilded Balloon Teviot Nightclub

Box Office: 0131 622 6552 | gildedballoon.co.uk

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30/06/2017 15:57

DANCE BLAK WHYTE GRAY

FIND THE BEAT

“

O

ne of the major things for me, especially from a movement point of view, is texture,” says Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy, co-founder of hip hop company Boy Blue Entertainment and choreographer of Blak Whyte Gray, the ensemble piece being performed as part of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.

The work is a triple bill, each section taking its name from one of the title colours, bringing together eight dancers and a textured palette of hip hop movement. First performed at the Barbican in January, it has already garnered glowing reviews.

“People generally see hip hop as just being this street dance thing phenomenon,” says Sandy. “For me, hip hop just has that expressive feeling – I’m not taking away from any other style but for me, I’m able to go from one style to another and with that I can go from one concept to another.”

Sandy has been practising the form for almost 20 years. Boy Blue Entertainment, the company he co-founded with composer Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante dates back to 2002, while the friendship between the pair goes back to their schooldays. Their collaboration, Sandy says, takes various shapes. Sometimes it all starts with a movement, sometimes a piece of music.

Sometimes, as in the case of Blak Whyte Gray, with a concept.

The title’s unique spellings, Sandy explains, came from exploring what each colour could represent to different cultures and different individuals. Though he is reluctant to describe the piece as overtly political, he says it has its roots in examining the small acts that are part of

everyday life. “It’s about what is happening now, what is actually going on right now in the world: what is going on down your road, what is going on in your country, your city, and what politics we have to go through on a day-to-day basis. Certain things like trying to make money and the hustle and the graft. There’s so much politics in what you have to do and how you’ve got to do it.”

It’s a busy time for Sandy, who started the year receiving an MBE for services to dance and the community. In addition to Blak Whyte Gray, Boy Blue are engaged in a collaboration with Castlebrae

He’s won an Olivier, choreographed for the Olympics and this year was awarded an MBE. Now Boy Blue Entertainment co-founder Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy is bringing hip hop to the International Festival

Community High School called Project: R.E.B.E.L., also part of EIF. Castlebrae students have been learning how to host a dance show on an international festival scale, while Boy Blue have been engaging them in hip hop workshops. The troupe’s Alpha Blue division, aged 18-25, will be performing the piece. But if Sandy’s schedule is an indicator of the growing appreciation there is for hip hop in the UK, it’s also an indicator of its versatility, something that public perception may have yet to catch up to.

It’s clear talking to Sandy that his belief in hip hop’s power to communicate reaches beyond dance steps. With regard to his personal ambitions he is keen to travel to more countries to help develop their hip hop communities. But when it comes to the UK scene, the next steps are clear. “One of my goals would be for us to have our own hip hop dance building.

Definitely we need to have our own building where we have our workshops, training, cyphers, jams, everything.” He points out most other dance forms already have dedicated studios.

But there is one question still puzzling me. Why ‘H20’? “Have you ever seen Breakdance the movie?” Sandy asks. “At some point it says every street dancer has a tag name.” At the time, his specialism was waving, a branch of hip hop dance related to popping where intricate wave patterns travel through the body. “I must have been like ‘I’m going to call myself H2O, I’m not going to call myself Water, to call myself Water would just be crap’. Then it started changing from the style of movement I do to just the kind of person I am.”

WORDS LUCY RIBCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHY CARL FOX

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www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:35

BLAK WHYTE GRAY DANCE

“For me, hip hop just has that expressive feeling”

WHERE & WHEN Blak Whyte Gray, 16-29 August, The Lyceum, times vary, from £10 Tel: 0131 473 2000

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30/06/2017 09:35

Meet Helga, cabaret diva extraordinaire! At least, she used to be... Through mime, clowning and circus, this poignant physical comedy reflects on how it feels when our bodies don’t do what they

KALLO COLLECTIVE

3 – 27 AUG 13:30 · 50 MIN

HELGA

used to.

C SOUTH – LIFE OF DIVA EXTRAORDINAIRE

Is the world out of joint? Who is torturing whom? How does it feel to be poor? Why is the water calling out? Where are you now, Woyzeck? Brand new from award-winning Finnish playwright/director Jari Juutinen.

A sparkling comedy about first dates, followed by supersonic speed-dating to find that soul mate/casual partner/festival pal or bunch of unforeseen encounters (delete where applicable).

SADSONGSKOMPLEX:FI

I AM FARANSIS W. ACE-PRODUCTION

A live report with the Egyptian protest singer Ramy Essam. He was an iconic figure of the revolution during the Arab Spring and now tells the story of his life and his fight for a better world.

17:45 · 75 MIN

SUMMERHALL

2 – 27 AUG 19:45 · 75 MIN

DATES

All genders and ages (18+) welcome!

6 – 27 AUG

SUMMERHALL AT THE SPEED OF SOUND

VIIRUS THEATRE

2 – 13 AUG 20:40 · 75 MIN

RAMY SUMMERHALL – IN THE FRONTLINE

@ STARTTOFINNISH

EF2013_FP copy.indd 72

STARTTOFINNISH.FI

30/06/2017 15:47

SEAGULLS THEATRE

FLASH FLOOD Physical theatre company Volcano pour cold water on set design restrictions in Seagulls WORDS MARK FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY PHIL REES & DYLAN EVANS

A

nton Chekhov set much of his 1896 classic The Seagull on an outdoor stage near a lake. Those with an eye for detail will observe that the play does not actually take place in the lake.

That, however, has not been enough to stop director Paul Davies. In his free version of the landmark Russian play, he’s flooding the theatre, forcing his five actors to strip down to their underwear and making them wade through several inches of water – 45 tonnes of it.

“For me, it was important to have water to challenge the actors and give the audience a real visual experience,” says Davies. “The water is pretty cold.”

After a quarter of a century working with the physical theatre company Volcano, Davies is well versed in this kind of punchy mash-up of the classics. Since the company’s recent takeover of a former Fringe as part of the British Iceland freezer store on Swansea High Council Edinburgh Showcase Street, it has had the chance to build the is a deliberate test of the kind of sets that are usually considered company’s resourcefulness. impractical for touring.

So just how impractical is “Our theatre in Swansea, the Bunker, it? “The weight of the water has a two-tier raised element,” says Davies. is significant, but it’s only up “When we thought about doing Seagulls, we just looked at it and went, ‘It’s set by a to mid-calf,” he says. “We’re lake, let’s flood it!’. We can do anything in trying to persuade theatres this space and don’t need to worry about that they could take more how we tour it.” risks in terms of design with When Seagulls struck a chord shows like this.” with audiences, however, they Of course, the Fringe, realised they’d like to tour it with its conveyor-belt after all. The decision to turn-around times, bring it to the Edinburgh is not given to

“It was important to give the audience a real visual complex sets. For that reason, Volcano is taking experience” over the former St James’s Church in Constitution Street to allow it to stage the show, which also requires the actors to fly from ropes over the heads of the audience.

“The play is about what is modern and what isn’t,” says Davies, pointing to Chekhov’s dramatic clash between the old generation, symbolised by the actor Irina Arkadina, and the younger, embodied by her son, the experimental playwright Tréplev, and the aspiring actor Nina.

“My sense was that they’re all Nina, really. They’re all trying to escape to Moscow, as in The Three Sisters, but can’t.”

With a suitably hip soundtrack, including Arvo Part, the Clash, the Durutti Column and Frank Sinatra, Seagulls aims to be invigorating to fans of Chekhov’s classic, while also being engaging to first time audiences. “I’ve tried to turn this play inside out and show what’s never shown,” he says.

“In Chekhov, everything is supposed to be interior, felt and unsaid. Most of Volcano’s work has been about challenging everyone and say, ‘This is a bodily experience that we’re all having’.

It’s uber-theatrical.”

WHERE & WHEN Seagulls, The Leith Volcano, 8–26 August (not 14, 21), 6pm, from £6 Tel: 0179 246 4790

www.edfestmag.com

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EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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COMEDY ONES TO WATCH JOSH PUGH Who is he?

The current English Comedian of the Year, Pugh has a distinctive, absurdist style featuring offbeat observations and beautifully written puns.

What's the show about?

Pugh's debut obeys only his own ridiculous logic. He flips between outlandish metaphors and inventive workplace scenarios.

WTF? Only goes to BYOB restaurants so he can take cup-a-soups and save money on starters.

BEN FOGG

WHERE & WHEN Josh Pugh: A Boy Named Pugh, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 15), 7.15pm, from £6

KWAME ASANTE Who is he?

Winner of Chortle's 2012 Student Award, he has been juggling standup with a career as a doctor, though he's now focusing on his Kwamedy.

What's the show about?

A lifelong Londoner, the show deals with his move to Birmingham, the pressures of adult responsibilities and balancing work and romance.

WTF? Fellow comic and Londoner Stephen K Amos may be nudging 50. But that didn't stop him asking 25-year-old Asante to play his father in a sitcom.

WHERE & WHEN Kwame Asante: Open Arms, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 16), 6.45pm, from £6

Who is he?

A self-aggrandising, shambling manchild, blurring the line between character act and someone having an early onset midlife crisis ahead of a nervous breakdown.

What's the show about?

Mixing one-liners, daft theatrical set-pieces and in-your-face audience interaction, Fogg is as unfathomable as his surname suggests, treading the line between truth and fiction.

WTF? Worked as an associate producer in American TV when he was 18 and regrets making mega-budget mini-series The Magical Legend of Leprechauns, which cast Whoopi Goldberg as a soul singing faerie princess.

WHERE & WHEN Ben Fogg: How I Won Best Newcomer 2017, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 14), 4.45pm, from £5

FRESH MEAT Jay Richardson introduces the new kids on the block with his rundown of this year's hottest comedy debuts ATHENA KUGBLENU Who is she?

A sharp, well-read, opinionated comic, Kugblenu is half-Ghanian, half-Indian, and makes challenging racial preconceptions and reversing ignorance her raison d'être.

What's the show about?

Tackling polarising politics and the blinkeredness of privilege, Kugblenu is pledging to find a third way for

those who feel unrepresented in contemporary Britain.

WTF? Once met Isaac Hayes and Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, on the same day, at the same time, in a small village in Ghana. By accident.

WHERE & WHEN Athena Kugblenu: KMT, Underbelly Med Quad, 2-27 August (not 14), 5.50pm, from £6.50

KEN CHENG Who is he?

A maths prodigy who dropped out of Cambridge University to become a professional poker player, he reached the final of the BBC New Comedy Award in 2015.

What's the show about?

Revelling in wordplay and being bluntly pedantic, Cheng is uncompromising in his clinical 74

EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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deconstructions of stupidity. But he's also offering an introspective glimpse into his family with bleak wit.

WTF? Has a double-jointed knee and can twist his foot all the way round.

WHERE & WHEN Ken Cheng: Chinese Comedian, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 16), 4.45pm, from £6 www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:36

ONES TO WATCH COMEDY MICHAEL STRANNEY

URZILA CARLSON

Who is he?

As his alter-ego Daniel Duffy, Michael Stranney invites audiences to join him in the eccentric, rural Northern Irish backwater of Ballybeg.

What's the show about?

Duffy has decided to revive the Ballybeg tourist board, offering his whimsical introduction to the weird and wonderful locals and their gently odd existence.

WTF? At age 11, he would go to Mass nine times a week.

WHERE & WHEN Michael Stranney: Welcome To Ballybeg, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-25 August, 6pm, from £6

Who is she?

An Edinburgh newbie but standup veteran, Carson is a dry observationalist and selfdeprecating storyteller.

What's the show about?

A blast at everything unacceptable in this world, from the big issues like

homophobia and racism to the little irritations created by millennials.

WTF? Her idea of heaven is to get locked in a stationery or hardware store.

And she loves cleaning.

WHERE & WHEN Urzila Carlson: First Edition, Assembly George Square Studios, 2-27 August (not 15), 7.45pm, from £7

DARREN HARRIOTT Who is he?

Charismatic and charming — despite his imposing frame and former occupation as a bouncer — Harriott is a promising performer who blends compelling storytelling with acute social observation.

What's the show about?

While sharing his troubled family background, Harriott keeps it entertaining with provocative thoughts on race, terrorism, religion and personal responsibility.

WTF? Is related to celebrity chef and former comedian Ainsley Harriott.

WHERE & WHEN Darren Harriott: Defiant, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 16), 9.30pm, from £6

JAN RAVENS Who is she?

Despite being the first female president of the Cambridge Footlights and directing the group's 1981 Perrier Award-winning show, this is the Spitting Image and Dead Ringers' impressionist's first Edinburgh hour.

What's the show about?

As her title suggests, this is a show that reflects the current position of women at the centre of politics, with the likes of Theresa May, Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson all sent up.

WTF? Claims to have snogged Grand Designs' presenter Kevin McCloud. And farts in department stores.

WHERE & WHEN Jan Ravens: Difficult Woman, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-27 August (not 16), 7pm, from £6 www.edfestmag.com

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JOE SUTHERLAND Who is he?

Playfully nihilistic, the arch Sutherland projects an aloof, supercilious style that nevertheless draws you in.

What's the show about?

A showcase of the many talents of this former child actor and model, which until now have gone largely unappreciated by an ignorant world. He's setting the story straight with caustic

wit, unwavering confidence and brutal honesty.

WTF? As a child he would wear dressing up clothes under his normal clothes so that he could do a “costume reveal” during school playtime.

WHERE & WHEN Joe Sutherland: Model/Actress, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 15), 10.45pm, from £6 EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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30/06/2017 09:36

Glasgow

Edinburgh

£11

.60

*

Late night services during STANDARD the Edinburgh Festival • 1.30am and 3.00am services daily from 4th – 28th August.

• The Citylink 900 timetable operates at least every

RETURN

15 minutes at peak times and half hourly from 7.30pm.

• Travel with us on modern, reliable, comfortable, coaches and arrive relaxed and ready to have a great time.

• Super-fast free 4G WiFi.

citylink.co.uk

@ScotCitylink

*Customers who hold pre-purchased tickets travel on 900 late night services at no extra cost.

For customers travelling on these without a pre-purchased ticket, a fare of £11.60 adult single applies.

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30/06/2017 15:48

ONES TO WATCH COMEDY DAMIEN POWER

TOM LUCY Who is he?

The 2016 winner of the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year title, Tom Lucy has already supported big names including Michael McIntyre and John Bishop.

What's the show about?

Self-deprecating but quick-witted and assured, Lucy's first show charts his development as a show-off at school.

CARMEN LYNCH Who is she?

Wry but quirky with a string of impressive US late-night show appearances, she also starred in the short film Carmen, directed by Chloe Sevigny.

What's the show about?

The perils of dating, her health problems, Jesus, giraffes, her Spanish mother and the spectre of mortality.

WTF? Was a flamenco dancer in her Spanish childhood.

WHERE & WHEN Carmen Lynch: Lynched The Counting House, 3-27 August (not 15), 4pm, free

ALASDAIR BECKETT-KING Who is he?

A comedian, filmmaker and illustrator, the flame-haired comic is the reigning Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year.

What's the show about?

An attempt to bring whimsy back into standup in these unsettled times, with a mixture of revisionist history and playful silliness.

WTF? His first job was pretending to be a cannon loader on a Napoleonic battleship.

WHERE & WHEN Alasdair Beckett-King: The Alasdair Beckett-King Mysteries, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 14), 6pm, from £6

WTF? At school, he snorted a line of table salt for a bet and was taken to A&E. WHERE & WHEN Tom Lucy: Needs To Stop Showing Off In Front Of His Friends, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 6pm, from £6

LAUREN PATTISON Who is she?

The amiable Geordie who combines down-toearth delivery with a slightly kooky outlook has already supported Katherine Ryan on tour.

What's the show about?

Learning to love yourself. Pattison explores failed relationships, body image, responsibility, mental health and the dangers of online dating, discovering who she is amidst all the misinformation propagated by popular culture.

WTF? Moved in and lived with her ex-boyfriend for almost two years after they had broken up, just the pair of them.

WHERE & WHEN Lauren Pattison: Lady Muck, Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 14), 5.45pm, from £6

Who is he?

Thrice nominated for Australia's top comedy prize, The Barry, and Pinder Prize winner Power has supported Doug Stanhope and Tenacious D, and is a member of parody far-right group The True Australian Patriots.

What's the show about?

Tackling masculinity, murder and religion, not to mention how to cope when your ex meets someone else, Power blends stand-up and exaggerated characterisations to cutting effect, criticising armchair authorities and the echo chambers of social media.

WTF? Has a brother who is an internationally acclaimed choreographer and another who's a world champion IndyCar driver.

WHERE & WHEN Damien Power – Utopia: Now In 3D!, Assembly George Square, 2-27 August (not 14, 21), 8.20pm, from £8

THE NOT SO LATE SHOW WITH ROSS & JOSH Who are they?

Leeds-based sketch aficionados Ross Brierley and Josh Sadler have aspirations to conquer late-night TV and delightfully spoof the genre.

What's the show about?

Hosted by the slick, knowing Brierley, Sadler is the more random element, with characters popping up in their anarchic realm including John-Michael Jars, the West Midland's finest Jean-Michel Jarre tribute act.

WTF? Brierley's great-great-grandfather was former England goalkeeper William 'Fatty' Foulke.

Reputedly weighing as much as 24 stone, he's said to have inspired the terrace song 'Who Ate All The Pies?'

WHERE & WHEN The Not So Late Show With Ross & Josh, Pleasance Dome, 2-28 August (not 14), 10.45pm, from £5

JOSH GLANC Who is he?

Blurring the lines between comedy and theatre, incorporating improv and audience interaction, Australian comedian Glanc is a wilfully eccentric character act.

What's the show about?

In a muscle-bulging suit, Glanc plays the hyper-masculine American Dicky Rosenthal, seeking to transform average dweebs into real men with his Manfül programme.

WTF? When he was 12 he faked appendicitis and got his appendix removed.

WHERE & WHEN Josh Glanc: Manfül, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-28 August (not 14), 9.30pm, from £5 www.edfestmag.com

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30/06/2017 09:37

Lerwick Stromness

Kirkwall

Scrabster

si Vi t

From 3,500 BC prehistoric marvel the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney to the 4,000 year old Bronze Age settlement of Jarlshoff in Shetland, the Northern Isles are steeped in archaeological treasures waiting to be discovered.

Located in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, the Ness of Brodgar is one of the finest stone complexes in western Europe.

si

Surrounded by breath-taking scenery, the Northern Isles boast some of the most remarkable ancient monuments in Britain.

Vi

Discover 5,000 years of history

t

Aberdeen

With up to three sailings a day from Scrabster and Aberdeen to Orkney and Shetland, uncovering Scotland’s most fascinating archaeology is just a sailing away.

Orkney and Shetland.

Closer than you think.

Jarlshof is an extraordinary ancient settlement offering a glimpse into Shetland’s unique past.

Discover a range of archaeological gems in one place such as Neolithic houses, an Iron Age broch and Norse longhouse.

www.northlinkferries.co.uk /northlinkferries

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@NLFerries

30/06/2017 15:49

MY DAD WROTE A PORNO COMEDY

DIRTY DADDY

W

ith more than 50 million downloads, podcasting phenomenon My Dad Wrote A Porno can count Elijah Wood, Michael Sheen and Daisy Ridley among its legions of fans and contributors. Hosted by Jamie Morton, James Cooper and Radio 1 DJ Alice Levine, each episode features Morton reading a chapter from Belinda Blinked, a series of erotic novellas written by his father under the pen name Rocky Flintstone, with Cooper and Levine joining their friend in critiquing Belinda’s lurid and often wildly implausible sexscapades.

Now into their third series, and after recently touring Australia together, the trio are taking a live reading to the Edinburgh Fringe for two nights.

According to Morton, “the amazing thing about shifting the show from our kitchen table to the stage has been how an engaged audience changes the dynamic. They arrive dressed as the characters, they shout out quotes, they get up on stage and act out sexual scenarios. The fact that we read a chapter you will only ever hear live heightens the sense of anticipation and really builds the show into an event. We never

“Our listeners love it because they’re a bunch of perverts”

Prepare for filth galore as hit podcast My Dad Wrote A Porno heads to the stage WORDS JAY RICHARDSON PHOTOGRAPHY INSANITY

wanted to just ‘do the podcast’ live, as we felt we owed our audience a proper show. We have video elements, audience participation and reenactments. Our listeners love it because they’re a bunch of perverts!”

Indeed, such is the podcast’s global reach that Swedish listeners recently sent them a Eurovision-inspired song called Pomegranates & Rivets, named after two of Rocky’s most dubious descriptions of the female anatomy.

“That was an oddly proud moment in my life,” Morton reflects. “I’ve always wanted to be immortalised in a song, but I never thought the subject of it would be my dad’s porn.”

Although few things could be more shocking than when Morton’s father, “the Banksy of Porn,” gave him the original manuscript with a note of caution not to tell his mother and sisters, Morton identifies the end of the second book as the most disturbing moment – when phallically challenged billionaire Jim Stirling endures a badly administered penis enhancement.

“There was blue semen and flaking skin,” Morton recalls with horrified admiration. “That

was disgusting and I apologise to everyone who had to endure it. Saying that, we have never refused to read out a paragraph because we believe we should keep every ounce of the Flintstone brilliance in the podcast, and let the audience determine whether that was wise or not.”

He maintains that his father’s literary efforts have not intruded upon his own romantic desires. “My dad writes in a kind of parallel universe where the female body bares little to no resemblance to the real thing,” he says. “Breasts don’t hang like pomegranates, you cannot grab a cervix and vaginas don’t have lids.”

Nor has reading the saucy passages proved erotic for the trio. “Although saying that, there is a character who James and Alice became somewhat smitten with,” Morton suggests. “I’m not sure whether it was my dad’s characterisation or my expert accent work which seduced them. But it got them both a little hot under the collar. So perhaps there’s hope for old Flintstone yet.”

Sixty-something Rocky continues to enjoy all the attention, but he’s content to remain anonymous.

“When Dad started writing about love eggs, we suddenly thought, ‘are we behind the times here?’” Morton admits. “The irony of the podcast is that we all are actually quite prudish but I think that’s why it works. If we were totally blasé with the whole thing there would be no humour to tease out. But he needs to stop googling sex toys. Now.”

WHERE & WHEN My Dad Wrote a Porno Live, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 10-11 August, 6pm, from £12 Tel: 0131 622 6552

www.edfestmag.com

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30/06/2017 09:38

COMEDY HANNAH GADSBY

dress . So, to not ad queer woman ss g le in ild go ch a as w “I’m I knew I te reer goes on, t, ca nounced Nanet gh an ur ou yo by th I ds as Ga So at h th hen Hanna t sure g shit really. n’ in as lk w ta e t ly sh ar al , st re ow I to st sh to have I say what would be her la will happen if t ly ha al w . re r I en t de pp ha on Iw say w what would ha sily u. I’m going to part as a triumph, ea think? F*ck yo rve. There’s a ne a t But Nanette w hi ne ur ly al bo re el s M imes I ’s ha et ar it m ye d is So An think. t in control. out show at th y n’ ab ed as m w ed I co lk t ta re es t he os gg the m not something stralia’s bi of that show w ild abuse was e winner of Au says. th e Ch . d sh le an t,” , ab ei al er e feel iv nc ln st co l vu Fe trica felt very didn’t make m ted off as a thea t on stage. It it myself ou e ve ab in lie ed be nu award. “It star t lk ge os ta of m I had e a sense ved it and I al rforming in t it did give m pe ly bu “The press belie rt l, I’m fu pa e er is us w at ca po ce. Th e given up be ith the audien itation – but I haven’t g stand-up in th connection w s almost a med I won’t be doin k It’ a in t. as th ou I up ab h. t is rg se as ow w sh it Edinbu , e ay th w t a wha clubs. But in ability.” ing a book of in classic form of on that vulner is currently writ Barry Award e e Sh th t ” it. ou d ab en ow to accept the sh d n se sio fu means to vi re s made le e te ha a Sh ho g w in s, ak m rie l as rry Humph memoirs as wel ge equality, the name of Ba de in art. ts about marria en m m co us history of the nu outrageo an rights. sues and hum transgender is t to accept that no t portan way “I think it is im a kid and the experienced as I t nt ha re W r. ffe di ou behavi kid, it feels when I was a ely people spoke uage is strang ng la e ically, th the in d an now, but, polit at th in e is a danger social media. familiar. Ther es runs around im et e m so at Nanette was th language th throwing up in as w I t ha w Part of very careful.” idea of being

W

G N I K I R ST E V R E N A ar after waves this ye e d a m y b s d ess a Hannah G r her raw, fearl fo rd a w A y rr a B phobia rejecting the against homo d n ta s a in e tt show Nane RE SMITH WORDS CLAI Y JIM LEE PH RA PHOTOG

e mechanics of sby exposes th In Nanette, Gad ugh but then, la the audience g in ak ion m , up standdiffuse the tens int, refusing to po n e ai ar rt s ce ie a or at mem eeply personal ion in the room. D ing re-evaluat ng le al ch a e id gs ising on al an d om se expo d the w of Van Gogh an the t ou ab is al of the madness really, the reve k, in th how “I ng o. ni ss of Pica aps questio tivity and perh ea ” cr g. of in e th os tic rp pu erapeu a healing or th g that we frame it as a way of talkin d fin to as w m ai r it was lt he fe of e rt Pa and-up, sh ten years of st can I ow “H e. yl st g was real. After self-deprecatin r he e is k lif in y th m re time to it, the less n the more I do n’t he do w I ic d m an co e a be an ordinary lif ve ha t n’ do I believable. while.” mics do after a think many co ge in Australia ria ar out gay m The debate ab ildhood in y back to her ch brought Gadsb lity was illegal re homosexua Tasmania, whe dable and oi av bia was un and homopho ent. sometimes viol

rt “There’s a pa of that show where I wasn’t in control”

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WHERE & WHEN Hannah Gadsby: Nanette, Assembly George Square Studios, 2-27 August (not 15), 5.30pm, from £12 Tel: 0131 623 3030

www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:38

Discover Brewhemia; Edinburgh's newest and grandest haven for those with a love of adventure and a thirst for discovery, we call them Brewhemians!

Brewhemians love artisan coffee, sumptuous Scottish scran, brewery fresh pilsner from giant copper tanks, bespoke cocktails and a super fine wine list - you get the idea.

We love a Beer Palace party, think Moulin Rouge meets Gatsby, that's what we've got lined up for you this festival...

A JACOBITES RISING: 9pm Mon 14

DEBAUCHERY: 8pm FRI 04, 11, 18, 25

HOWL AT THE MOON: 7pm Thu 03, 10, 17, 24

LA VIE BREWHEME: 8pm Sat 05, 12, 19, 26

PASTOR JAMBUS' HHP: 9pm Tue 08, 15, 22

POLYNESIAN PARADISE: 9pm Wed 16

RUJAZZLE'S BINGO: BALL: 9pm Wed 09

SUNDAY BRUNCH: 12pm Sun 06, 13, 20

OKTOBERFEST PREVIEW: 9pm Mon 21

THE FINAL FLING, ROARING 20s: 5pm Sun 27

open 8am till late. weans & dugs welcome!

Brewhemia | 0131 226 9560 | 1A Market St, Edinburgh, EH1 1DE Opposite Waverley Station South entrance

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brewhemia.co.uk info@brewhemia.co.uk /BrewhemiaEdin

venue

90 30/06/2017 15:50

Cirque du Soleil is seeking new talent. ®

CIRCUS PERFORMERS All disciplines OriginAl And innOvAtive Acts

PHYSICAL ACTORS / CLOWNS cOntempOrAry mimes street perfOrmers Artists with exceptiOnAl skills Or unusuAl bOdy types INSTRUMENTALISTS – SINGERS – DANCERS

Apply now!

CIRQUEDUSOLEIL.COM/JOBS FACEBOOk.COM/CIRQUEDUSOLEILCASTING

Cirque du Soleil is a trademark owned by Cirque du Soleil and used under license.

Photos: OSA Images Costumes: Kym Barrett © 2015 Cirque du Soleil

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30/06/2017 16:18

CIRCUS ABYSSINIA CIRCUS & CABARET

g g l u e J Double Champion jugglers Bibi and Bichu have appeared in English National Opera, been scouted by Tim Burton to star in his new remake of Dumbo and now they bring their skills to the Fringe

I

WORDS KELLY APTER PHOTOGRAPHY GEMMA HALL

t all started with three oranges. Hanging around the school playground one lunchtime in their small Ethiopian village, teenagers Bibi and Bichu Tesfamariam noticed a teacher juggling fruit.

Intrigued, they asked to give it a try.

“The next day he showed us some circus videos and we were just fascinated,” recalls Bichu. “From then on, it’s all we dreamed about.”

Today, the brothers are in demand across the world, juggling everywhere from Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway to English National Opera, and later this year they’ll start filming Tim Burton’s live action remake of Dumbo, Big Ears. All of which is a far cry from those early days in Ethiopia.

“We started off by making our own wooden clubs,” explains Bichu. “They were heavy and really hurt if they hit you. But it meant that when we eventually got professional juggling clubs, they were so easy for us to use.”

Juggling and acrobatics quickly became the centre of their world, taking up most of their time outside school.

“When we first began we practised eight or nine hours a day,” says Bichu. “Our poor mum and dad used to bring snacks to the training centre, because we didn’t want to leave – and even going home, we would juggle as we walked along the road. We had such dedication and passion.”

But although the brothers knew they were getting better every day, it wasn’t until they moved to England, aged just 15 and 16, that they found other jugglers to compare themselves to.

“We didn’t know how good we were until we were invited to conventions and festivals in Europe,” says Bichu.

“Then we saw how much interest people were taking in us and thought oh, we’re actually quite good!”

In 2010, years of successfully working in British circus inspired Bibi and Bichu to “give something back” by sponsoring an acrobatic school in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Out of which, the talented Konjowoch Troupe was born – who will join the brothers on stage for their show, Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams, a semi-autobiographical tale of two brothers who long for a career in the circus.

A mix of juggling, contortionism and gravity-defying acrobatics, the show has a close family relationship

“It’s all we dreamed about”

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at its heart, something which has sustained Bibi and Bichu throughout their careers.

“I’m not going to lie, as much as we love each other there are times when we need our own space,” laughs Bichu. “But whenever we fall out, it’s always juggling and circus that brings us back together.

“And we really appreciate each other. We were so young when we moved to England, we didn’t speak the language and went through some really hard times. Without my brother, I don’t think I would have survived – and likewise for him.”

WHERE & WHEN Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams, Underbelly Circus Hub, 5-26 August (not 14 or 21), 3pm, from £10 Tel: 0844 545 8282

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CABARET & CIRCUS CIRCUS GUIDE

PARIS DE NUIT Pull up a chair and let the Recirquel Company guide you through the vibrant streets of 1930s Paris. You’ll be right in the action as the talented performers and live jazz musicians create an intimate display of bohemian grandeur right before your eyes.

WHERE & WHEN Assembly George Square Gardens, 3-27 August (not 9, 14, 21), 8.30pm, from £11

UP IN THE AIR The most daring stars of the Fringe take your breath away WORDS CHIARA MARGIOTTA

BARELY METHODICAL TROUPE: KIN What draws audiences to circus?

It’s a life and death art form; we are actually taking big physical risks, so engaging with the action is pretty effortless and people are quickly drawn into the excitement. You can hear the audience gasp.

Is the show about the tricks or about the story?

We go beyond the wow factor of the trick; we use dance, theatre

and humour to tell stories and explore ideas. There’s always a tale about relationships running through our shows as we build on the essential requirement of trust and support we need between us to stay safe on stage.

KIN explores leadership and hierarchies.

WHERE & WHEN Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 5-26 August (not 14, 21), 5pm, from £10

BATACCHIO Cirk La Putyka offer Fringe-goers something unique with Batacchio. Inspired by the visual spectacles of the 19th century theatre, this UK debut blends gasp-worthy acrobatics, music, stage magic and mysterious illusions to carve out a whole new identity in the circus scene.

WHERE & WHEN ZOO Southside, 4-12 August, 6.30pm, from £9 84

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www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:39

CIRCUS GUIDE CABARET & CIRCUS

CIRCA: HUMANS What draws audiences to circus?

Circus is the art of the actual. It really happens. It is full of wonder and risk and humanity. It is the element of humanity that we develop at Circa – making a circus that feels intensely human and alive. I love things that mainline emotion, grabbing our hearts and dragging us along, without time to think or understand. Our work aims to be inherently humans talking to humans deep inside – direct and intense. You come along to Circa to have your soul stirred and to feel something.

What do you love about the Fringe?

The Fringe is everything – high and low art, great work and atrocious work, big venues and small, late nights, comedy, theatre, music, circus, cabaret and everything else.

It’s like the whole world gathers – that is an incredible affirmation of the human spirit.

WHERE & WHEN Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 4-26 August (not 9, 14, 21), 7pm, from £11.50

FAUNA What do you love about the Fringe?

People from all over the world descend on a beautiful old medieval town to immerse themselves in the arts. Everyone is there to enjoy themselves and experience new things, and the atmosphere is like no other festival.

How important is storytelling to your act?

Storytelling IS our act. FAUNA is about creating a world. Every one arm handstand has a reason, each twist and turn is the result of a character trait. FAUNA uses circus to create physical theatre - the story is what ties it together, and the 'magical things' are what hold it up.

WHERE & WHEN Assembly Roxy, 3-27 August (not 9, 14, 21), 1.30pm, from £9

SIGMA A rhythmic reinterpretation of the classic South Indian dance form Bharatanatyam, Sigma is a dynamic merging of juggling, percussion and dance that promises a show unlike any other. Award-winning choreographer Seeta Patel brings her stellar dance stylings to the forefront, while the trademark Gandini humour is never far away.

WHERE & WHEN Assembly Hall, 3-28 August (not 9, 14, 21), 1.30pm, from £8 www.edfestmag.com

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ALL GENIUS ALL IDIOT

ACÉLÉRÉ BY CIRCOLOMBIA

An all-male, surrealist circus adventure, Svalbard Company take their audience on a tour of the animalistic side of human behaviour.

Chinese pole, aerial rope and acrobatics combine with a haunting soundtrack to create a slightly absurdist, totally original work of physical theatre.

WHERE & WHEN Assembly Roxy, 2-27 August (not 9, 14, 21), 7.30pm, from £13

13 performers join forces in Acéléré, a world-class show that will set your heart racing. Not satisfied just to showcase their gravitydefying aerial skills and gutsy leaps and tricks, this troupe also dance and sing live in a triple threat performance to remember.

WHERE & WHEN Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 7-26 August (not 9, 14, 21), 9.15pm, from £19.50

TRANSIT Flip Fabrique, a young company from Quebec, return to the Fringe with brand new show, Transit. A joy filled escapade through every skill you can imagine, from juggling to acrobatics and aerial tricks to hoop

diving, all performed with a playful nature that makes for an hour of pure delight.

WHERE & WHEN Assembly Hall, 3-27 August, (not 9, 14, 21), 6pm, from £15 EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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Help Musicians UK didn’t just give me a grant, but advice and support that I couldn’t have got elsewhere. Their support was invaluable.

Your support allows us to give musicians like Maz O’Connor the crucial break they need. helpmusicians.org.uk 020 7239 9100 Backing musicians throughout their careers.

Registered Charity No. 228089.

Help Musicians UK half page advert.indd 1

26/05/2016 14:36:59

© Snowman Enterprises Ltd 2017

AN EVENING WITH PATRICIA WARD KELLY

RSNO CHRISTMAS CONCERT FEATURING THE SNOWMAN

BRIEF ENCOUNTER Psycho and Brief Encounter in partnership with

CLASSICS AT THE MOVIES

The Music of Star Wars sponsored by

Warner Bros. presents Gene Kelly: A Life in Music supported by John Bruce and Dame Susan Bruce

BOOK TODAY

rsno.org.uk/film

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The RSNO is supported by the Scottish Government

30/06/2017 16:04

KANDACE SPRINGS MUSIC

K

andace Springs swears she didn’t know the connection between the song she began her audition for Blue Note Records with and the company executive she was singing for, otherwise she might have chosen something different.

The song, I Can’t Make You Love Me, first came to major public attention when Bonnie Raitt featured it on her 1991 multimillion-selling album Luck of the Draw.

As Springs finished singing it and prepared to sing another song, Blue Note president Don Was called out, “That’s the best arrangement I’ve ever heard – and I produced the hit version!”

Singer and pianist Springs, who is Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival’s brochure cover star this year, has had her heart set on recording for Blue Note since she heard Norah Jones’s Come Away with Me album in her early teens.

“I used to look at the cover and think it would be so cool to be on that label,” she says. “I didn’t know Blue Note had such a great history in jazz at the time, but the more I found out about its legacy, the cooler it became.”

Nashville-born Springs grew up with music. Her father, Scat, is a session singer and she used to earn pocket money singing with him on sessions before a piano arrived in the house.

“The lady who owned it, a neighbour, got involved in drugs and was evicted,” she says. “She asked my folks to look after it till she got back on her feet. Then friends of my dad’s showed me my first jazz

“I never studied music formally” chords and that was it. All I wanted to do was play the piano and sing.”

For a while Springs, was groomed for stardom by the hit-making team behind Rihanna, but she decided this style of music wasn’t for her and took a job in a hotel as a pianist/car valet instead.

“I parked everything from a truck to a Ferrari,”

Soul springs forth

she says. “But it let me work on the music I really wanted to play and I was able to support myself financially. I never studied music formally so this was like my schooling.”

With a repertoire of songs learned from Norah Jones, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday and Roberta Flack (she always finishes her shows with Flack’s biggest hit, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face) and a few of her own, eventually she felt ready to try for a deal with her dream label.

“After I sang I Can’t Make You Love Me, I was going to do a jazz standard or something but I didn’t have to. Don Was signed me on the spot. Amazing.”

Amazing things just seem to happen to Springs. When she posted her version of Sam Smith’s Stay With Me on music website OKplayer, she got a message from none other than Prince, who was so impressed that he invited her to sing on the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain at Paisley Park.

“I was still trying to figure out my sound at the time, but he gave me great advice,” she says. “He told me I needed to do what comes naturally to me, and he was absolutely right.”

WHERE & WHEN Kandace Springs, West Princes Street Gardens Spiegeltent, 15 July, 7.30pm & George Square Spiegeltent, 16 July, 8.30pm, from £17 Tel: 0131 473 2000

Prince protégé, singer and pianist Kandace Springs brings her statement smoky sound to the Jazz & Blues Festival WORDS ROB ADAMS PHOTOGRAPHY MATHIEU BITTON

www.edfestmag.com

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MUSIC THE TOXIC AVENGER

TOXIC ROCK Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan and Broadway writer Joe DiPietro give the Fringe a shot with their cult rock opera WORDS MARK FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY CLAIRE BILYARD

T

o legions of rock fans, he is the keyboardist of New Jersey stadium fillers Bon Jovi. But there’s more to David Bryan than big hair and power ballads. The Julliardtrained musician is also an accomplished co-writer of Broadway musicals.

With author Joe DiPietro, he has had a Tony Award-winning hit with Memphis, about one of the first white DJs to play black music in the 1950s. The same team is working on Chasing the Song, about the first female music publisher in New York City. Now, the two have their sights on the West End with The Toxic Avenger.

It’s a show that arrives in Edinburgh with a fine pedigree. After storming New York in 2009, it finally reached London for a try-out this year. The Telegraph called it a “gloriously silly, perfectly executed, can’twipe-the-grin-off triumph.”

“It’s about the most polluted town in New Jersey, where we’re from, so we knew

WHERE & WHEN The Toxic Avenger, Pleasance Courtyard, 2–28 August (not 14), 10.30pm, from £9 Tel: 0131 556 6550

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“This show is in a Bon Jovi world” every Jersey joke there was,” says DiPietro.

“It was just funny from the get-go and moved very quickly into a production.”

It’s based on a low-budget cult movie from the 1980s, but you hardly need to know that. When DiPietro came to work on it, he realised he’d be able to retain some of its schlocky sense of fun – what he calls its “chaos and anarchy” – but the plot was too flimsy to contemplate.

“I loved the premise of this mutant freak who falls in love with a blind girl and saves New Jersey,” he says. “But the plot was very haphazard – as Lloyd Kaufman, its auteur, would admit to you. I asked Lloyd for a copy of the script and he said, ‘What script? We never wrote this down!’ Once I heard that, I knew I could do whatever I wanted.”

His version tells the story of Melvin Ferd, who is dropped into a barrel of toxic gunk, turning him into an ugly and very angry

eco-superhero. “Global warming and climate change haven’t gone away and it’s becoming more and more relevant,” says DiPietro. “Even a show as silly as The Toxic Avenger needs some glue underneath it – it needs to be about something – and this show is about the extremes a character goes to to clean up the environment and how needed that is.”

Audiences, of course, are less likely to turn up because of the green credentials than the Bon Jovi connection. “There’s one lovely young woman from Japan who flies to see all of the openings,” says DiPietro.

“This show is in a Bon Jovi world, so Bon Jovi fans are happy to come.”

Working together, he says, has been an education for both of them: “The show’s got a real authentic rock’n’roll feel to it. The songs are very funny but they’re in this very specific genre, which is unusual for theatre.

One of the first things he learnt was that in theatre you have to end a song with a clear applause moment, whereas in rock’n’roll you just fade. So he’s taken all those things and made them his own.” www.edfestmag.com

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CABARET & CIRCUS COURTNEY ACT

OVER THE RAINBOW The Aussie star of RuPaul’s Drag Race deals the dirt on reality TV ahead of her Edinburgh debut WORDS CLAIRE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY @ALRIGHTDARLING_ZINE

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HMYGOD. She looks like a Disney Princess,” says a friend when I text a photo of me alongside Courtney Act. Act, one of the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race, looks improbably beautiful in the flesh, with cascading pink curls and impossibly long legs. For her first visit to Edinburgh she will be performing The Girl From Oz, her own funny kooky take on the Australian songbook.

“I have been living in the US for the last seven years and it took around that long to realise how different Australians are,” she says. “People don’t realise how much of pop culture, which they assume to be American, actually comes from Australia. The show is a bit of a love letter to Australia, because I miss it.”

From the moment she flies onstage in red glitter roller boots, Act delivers a high-energy celebration of all things Oz, from Xanadu to Kylie to Arthur’s Theme, co-written by Peter Allen. There are heaps of cheeky references to Drag Idol – a huge crowd pleaser for fans of the show, which has a cult following in the UK and around the world.

She says RuPaul’s Drag Race, which thrives on backstage drama, was vastly different from her experience on Australian Idol. “It was a shock. They can take things from a lot of different conversations and slice them together. You get these Frankensentences. It’s reality TV, not reality.”

Despite the way it appeared, she, Bianca Del Rio and Adore Delano are friends in real life. “It’s fun because it amuses people – but everyone knows it is a joke because we love each other.” And despite some public Twitter spats with RuPaul, she is eternally thankful to the show:

WHERE & WHEN Courtney Act: The Girl From Oz Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 13-26 August (not 14, 16, 21), 6pm, from £7 Tel: 0844 545 8282

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“I am so grateful. I get to travel around the world doing my show. In some ways, I feel guilty when I do festivals.

Other acts have to slog and work so hard to build their audience,” she says. “It’s taken my show to a whole new level, and with cabaret shows that’s great because it brings a whole new audience.”

Courtney grew up in Brisbane, singing and dancing as a boy called Shane Jenek. It was only when she came to Sydney as an 18-year-old that she began to perform as a girl. She is inspired not so much by the mainstream as by leftfield artists like Meow Meow. “You watch her and you don’t really know what’s going on. But you know she’s a master of it.”

She entered Australian Idol as a boy – and was rejected – then came back as Courtney and passed the audition. It was the start of realising she could be a serious artist and perform in drag. “When I started, I felt so much shame about doing drag,” she says. But after the audition? “That was when I started thinking about it as a valid form of expression. Drag isn’t just a job, it’s a form of my gender expression.”

When it comes to love, Courtney has had relationships as Courtney, and dated men who are gay, straight, bisexual and pansexual. “I grew up with the idea of gender being binary, but in the last year and a half I have got so much more used to the idea that boys don’t have to be boys and girls don’t have to be girls,” she says. “I used to struggle with wearing the colour pink. I didn’t even think I could put pink paint in my bedroom. But now I have realised that dating a man who is comfortable with my femininity helps me feel more comfortable with myself.”

She’s a queen of social media, always happy to pose for selfies. A video of herself at a pro Trump rally got two and a half million views. “There is a conservative uprising – because I think in some ways history shows us things get more progressive. People get more paranoid and someone like Donald Trump learns how to play that in their favour, but artists are by their nature progressive.”

She is hugely excited about the Fringe. “When I posted that I was coming to Edinburgh I got a huge response.

It excited me to see how much people love the festival – there seems to be something really unusual about it.”

www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 09:40

COURTNEY ACT CABARET & CIRCUS

“Drag isn’t just a job, it’s a form of my gender expression”

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CABARET & CIRCUS CABARET & DRAG GUIDE LD TOUR e DENIM: WOR oud, drag troup rls and Girls Al

from ice Gi band. Hailing Forget the Sp e Britpop girl at tim gs ul in e br th t e DENIM ar inburgh debu fab quintet’s Ed t. e en th , em ge ov id m br Cam Girl Power eaning to the a whole new m EN 9pm WHERE & WH gust (not 14), wgate, 3-27 Au Co ly el rb de Un from £6.50

HOW TO WIN AGAINST HISTORY Nineteenth century drag is the inspiration behind this dazzling musical based on Henry Cyril Paget, the forgotten fifth Marquis of Anglesey. Paget’s love of crossdressing is given a weird and wonderful reimagining complete with a royal spin.

WHERE & WHEN Assembly George Square Gardens, 3-27 August (not 14), 7.25pm, from £10

THE LULU SHOW: LIFE ON THE NEVER-NEVER Norwegian actress and singer Hilde Louise Asbjornsen is bringing her alter ego Lulu to the Fringe for the first time.

To the beat of a swinging jazz trio, Lulu takes on the seedy side of capitalism with a bitingly satirical and self-aware performance that truly stands out.

WHERE & WHEN Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 2-28 August (not 9, 14, 21), 10pm, from £6

REUBEN KAYE Australian darling Reuben Kaye was crowned Best Cabaret act at this year’s Adelaide Fringe. Now he’s bringing his unique brand of catty campness and purring wit to Edinburgh. Expect glitter, glam and feathers galore as Kaye shows off his whip cracking smarts in an evening of pure, unadulterated hedonism.

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CABARET & DRAG GUIDE CABARET & CIRCUS

LATE NIGHT LIP SERVICE Let Gingzilla guide you through a midnight extravaganza of marvelous debauchery. The 7ft glamazon will be your host for the night as the hottest drag and cabaret stars strut their stuff at the drag show where anything goes.

WHERE & WHEN Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 5-6, 12-13, 19-20, 25-27 August, 12am, from £12

ANYA ANASTASIA A feminist tour de force, this fierce femme fatale is as famous for her rebellious ways as she is for her awe-inspiring vocal skills and fabulous costumes.

WHERE & WHEN Assembly Checkpoint, 2-27 (not 14), 7.30pm, from £8

f the ide o ars s s u t st oro glam d cabare e h t an to r way e top drag u o y TA ay th GIOT MAR Sash nd meet IARA H C a DS e WOR Fring

FRINGE

QUEEN S

KINSEY SICKS: THINGS YOU SHOULDN’T SAY

The powerful four-part harmonies from the Kinsey Sicks are all real - even if their breasts aren't. Self-described as a Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet, these much loved American femmes are talking Trump, AIDS, Bette Midler and everything inbetween in an hour of pitch perfect songs and razorsharp wit.

WHERE & WHEN Gilded Balloon at the Musuem, 2-13 August (not 9), 7.30pm, from £8 www.edfestmag.com

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JOAN Meet Fringe First Award-winning drag king Lucy Jane Parkinson as she takes on the role of the original badass cross-dressing woman, Joan of Arc. Updating the subversive tale to reflect on modern day issues, Parkinson runs this solo show with ease as a fiercely independent performer – a fitting mirror to the character she portrays.

WHERE & WHEN Underbelly Cowgate, 21-27 August (not 26), 7.20pm, from £10.50

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30/06/2017 15:51

JUDY MURRAY BOOK

MUM’S THE WORD Tennis matriarch Judy Murray’s autobiography provides a look at what goes on off the court WORDS CRAIG MCLEAN PHOTOGRAPHY ALEX HEWITT

S

ummer time in the UK and that means only one thing: it’s time for the nation to become obsessed with tennis again. It’s a collective passion that’s been rocketpowered through Wimbledon fortnight and beyond by the rise of our first home-grown world champions in a generation. God bless Andy and Jamie Murray – and, of course, the woman who’s been instrumental in the Scots boys’ rise, mum Judy.

Still, when we talk, it’s the morning after Andy’s shock first round exit from Queen’s, the traditional Wimbledon warm-up tournament. What, I ask experienced tennis coach Judy, went wrong?

“Em, I’m not talking about Andy. He can speak for himself.”

Right then. Such, I suppose, are the boundaries that must be imposed when your son is World Number One, Olympic champion and a knight of the realm.

Equally, when you have your own career – both sporting and “celebrity” – it’s important to keep on-message and out of trouble. You can’t fault Judy’s caution.

She could also be keeping her personal powder dry ahead of the publication of her memoir, Knowing The Score: My Family and Our Tennis Story. Why did she want to write this book?

WHERE & WHEN “I’d always thought that Judy Murray: I would write a book, but I Holding Court, thought I’d do it after the boys Baillie Gifford Main had finished playing,” the Theatre, 15 Aug, 5pm, 59-year-old replies. “But over from £10 the last three or four years, I was Tel: 0845 373 5888 really persuaded by a number

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“I just wanted my kids to enjoy sport” of people in the publishing world that the time was right – writing the book while Andy and Jamie were still playing would be more effective. “[It’s difficult] if you’re a parent of talented kids and there’s nobody to learn from,” she continues. “I often wished there had been a manual, or certainly somebody to ask: ‘What do I do next?’ Because for me, it was very much a case of having to find out everything for myself.”

So the book – which she and her ghostwriter began after Wimbledon 2016 and finished before Christmas – is a personal journey, and also a guide for other sportingly-engaged families. Not, she insists, that Knowing The Score is all about pushy parenting and hothoused prodigies.

“I just wanted my kids to enjoy sport.”

As a committed coach, champion of girls’ tennis and also a single parent (she and the boy’s father Willie split when Andy was nine), Judy mentions that “certain events affected my philosophy.

The tragedy that happened at Dunblane [Primary School] – that was obviously a huge thing in all of our lives. You never would have imagined something like that would happen in your little town. That affected me in terms of making me want to

create more opportunities for the kids in the town, and obviously for my own kids – because I may not have had them. I was one of the lucky parents.”

One thing Judy probably never anticipated was becoming famous in her own right – famous enough for the TV chat show circuit, and also to write an autobiography and be invited to the Edinburgh Book Festival. How does she view her celebrity status?

“Ha!” she exclaims, as if to pooh-pooh such a notion. “Well, that probably started more when I did Strictly Come Dancing in 2014.” Mostly, she says, she uses her profile and platform to promote women in sport, but Strictly was a personal treat. “It was so great to do something so different – no tennis for four months, the chance to do something for myself, make lots of new friends and see inside a whole new world. I absolutely loved it.”

So we’ll see her in the Australian jungle come the end of the year? “No, you will not see me in anything else!” she laughs.

Really? The publisher’s blurb for Knowing The Score describes Judy Murray as a “general all-round can-do woman of wonder.” Surely she can turn her hand to anything? Then I wonder, what would Andy and Jamie say she’s rubbish at?

“Cooking!” comes the quickfire reply.

“I can probably mess up anything. I’m always in a hurry so I don’t do attention to detail in the kitchen. The boys are always accusing me of bringing them up on tinned custard and pears – but it wasn’t quite as bad as that!”

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A first operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds

EDINBURGH ACADEMY 8 – 20 AUG | 10AM & 11.30AM Also at Scottish Opera Production Studios, Glasgow 21 Oct – 5 Nov A new co-production with Manchester International Festival & Improbable

scottishopera.org.uk Registered in Scotland Number SC037531 Scottish Charity Number SC019787

Supported by Scottish Opera’s New Commissions Circle & Scottish Opera’s Education Angels

“Undoubtedly one of the finest musical performances you will see at this year’s festival!”

(Broadway World, for Urinetown, RCS, 2015)

er? ever-aft What y l i p happens after hap

rcsatthefringe.com

@RCStweets

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30/06/2017 16:06

NICOLE KRAUSS BOOKS

Krauss meets Kafka National Book Award winner and Orange Prize finalist Nicole Krauss brings a slice of Tel Aviv to the International Book Festival with her brand new novel, Forest Dark WORDS CLAIRE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY GONI RISKIN

A

lthough she lives in Brooklyn, New York, Nicole Krauss is drawn to Israel, which is the setting for much of her new novel Forest Dark.

“I have spent a lot of time there and in the middle of writing the book I went there to do research.

I didn’t find out anything but I had an idea about Kafka, which became part of the book.

“I think the landscape of Israel is almost a character in the book, both in Tel Aviv – the city and the sense of the Mediterranean life – and the desert – an older way of life.

It is that place and what it does to you when you are there and you feel the voices of thousands of years of human history and many more thousands of years of rocks and light and desert.”

Krauss writes very much of the inner landscape. Her characters are often solitary and searching, and the twists and urgency of the narrative come from within.

“One normally thinks of New York as a place of business and ambition but everyone works so much here. Even though I raised my children here I do think of New York as a place of solitude.

“Israel is a place that is obsessed with borders. But, within personal relationships there is a sense of freedom from borders. There is a great sense of pleasure in the good things in life, in being out in the sun. One thing about Israel is its sense of family, the necessity of friendship.

Friendship is a part of everyday life.”

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Forest Dark plays with the notions of literary scholarship and Jewish mysticism. At its heart is the idea that it is the lack of something which allows it to come into being.

The story about Franz Kafka becomes so real in her telling that many people have Googled it – believing it to be true. This fits perfectly with the story, which she says “is playing with reality. It is about questioning what is real.

“We all have experiences that are magical and mystical,” she says. “I am asking the reader to experiment with the reality of what WHERE & WHEN might be. We are all aware of some sort Nicole Krauss: of infinity but we contain ourselves. Yet Transformative Fiction, we yearn for something more infinite.”

Baillie Gifford Main Theatre, Krauss, who studied at Oxford and 27 August, 8.15pm, from £10 has British grandparents, has been to Tel: 0845 373 5888 Edinburgh only once before. Her visit to the International Book Festival will be the start of a three-month book tour, which will take her around the UK, Europe and America.

Although she is by nature very happy with solitude and the freedom it gives her to create, she enjoys the experience of introducing her work to the world.

“Some of my most lovely experiences as a writer have been meeting readers at festivals. In some ways it breaks your relationship with this world, which hopefully will survive without you. There is something very mysterious about the process of writing and creating art in general.”

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BOOKS ANDY HAMILTON

WHERE & WHEN Andy Hamilton: Out of the Scriptwriting Shadows, Baillie Gifford Main Theatre, 16 August, 3.15pm, from £12 Tel: 0845 373 5888

Stranger than fiction Andy Hamilton’s new novel The Star Witness delves into the bizarre dark side of celebrity culture WORDS CLAIRE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY STEVE ULLATHORNE

H

“

e’s not a nice person or a nasty person. He’s a person who has made a lot of bad choices and allowed himself to drift, artistically, morally and professionally,” says Andy Hamilton of Andy Carver.

In his novel The Star Witness, protagonist Carver is a soap star who falls from favour after trying to escape a prosecution charge. An obsessed fan becomes the catalyst for disaster in this darkly comic tale, which brings Carver face to face with his failings.

“I think most people are like that – a collection of grey areas. I wanted to write about a character that had lost sight of what was important.”

Hamilton, comic, and creator of Outnumbered and writer for Have I Got News For You, originally thought of the story as a play but it grew into a novel. “I wanted to write about the narcissism that has crept into modern life.”

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The real darkness comes from the character of Derek, an obsessed fan who wants to be in the centre of the drama.

“I had a little bit of experience of that myself. I had someone pass themselves off as me. When I shared the story of what happened, a lot of other people had been through the same thing. There is a group of people for whom reality is an adventure playground and they live in these fantasy worlds. One of the reasons I started doing panel shows was because my wife suggested that if people knew what I looked like, it would be harder for him to pass himself off as me.”

Hamilton doesn’t do social media or own a mobile phone because it distracts him

“I wanted to write about the narcissim of modern life”

from daydreaming, which he finds essential to the creative process. But he feels the blurring of the line between fantasy and reality is something which is increasingly taking hold.

“I wanted to write about the distorted values that are placed on emotions and feelings in a lot of popular culture. I think Trump personifies that in that it doesn’t really matter what the truth is – it only matters how people feel about things.

Derek could be a relative of Trump. He doesn’t really consider what the facts are.

All that matters to him is how he feels about it. He has to feel like he is the hero of everything.”

Hamilton found a book deal with crowd funding publishers Unbound. “I’ve spent my life writing for people who are thinking, ‘This guy could lose me a lot of money’. But with Unbound you don’t go into production until people have pledged enough money for production costs.”

He says the story was always going to be comic. “I find it very hard to write something where comedy isn’t central to it – maybe because I see the world in that way. Real life doesn’t bother to divide itself into genres.”

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W

W

W

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THE AUSSIE HIT SEEN IN 150+ CITIES ACROSS THE WORLD - INCLUDING LONDON’S WEST END!

VIVIENNE SMITH MANAGEMENT PRESENTS

PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS SHOWS:

HHHHH

‘A MASTERFUL DISPLAY OF THE COMICS ART...

COMEDY’S HOLY GRAIL. GO SEE!’ SUNDAY TIMES

HHHHH

‘HILARIOUS! DEFINITELY SEE!’ EDINBURGH FESTIVAL MAGAZINE

edbyrne.com

@MrEdByrne

19:30 2 - 27 AUG (NOT 14)

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2 - 27 AUG (NOT 14)

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Union Gallery is proud to present

'women&men'

the first major exhibition by Kevin Low in four years

women&men is the culmination of an extended period of self imposed exile by the artist to perfect a new style. The results are a startling masterclass in mood and mystery, presenting a language truly his own.

Running from 04.08.17 - 09.09.17

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A tasty 5% off with code EDFEST

30/06/2017 16:22

21 THINGS TO DO CITY GUIDE

FLY HIGH rfection, Stretch into pe Aerial yoga f the ground. suspended of dog to a d ar nw w do will bring your idance of gu l under the whole new leve lax your Re . gi yo l loca an experienced d engage ur muscles an mind, firm yo ings your br k e hammoc your core as th hieve a ac u yo s lp he and position to life ga lyo ria nce. www.ae beautiful bala k .u co edinburgh.

PAINT THE TOWN RED... and every ...blue, green an rainbow with colour of the om Fr e. ttl ba l urban paintbal uring highall out war feat , to low-impact speed pellets s e little ones, it' options for th ll ba nt npai on! www.urba k edinburgh.co.u

IRITS IN GOOD SP nding of ta rs de Refine your un rs and ixe m ur yo gin, navigate ion at ic ist add some soph eads H ith w s he to your garnis ing en ht lig en s' le and Ta masterclass.

Edinburgh Gin talesbar.com nd www.headsa

Beyond the Fringe Coming down with Festival Fever? We've got the cure. Swap shows for these fun experiences WORDS EMILY JENNIFER HALL

T FROZEN FEAS ur sweet yo fy d satis Cool down an rgh ice ca, an Edinbu tooth at S. Lu winning d ar tion. The aw cream institu ar's ye 0 10 er s ov Italian café ha ooth aking silky sm experience m y! tr t us m gelato – it's a uk www.s-luca.co.

WEDDING CRASHERS e, but t met G and St n' ve You ha big gay r ei th to u d yo they've invite tyard ur Co easance wedding at Pl to nt wa u yo ther anyway! Whe e or just id Pr r fo t or pp show your su cake, it will be fancy a slice of indeed. a special day e.co.uk nc sa ea pl www.

ALPACA YOU R BAGS And get ready to explore the Pentland Hills –with alpacas!

These furry an d friendly guides will lead the way as you marve l at the wonders of th e Scottish countryside, in exchange for cuddles and sn acks. www.bobcat-a lpacas.co.uk 101

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CITY GUIDE 21 THINGS TO DO

SWEET DRE AMS Let Cocoa Blac k's talented chocolatiers ta ke you under their wing, an d learn how to craft delicious truffles, pralin e and ganache.

The best part ?

You can take everything ho me after the mas terclass – if there's any le ft! www.cocoabla ck.com

G RIDIN nd RIVER nding a u o p tr a e are h , aced riences If fast-p d expe e ng ll e lo u a -f line afting adrena 'll love r ort u h o s y , a g t s in d ju your th Locate tre, the er Tay. ity cen c e the Riv th is m o fr y y tr side wa e coun ir drive a h s th g Per lone. stunnin e trip a .com worth th cotland s g in ft a r r hitewate www.w

BUILD A BOUQUET An afternoon at Narcissus's floristry school and you'll be able to create beautiful bouquets for every occasion, from a 'Midsummer Night’s Dream' themed party to a custom bouquet with Scottish wildflowers. www. narcissusflowers.co.uk

E FAIRIES OFF WITH TH alled Garden's Archerfield W e iry Trail sees th Fa g enchantin ical ag m a on g in bark little ones em re he w discovering journey, from quiz. e to a fun fairy liv lk the fair fo n.com de ar dg lle wa ld www.archerfie

ER HUNT s E SCAVENG eChase app; it’ GOOSE CHAS nload the Goos w do d nt an hu r am ge te en ur av a sc Assemble yo k to complete ainst the cloc in Australia! er m m time to race ag su a in ty. You could w around the ci se.com ha ec www.goos

NO MORE CREEPYCRAWLIES Clinical hypnotherapist Morag Torrance will change arachnophobes' perception of these benevolent little weavers, helping you conquer your fear once and for all. www.edinburghzoo.org.uk

TS NEW HEIGH s in this ie sk e th to Take Let of Edinburgh. helicopter tour hile w u beneath yo the city unfold s, ew vi ng ni stun you enjoy the scape ty ci ng pi ee from the sw w.

Pentlands. ww to the rugged om .c nd tla co giftexperiences IS THIS THE REAL LIFE? Experience dimensions too good to be true and places beyond the limits of your imagination at Edinburgh’s first virtual reality arcade. www.e-vr.co.uk

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Your Backstage Pass to Edinburgh Go beyond the festival and discover the sights, secrets, and stories of Edinburgh.

Our in-depth city tours take you behind the scenes and into the heart of the festival’s stunning setting.

Find out more at www.rabbies.com or telephone +44(0)131 226 3133.

Prices from ÂŁ12.00

Award-winning small group tours

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30/06/2017 16:26

Unique Dining Experiences whilst touring the majestic City of Edinburgh

Explore it in style aboard our vintage bus while enjoying a Unique Dining Experience. Our

beautiful, stylish Red Vintage Bus is now a cosy sightseeing vehicle.

Climb aboard and get comfy as the bus

traverses the undulating terrain of Scotland's

capital. While witnessing grand sights such as

Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh Castle and

much more, tuck into a traditional afternoon tea, a famous Hard Rock Burger, or one of our wide variety of dining options.

We are fully licenced so why not treat yourself to a perfectly chilled bottle of champagne, a glass of Prosecco or one of our delicious gin

cocktails served in traditional tea pots. See this stunning city from a unique perspective.

Bookings: 01355 229 448 www.redbusbistro.co.uk EF2013_FP.indd 104

30/06/2017 16:30

21 THINGS TO DO CITY GUIDE

A BIRD IN THE HAND What better place to work on your falconry skills than in the stunning grounds of Dalhousie Castle? Interact with darting raptors or graceful owls surrounded by leafy greenery and connect with your inner woodland hunter. You can always take your medieval experience to the next level by trying your hand at recurve bow archery while you’re there. www.dalhousiecastle.co.uk

FAST & FURI OUS Have you alwa ys felt like you belong in an ac tion movie ca r chase? Get th at engine – an d your heart – ra cing with powe r laps around th e Ingliston Circuit. Rides include Porsch es and Lamborg hinis. www.ingliston .co.uk

TRIP LAZY RIVER e for the rg ba n Rent your ow rgh from bu in Ed y jo day and en int. ag er vant e po a beautiful riv h rg bu in Ed e th Float down d leave behind Union Canal an d the stress of the crowds an r the day. l the festiva fo .org.uk www.re-union

ARM WORK A CH ity and fru e th by d Inspire iranda, M en fabulous Carm op will sh rk wo s p' Emily Millchi vibrant e ak to m teach you how ns, so ai ch y ke d bag charms an n az a bit of Br ilia you can bring . ts tfi ou ge in ur Fr glamour to yo .org nd tla co ts af www.cr

BEACH PART Y Swap wellies for sandals an d head to Portob ello's annual music festiva l on the beach.

Expect live m usic, sand cast le competitions and chalk art. www.face book.com/ BigBeachBusk

CK BOUNCE BA s, climb le rd hu nd Jump arou ages and wake through pass in by visiting the child with est inflatable rg la ’s the world ly se – it definite obstacle cour ame. sh to s le st ca puts bouncy inth www.thelabyr m co e. challeng

TORTURE TOUR Delve into Edinburgh's bloody past with a historical tour of the painfully imaginative mechanisms used to extract information in Medieval times. www.auldreekietours.com 105

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CHILDREN DAVID WALLIAMS

READY

A E DY T S GO! The space race is on in Les Petits’ adaptation of David Walliams’s The First Hippo on the Moon WORDS MARK FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY THE OTHER RICHARD & DAVID PARRY

D

avid Walliams is not the first small screen star to exploit their celebrity status to flog a few books. The difference in the case of the Little Britain star, however, is he’s very good at it. The reason his junior market has lapped up the dozen or so novels plus the handful of picture books he’s turned out since 2008’s The Boy in the Dress is because they’re a great read. How else to account for sales in excess of 12.5 million and translation into 46 languages?

“The thing that attracted us to his work was the irreverence,” says Oliver Lansley, artistic director of Les Petits and adaptor of The First Hippo on the Moon, published by Walliams in 2016. “There’s a level of mischief and fun to it that was missing from a lot of children’s literature for a while. That’s why kids love it so much.”

Happily, the feeling was mutual. “I have loved their work for many years so I jumped at the chance to work with them,” says Walliams. “The book is full of humour, and I know they are the perfect choice of theatre company to bring that out as their shows are so irreverent and funny.”

But there’s no guarantee a story that’s worked well as a picture book will transfer smoothly to the stage. Lansley’s first job was to consider how to translate the silly-but-brief story of a hippo-based space race into an hour-long show.

“There are pros and cons,” says the playwright. “In the whole book there are very few words, but the plus side, it liberates you to create your own thing.”

As with any adaptation, it’s a question of capturing the essence of the original without feeling restrained by having to be faithful: “You’re trying to keep the spirit of it, the characters and the main themes but also you’re

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DAVID WALLIAMS CHILDREN

“I like the idea of hippos going to the moon as they are the animals least likely to”

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not beholden to text as you are with longer books. With a picture book, immediately you’re working with a visual language and it allows you a springboard to jump off and make big, bold decisions.”

And big, bold decisions are what this story cries out for.

“I have always been fascinated with the space race of the 1960s and wanted to do a spoof on that,” says Walliams. “I like the idea of hippos going to the moon as they are the animals least likely to.”

He was all for encouraging the company’s creative freedom and understood the play had to work on its own terms. Working with director Finn Caldwell and puppet designer Nick Barnes, Lansley set about giving theatrical form to Sheila, the hippo with a lunar ambition, and Hercules WaldorfFranklin III, her big-bucks rival with his custom-built Hippo Space Centre.

“The idea of doing a show with a cast entirely made up of puppets seemed like a WHERE & WHEN fun idea,” he says, describing the life-size David Walliams’ The First hippo costume, a giraffe so tall it bangs Hippo on the Moon, its head off the ceiling, not to mention a Pleasance Courtyard, 2–20 gorilla who just can’t stay awake. “We love August (not 15), 12pm, from £7 big, bold, visual theatre and this gave Tel: 0131 556 6550 us the opportunity to create an entire world on stage.”

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CHILDREN TRICK OF THE LIGHT THEATRE

Into the

Shadows Welcome to Trick of the Light Theatre’s paper world, a weird and wonderful fantasy realm that will captivate both children and grown ups WORDS CHIARA MARGIOTTA PHOTOGRAPHY ANITA PITU & RALPH MCCUBBIN HOWELL

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ike the mythical guardians of their stories, Trick of the Light Theatre man the bridge between “shows 4 kids” and “Real Theatre” with their exploration of the shadowy side of fairy tales in puppetry piece The Road That Wasn’t There.

“I’ve always been drawn to those darker fairy tales,” says director Hannah Smith, “I always loved being scared.” Modern gothic works like Pan’s Labyrinth and Neil Gaiman’s Coraline are clear influences, but writer Ralph McCubbin Howell also took inspiration from the folklore of the company’s native New Zealand. “I drew on quite a range of myths, both urban and rural. Things like sightings of mythical or extinct creatures, but also Maori legends, are woven into the play.”

Another aspect of New Zealand’s history contributed to his inspiration: the existence of paper roads. These are “streets which exist on maps but don’t exist in the real, physical world,” McCubbin Howell explains. “They would draw all these roads onto maps and grant them legal status before they’d even started work on them. The area where I grew up had all these paper roads and I was fascinated by that because it seemed like this kind of alternative reality.”

“Kids are often the savviest audience members”

McCubbin Howell combines the classic trope of magical portals with this cultural oddity, sending the protagonist, Maggie, down one of these very paper roads, into the realm of a fantastical paper world. This became the jumping off point for the puppets, created by Smith. “We started off talking about paper roads, and that was the touchstone for the design.” On the other hand, she points out, “we couldn’t afford any humans.”

The story follows multiple interconnecting storylines, beginning with an old mother recounting her youth before moving into a flashback retelling of her tale. “The puppets really lend themselves to the narrative,” McCubbin Howell says, “the story has a few different layers to it and we distinguish them through different forms: live action, puppetry and shadow play.”

Billed under theatre, The Road That Wasn’t There is aimed at both adults and older children.

Smith describes it as being in-keeping with “crossover works that have a foot in childhood and fantasy but are definitely negotiating some real world commentary,” while McCubbin Howell aims to avoid condescension. “I remember feeling frustrated as a kid when I felt like shows were talking down to me. As performers, we’ve found that kids are often the savviest audience members.

They see right what you’re getting at and they call a spade a spade.”

While they both agree this is “a story that’s about family and connection and not losing track of the people that you love,” it’s far removed from the simplistic messages of Disney films. Smith is quick to assert that there’s “no neat moral” to the tale, and instead they prefer to keep things nuanced and open to interpretation. “Younger audiences are becoming more sophisticated,” she says. “The Fringe is a great opportunity for kids to branch out. People can encounter such a diverse variety of works, and it’s no different in the field of children’s theatre.”

WHERE & WHEN The Road That Wasn’t There, 3-27 August (not 14, 21), Assembly Roxy, 2.35pm, from £10 Tel: 0131 226 0026

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A university of ideas and influence

Study in the festival city with Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

We offer students a welcoming and friendly community environment, with the optimum balance of theoretical and practical education to prepare them for successful careers.

We have widely recognised expertise in our flagship areas of Creativity & Culture; Health & Rehabilitation; and Sustainable Business, and deliver a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Along with our high quality teaching, we are renowned for relevant research and knowledge exchange work which focuses on making a positive impact on society.

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FESTIVAL 3 1 J U LY - 2 8 A U G U S T 2 0 1 7 W W W . O P E N E Y E G A L L E R Y. C O . U K 34 ABERCROMBY PLACE EDINBURGH EH3 6QE JACK KNOX • JOHN BELLANY • BARBARA RAE LEON MORROCCO • ALBERTO MORROCCO John Bellany, detail of Celtic Sacrifice, oil on canvas, 1971

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ADAM HARGREAVES BOOKS

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uthor and illustrator Adam Hargreaves was inspired to create his new character Molly Mischief by memories of his own daughter as a child. In My Perfect Pet, aimed at three to five year olds, Molly brings home animals from the zoo, including an elephant, a giraffe and a polar bear.

“It’s about the power of imagination but taking it from a child’s perspective. There is a big chunk of my daughter in her. She has a very strong will.”

Molly wants a big pet, a large pet, a giant pet and then a huge pet, and nothing is going to stop her. “I have a lot of ideas.

I think they are very good ideas, but not everyone agrees,” she says.

Her elephant squashes her parents’ car, her giraffe crashes through the roof of the house and the polar bear gets too hot in her bedroom, forcing her to take them back to the zoo. Hargreaves’s idea was to recreate the fantasy world of children, where everything is possible even if it makes no sense.

“It’s about the power of imagination” “I loved the idea of the strength of imagination that children have, that allows them to believe in whatever they are playing. So it was taking that idea and putting it in a book – so Molly could do whatever she wanted to do.”

It is his first book – although as the son of Mr Men and Little Miss creator Roger Hargreaves, he has worked as a writer and illustrator for 30 years. In fact, the very first Mr Man was his idea. “When I was very little I asked him what a tickle looked like and that started off the idea. Initially he drew a tickle, then he moved on to other human characteristics and emotions.”

Roger Hargreaves died unexpectedly in 1988 at the age of 53, prompting Adam to take over his business. “My

MR. MAN From the iconic Mr. Tickle to newcomer Molly Mischief, Adam Hargreaves has a knack for creating memorable characters WORDS CLAIRE SMITH ILLUSTRATION ADAM HARGREAVES

mum inherited the company and I started helping her. But then, gradually, I became more creatively involved.”

After the family decided to sell the business in 2004, he found himself with more time, returning to painting and toying with the idea of a book of his own.

Like the Mr Men books, the illustrations in Molly Mischief have simple lines. “I have been drawing Mr Men books for so long, the style has become a part of me. But Molly is much more my style. It’s much more realistic.”

Just as the Mr Men books encapsulated his father’s sense of humour, he says Molly Mischief, for which he has a three-book deal with Pavilion, reflects his own sense of fun.

“When it comes to writing books, I really want to entertain children.

I want them to be amused by the story.”

He is looking forward to meeting pre-school children and their parents at the Book Festival, and plans to demonstrate how to draw some of the animals featured in the book.

“I am particularly proud of Molly. I have written more than 100 books but this is the first one I have written under my own name.”

WHERE & WHEN Pet Problems with Adam Hargreaves, Bailie Gifford Imagination Lab, 15-16 August, times vary, from £5 Tel: 0845 373 5888

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ART JAC LEIRNER

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ac Leirner says her art has three characteristics: “Humour, mathematics and paradoxes.”

It’s what makes the Brazilian artist’s work so approachable. She communicates directly, without the need for footnotes. “People not only enjoy it, they understand it,” she says. “Somehow they know exactly what each work means.”

It’s not exactly that her first solo exhibition in Scotland is designed to be laugh-out-loud funny, although she sometimes deals in jokes. It’s more that in her re-appropriation of everyday objects, she is ever likely to startle and delight. “These materials belong to all of us, not to me alone,” she says. “It shows people that the possibility of making something out of something else is right there at your fingertips.”

Take Blue Phase. This piece from 1991 is made up of decommissioned bank notes, lined up to snake across

the gallery floor. Or there’s Corpus Delicti, a display of ashtrays she pilfered from airplane armrests in the days of in-flight smoking, shown with the corresponding boarding passes. One recent work consists of 30 spirit levels of varying lengths sitting in neat horizontal rows at the junction of two walls.

Leirner’s stock in trade, in other words, is the ephemera of modern living. She has worked with cigarette packets, plastic bags and electric cables – material that is all around us, yet taken for granted. With a keen eye for colour (the same keen eye that creates her associated watercolours), she makes arrangements that allow us to see such material afresh.

“Colour has always been a very important part of the whole thing,” she says, noting the parallels between her sculptures and the geometrical arrangements of her paintings. “They are practically the same. You see both side by side, they have a lot to do with each other.”

FLYING COLOURS The Fruitmarket Gallery comes alive with Jac Leirner’s vibrant reinterpretations of everyday objects and modern life WORDS MARK FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE FRUITMARKET GALLERY

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JAC LEIRNER ART

“The possibility of making something out of something else is right at your fingertips” If the 21st-century sculptures on show at the Fruitmarket have an elemental clarity, it is a clarity born of painstaking work. Having collected objects, she can think about them for years. “I experiment with them and discard most of the ideas I have,” she says. “To put materials together I will need to find a solution,

a technique, so that they keep together. Most of the ways don’t satisfy me, so I discard ideas until I get to the point that I think the materials feel really comfortable with themselves.”

Time plays a key part. On the one hand, the passing years bring new inspiration, on the other, they affect the look and texture of the material itself. Additionally, a lot of her work is autobiographical, representing life events, such as journeys she’s taken, that necessarily take time.

“It’s funny because I keep working through the years or even the decades with the materials, but in the end I get to the most simple solution, like a line with hundreds and thousands of pieces of the same material,” she says. “After I’ve tried many other possibilities, I get to the simplest one. It’s hard to get there but it’s so great when you see that what you have constructed really seems to be at its best.”

WHERE & WHEN Jac Leirner Checklist, Fruitmarket Gallery, until 22 October, 11am-6pm (5pm on Sun), free Tel: 0131 225 2383

www.edfestmag.com

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ART STEPHEN SUTCLIFFE

LAYER CAKE Look beyond the surface of Stephen Sutcliffe’s mixed-media works WORDS MARK FISHER

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tephen Sutcliffe recommends you watch his video works twice. Like music that insinuates itself on repeated listens, the Glasgow-based artist’s films repay the extra scrutiny. “The first time you watch, you could be amused,” he says. “Then you watch it for a second time and you see a darker or more serious aspect to it.”

The 48-year-old artist specialises in mixed-media collages, typically disrupting some piece of found footage, such as an erudite discussion from a 1960s television programme, with contrasting images or animations. The more you get your head around the visual surprises, collisions and juxtapositions, the richer it becomes. “When I was young, I used to watch programmes that were far over my head,” he says. “Then I’d go to the library and try and find out what they were about. I’m up for all those

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY LINDSAY ANDERSON ARCHIVE, UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING & STEPHEN SUTCLIFFE

STEPHEN SUTCLIFFE ART

different responses: people who find it funny or disturbing or people who want to look into the material.”

The starting point for his latest exhibition, Sex Symbols in Sandwich Signs, is the relationship between the writer David Storey and the filmmaker Lindsay Anderson. Storey, like Sutcliffe, was born to a working-class Yorkshire family, and was at home neither in the arty world he moved to nor the plain-speaking one he’d left. Anderson, by contrast, was the privately educated son of an army officer, whose repressed homosexual attraction to actors such as Richard Harris seem to find a parallel in Storey’s 1963 novel, Radcliffe.

The themes of identity, class and repression are characteristic of Sutcliffe’s work. “People like Anderson and the free-cinema movement were the first to examine working-class life in a respectful way,” he says, harbouring a love of the social-realist texts of the post-war kitchen-sink movement. “Storey went to art school in London but was playing rugby league professionally in the north. His club used to think he was arty-farty and the art-school people thought he was a thug. He said he could only write when he was on the train in between. I’m interested in that

“I don’t like my works to look laboured” www.edfestmag.com

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separation between your background and your career.”

It’s a separation he’s experienced for himself. “My room in my mum and dad’s house looked so much different to everybody else’s room; I had paintings up and books everywhere,” he says. “I think I wanted to be an Oxford don. I have that feeling of alienation from both my background and my present situation. I’m not fully accepted either way and that’s an underlying theme.”

For all their immediacy, his pieces have a depth that repays further study. For that reason, as well as screening older films and showcasing new video work, the exhibition will dip into Sutcliffe’s WHERE & WHEN substantial archive of images, texts, books Sex Symbols in and photographs. “I don’t like my works to Sandwich Signs: look laboured,” he says. “They’re concise Stephen Sutcliffe, and distilled from all the information I’ve Talbot Rice Gallery, 28 collected, so I think people will be surprised July-30 September, times by how much effort goes into them.” vary, free In the same way that a joke juxtaposes Tel: 0131 650 2210 two contrasting ideas to make us laugh, so Sutcliffe’s video collages bring together disparate images before revealing the method in their madness. “I welcome people finding things funny as long as it’s not something you walk away from giggling,” he says. “There’s more than that in them.

Elements of humour are transferable: punning, reversal of situations, unexpected endings. Some works are not funny but use the surprise elements that come from humour; others do have humour and that’s good because it pulls people in.”

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FOOD FOODIES FESTIVAL

FESTIVAL FEASTING Foodies Festival returns to Inverleith Park bigger and better than ever.

Expect culinary masterclasses from Michelin starred and TV chefs, live music from local favourites and, of course, lots of delicious food WORDS CHIARA MARGIOTTA

F

OODIES FESTIVAL will be making a triumphant return to its Edinburgh home in Inverleith Park on 4th, 5th and 6th August, bringing a whole new host of delicious delights to the city.

Start the day off with a stroll down the Street Food Avenue, where you can taste your way through international delicacies and discover your favourite new dishes from remote corners of the world. At the Artisan Market, try samples from local producers, and pick up exciting new condiments to add to your pantry, then catch a live performance from fantastic local bands at the unsigned live music stage.

For a little cooking inspiration, head to the Stoves Chefs Theatre, where some of the most talented chefs around will be whipping up fabulous dishes. Scotland’s Great British Menu representative and winner of the coveted main course dish Michael Bremner will be showcasing his skills, while local legends Paul Wedgwood and Neil Forbes bring their unique style of cooking to the stage. MasterChef 2016 winner Jane Devonshire will be showcasing her favourite family recipes, while Michelin-starred chefs Brian Grigor and Marcello Tully add a pinch of luxurious flair. Plus, to get a taste of the Fringe at Foodies, don’t miss out on comedian Tim Vine’s hilarious cooking demo.

If all of this has you feeling hungry, pull up a chair at one of our Restaurant Tents and get

“Celebrate the best in food and drink this summer”

tasting. Sample your way through mini signature dishes from local Japanese eatery Maki and Ramen, treat yourself to something meaty from steak experts Cau or discover the flavours of the Basque Country with Bilbao Bizkaia.

Sweet toothed visitors will love the stunning demos in the Cakes & Desserts Theatre. If you need to quench your thirst, there are plenty of wine, champagne and craft beer tastings going on in the Drinks Theatre. Young foodies need not miss out either, with exciting science-based kids cookery classes on all weekend in the Children’s Cookery Theatre.

Our brand new Healthy Living Zone features free hourly yoga classes and guided meditation with lululemon so you can get your zen on and nutrition talks with former Olympic swimmer Keri-Anne Payne.

There’s no better way to celebrate the best in food and drink this summer. www.foodiesfestival.com

TOP FIVE AT FOODIES FESTIVAL MEET PRUE LEITH The new Great British Bake Off judge will be sharing her top baking tips at the Chefs Theatre.

ANTHROPOLOGIE VIP TENT Live the high life in the luxury VIP tent, exclusively styled by Anthropologie, and featuring coffee art demos by Nespresso.

TIM VINE COMEDY COOKING DEMO Comedian Tim Vine takes to the stage with a Fringe-worthy cooking demo. Catch him at the Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 9, 16), 4pm A TASTE OF BILBAO Bilbao Bizkaia will be bringing a taste of Basque Country with local wine and food samplings.

SUCCESS EXPRESS LIVE MUSIC STAGE Exciting unsigned local bands take to the stage.

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FOODIES FESTIVAL FOOD

WHERE & WHEN Foodies Festival, Inverleith Park, 4-6 August, 11am Fri, 10am Sat & Sun, from £8 Fri; from £10 Sat & Sun

www.edfestmag.com

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TOWER TERRACE

is open

Marking the start of summer with our new seafood and Champagne menu Open all day from 10am until 11pm, 7 days a week

“Exquisite oyster and shellfish” THE NEW YORK TIMES

THE TOWER

Tower Restaurant 5th floor, National Museum of Scotland Chambers Street, Edinburgh www.tower-restaurant.com

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MICHELIN STAR FOOD

Hungry?

Our complete guide to the city’s best foodie haunts kicks off with Michelin stars

A tasting tour WORDS CHIARA MARGIOTTA

21212

natural larder comes first at this Michelin-starred restaurant, headed by chef patron Tom Kitchin.

Expect indulgent French dishes made brighter with the addition of seasonal ingredients, like Inverurie veal sweetbreads, Eassie Farm asparagus and Kitchin’s famous rolled pig’s head with Tobermory langoustine.

Top Dish It might sound like it can’t get any better than braised Highland wagyu short rib, but the addition of bone marrow marmalade truly kicks it up a notch.

3 Royal Terrace www.21212restaurant.co.uk 0131 523 1030

21212 offers a dining experience like no other. The weekly changing menu features a combination of set dishes for some courses and options for others, allowing diners to discover exciting culinary delights without the limitations of a traditional set menu. While head chef Paul Kitching takes inspiration from contemporary French cuisine, unexpected twists stamp his trademark onto each unique dish.

Top Dish The bold trifle with rhubarb and ginger compote and sweetcorn and cashews dessert.

NUMBER ONE Balmoral Hotel, 1 Princes Street www.roccofortehotels.com 0131 557 6727

THE KITCHIN 78 Commercial Street www.thekitchin.com 0131 555 1755

From nature to plate, nose to tail and Orkney to the Borders, The Kitchin celebrates all things Scottish. Showcasing Scotland’s www.edfestmag.com

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Clockwise from top: The Kitchin, Restaurant Martin Wishart

With the capital’s most coveted address and 15 years of Michelin stardom under their belt, Number One at the 5 star Balmoral Hotel is Edinburgh’s home of unparalleled luxury. Leaders in modern Scottish cuisine, the country’s natural larder is at the heart of Number One’s

menu, featuring exquisite local ingredients including Inverurie hogget, East Lothian lobster and Whitmuir organic pork.

Top Dish Head Chef Brian Grigor’s signature whisky smoked salmon recipe took 18 months to perfect, granting it legendary status.

RESTAURANT MARTIN WISHART 54 Shore www.restaurantmartinwishart.co.uk 0131 553 3557

Traditional French cuisine is elevated to wonderfully delicate and delicious heights under Martin Wishart’s watchful eye. By combining classic flavour pairings with expert skill and awe-inspiring presentation, diners are awarded a taste of utter indulgence. Holding a Michelin star since 2001, you can sit down in complete confidence that a new memory has just begun.

Top Dish The Valrhona Dulcey Chocolate Cremeux is the ultimate in chocolate puds.

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FOOD FINE DINING

These cutting-edge restaurants have innovative cuisine down to a fine art LE ROI FOU 1 Forth Street www.leroifou.com 0131 557 9346

Founded by chef patron and former head chef at Anton Mosimann’s Private Dining Club Jérôme Henry, Le Roi Fou burst onto the capital’s foodie scene just this year. Already making waves with its contemporary European fare, this artistically designed bijou eatery brings a creative flair to fine dining with a stunning menu.

Top Dish Treat yourself to the homemade foie gras, cooked in mead to really amp up the favour.

THE POMPADOUR BY GALVIN Waldorf Astoria, Princes Street www.thepompadourbygalvin.com 0131 222 8975

Experience pure luxury at The Pompadour by Galvin. With three AA Rosettes under their belt, one of Edinburgh’s most stunning dining rooms as their

FESTIVAL FIREWORKS DINNER ON 28 AUGUST

Timberyard

FESTIVAL FIR EWO R KS DINN ER T H E O N L Y W A Y T O C E L E B R ATE T HE E N D O F T H E F E S T I V AL Make sure your evening goes off with a bang and enjoy a delicious three course dinner with matched wines and live music, followed by fireworks on the terrace.

F ESTIVAL FIRE WORKS D INNER – £105 Champagne on arrival Three courses with matched wines Forth Floor Restaurant, Harvey Nichols Edinburgh MONDAY 28 AUGU ST, 6.30PM For more information or to make a reservation, please contact Forth Floor Reservations on 0131 524 8350

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setting and a whole host of mouthwatering dishes on the menu, this elegant restaurant reimagines classic French cuisine.

Top Dish The delicious lasagne of North Berwick crab with beurre Nantais is divine.

PURSLANE 33A St Stephen Street www.purslanerestaurant.co.uk 0131 226 3500

Headed by chef patron Paul Gunning, who trained under greats like Marco Pierre White, Purslane offers diners classic flavour pairings, enhanced with the finest local ingredients. Keeping things informal and approachable, this Stockbridge restaurant allows its fine dining fare to shine in a relaxed setting.

Top Dish Tuck into the harissa marinated pork ribeye with star anise glazed pork cheek to experience real melt-in-yourmouth flavours.

T H E B E ST O F T H E F R INGE FEST O N FO RTH Join us this August for cabaret, comedy and cocktails.

Sunday 6, 13, 20 & 27 August Doors open at 7.30pm Dinner from 7.30pm, show starts at 9.30pm DINNER , COCKTAIL & S HOW – £38 To book, please call 0131 558 9005, or visit outstandingtickets.com COCKTAIL & S HOW – £16.50 To book, please call 0131 226 0000, or book online at edfringe.com

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FINE DINING FOOD

RESTAURANT MARK GREENAWAY 69 North Castle Street www.markgreenaway.com 0131 226 1155

Taking Scottish cuisine to its most modern and creative level, Restaurant Mark Greenaway delivers awe-inspiring dishes full of colour and flair. Chef patron Mark Greenaway has a sharp eye, making the dishes look as good as they taste.

Top Dish The duo of West Coast scallops is topped with delicious pork crackling and soy caramel.

THE TOWER National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street www.tower-restaurant.com 0131 225 3003

The Tower’s location atop the National Museum of Scotland is just as appealing as its stunning views of the cityscape. Plus, the menu is packed full of beautifully prepared tasty local ingredients.

Top Dish The indulgent peanut butter parfait with salted caramel popcorn is a sweet lover’s dream.

WEDGWOOD THE RESTAURANT 267 Canongate www.wedgwoodtherestaurant. co.uk 0131 558 8737

By taking full advantage of homegrown and foraged local ingredients to develop creative dishes, chef patron Paul Wedgwood has garnered a reputation for innovation. Serving up fantastic fine dining quality food in a relaxed environment, Wedgwood is just the place to kick back and indulge.

Top Dish The lobster thermidor crème brûlée with Bloody Mary sorbet is an exquisite invention.

THE WITCHERY 352 Castlehill www.thewitchery.com 0131 225 5613

An Edinburgh institution famed for its dramatic atmosphere and historic location at the gates to Edinburgh Castle, dining at GREAT FOR COUPLES The Witchery is a LOOKING magical experience.

FOR ROMANCE Couples looking for a romantic spot should definitely visit.

Top Dish Nicknamed ‘the king of the sea’, the roast turbot on the bone with fennel croquettes makes for fresh and tasty main. www.edfestmag.com

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TASTING MENU AIZLE 107-109 St Leonard’s Street www.aizle.co.uk 0131 662 9349

Champions of seasonality, Aizle has a unique dining structure: with no menu, diners instead consult the blackboard to discover that month’s ‘harvest’.

Using these changing ingredients, the talented chefs curate a fantastic five course culinary journey, presented with artistic grace and bursting with flavour.

Top Dish The beauty of Aizle is that there is no top dish. Instead, you are treated to something new with each visit.

We recommend going for the 7-course taster menu – once it starts, you’ll never want it to end.

Top Dish While the menus constantly SAMPLE change with THE ORGANIC the seasons, WINE their signature sourdough bread is a staple: made with a unique Orcadian beremeal, it’s worth the visit in itself.

CASTLE TERRACE 33-35 Castle Terrace www.castleterracerestaurant.com 0131 229 1222

With chef patron Dominic Jack at the helm, Castle Terrace presents its own style of British cooking merged with French accents, and modernised with an innovative spin on classic ingredients. Careful design brings an elegant and exciting look to Jack’s creative dishes, making for a beautifully memorable feast.

Top Dish The hand dived Orkney scallop is paired with curry sauce ‘Castle Terrace style’, for a fine dining twist on a late night favourite.

garden incorporated into clever dishes, all brought together in a social dining environment that encourages guests to enjoy the adventure together.

Top Dish The menu constantly changes, but treats like soup made with nettle and lovage from the restaurant garden often make an appearance.

THE GARDENER’S COTTAGE

NORN

1 Royal Terrace Gardens www.thegardenerscottage.co 0131 558 1221

50-54 Henderson Street www.nornrestaurant.com 0131 629 2525

A sense of community drives The Gardener’s Cottage. With its long communal tables and cosy atmosphere, it feels more like dining in someone’s home than in a restaurant. Seasonality is at the forefront, with fresh vegetables and herbs from the house

With a focus on foraging and sustainability, every meal at Norn is a unique exploration of Scotland’s natural larder.

The finest seasonal ingredients are put together with plenty of creative flare, and served up by the chefs themselves.

Clockwise from top: Norn, Castle Terrace, Aizle

SEASONS 36 Broughton Street www.seasonstasting.co.uk 0131 466 9851

Put your trust in Seasons and dive into a one-of-a-kind tasting experience. Combining local Scottish ingredients with interesting additions from Scandinavia, head chef Michael Urry’s dishes are all about discovery, made even better by their carefully selected wine pairings.

Top Dish As the name suggests, the menu is dependant on the seasons, but look out for fresh local produce like rhubarb and wild nettle.

TIMBERYARD 10 Lady Lawson Street www.timberyard.co 0131 221 1222

Complementing its natural, stripped back wooden warehouse interiors, the food style at Timberyard is all about rustic simplicity. They select the best seasonal ingredients, and let them shine. Choose from a four, six or eight course taster menu filled with local produce and enjoy the delicious ride.

Top Dish The duck breast and leg, served with carrot, tarragon and chard, uses simple flavours to create mind-blowing results.

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LOCAL INGREDIENTS WITH MODERN FLAIR & CHARM A HIDDEN GEM IN THE NEWTOWN, EDINBURGH

1 Albany Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3PY 0131 557 4366 www.themagnumrestaurant.co.uk

Family-run bistro Open every day from 11.30am throughout August 55-57 West Nicolson Street Reservations on 0131 662 4493

Here at The Magnum Restaurant ingredients and work closely with local suppliers in Scotland to guarantee freshness and quality.

87-91 Henderson St. EH6 6ED 0131 554 4444 Local, independent draught beers, relaxed dining, stunning wines, bespoke cocktails & international bottled beers all served looking over the best view of The Shore in Leith.

The perfect escape.

Sunday Roasts Silent Book Club Live Music Charity Events Board Games & more...

Kids & Dogs Welcome

Call us for bookings.

For more details, find us online: @bakersarmsedi

thebakersarmsedinburgh.co.uk

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SCOTTISH FOOD

Bonnie Caledonia has no shortage of delicious fare, from classic haggis, neeps and tatties to foraged rosemary ice cream ANGELS WITH BAGPIPES 343 High Street www.angelswithbagpipes.co.uk 0131 220 1111

Set within a historic 17th century building on the iconic Royal Mile, Angels with Bagpipes is in the heart of the capital, and its menu captures the capital’s heart. Classic dishes and flavour pairings are reimagined with subtle contemporary additions and innovative techniques, bringing a touch of modernity to Scottish cuisine – without forgetting its rustic roots.

Top Dish The traditional haggis, neeps and tatties with smooth whisky sauce is given an edge with lashes of salty, smoky pancetta.

THE DINING ROOM AT THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY 28 Queen Street www.thediningroomedinburgh. co.uk 0131 220 2044

The recently refurbished Dining Room at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is all about highlighting Scotland’s finest ingredients, and perfectly pairing them with a wee dram. With original Georgian features, a new Charles Heidsieck champagne table and an extensive whisky menu, the Dining Room promises a sophisticated yet delicious dining experience.

Top Dish The vegetarian menu boasts some particularly creative dishes, like the Jersualem artichoke and hazelnut agnolotti with carrot consommé.

THE DOGS 110 Hanover Street www.thedogsonline.co.uk 0131 220 1208

Canine-themed decorations add a touch of fun eccentricity to this laid-back eatery. The menu is made up of simple, straightforward and delicious Scottish fare. The pared back dishes let the locally sourced ingredients shine and, judging by their recently awarded Bib Gourmand, it works. With competitive prices to boot, a hearty and pocket-friendly lunch here is www.edfestmag.com

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Clockwise from top: Lovage, Forage and Chatter

the perfect pick-me-up between touring the Fringe.

Top Dish The crowd-pleasing Kedgeree at just over a fiver is a guaranteed hit.

FIELD 41 West Nicolson Street www.fieldrestaurant.co.uk 0131 667 7010

Great ingredients CLOSE and adventurous TO GEORGE SQUARE flair are Field’s GARDENS trademark. Their unique menu definitely stands out, with local favourites like salmon and sea buckthorn featuring alongside more unusual offerings like sour ale marshmallow. This is a dining experience that will intrigue and delight, from starter to dessert.

Top Dish The rich duck hearts are brightened up with blueberries and braised fennel.

FORAGE & CHATTER

HOWIES RESTAURANT

1A Alva Street www.forageandchatter.com 0131 225 4599

10-14 Victoria Street www.howies.uk.com 0131 225 1721

A delightful new addition to the West End, the menu at Forage & Chatter focuses on foraged ingredients served up in a relaxed, chatter-inducing atmosphere. The seasonal nature of their menu means dishes change regularly, giving diners the chance to expand their food horizons with every visit.

Top Dish Wonderfully scented rosemary ice cream brings a sumptuous savoury edge to the sweet and sticky lemon cake, served up with apple and caramel.

Fuss-free and simple, Howies serves up classic Scottish cuisine in a comfortable and casual environment. The home-style dishes are created with a passion and skill that makes them stand out, and the fairly priced, generous set lunch menu is a saviour during the festival period.

Top Dish The homemade Cullen skink can’t be missed.

GRAIN STORE 30 Victoria Street www.grainstore-restaurant.co.uk 0131 225 7635

Romantic and intimate, the candlelit glow on the historic stone walls of the Grain Store gives it a dramatic atmosphere – ideal for couples looking to experience some of that famous Old Town charm. The exquisite menu sings of traditionally styled luxury, with sumptuous options like roe deer and Borders lamb making triumphant appearances, alongside indulgent classics like foie gras and oysters.

Top Dish The seared wood pigeon starter makes a great foray into the fabulous world of Scottish game.

LOVAGE 38 St Mary’s Street www.lovagerestaurant.co.uk 0131 557 5754

Scottish produce is given a unique European makeover at Lovage.

Headed by brothers Lukasz and Bartek Jederjek, this bright and modern eatery stands out in the cobblestoned streets of the Old Town. The tasty menu changes with the seasons but you can always expect one thing: creativity.

Top Dish The chocolate fondant with pine sorbet is such a hit, it makes a frequent encore on the ever-changing menu.

THE MAGNUM 1 Albany Street www.themagnumrestaurant.co.uk 0131 557 4366

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FOOD SCOTTISH

BRUNCH THE HERRINGBONE 2 South Trinity Road www.theherringbone.co.uk 0131 552 3292

After making its Edinburgh debut this year, The Herringbone has proved it can do it all, from breakfast fodder straight through to dinner. The good’n’simple egg options are perfect for a midweek pick-meup. If you’ve had a wild Fringe night out and are feeling a wee bit worse for wear, their Bloody Mary will definitely perk you up.

LOUDONS 94B Fountainbridge www.loudons.co.uk 0131 228 9774

Loudons is never without a queue come weekend brunch hour, and it’s easy to see why.

Their in-house bakery, extensive eggs benny menu and gluten free and vegan options mean everyone’s brekkie cravings will be more than satisfied.

MILK 45 Market Street www.cafemilk. co.uk 0131 226 8195

Start off a stroll around The Fruitmarket Gallery with a glorious brunch at MILK. Try the Breakfast Burrito – whether you go for the smoky chorizo version or the veggiefriendly wrap, it’s the perfect way to fill up before viewing some art.

THE PANTRY 1 North West Circus Place www.thepantryedinburgh.co.uk 0131 629 0206

Notorious for its famous eggs benedict and monster breakfast waffles, The Pantry is a local fave. Veggie options are in abundance and if you’re lucky enough to visit on a sunny day, you can brunch al fresco while catching some rays.

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has been going strong since the early 80s – but that doesn’t stop them competing with the new kids on the block when it comes to style. Classic combos are given new life and the beautiful location only adds extra charm to the experience.

Top Dish The traditional pairing of goats cheese and beetroot is jazzed up with a beetroot honeycomb.

NEW CHAPTER 18 Eyre Place www.newchapterrestaurant.co.uk 0131 556 0006

A contemporary spot in the stylish New Town, New Chapter uses international influences and thoughtful flavour pairings to spice up the stars of Scotland’s natural larder. The menu is of fine dining quality, served up with beautiful presentation and plenty of pizzazz, yet there’s nothing pretentious about it. Just sit back, relax and enjoy.

Top Dish Try the hand dived Ullapool scallops, served with pork belly and black pudding terrine, and freshened up with curried apple.

ONE SQUARE 1 Festival Square www.onesquareedinburgh.co.uk 0131 221 6422

One Square at The Sheraton offers diners the chance to delight in views across Edinburgh Castle thanks to their panoramic windows. Take in the stunning cityscape while you feast on the highest THE BEST quality Scottish VIEW IN fare, always served TOWN with an elegant touch for that extra special edge. A real taste of the capital.

Top Dish The delicious Scottish steak tartare, topped with confit yolk, is One Square’s signature starter.

Clockwise from above: One Square, New Chapter, Milk, Loudons

RHUBARB Priestfield Road www.prestonfield.com 0131 225 1333

The youngest sibling in James Thomson’s trio of theatrical restaurants, Rhubarb’s lavish style is perfectly at home in the 5 star Prestonfield House. Glamour and romance are top of the bill at this gourmet spot, with Scottish produce given an indulgent makeover to create a fine dining experience – prepare to fall in love.

Top Dish The Orkney brown crab cocktail is given a salty kick with the addition of seaweed popcorn.

THE SCRAN AND SCALLIE 1 Comely Bank Road www.scranandscallie.com 0131 332 6281

Newly awarded a Bib Gourmand this year, The Scran and Scallie takes pub grub to tasty new heights. Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin’s latest venture incorporates all the cosy, feel good factors of a classic pub with top

quality restaurant fare. Expect lots of rustic charm.

Top Dish The Scran & Scallie steak pie is comfort food at its finest.

STAC POLLY 29-33 Dublin Street www.stacpolly.com 0131 556 2231

From cosy tartan THE furnishings PERFECT PLACE FOR to the locallyYOUR FIRST TASTE OF sourced menu, HAGGIS Stac Polly is Caledonia through and through. Despite the nods to Scottish culture in decoration, Stac Polly is no tourist gimmick.

Their mission is to highlight the excellence of our native produce, and they’ve definitely accomplished it.

Top Dish If it’s your first Edinburgh visit, you can’t miss out on the signature baked haggis filo parcels.

THE STOCKBRIDGE RESTAURANT 54 St Stephen Street www.thestockbridgerestaurant. co.uk 0131 226 6766

A cosy and romantic eatery in the boutique part of town, The Stockbridge Restaurant offers guests fine dining fodder without the fuss. The special Sunday menu offers 2 courses for £26.95, making for a great excuse to schedule in a little quality time for two.

Top Dish The grilled halibut comes with an intriguing crab and scallop beignet and sumptuous langoustine bisque. www.edfestmag.com

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The perfect destination on Edinburgh’s iconic Royal Mile to escape the festival mayhem for a freshly cooked refuel or cocktail

EAT. DRINK. LOUNGE.

ITCHYCOO BAR & KITCHEN

Radisson Blu Hotel, 80 High Street, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 1TH. Tel: 0131 557 9797 radissonblu.com/en/hotel-edinburgh

The Barony Bar & Gastropub EST. 1886

WE LOVE EDINBURGHʼS FESTIVAL BUZZ! MAKE A BEE-LINE FOR OUR BRUNCHES, SALADS, CAKES & GELATO, WITH GREAT OPTIONS FOR KIDS TOO AND PLENTY OF OUTSIDE SEATING ON THE SUNNIEST CORNER IN BRUNTSFIELD.

WWW.HONEYCOMBANDCO.COM

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Cask Ales, 70 Whiskies, Award Winning Wines & Champagnes, Cocktails, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Fresh Scottish Produce 81-85 Broughton Street, EH1 3RJ | 0131 556 9251 | info@thebarony.co.uk | www.thebarony.co.uk

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Hidden in the back cobbled streets of Stockbridge is Boston & Hawthorne Curiosities & Oddities Emporium.

A charming step back in time, to a mini museum bar and eatery where you can enjoy a list of food and drinks with a twist like no other.

Boston & Hawthorne. 50 Dean Street, EH4 1LQ Open 12pm - 1am. Bookings for food advised. T: 0131 261 5126

bar parties cocktails chef’s table private dining salon dining room

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Join us for what can be your hidden gem.

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FRENCH FOOD

Whether you fancy a romantic tête-à-tête or a little haute cuisine, Edinburgh’s French restaurants have plenty of joie de vivre

CHEZ JULES 109 Hanover Street www.chezjulesbistro. com 0131 226 6992

A little slice of Paris, Chez Jules offers diners traditional, fuss-free French classics from escargot to frog’s legs. The tables are bedecked with red gingham tablecloths and there’s always a bustle of hungry diners, proving its reputation amongst the locals. The £9.90 three course lunch menu is a prime mid-Fringe pick-me-up.

Top Dish Grab a loved one and sit down to share the slow braised French rabbit leg in Dijon mustard.

CAFÉ MARLAYNE 76 Thistle Street www.cafemarlayne.com 0131 226 2230

Tucked away in the cobbles of charming Thistle Street, Café Marlayne offers a cosy retreat from the George Street crowds.

With such an intimate setting, this stylish wee eatery is ideal for a romantic rendezvous. And, with great value menus and rustic, fussfree dishes delighting your taste buds, it’s an all-round deal – one you don’t want to miss!

Top Dish For a French bistro classic, try the sumptuous confit duck leg.

CAFÉ ST HONORÉ 34 North West Thistle Street Lane www.cafesthonore.com 0131 226 2211

A picture perfect Parisian bistro in the heart of Edinburgh, Café St Honore is more than just an ode to classic French cooking. Fresh, seasonal Scottish produce steers the menu, which is updated every day. The thoughtful use of local suppliers and carefully selected ingredients gives this intimate eatery an interesting edge – it wasn’t named Restaurant of the Year 2017 for nothing.

Top Dish A staple on the changing menu is head chef Neil Forbes’s Belhaven Smoked Salmon, which is cured to a secret recipe.

BARGAIN HUNTERS: TRY THE LUNCH MENU

CÔTE BRASSERIE 51 Frederick Street www.cote-restaurants.co.uk 0131 202 6256

Above: Cafe St Honore Below: Villeneuve Wines

CAFÉ TARTINE 72 Commercial Street www.cafetartine.co.uk 0131 554 2588

Simple, rustic cooking takes centre stage at Café Tartine, which offers a welcoming dining experience from breakfast till dinner. Sip on a café au lait and a breakfast crêpe, or sit down to a steaming bowl of fabulous moules marinière and a chilled glass of Chablis for the full Gallic experience.

Top Dish Nothing says France like cheese. Grab a friend and dive into the baked Camemembert for two.

Speciality produce is imported directly from France to ensure Côte Brasserie’s menu is as authentic as can be. Francophiles will love everything from the French onion soup to the tasty pork rillettes.

Top Dish Treat yourself to a chargrilled steak topped with exquisite Roquefort butter.

Rustic Mediterranean cuisine

by Jean-Michel, Morgan and their team.

WINE MERCHANTS APPELLATION WINES 43 Dalry Road www.appellationwines.co.uk 0131 202 0985

Bored of big brands?

Appellation’s selection of artisan wines from small producers will definitely fix that.

GREAT GROG BOTTLE SHOP 2 Dalkeith Road www.greatgrogshop.co.uk 0131 667 2855

The wine collection at Great Grog www.edfestmag.com

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Bottle Shop has been carefully handpicked, while the craft beer selection is second to none.

VILLENEUVE WINES 49A Broughton Street www.villeneuvewines. com 0131 558 8441

Offering top quality wine at prices to make you cheer, Villeneuve know their grapes. They’re also home to a pretty impressive range of artisan gin and whisky, so you’ll find a new favourite tipple in no time.

FESTIVAL MENU 2 COURSES £14.50 12PM TO 5PM

“Gordon Ramsay’s Favourite Award winning French restaurant, open for lunch and dinner” During the festival we are Open 7 days from 12.00pm until 9.30pm Tel 0131 557 3032 reservations@lagarrigue.co.uk

31 Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DH EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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FOOD FRENCH

DELIS 181 DELICATESSEN 181 Bruntsfield Place www.fb.com/181delicatessen 0131 229 4554

A small foodie fave in the boutique area of Bruntsfield, 181 Delicatessen focuses on locallysourced meats, cheeses and sweet delights for your tasting pleasure.

Plus, glutenfree bread and savoury snacks are baked fresh in store, so you needn’t travel anywhere else to fully fuel your picnic.

GOYA23 30 North West Circus Place www.goya23.co.uk 0131 220 0984

An authentic Spanish wine and sherry bar, Goya23 is a real foodie gem. You can try before you buy by enjoying a selection of their tasty tapas. Everything you taste in-house can be picked up from their gourmet deli selection too, so you can bring a taste of Spain home.

LUPE PINTOS 24 Leven Street www.lupepintos.com 0131 228 6241

Spice up your dishes with Lupe Pintos’s array of hot, hot, hot Mexican, South American and Spanish chillies and spices.

Specially imported traditional products make for an impressive selection to browse through, while their collection of 100% agave tequila is the largest around.

VALVONA & CROLLA 19 Elm Row www.valvonacrolla.co.uk 0131 556 6066

An Edinburgh stalwart, Valvona & Crolla is Scotland’s oldest delicatessen. Shop from their huge selection of traditional Italian products, from cured meats and cheeses to imported wines, oils and gift hampers.

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GALVIN BRASSERIE DE LUXE Rutland Street www.galvinbrasseriedeluxe.com 0131 222 8988

The Pompadour’s little brother, Galvin Brasserie de Luxe is an inviting bistro with all the style of its fine dining sibling, but with a more casual air. Awarded a Bib Gourmand this year, the central spot boasts an impressive crustacean selection and the boutique décor gives it a sense of je ne sais quoi. There’s also a great value seasonal menu to choose from – bon appétit!

Top Dish For a little taste of luxury, try the fresh Lindisfarne oysters, straight from the crustacean bar.

THE HONOURS 58A North Castle Street www.thehonours. co.uk MARTIN WISHART 0131 220 2513 DOES

INFORMAL The Honours DINING offers diners the chance to taste the best of Scottish larder translated into traditional and contemporary French cuisine. Restaurant Martin Wishart’s sister restaurant, the menu showcases Wishart’s signature style in a relaxed setting, and at high street prices. You can expect favourites like oysters and bouillabaisse, as well as some creative modern dishes.

Top Dish A French classic created with one of Scotland’s finest ingredients, the crab marie rose is exemplary of The Honours style.

Above: La Garrigue Below: Galvin Brasserie de Luxe

L’ESCARGOT BLANC 17 Queensferry Street www.lescargotblanc.co.uk 0131 226 1890

With 20 years’ experience fusing French recipes with the stars of Scotland’s natural larder, you’re definitely in good hands at L’Escargot Blanc. Feast upon hearty delectations, or go for seasonal artisan cheeses and charcuterie selections at the wine bar – where you can taste your way through 40 wines by the glass.

Top Dish Their signature casserole changes daily to showcase the best in seasonal ingredients.

L’ESCARGOT BLEU 56 Broughton Street www.lescargotbleu.co.uk 0131 557 1600

A Broughton Street institution, L’Escargot Bleu focuses on provenance. Almost all of their ingredients are locally sourced, from Peterhead seafood to Highland Wagyu beef, but served in a distinctly traditional French way.

Top Dish Try the restaurant’s eponymous dish, made with wild snails from the Isle of Barra.

LA GARRIGUE 31 Jeffrey Street www.lagarrigue.co.uk 0131 557 3032

This lovely eatery is Edinburgh’s signature French bistro. The menu at La Garrigue is inspired by head chef Jean Michel Gauffre’s childhood in Languedoc. His rustic style of cooking gives it a uniquely authentic charm, while the thoughtful wine list reflects the finest bottles of the region.

Top Dish The lavender crème brûlée is a silky smooth delight.

LA P’TITE FOLIE 9 Randolph Place www.laptitefolie.co.uk 0131 225 8678

La P’tite Folie is a charming and cosy French eatery serving up traditional fare with a rich and homely feel. The competitive set lunch prices are great value, with classic dishes like lamb navarin and steamed mussels making a crowdpleasing appearance.

Top Dish For a real taste of classic Gallic cuisine, the crispy pig cheeks with celeriac purée are a definite win.

PETIT PARIS 38-40 Grassmarket www.petit-paris restaurant.co.uk 0131 226 2442

SUNNY? CATCH SOME RAYS IN THE LOVELY TERRACE

Set in the sunny Grassmarket, Petit Paris is perfectly positioned for a deliciously warm intermission lunch. All the classics you’d expect at a good Parisian bistro are here: cocotte, coq au vin, Toulouse sausages and the list goes on.

Pull up a chair at a checked tableclothed table and soak up the bustling Old Town atmosphere.

Top Dish We adore the sumptuous escargot with Pernod butter. www.edfestmag.com

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RETAILER RETAILER RETAILER

OF THE YEAROF THE YEAROF THE YEAR 2017

2016

2014

2013

2010

2006 2004 2003

361 HIGH STREET, EDINBURGH, EH1 1PW

EDINBURGH’S GREAT DRINK SHOPS

Highly Commended

2017

2014

11 BRUNTSFIELD PLACE, EDINBURGH, EH10 4HN EF2013_FP.indd 129

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OUR RESTAURANT IS IN THE HEART OF EDINBURGH NEW CHAPTER IS A RESTAURANT BASED IN THE HEART OF EDINBURGH SERVING QUALITY, FRESH, INNOVATIVE SCOTTISH & MODERN EUROPEAN FOOD. ALWAYS WITH A TWIST. 18 EYRE PLACE, NEW TOWN, EDINBURGH, EH3 5EP T: 0131 556 0006 E: INFO@NEWCHAPTERRESTAURANT.CO.UK WWW.NEWCHAPTERRESTAURANT.CO.UK OTRO IS A RESTAURANT BASED IN THE WEST END SERVING OUR OWN TAKE ON CLASSIC BRASSERIE-STYLE FOOD PREPARED WITH HIGH QUALITY, SCOTTISH PRODUCE.

22 COATES CRESCENT, EDINBURGH, EH3 7AF T: 0131 556 0004 E: INFO@OTRORESTAURANT.CO.UK WWW.OTRORESTAURANT.CO.UK EF2013_FP.indd 130

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ITALIAN FOOD

Find lovingly homemade pasta, beautiful pizza topped with seasonal ingredients and more at these Italian hot spots

dishes from Southern Italy are given new life with the addition of fresh Scottish meat and seafood.

Plus, head chef Rosario Sartore’s handmade gluten-free pasta means that coeliacs need no longer fear a hearty plate of pappardelle.

Top Dish The arancino – infused with Vesuvian tomatoes, garlic and basil – is made even better with the addition of creamy burrata.

AMARONE 12-13 St Andrew Square www.amaronerestaurant.co.uk 0131 523 1171

The traditional Italian dishes we all know and love are given room to shine at Amarone, where the expansive menu takes you on a Mediterranean tour. Classic pizza and pasta options are aplenty, as well as lavish meaty mains.

Top Dish For seafood lovers, the linguine ai frutta di mare has all the best in seasonal fish and shellfish.

ORIGANO 236 Leith Walk www.origanoleith.co.uk 0131 554 6539

Above: Contini Below: Dantes

CONTINI 103 George Street www.contini.com 0131 225 1550

Contini blends the old and the new, with contemporary pink and grey stylings complementing historic features and majestic pillars.

Exuding elegant grandeur, the George Street institution is about reinventing classic Italian flavours.

Top Dish The mozzarella di bufala with tender asparagus, honey and charcoal crostini is great to share.

DANTES 48-40 Bridge Road www.dantesrestaurant.co.uk 0131 441 7427

Although it might be tucked away in the suburbs, this local favourite was voted Best Italian Establishment of 2016 for a reason. Whether it’s a simple plate of pasta you’re craving, or are looking to go all out with something special – like the 12oz veal chop – this contemporary and stylish stop has you covered.

CUCINA 1 George IV Bridge www.gandvhotel.com 0131 240 1666

Headed by Giorgio Locatelli protégé Mattia Camorani, Cucina is Edinburgh’s stalwart Italian fine dining destination. Set within the 5 star G&V hotel, this artistically decorated dining room serves up an array of lavish dishes, complete with a first class wine list.

Top Dish The signature zucchine fritte are too good to be true.

Top Dish The fish specials change daily, but they’re always delicious.

LA FAVORITA 331-325 Leith Walk www.vittoriagroup.co.uk 0131 554 2430

La Favorita’s pizzas are notorious for their authentic thin and crispy crust, and the trademark smoky flavour that comes from the rustic log-fried ovens. The comfortable Leith restaurant is great for groups.

If the Fringe flu has got you down, you can always get one delivered in for pure comfort in a box.

Top Dish We love the hearty calzones, both meaty and veggie.

LOCANDA DE GUSTI 102 Dalry Road www.locandadegusti.com 0131 346 8800

Drawing on memories of Naples, Locanda de Gusti offer Edinburgh’s diners a chance to experience Italian hospitality. Traditional

TRY THE HOMEMADE GLUTEN FREE PIZZA BASES

An open-plan restaurant with bags of charming character, Origano’s lovely green exterior heralds its greatness.

Within its exposed stone walls, friendly staff and a vibrant atmosphere have ensured its neighbourhood favourite status – and that’s before we’ve even talked about the pizza! The finest fresh ingredients, expertly made dough and a serious stone fired oven mean their pizzas are second to none.

Top Dish The interesting combo of courgette, spicy ndjua and creamy ricotta on the zucchini piccante is the stuff of pizza dreams.

SASSO 100 Lindsay Road www.sassoedinburgh.com 0131 552 2111

Despite this destination restaurant’s large dining space, its friendly staff and roaring fireplace give it the intimate feel of smaller venues. The chalet-style furnishing infuse it with a sense of comfort and the inventive menu takes inspiration from classic Italian recipes, while giving them new life thanks to stunning presentation and fresh, creative twists.

Top Dish Warming and hearty, the Brasato di Manzo – slow cooked shin of beef – is delicious.

ICE CREAM AFFOGATO 36 Queensferry Street www.affogatogelato.co.uk 0131 225 1444

This West End ice cream café scoops up the finest freshly made gelato in a variety of flavours, each created with the best quality ingredients. Comfy seating, a rotating ice cream display and great coffee add to the attraction, www.edfestmag.com

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as does the dog-friendly ethos – they even have a resident pooch and gelato for pups!

FRISKY 13 Forrest Road www.friskyfroyo.com 0131 226 4618

Get all the cool, creamy goodness of ice cream without the calories with Frisky’s fat-free, pro-biotic

frozen yogurt. Don’t get bogged down in the diet details though: the delicious factor is everything you need.

MARY’S MILK BAR 19 Grassmarket www.marysmilkbar.com

Mary’s premium gelato and chocolates are something of a local

legend. So much so, it’s not unusual to see queues right round the corner on a sunny day.

But it’s definitely worth the wait; this quaint milk bar is known for serving up the best scoops in town, and the creative flavours – made fresh every day – mean you’ll want to change it up every time you visit.

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EAT - DRINK - DANCE OPEN 7 DAYS 10AM TILL *5AM! (*FESTIVAL SEASON)

47 Lothian Street EDINBURGH 0131 220 42 87 62 Trongate GLASGOW 0777 284 73 11 www.botecodobrasil.com Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Tropical cocktails, Live Music, Club Nights, Dancers, Latin Music, Salsa....and more!!!

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SPANISH FOOD

Top Dish The nachos come with a range of delicious toppings and make the perfect centrepiece.

Catch up with friends over some tasty tapas or enjoy a coffee with a side of sweet and crispy churros at one of these Spanish eateries

SERRANO MANCHEGO 297 Leith Walk www.serranoandmanchego.co.uk 0131 554 0955

Relax, Mediterranean style, at Serrano Manchego. Open from 9am, this friendly coffee and tapas bar has a relaxed neighbourhood feeling and a delicious menu designed for sharing.

Top Dish No tapas trip is complete without an order of deliciously sweet churros.

BLACK PIG AND OYSTER 19/1 Burgess Street www.blackpigandoyster.co.uk 0131 554 1777

The latest addition to the Spanish restaurant scene, Black Pig and Oyster has taken up residence in the trendy Shore area. As the name suggests, their focus is on highlighting Iberian Black Pig in all its glory, as well as regional Spanish cheeses and fabulous oysters and seafood.

Top Dish The Secreto and langoustines, featuring the finest cut of Iberian pork.

INDABA 3 Lochrin Terrace www.edindaba.co.uk 0131 221 1554

Spain meets South Africa in Indaba’s unique multicultural tapas menu. Mix up your selection and pair traditional croquetas from their changing specials board with authentic South African boerewors and biltong. Make sure you book in advance: tables at this small eatery are in high demand.

Above: Las Iguanas Below: Smith & Gertrude

TAPA Top Dish The costillas de cerdo, pork ribs in a secret sauce that will have you licking your fingers.

LA SAL 8 Howden Street www.lasal.co.uk 0131 667 3600

This family run restaurant might be small, but its packed full of flavour. Everything is made with care, and the authentic tapas menu offers diners stock favourites like croquetas and patatas bravas as well as rich and interesting additions.

Top Dish Share the Retorta Tio Pepe – a delight of sheep’s milk cheese and quince paste serve with two glasses of Tio Pepe.

LAS IGUANAS 141-143 George Street www.iguanas.co.uk 0131 226 2107

BARGAIN HUNTERS: £4.25 COCKTAILS

Las Iguanas is fiestaready all week long. Its George Street home in the centre of the city makes it the perfect place to share your way through a range of tasty Spanish and Latin American classics with friends.

19 Shore Place www.tapaedinburgh.co.uk 0131 476 6776

Top quality ingredients shine bright at Tapa, where their expansive menu uses the best of imported Spanish produce. The wine list is made up of top Spanish tipples, from well-known riojas to more unusual offerings.

Top Dish The Berenjenas con Miel, thinly sliced aubergine crisps with a honey drizzle, are exquisite.

WINE BARS GOOD BROTHERS 4-6 Dean Street www.goodbrothers. co.uk 0131 315 3311

Rotating specials from boutique vineyards around the world make this a must-visit.

HENRI 48 Raeburn Place www.henriofedinburgh.com 0131 332 8963

Artisan deli and wine shop by day, Henri turns into an exclusive late night foodie haven three evenings a week.

PICKLES 56A Broughton Street www.getpickled.co.uk 0131 557 5005

Pickles could almost be a friend’s living room, except no friend would www.edfestmag.com

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have such a great selection of wine, cheese, chutney and farmhouse pates.

SMITH & GERTRUDE 26 Hamilton Place www.smithand gertrude.com 0131 629 6280

The wine selection at Smith & Gertrude is awe-inspiring. Expect New World offerings from the Czech Republic, Lebanon and England, as well as organic and biodynamic wines.

VINO @ THE ARCHES 27 East Market Street www.vinowines.co.uk 0131 629 4282

One of Edinburgh’s top wine retailers, Vino has brought their first class products to the independent hub of The Arches.

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Bonnie Burrito

Deliciously Mexican Your Friendly Neighbourhood Burrito Eatery

41 LAURISTON PLACE - THE TRAILER

15-17 Argyle Pl, EH9 1JJ T: 0131 221 9759

82 SOUTH CLERK STREET- THE SHOP

@theargyleandcellarbar

SEE WWW.BONNIEBURRITO.COM FOR MORE...

Free Festival Venue in 2017

/BONNIEBURRITO

@BONNIEBURRITO

@BONNIEBURRITO

BRINGING THE FESTIVAL SPIRIT TO ST ANDREW SQUARE The Refinery has it covered with creative cocktails and a delicious seasonal menu.

Your go-to bar and restaurant all year round.

BREAKFAST • BRUNCH • LUNCH • DINNER COCKTAILS • AL FRESCO TERRACE MIXOLOGY MASTERCLASSES OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK 0333 210 0017 INFO@REFINERYSTANDREW.CO.UK

The Refinery St Andrew Square 5 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2BD @RefineryEdin

TheRefineryStAndrewsSq

drakeandmorgan

8705 The Refinery St Andrew Square Edinburgh Festivals Magazine Ad V3.indd 1

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MEXICAN FOOD

Top dish The Borrego con Miel, slow-cooked lamb with Mexican honey and chipotle chillies.

Feeling in the mood for a delicious fiesta?

Mexican food goes down even better when it’s enjoyed with a margarita or two

TOPOLABAMBA 93 Lothian Road www.topolabamba.com 0131 228 6863

Bright décor and friendly staff make Topolabamba a welcoming spot to get your Mexican fix.

Their wide ranging menu features everything from street food, to hearty mains to gluten-free eats.

Top Dish Roll up your sleeves and get stuck into the chipotle honey ribs.

THE BASEMENT 10A-12A Broughton Street www.basement-baredinburgh.co.uk 0131 557 0097

Colourfully adorned with Latin American pop art style paintings and quirky designs, this busy cantina is loved not only for its authentic Mexican menu but for its creative cocktail list too.

Top Dish The guac is made at the table so it’s just how you like it!

BODEGA 62 Elm Row www.ilove bodega.com 0131 556 7930

BYOB

Although a taqueria by nature, Bodega’s influences go beyond Mexico. Flavours from Korea, Japan and Jamaica, to name just a few, are all jampacked into fresh corn tortillas and slathered with indulgent toppings and hearty sauces.

Top Dish Get your hands on the carne asada steak taco for a smoky taste sensation.

Wahaca

EL CARTEL 64 Thistle Street www.elcartelmexicana.co.uk 0131 226 7171

The bustling atmosphere of this tiny Mexican eatery gives it a decidedly street food vibe. There’s a great range of taco fillings as well as an array of finger food bite.

Get there early to ensure you get a table – they fill up fast!

Top Dish The daily changing frozen margaritas are a must-have.

EL TORO LOCO 60 Grassmarket www.toroloco.co.uk 0131 290 2411

El Toro Loco have a handle on Mexican grub from morning to night. Start your day with a breakfast burrito or some huevos rancheros, and finish it with one of the delicious gems in the tasty street food menu.

CRAFT BEER BARS BREWDOG 143 Cowgate www.brewdog.com 0131 220 6517

Get to know the notorious Scottish punk brewers at their Edinburgh bar.

THE BEER KITCHEN

THE CUMBERLAND BAR 1 Cumberland Street www.cumberlandbar. co.uk 0131 558 3134

Head here when it’s sunny, the beer garden is heavenly.

133 Lothian Road www.thehangingbat.com 0131 229 0759

Wash down some posh pub grub with a glass of Innis & Gunn at the brewer’s vibrant signature bar.

Serving the best 1/3 pints in Edinburgh, The Hanging Bat is ideal for ale connoisseurs.

THE BLACKBIRD

THE PEAR TREE

37 Leven Street www.theblackbirdedinburgh.co.uk 0131 228 2280

38 W Nicholson Street www.pear-tree-house.co.uk 0131 667 7533

Newly refurbished, The Blackbird’s famed beer garden now showcases original artwork from graffiti artist and illustrator Mr Doodle.

A Southside stalwart since the 1700s and close to George Square, The Pear Tree’s walled beer garden is one of the city’s most famous.

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WAHACA MIROS CANTINA

16 South St Andrew Street www.wahaca.co.uk 0131 202 6850

184 Rose Street www.miroscantinamexicana.com 0131 225 4376

Mexican classics are the staple at Miros Cantina, from Tex-Mex favourites like indulgently cheesy quesadillas and fully loaded fajitas, to rustic and authentic dishes like chicken with famous mole sauce and Mexican meatballs. Everything is fresh and homemade, including the corn nachos.

This massive two-storey ode to Mexicana is all vibrant colour and fast-paced vibe, so pull up a chair, get your hands on a cocktail and dive in. The street food section of the menu is perfect to share.

Top Dish Start off with some guacamole. For extra special dipping, go for the Chicarron puffed pork scratchings.

£4.25

George street, edinburgh

tapas to

cocktails all day every day

share

Or keep to

yourself

THE HANGING BAT

81 Lothian Road www.thebeerkitchen.co.uk 0131 228 6392

www.edfestmag.com

Top Dish We recommend filling your burrito with the succulent pork carnitas

Iguanas.co.uk

tel: 0131 226 2107 EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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meats,BEATS

+ MELODIES LIVE MUSIC

THUR + SUN

DJ

FRI + sat

bur ger s chicks + dogs SHAKEs

b brOuonzcyh

112 St Stephen St, Stockbridge, EH3 5AD

Rib-Aye Steakhouse, Gin & Whisky Bar Organic Burgers, Scottish Steaks & Tender Glazed Ribs

frosted beers

COCKTAILS

43 Assembly Street, Leith www.rib-aye.co.uk Tel: 0131 4671588

WARM AND FRIENDLY PUB, EXCELLENT FOOD SERVED UNTIL 9PM OUTSIDE SEATING/DINING AREA, ENTERTAINMENT EVERY NIGHT WONDERFUL RANGE OF BEERS INCLUDING CASK ALE ROSE AND CROWN, 170 ROSE STREET, EDINBURGH, EH2 4BA TEL:01312254039 INFO@ROSEANDCROWNEDINBURGH.COM

WWW.ROSEANDCROWNEDINBURGH.COM

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STEAK & BURGERS FOOD

Carnivores are in luck, Edinburgh has some of the best steakhouses and burger joints around

Top Dish Don’t limit yourself – go for the Butchers Block for two and taste your way through top quality fillet, rib eye, rump and brisket stuffed marrow bone.

STEAK 14 Picardy Place www.steakedinburgh.com 0131 556 1289

CHOP HOUSE MARKET STREET

The name says it all: straightforward, simple and utterly delicious, Steak use first class local suppliers for all of their beef.

Quality comes first, closely followed by careful cooking and intelligent pairing, from indulgent sauces to hearty sides and well-matched wines.

Top Dish The 500g T-Bone is a force to be reckoned with.

15 East Market Street www.chophousesteak.co.uk 0131 629 1551

Quality British beef is the MVP at Chop House Market Street. The little brother of the Leith Chop House, the central location of this beefy haven makes it the ideal stop for a hearty feed after a busy day on the Royal Mile. All of their beef is butchered and dry aged in house for a minimum of 35 days for maximum flavour. Topped off with sides like beef TRY THE dripping chips, you’re SUNDAY in for a real treat.

ROAST Top Dish The Sunday Roast, featuring firstclass beef, bone marrow gravy and gigantic Yorkies, is not to be missed.

KYLOE 1-3 Rutland Street www.kyloerestaurant.com 0131 229 3402

The contemporary cowboy décor, including bovine parodies of classic artworks, coupled with the dark

TWENTY PRINCES STREET

Above: Chop House Market Street Below: Byron

leather and rawhide seating sets the tone for the celebration of all things meaty that is Kyloe’s menu.

Featuring both classic cuts and special local guest breeds, diners can also expect a tasty lesson as the informed waiters – armed with a board of steaks – guide you through your selection.

Top Dish Team up to take on the 800g Porterhouse steak sharer – matched with the bone marrow gravy, it’s a carnivore dream come true.

20 Princes Street www.twentyprincesstreet.co.uk 0131 652 7370

MILLER & CARTER 29-31 Frederick Street www.milleramdcarter.co.uk 0131 603 6080

At Miller & Carter, steak is serious business. Each of their head chefs undergo dedicated training at the signature Miller & Carter Steak School before laying a hand on the grills to ensure each plate that arrives at your table is the finest it can be. The contemporary steakhouse’s central location is perfect for a post-shopping dinner.

While not exclusively a steakhouse, a trip to Twenty Princes Street isn’t complete without sampling something smoky and delicious from their state of the art Josper Grill. The blistering 450°C heat adds a fabulous char to first class meat from the nearby Tweed Valley and really brings out the best in every cut.

Top Dish Splurge on the dry aged fillet. Chargrilling it on the Josper gives it a succulent flavour pan frying can only dream of.

BURGERS BELTED BURGERS 57A Frederick Street www.beltedburgers.co.uk 0131 260 9748

All of BELTED’s handmade patties are created with prime cuts of local Galloway beef and topped with a range of tasty options, from their trademark Irn Bru BBQ sauce to homemade chilli.

Top Dish The Bru Burger is as deliciously patriotic at it gets.

BURGER. 94A Fountainbridge www.burgeruk.co.uk 0131 228 5367

BURGER. honour the humble hamburger and hot dog by keeping things CLOSE TO simple and delicious.

THE LADY BOYS OF The seasonal BANGKOK specials are divine.

Top Dish We love the Smokeshow burger. www.edfestmag.com

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Top Dish The Original Two-Hander is a 5 MINUTES hearty affair that’s FROM bound to get you PLEASANCE smiling, especially if you wash it down with one of the premium ales always on offer.

BURGER AND BEERS GRILLHOUSE 192A High Street www.burgersandbeersgrillhouse. co.uk 0131 226 1214

Burger and Beers’ creatively named and creatively topped burgers make ordering exciting, and with each burger handmade on site with 100% Aberdeen Angus beef, you know the quality is second to none.

Top Dish The Frying Scotsman, complete with a haggis fritter.

BYRON 113-117 Lothian Road www.byronhamburgers.com 0131 229 0444

With a mission to bring the classic American diner hamburger to Britain, Byron specialises in simple, proper burgers done right. All made with fresh British beef and cooked medium for a juicy bite.

SHEBEEN 8 Morrison Street www.shebeenbar.co.uk 0131 629 0261

Top Dish The signature Byron burger, topped with bacon and cheddar, is perfection in a bun.

THE HOLYROOD 9A 9A Holyrood Road www.theholyrood.co.uk 0131 556 5044

A prime destination for festival refuelling, The Holyrood 9A sits right between the Royal Mile and Pleasance.

Based around the traditional South African braai, Shebeen offers diners the chance to delight in all the rich flavours of a barbecue without any of the work. Featuring South African specialities from boerewors sausage to biltong and speciality chutneys, this meat joint is not for the faint hearted.

Top Dish Hungry? The Jo’burger, a grand 1.2kg patty seated upon a 10” bun, feeds four.

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SPICE LOUNGE KITCHEN 1 Craigmount view Edinburgh Eh12 8hg

Mon - sun : 11am - 11pm Phone: 0131 476 9999 www.spiceloungekitchen.co.uk

Spice lounge kitchen is one of the best restaurants in Edinburgh, which serves authentic Indian cuisine as well as continental food.

A must visit restaurant for its dining experience that excites the sense, a vibrant ambience that strikes a balance between fine dining and a warm comfortable inviting atmosphere.

Its delectable menu that is blend of contemporary and traditional cuisine that draws on the vibrancy of Indian culture.

THAI RESTAURANTS

SPECIALIZING IN INDIAN AND PAKISTANI CUISINE, CHARCOAL GRILL

AUTHENTIC THAI DINING, TAKEAWAY, HOME DELIVERY AND OUTSIDE CATERING Open from Tuesday 25th July

OPEN PLAN KITCHEN

6 TORPHICHEN PLACE, Haymarket BYOB only (for bookings: 0131 629 0447)

HALAL

Come and try our famous Pad Thai by Mr 9M!

BRING YOUR OWN WINE OR BEER FREE CORKAGE

128 DALRY ROAD, EDINBURGH, EH112EZ BOOKINGS: 01313373371 WWW.KO-EDINBURGH.CO.UK

Lunch box £6.95. Order 10 or more, free delivery to your office. Advance order is essential.

Friday 2 Course Lunch Special at £8.95 12pm - 2.30pm

www.bluerapathai.co.uk

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ASIAN FOOD

STREET FOOD CIVERINOS SLICE 49 Forrest Road www.civerinosslice.com 0131 225 4026

Refuel after hitting a show in the nearby George Square Gardens with a quick pizza slice from Italian street food kings Civerinos. All made with their famed 72 hour slow proven dough, you won’t be able to stop at just one slice.

Top Dish The classic Civerinos with marinated garlic – yum!

THE PAKORA BAR

Contemporary Thai cuisine, Indian-style tapas and authentic street food are just some of the delights you’ll find at our favourite Asian eateries CHAOPHRAYA 4th Floor, 33 Castle Street www.chaophraya.co.uk 0131 226 7614

Chaophraya is pure sophistication.

The awe-inspiring rooftop setting boasts unparalleled views across the city and Edinburgh Castle, making for a truly special dining experience. Guests are encouraged to mix and match their dishes to create a shared tasting journey – the authentic Thai way.

Top Dish The Thai chicken tacos feature red curried chicken served up in rice flour taco shells CHOP CHOP 248 Haymarket Terrace www.chop-chop.co.uk 0131 221 1155

Well-known as the one and only destination spot for dumplings in Edinburgh, Chop Chop has an AA Rosette and backing from Gordon Ramsay to prove their reputation.

The slow cooked pork belly and handmade noodles are also divine.

Top Dish No trip to Chop Chop is complete without the tasty chilli chicken jiao zi dumplings.

atmosphere and a tapas-style menu filled with unusual delights.

Top Dish Order two portions of the black house daal – we guarantee the whole table will be fighting over it.

DUSIT 49A Thistle Street www.dusit.co.uk 0131 220 6846

Considered one of the city’s top spots for modern Thai food, Dusit’s central location and delicious menu makes it a favourite foodie haunt. With plenty of options for meat lovers, seafood fanatics and veggies, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

Top Dish The Koo Saneha, ‘a loving couple’, features chargrilled prawns and scallops with a tasty sauce.

KAREN’S UNICORN 8B Abercromby Place www.karensunicorn.com 0131 556 6333

Discover the essence of Cantonese cooking at the picturesque Karen’s Unicorn. In the heart

DISHOOM 3A St Andrew Square www.dishoom.com 0131 202 6406

A London TRY THE stalwart that INDIAN BREAKFAST took the trip up North earlier this year, Dishoom’s rich, full-flavoured authentic Indian fare has made it a bustling spot in the capital too. Styled as a Bombay café, this central spot has a vibrant www.edfestmag.com

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Clockwise from top: Dishoom, Tuk Tuk, Chaophraya

of the fashionable New Town, this Chinese hot spot serves up traditional dishes made with the best ingredients. If you’re tired of the mad Fringe crowds, they also do takeaways.

Top Dish Be adventurous and try the unusual yet delicious crispy almond king prawns.

96 Hanover Street www.fb.com/thepakorabar 0131 225 1115

With its bright orange walls and friendly service, this quirky and colourful Indian joint is perfect LATE to grab a delicious NIGHT SAVIOUR quick bite. Open til 3am at the weekend, it’s just the place for a late night pick-me-up.

Top Dish The fresh homemade haggis pakora is a real treat.

MOTHER INDIA’S CAFÉ

TING THAI CARAVAN

3-5 Infirmary Street www.motherindia.co.uk 0131 524 9801

8-9 Teviot Place www.facebook.com/tt.caravan 0131 225 9801

Proving that tapas aren’t exclusive to the Mediterranean, Mother India’s Café specialises in creating a fun and fresh Indian sharing experience. Fill up the table with old favourites nestled beside new discoveries and enjoy the feast!

Top Dish Freshen things up with the Chicken Achari, cooked in a bright and zesty lime and chilli pickle.

Directly opposite Fringe hub Bristo Square, Ting Thai Caravan is ideal for quick and tasty street food bites. A fussfree and casual canteen style eatery, you should get there early as tables are always in high demand.

Top Dish We recommend getting up close and personal with the Goong Frong Beer, king prawns in a coconut beer batter.

PASSORN 97 Hanover Street www.passornthai.com 0131 229 1537

Awarded a Bib Gourmand in the 2017 Michelin Guide, Passorn’s bright and colourful dishes incorporate top quality Scottish produce with traditional Thai herbs and vegetables to bring diners an authentic Thai experience. Choose from the wide-ranging a la carte menu, or take advantage of their fantastic value weekday set lunch menu at £11 for 2 courses.

Top Dish Branch out into seafood curry with the decadent Pla Samun Pri, featuring crispy monkfish in a turmeric and coconut sauce.

TUK TUK 1 Leven Street www.tuktukonline.com 0131 228 3322

Bright and bold, this colourful spot is a heaven for Indian street food. The copper tiffin tins bring extra fun to the dining table, and with affordable price tags and a BYOB policy, it’s a win-win.

Top Dish The creamy butter chicken is a must-have.

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At Souq Edinburgh, we bring the Middle East to you.

A stunning array of hand crafted Turkish & Moroccan lights as well as ceramics, leather goods, sweets, and gifts from the region, adorn our loaded Souq shelves.

The owners of the well loved Hanam's, Pomegranate and Laila's restaurants also bring you their atmospheric Arabic cafe in the basement of Souq for that authentic market place experience.

57-59 South Clerk Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9PP Tel 01316676601 Email info@souq-edinburgh.com

www.souq-edinburgh.com THREE

BIG BITE-SIZE BREAKFAST MENUS!

TWO

BIG BITE-SIZE LUNCH-HOUR SHOWS!

OPENING HOURS Mon – Fri: 12am – 11.30pm Sat/Sun: 11am – 11.30pm 1 Antigua Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3NH Tel: 0131 556 8337 www.pomegranatesrestaurant.com

Pomegranate_8th_page_advert PROOF.indd 1

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MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD

VEGETARIAN DAVID BANN 56-58 St Mary’s Street www.davidbann.com 0131 556 5888

Hanam’s

Versatile and bursting with flavour, Middle Eastern cuisine will satisfy everyone from staunch meat-eaters to green veggies

of the Old Town. Taste your way through a huge variety of hot and cold mezze on the terrace, which boasts panoramic views across the Grassmarket.

Top Dish The soujuk, spicy Lebanese sausages, are delicious, especially when paired with pomegranate rice.

BEIRUT

LAILA’S BISTRO

24 Nicholson Square www.beirutrestaurant.co.uk 0131 667 9919

63 Cockburn Street www.lailas-bistro.co.uk 0131 226 5097

An extensive menu means every taste and palate is catered for at Beirut. They offer every kind of Lebanese speciality around, including a range of mezze, traditional shawarma wraps, seafood tagines, mashawi grill options and veggie-friendly dishes.

Plus, they also have homemade bread and pastries.

Top Dish Try the hummus topped with succulent shredded lamb.

Casual and friendly, Laila’s is Hanam and Pomegranate’s younger sister. Like her brothers, Laila’s serves excellent Middle Eastern dishes in a more informal setting. Wander down Cockburn Street to escape the festival crowds, and enjoy a light Mediterranean lunch.

Top Dish The curry mezze, featuring a selection of meat and veg curries, is great for sharing.

HANAM’S

POMEGRANATE

3 Johnston Terrace www.hanams.com 0131 225 1329

1 Antigua Street www.pomegranatesrestaurant.com 0131 556 8337

Nestled at the top of the Royal Mile, Hanam’s promises diners a taste of the Middle East in the heart

Cosy and welcoming, this colourful eatery serves up delicious Middle Eastern street food with a focus on

mezze. The social style of eating fits in with the relaxed atmosphere, with plenty of veggie and vegan options to choose from PERFECT so nobody goes FOR PRETHEATRE hungry. There’s DINING even a private shisha decking for post-dinner relaxation.

Top Dish The ful medames, slow cooked fava beans and chickpeas drizzled in olive oil and lemon juice, are a real crowd-pleaser.

ROJAVA RESTAURANT 97-101 Morrison Street www.rojavaedinburgh.co.uk 0131 478 4503

Traditionally decorated with engraved walls and stunning colourful accessories, Rojava exudes vibrant authenticity. The menu features trusty Kurdish favourites and makes for an excellent opportunity to excite your taste buds with something new.

Top Dish We love the succulent lamb qozy, slow cooked on the bone for maximum flavour.

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EARTHY FOODS 1-6 Canonmills Bridge www.earthy.co.uk 0131 556 9696

Provenance is key at Earthy’s, which also doubles as an organic farm shop and deli.

Their menus change regularly to incorporate the best seasonal, organic produce from their local suppliers.

Top Dish Hit the salad bar and create your own smorgasbord.

HENDERSON’S VEGAN 25 Thistle Street www.hendersonsofedinburgh. co.uk 0131 225 2605

The UK’s longest running vegetarian restaurant, Henderson’s is an institution in its own right. Their vegan restaurant is the first of its kind in Edinburgh, and a must-try.

Top Dish The pearl barley and parsnip risotto with pickled apple is hearty and delicious.

YENI MEZE BAR 73 Hanover Street www.yenirestaurant.com 0131 225 5755

This elegant central hang out is just the ticket for adventurous grazers who love nothing more than to taste a little bit of everything. They advise ordering 3-4 dishes per person, but we can’t resist ordering extra – variety, sprinkled with plenty of sumac, is the spice of life after all!

Top Dish The perfect mezze selection always includes halloumi, which comes topped with sun blushed tomatoes at Yeni. www.edfestmag.com

A stalwart of the Edinburgh vegetarian community, David Bann was around before trendy vegan bloggers and #meatfreemonday. A contemporary and minimalist space with an internationallyinspired menu, the hearty dishes will delight everyone.

Top Dish The beetroot, Bramley apple and Strathdon Blue cheese pudding.

KALPNA 2-3 St Patrick Square www.kalpna restaurant.com 0131 667 9890

Open since 1982, this family-run restaurant is the home of Indian meatfree cooking in the capital.

Top Dish The Dum Aloo Kashmiri is their signature dish, a potato and paneer delight.

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10% o f f

10, Gillespie Place EH10 4HS Edinburgh

0131 281 0526 harajukukitchen.co.uk

lunch at Harajuku K i t c h e n with any Edinburgh f e s t i v a l / f r i n g e show ticket (Valid Monday – Friday)

Passionate

about Seafood 61-65 Rose Street Edinburgh EH2 2NH Reservations 0131 225 5979 157 Hope Street Glasgow G2 2UQ Reservations 0141 572 1405

www.mussel-inn.com

Passionate about Seafood 61-65 Rose Street, Edinburgh EH2 2NH Reservations 0131 225 5979 157 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 2UQ Reservations 0141 572 1405

www.mussel-inn.com

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fish & chips deep fried mars bar pizzas kebabs

112 St Stephen St, Stockbridge, EH3 5AD Award–Winning Seafood Restaurant with a social conscience.

Exciting playful food. Inspiring Scottish Ingredients.

Nourishing community values.

19 Broughton Street, Edinburgh EH1 3JU

kiltedlobster@yahoo.co.uk

www.cafepiccante.com

0131 2206677 www.kiltedlobster.com

30/06/2017 15:26

SEAFOOD FOOD

Visit the city’s seafood restaurants and take a tasting dip into Scotland’s rich waters

elegantly decked out spot. From Dunbar lobster to Tobermory langoustine and Shetland mussels, you’ll dive right into the rich Scottish OYSTER HAPPY waters with HOUR FROM sumptuous 5:30PM TO 6:30PM results. With a good value lunch menu to boot, it’s a great find!

Top Dish Roll up your sleeves and tuck into the roasted shellfish platter.

FISHERS IN THE CITY 58 Thistle Street www.fishersrestaurants.co.uk 0131 225 5109

After 20 years in the city, Fishers is an Edinburgh institution. Seafood lovers looking for fine dining quality in a relaxed location are in luck; smack in the heart of the city, it’s just the place to hunker down with a big plate of something tasty after a busy day at the festival.

Top Dish Partner up and take on the signature Fishers Paella – the combination of langoustines and pork belly is something else.

THE SHIP ON THE SHORE 24-26 Shore www.theshipontheshore.co.uk 0131 555 0409

LOCH FYNE SEAFOOD & GRILL 25 Pier Place www.lochfyneseafoodandgrill.co.uk 0131 559 3900

Founded by oyster farmer Johnny Noble and marine biologist Andy Lane, the seafood at Loch Fyne is guaranteed to be the crème de la crème. Set in a 19th century former fish market at Newhaven port, this wide open space is perfectly suited to its maritime fare. With its relaxed atmosphere and delicious menu, it’s worth the trip.

Top Dish Challenge yourself with the Mussel Madness offer and take on unlimited mussels, available every Tuesday for just £15.

Below: Kanpai

Take in the sunshine and luxuriate on The Ship of the Shore’s front terrace. Marvel at the stunning shore views and relax with good company, good wine and even better seafood. Whether it’s all about the indulgence of high quality crustacea for you, or the elegant subtlety of the finest whole lemon sole, a maritime feast is definitely guaranteed.

Top Dish Get patriotic with the Bunnahabhain smoked salmon.

ONDINE 2 George IV Bridge www.ondinerestaurant.co.uk 0131 226 1888

Fish of local, fresh and sustainable provenance takes centre stage at fine dining hub Ondine. Showcasing ingredients in simple yet delicious ways is the way forward at this

JAPANESE & SUSHI HARAJUKU KITCHEN

KENJI SUSHI

10 Gillespie Place www.harajukukitchen.co.uk 0131 281 0526

Head chef Kaori Simpson’s family recipes are so exquisite, they’ve earned an AA Rosette and a loyal fan base to sing their praises.

Top Dish Take our advice: order extra karaage chicken.

42 St Stephen Street www.kenjisushi. co.uk 0131 226 5111

Sophisticated yet welcoming, Kenji offers a welcome respite from the festival crowds.

Top Dish Try the volcano roll with prawn tempura and flying fish roe.

KANPAI SUSHIYA

8-10 Grindlay Street www.kanpaisushi edinburgh.co.uk 0131 228 1602

19 Dalry Road www.sushiya.co.uk 0131 313 3222

An elegant dining room with minimalist wood panelling and subtle artistic flourishes, Kanpai brings images of refined Japanese tearooms to mind – and every dish is like a miniature work of art.

Top Dish The super fresh sashimi.

Sushiya is a tiny paradise. Seating only around 22 people, you’ll know you’re one of the cool kids on the block if you manage to bag a table.

The crowning glory here are the hearty, warming soups.

Top Dish The classic pork ramen.

www.edfestmag.com

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A NEW FAMILY EATERI NOW OPEN IN STOCKBRIDGE

the chocolate café

D U R I N G T H E F E S T I VA L

Great food served all day. Delicious desserts and drinks, fresh coffee and tasti teas.

55 Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh EH4 1HX 0131 315 2346 info@tastifood.co.uk www.tastifood.co.uk

13 Frederick St. EDINBURGH, EH2 2EY

5 Howard St. EDINBURGH, EH3 5JP

241 Sauchiehall St. GLASGOW, G2 3EZ

www.corochocolate.co.uk

Café Marlayne French Restaurants in Edinburgh | Open 7 days Antigua Street 0131 558 8244

Thistle Street 0131 226 2230

www.cafemarlayne.com

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Artisan Cheesecakes, 104 Bruntsfield Place Edinburgh, EH10 4ES, Tel: 0131 629 5775 Open: 10am - 6pm Mon - Saturday,12 - 6pm Sunday

Explore our cheesecake creations www.artisancheesecakes.com

03/07/2017 11:10

SWEET TREATS FOOD

CAFES

CAKES

CUP TEA LOUNGE

ARTISAN CHEESECAKES

9 South Charlotte Street www.cuptearooms.co.uk 0131 225 5808

104 Bruntsfield Place www.artisancheesecakes.com 0131 629 5775

If you’re obsessed with tea, we recommend visiting this vibrant spot. Ditch the builder’s brew and try their Signature Collection of hand blended-loose leaf teas.

Unusual yet delicious flavours include the soothing Yunan green or the citrusy elderflower and lemon balm, both great for a reinvigorating Fringe pick-me-up.

They also offer children teas for the little ones to enjoy too!

Cheesecake is taken to a whole new level at this outrageously decadent dessert shop. Every day, a new and exciting flavour is introduced, but specials like the chocolate and salted caramel shortcake topped cake and sticky toffee cheesecake always guarantee a taste of creamy, gooey sweet heaven.

LOVECRUMBS 155 West Port www.lovecrumbs.co.uk 0131 629 0626

Filled with antique furniture, mismatched cutlery, quirky art and arguably the most stunning – and delicious – cakes in town, Lovecrumbs has a well-deserved cult following.

The fabulous coffee, tea and hot chocolate are all locally sourced, but the main reason to visit is the beautiful cake; dreamy flavours like lavender and raspberry make for the perfect afternoon treat. If you’re lucky, you might even bag one of the coveted window seats!

ETEAKET 41 Frederick Street www.eteaket.co.uk 0131 226 2982

Eteaket amp up the average cuppa at their speciality tea salon. The

COFFEE

BREW LAB 6-8 South College Street www.brewlabcoffee.co.uk 0131 662 8963

Coffee is a science at Brew Lab, from the single origin filter espresso to the famous cold brew coffees. Plus, this indie coffee shop by day transforms into a bustling bar at night. With craft beers, natural wine and, of course, coffee cocktails, it’s perfect to get an afterhours caffeine fix.

CAIRNGORM COFFEE 41A Frederick Street www.cairngormcoffee.com 0131 629 900

With its hessian sack ceiling and laidback, comfy style, Cairngorm Coffee is ideal for a catch up with friends or a little bit of quiet me

Clockwise from top: Brew Lab, Colonnades at The Signet Library, Lovecrumbs

time – complete with in-store iPads – amidst the rush of the festival. Pair a fabulous small batch coffee with one of their notoriously indulgent cheese toasties and you’re in for a winner.

FILAMENT COFFEE 38 Clerk Street www.filamentcoffee.com 0772 953 1601

No two coffees are the same at Filament, where the espresso rotates every week to showcase the finest in single origin beans from around the world, making it perfect for the adventurous caffeine addict. On the food side, all of their artisan produce is sourced from local suppliers, from bagels from the Bearded Baker to creative cakes from Sukibakes.

CUCKOO’S BAKERY 150 Dundas Street www.cuckoosbakery.co.uk 0131 556 6224

Beautifully decorated and freshly baked each day, Cuckoo’s delicious cupcakes and celebration cakes are picture perfect. Voted the best cake in Scotland for the last three years running, they taste just as delicious as they look.

MADEMOISELLE MACARON

café boasts an awe-inspiring array of ethically sourced loose leaf teas to suit your every fancy, while the savoury snacks and sweet treats pack plenty of flavour in their own right. If you’re feeling inspired, you can even bring the tea revolution back home with you, as all of their infusions are available to take away, as is their selection of beautiful teaware.

THE MILKMAN 7 Cockburn Street www.themilkman.coffee 0777 207 7920

Nestled amongst the cobblestones of the Old Town, The Milkman manages to be cosy and cool at the same time. Exposed brick walls and antique wood frontage meet rotating guest coffees and tasty pastries – a match made in heaven.

22 Grindlay Street www.mademoiselle macaron.co.uk 0131 228 4059

For a little slice of Paris, head to Mademoiselle Macaron. Feel like a kid in a sweet shop as you gaze across the glamorous array of pastel coloured macarons, and choose from deliciously creative flavours including the aromatic Hendricks gin.

AFTERNOON TEA THE BALMORAL 1 Princes Street www.roccofortehotels.com 0131 556 2414

Experience ultimate glamour with afternoon tea at Palm Court, the signature tea salon of 5 star hotel The Balmoral. A skilled harpist will set the harmonious tone for an afternoon of indulgence as you sample an array of teas, sip fine vintage champagne and, most importantly, delight in the fabulous handcrafted pastries. www.edfestmag.com

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COLONNADES AT THE SIGNET LIBRARY Parliament Square www.thesignetlibrary.co.uk 0131 226 1064

Just a stone’s throw away from the historic Royal Mile, The Signet Library is a picture of refined elegance. Put on your Sunday best and take a seat amongst the fluted Corinthian columns and ornate décor. The afternoon tea offerings are just as lavish as the surroundings so prepare to indulge.

ROYAL DECK TEA ROOM Royal Yacht Britannia, Ocean Drive www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk 0131 555 5566

Step aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia and sip tea like the royals do in the luxurious Royal Deck Tea Room. Take in the views across the water and taste your way through all the classics of a great afternoon tea, from crumbly homemade scones to traditional cakes and finger sandwiches – washed down with a glass of bubbly, of course.

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EDINBURGH GIN – THE SPIRIT OF THE FESTIVAL

discover where to find edinburgh gin throughout the festival at www.edinburghgin.com

INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND INDEPENDENTLY MINDED.

AWARD WINNING SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY FROM THE ISLE OF ARRAN. www.arranwhisky.com

Arran TradeAd Update 196x135mm v2 300616.indd 1

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SPIRITS FOOD

COCKTAILS

WHISKY

BRAMBLE

SCOTCH AT THE BALMORAL

16A Queen Street www.bramblebar.co.uk 0131 226 6343

1 Princes Street www.roccofortehotels.com 0131 524 7142

Tucked away in the centre of the city, Bramble is a hidden gem worth finding. A cosy yet lavish hub, it’s regarded amongst the locals as one of the city’s best spots to grab a tipple or two. The cocktail list veers from the classics like its namesake, The Bramble, to crazy concoctions, like the delicious Candy Crush – featuring candied vodka and marshmallow syrup.

Take a seat in a tweed-covered sofa and discover a whole new world of drams in The Balmoral hotel’s ode to Scotland, Scotch. With over 500 malts, blends and vintages from all over the country on offer, it boasts one of the biggest selections in Edinburgh – no whisky aficionado’s experience is complete without a visit.

EPICUREAN 1 George IV Bridge www.gandvhotel.com 0131 220 6666

Taking an artistic approach to drinking, Epicurean boasts an impressive cocktail list filled with stunningly presented tipples for the more adventurous punters.

Flowers and garnishes from their hydroponic Evogro and honey from their rooftop bees add an element of seasonal intrigue.

Clockwise from top: Panda & Sons, Scotch at The Balmoral, Epicurean

JUNIPER

PARADISE PALMS

KALEIDOSCOPE

20 Princes Street www.juniperedinburgh.co.uk 0131 652 7370

41 Lothian Street www.theparadisepalms.com 0131 225 4186

28 Queen Street www.smws.com/kaleidoscope 0131 220 2044

If you’re looking for a bit of glamour to go with your cocktail, Juniper is just the place. A swanky and sophisticated cocktail bar with panoramic views across the city, it offers guests the full VIP experience. The experimental cocktails are shaken by some of the city’s top mixologists, and presented with bags of pizzazz.

Paradise Palms is an eclectic spot.

A creative hub that is a cocktail bar, vegetarian eatery, vinyl store and part-time Fringe venue, you’ll get everything you need and more with each visit. We recommend sharing a cocktail teapot in the outdoor area when it’s sunny.

Whether you’re new to the malt scene and looking to discover Scotland’s most famous export or a whisky connoisseur on the hunt for your new favourite dram, Kaleidoscope delivers with over 200 cask whiskies.

VOYAGE OF BUCK

119 High Street www.whiskibar.co.uk 0131 556 3095

WHISKI

79 Queen Street www.pandaandsons.com 0131 220 0443

29-31 William Street North East Lane www.thevoyageofbuckedinburgh. co.uk 0131 225 5748

For drinks delivered with a side order of theatre, head to Panda & Sons. A secret basement speakeasy, you’ll need to find the hidden bookcase door to enter before you can sample the creative and quirky drinks menu.

Cocktails go international at this top West End destination. The menu takes inspiration from Paris, Milan, Taipei and Cairo, to name just a few spots, meaning you can take a trip around the world in one night with each delicious drink.

PANDA & SONS

The historic High Street is the perfect location for this traditional malt-focused pub and restaurant. The best of Scottish whisky is at the forefront, while the live Scottish music performances seven days a week bring a little extra entertainment to the table.

GIN HEADS & TALES

THE JOLLY BOTANIST

THE ROYAL DICK

1A Rutland Place www.headsandtalesbar.com 0131 656 2811

256-260 Morrison Street www.thejollybotanist.co.uk 0131 228 5596

1 Summerhall Place www.summerhall.co.uk 0131 560 1572

Heads & Tales offers gin lovers a unique opportunity to get up close to the distilling process of their favourite spirit. The bar by night is Edinburgh Gin’s main distillery by day, and you can watch the two state-of-the-art stills working away as you sip on a crisp G&T. Feeling adventurous? Build your very own gin-based cocktail.

Gin comes first at The Jolly Botanist. The expansive gin list takes you through spirits from all over the world, paired with carefully selected garnishes to bring out the best in each drink. Choose from local artisan favourites like Daffy’s or Caorunn, or branch out into something new like the oak-aged Dutch Korewijn Rembrandt.

The signature bar within Summerhall, The Royal Dick, complete with an outdoor courtyard and three indoor rooms, is ideal for a quick drink between shows – and a longer drink come evening time. Plus, with Pickering’s Gin made just a few rooms away, there’s a direct pipe from the distillery straight to your G&T.

www.edfestmag.com

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SHOPPING CITY GUIDE

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Shop ‘til you drop

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From designer gladrags to vintage dresses and statement jewellery, Edinburgh’s indie boutiques are a discerning fashionista’s dream WORDS CHIARA MARGIOTTA

T

urn heads as you strut through the streets of the capital with a little help from some of her fashion hidden gems. The guidebooks and tourist maps may have you thinking that the Edinburgh style journey begins with the big brands lining Princes Street and ends with George Street’s famous store fronts, but take a

1 COVET Tatty Devine Flamingo Necklace, £25 www.thoushaltcovet.com 2 GODIVA Palava Swallow Cardigan, £50 www.godivaboutique.co.uk 3 ALC Orwell & Austen Bowie Sweater, £185 www.alceshop.com 4 HANNAH ZAKARI Poppy Drops Earrings, £35 www.hannahzakari.co.uk 5 HANNAH ZAKARI Grid Necklace, £20 www.hannahzakari.co.uk 6 COVET Edinburgh Bag, £185 www.thoushaltcovet.com 7 COVET Pink Single Stone Ring, £24 www.thoushaltcovet.com 8 KAKAO BY K Pink Pom Pom Keyring, £15 www.kakao.co.uk 9 PAM JENKINS Aquazzura Ivy Sandal, £318 www.pamjenkins.co.uk www.edfestmag.com

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CITY GUIDE SHOPPING

wander through Auld Reekie’s quieter streets and you’ll discover a treasure trove of stylish delights to behold.

Let’s start this trendy adventure right in the heart of the city. Thistle Street is an independent haven when it comes to eating, drinking and, of course, shopping. If you’re into the minimalist design and contemporary silhouettes of Scandi style, Kakao by K have everything you need for this on-trend look.

Of course, no smart casual look is complete without the perfect pair of denims; that’s where ALC come in. Specialists in jeans that fit like a dream, stop off here to invest in a wardrobe staple that will never let you down.

If you’re after something a little more show-stopping, head to the luxury fashion hub that is Jane Davidson. Explore the four floors of ultra-glam, high-end designer wear and you’re sure to come away with something special. Complete your look with a pair of fabulous shoes and a haute couture handbag from Pam Jenkins just across the road.

Kids can up their luxury fashion game too at Selenita, where fabulous, handmade kidswear comes first. The gents needn’t feel left out either; 21st Century Kilts’ one-ofa-kind creations are the perfect patriotic ensemble for any big event.

Once you’ve made your way through Thistle Street, take a stroll down to the historic cobblestoned streets of Stockbridge. Stop off at Epitome, where they focus on personal style, rather than mass produced trend-led wear. Quality and care sets the items of their hand-picked collection apart, and a trip here is bound to set your inner style mogul loose.Then onto Eden, where the wide selection proves that unusual, quality clothing doesn’t have to break the bank. Take a leisurely browse and discover a new favourite designer, or get a little fashion advice from the welldressed staff.

For everyday wear that doesn’t compromise on craftsmanship, Dick’s do relaxed cool like no one else. Small, independent designers and brands are the order of the day here, and both the minimalist menswear and androgynous womenswear exude laidback style. Junior fashionistas

“Lose yourself in Edinburgh’s independent shops”

are not forgotten either, with Treehouse’s range of kidswear providing plenty of high quality, fun pieces. The play area will keep the little ones occupied while you browse, making for a stress-free excursion for all.

The next stop on your style journey should be the modern West End. Odyssey Boutique is an Aladdin’s cave of luxe lingerie and swimwear, perfect to pick up something unique for your next beach holiday. Top designers like Fleur of England and Stella McCartney line the racks, while there’s a one-onone private shopping service available for the full experience. Once you’ve tackled the underwear, amp up your outer wear with a trip to Frontiers.

Stock up on timeless items from contemporary designers including Orla Kiely and Folk. Rare accessories are in abundance at jewellery boutique Lily Luna, which specialises in curating stunning pieces from exclusive designers.

It’s the Fringe, so every handbag should hold a beautiful notebook for scribbling down favourite shows – we love the pretty stationary picks at Paper Tiger.

From here, we’ll take a detour to the Grassmarket, where you’ll discover indie gems like Hannah Zakari. This colourful boutique offers up fun novelty jewellery, badges and beautiful handmade clothing, all sourced from small businesses and creative individuals.

Godiva is another must visit: a vibrant alternative to the high street, you can browse through the latest collections of local and international independent designers, as well as a huge array of vintage garments.

On to Bruntsfield we go, where there’s lots to discover, from Rosie Brown’s fine silver and gold pendants and bracelets, to the delicate and unique handcrafted jewellery at Caroline Temple. Once your jewellery is on point, head to Biscuit, where you can dress to impress fom the carefully tailored collection. The homeware selection at Studio One also shouldn’t be missed, as it has everything you need to bring some vibrant colour home.

So, turn away from the high street and lose yourself in the wonders of Edinburgh’s independent shops. We promise you won’t regret it – and neither will your wardrobe.

Kakao by K, 45 Thistle Street; ALC, 61 Thistle Street; Jane Davidson, 52 Thistle Street; Pam Jenkins, 41 Thistle Street; Selenita, 25A Thistle Street; 21st Century Kilts, 48 Thistle Street; Epitome, 35 Dundas Street; Eden, 18 North West Circus Place; Dick’s, 3 North West Circus Place; Treehouse, 10-12 Hamilton Place; Odyssey Boutique, 39 William Street; Frontiers, 16 Stafford Street; Lily Luna, 43 William Sreet; Paper Tiger, 6A/8 Stafford Street; Hannah Zakari, 43 Candlemaker Row; Godiva, 9 West Port; Rosie Brown, 148 Bruntsfield Place; Caroline Temple, 154 Bruntsfield Place; Biscuit Clothing, 132 Bruntsfield Place; Studio One, 71 Morningside Road.

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INCHMURRIN 12 YEAR OLD

LOCH LOMOND 12 YEAR OLD

INCHMOAN 12 YEAR OLD

WE WILL BE SAMPLING FROM OUTSIDE THE HUB ON 18TH & 19TH AUGUST COME AND FIND YOUR FAVOURITE. TRY A LOCH LOMOND ‘WHISKY FLIGHT’ IN THE HUB CAFE DURING THE FESTIVAL 4th TO 29th AUGUST. www.lochlomondwhiskies.com

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@Lochlomondmalts

lochlomondwhiskies

30/06/2017 14:40

I invite you to experience the JasminFrench way!

CALL: 0131 337 6868 39 ROSEBURN TERRACE, EH12 5NQ

www.jasminfrench.co.uk

There’s a

brazilian

reasons to visit the wax bar • LYCON HOT & STRIP WAXING • • LUXURY SHEL LA C NAIL BAR • • HD BROWS • THREADING • LV L LASHES

Rose Street | 0131 260 9935 Fountainbridge | 0131 229 4999 Morningside | 0131 285 1443

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SPAS CITY GUIDE

TO INDULGE

Relax to the max Listen to Barry White’s wise words and treat yourself to some downtime WORDS EMILY JENNIFER HALL

CASTLE THAI SPA

GUERLAIN SPA

LUSH

9A Castle Street www.castlethaispa.com 0131 629 0794

Waldorf Astoria, Princes Street www.waldorfastoriaedinburgh.com 0131 222 8836

115 Princes Street www.uk.lush.com 0131 225 4688

Reinvigorate your body with a traditional Thai massage at this heavenly retreat in the heart of the city. The skilled masseuses use yoga-style techniques to activate your pressure points and blissfully restore your muscles.

Feel revived with the Radiance facial, a bespoke treatment that is tailored to suit your skin’s needs.

Indulge in an hour of pampering that includes a reinvigorating massage and a nourishing face mask to leave you glowing.

If the Fringe frenzy is getting all too much, The Comforter is the perfect pick-me-up. Featuring a full body hot chocolate scrub and a playful bubbly rose serum massage, you’ll walk away beautifully scented and ready for your next show.

TO GLAM UP HEIDI AND PEARL BLOW OUT BAR 55 Newhaven Place www.heidiandpearl.com 0131 629 6464

Try the Blow Out to Go Out service to get club-ready inside and out, thanks to their fully licensed bar.

Choose from a variety of styles and swish that hair with confidence.

IVY THERAPY 21A Haddington Place www.ivytherapy.com 0131 629 6428

Ivy’s LVL lash treatment erases the need for mascara and makes your eyes pop so you can finally say ‘I woke up like this’ with total honesty. www.edfestmag.com

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FOR A QUICK FIX

TO DETOX

ZEN

SLEEPING BEAUTY SALON

2-3 Teviot Place www.zen-lifestyle.com 0131 226 6777

6 William Street www.sleepingbeautysalon.com 0844 445 7771

Get your brows in shape for all of the festival’s “wow” moments with Zen’s HD Brows treatment and be on point all month round.

Coconut, spices, lavender and a moisture melt come together to cleanse and smooth the skin in Sleeping Beauty Salon’s Lime and Ginger Salt Glow.

SPA G&V 1 George IV Bridge www.gandvhotel.com 0131 220 6666

Let your tensions melt away in a tide of relaxation with Spa G&V’s signature pamper package.

Immerse in a full body massage where delicate and restorative rose oil revives your muscles, while a detoxifying facemask cleanses your skin. To top it all off, a paraffin wax softens your hands to perfection.

SHERATON ONE SPA 1 Festival Square www.onespa.com 0131 229 9131

Explore the plethora of heat and water treatments offered by the Escape at One at the Sheraton package. Offerings at the lavish Thermal Suite include the Aroma Grotto steam, the orange-essence infused Bio Sauna and the Hammam steam.

Finish your pampering session with a swim in the rooftop hydro-pool.

THE NAIL YARD 38 Morningside Road www.thenailyard.com 0131 500 0985

Give your nails all the love they deserve with The Nail Yard’s manicure treatments, all created using naturally made products. Say goodbye to harmful chemicals and toxins, and hello to healthy, beautiful nails.

REGIS SPA Jenners, 48 Princes Street www.edinburghspasalon.co.uk 0131 225 9645

Feeeling a little run down? Envelop yourself in the ishga body detox nourish wrap, which uses natural botanical ingredients, including soothing aloe vera and aromatic lemon peel, with therapeutic seaweed from the Isle of Lewis to create a rejuvenating experience.

BALMORAL SPA 1 Princes Street www.roccofortehotels.com 0131 556 2414

Experience total luxury with an ESPA holistic bodycare treatment at the glorious Balmoral Spa. The natural powers of blissfully hot stones will dissolve any strain, while their signature age defying facial promises the ultimate glow.

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LISTINGS ART

From bold and harrowing to absurdist and fun, these are the exhibitions not to miss this year A PERFECT CHEMISTRY: PHOTOGRAPHS BY HILL & ADAMSON Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 27 May-1 October

The National Galleries of Scotland has the largest collection of Hill and Adamson works in the world. This exhibition will feature a selection of around 100 photographs which will demonstrate the profound significance of their achievement.

AGE OF OIL National Museum of Scotland, 21 July-5 November

Exploring the people and places of Scotland’s offshore energy industry, this exhibition by visual artist Sue Jane Taylor describes a significant period in history: the Age of Oil. AND PER SE AND, PARTS XI-XIII Ingleby Gallery, 27 July-27 August

This exhibition will feature three different pairings, beginning with a painting by James Hugonin and

a classic 1953 still life by Giorgio Morandi, two artists whose work is connected by a spirit of obsession and isolation.

ARTIST ROOMS: ED RUSCHA Scottish National Gallery Of Modern Art, 29 April 2017-29 April 2018

Ed Ruscha is widely regarded as one of the most significant artists working today. This tworoom display will explore the artist's fascination with West Coast American culture, including photographic series, paintings and drawings.

BEYOND CARAVAGGIO Scottish National Gallery, 17 June24 September

The first exhibition of works by Caravaggio and his followers ever to be shown in Scotland. Arranged thematically and centred on four major paintings, the exhibition is a must-see.

BOBBY NIVEN

DAUGHTERS OF PENELOPE

Johnston Terrace Wildlife Garden, 27 July-27 August 2017

Dovecot Gallery, 20 July 2017-20 January 2018

Bobby Niven is one of the founders of the Bothy Project, a growing network of small shelters in Scotland. Niven brings together his individual sculptural practice with this concept by creating a temporary studio workshop within the Johnston Terrace Wildlife Garden.

This exhibition interweaves the work of artists who are investigating women’s stories and textile histories with the unique story of women’s work at Dovecot.

CHARLOTTE BARKER: FLOTILLA Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, 29 July-26 August

Edinburgh’s famous fossil shop.

Fossils, minerals, meteorites and jewellery from around the world.

This new body of work by Charlotte Baker maintains many of the idiomatic elements that are associated with ceramics and furniture exploring their sculptural potential and deconstructing the hierarchical relationships between fine art, craft and the decorative arts.

DOUGLAS GORDON: BLACK BURNS Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 29 July-29 October

A site-specific installation by one of the world’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Black Burns is a response to the full-length marble statue of the Robert Burns in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

EDINBURGH ALPHABET: AN A-Z OF THE CITY'S COLLECTIONS City Art Centre, 19 May-8 October

CONSTABLE AND MCTAGGART Scottish National Gallery, 8 April-4 March 2018

One of the greatest British masterpieces, Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831) is arguably the culmination of the series of ‘six-footer’ canvases painted by John Constable.

For the first time, Museum and Galleries Edinburgh are bringing together a huge range of objects from their combined collections into one major temporary exhibition.

On display are items from our acclaimed archaeology, fine and applied art, childhood, literary and social history collections.

Mr Wood’s Fossils 5 Cowgatehead Edinburgh EH1 1JY 0131 220 1344 shop@mrwoodsfossils.co.uk www.mrwoodsfossils.co.uk 154

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ART LISTINGS

2017

FESTIVALS 30 JULY – 6 AUGUST 2017 Annual celebration of the Shetland Fiddle Clockwise from top: Charlotte Barker, Jacob Kerray and Alessandro Di Massimo

Tradition curated by Claire White.

SCREEN

JAC LEIRNER: ADD IT UP Fruitmarket Gallery, 1 July-22 October

Brazilian-born artist Jac Leirner presents her first solo exhibition in Scotland. Leirner’s work uses everyday materials over and over again, combining them into astonishingly beautiful sculptures that reveal the material poetry of the mundane and touch on subjects like obsession and addiction.

Shetland Arts’ annual literary festival curated by Karen Cunningham

WWW.

Edinburgh College of Art's Master's Show will take multiple forms and occupy multiple sites this summer, showcasing new work from students from a variety of disciplines.

GRAHAM FAGEN: A SLAVE'S LAMENT Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 20 May-29 October

The Slave’s Lament was Roberts Burns’ only work to empathise with the appalling hurt of the displaced, the trafficked and the enslaved.

Burns’s poetry finds a haunting bedfellow in Jamaican reggae music.

HAMISH BLAKELY: HEAVENLY CREATURES Castle Fine Art, 16 July

Contemporary realist Hamish Blakely will be showcasing his new collection, Heavenly Creatures which celebrates the female body in all its glory in a one-off ‘meet the artist’ event. www.edfestmag.com

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SHETLANDARTS .ORG PABLO BRONSTEIN

JACOB KERRAY

Various locations, 27 July-27 August

Shetland’s annual film festival curated

by Kathy Hubbard, Linda Ruth Williams & Mark Kermode.

2 - 5 NOVEMBER 2017

Talbot Rice Gallery, 28 July-30 September

EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART MASTERS DEGREE SHOW 2017

25 AUG - 3 SEP 2017

The Rose Walk

Jacob Kerray has been invited to create a new work for the Talbot Rice Round Room. Kerray’s work draws on the visual cultures that surround his main interests – particularly football, pro wrestling and historical painting.

KATE DAVIS Stills, 28 July-8 October

Multimedia artist Kate Davis’s exhibition includes her recently commissioned Margaret Tait Award film, Charity. Charity questions how the essential, but largely invisible and unpaid, processes we employ to care for others and ourselves could be reimagined.

MARCO GIORDANO: SELF-FULFILLING EGO Jupiter Artland , 28 July-1 October

The Temporary Commission for Emerging Artists in the Outdoors this year at Jupiter Artland will be

by Italian artist Marco Giordano.

He has drawn interest from Le Cento Fontane at Villa D’Este, Tivoli and the iconic and historic stonework set around the Jupiter estate. Expect expansive, aweinspiring scultures.

OPENS 29 JULY ARTLAND

www.jupiterartland.org

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LISTINGS ART

MELON

NOW

The Number Shop, 29 July-3 September

Scottish National Gallery Of Modern Art, 25 March-24 September

MELON is made up of five weeklong exhibitions (slices), with two artists presenting at each 'slice'. We will be hosting the third iteration of our Friends of TNS talks where local creatives are invited to present their practices, research or creative business. We will also be hosting workshops, critiques and music jam sessions.

NEW EDITION Edinburgh Printmakers, 28 July-21 October

The title NEW EDITION underlines the generational group of the exhibiting artists, who were born between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, and are part of a reinvigorating wave of young Scotland-based artists working in print. NEW EDITION is presented as the special 50th-year anniversary exhibition of Edinburgh Printmakers.

MAKE CASTLE FINE ART PART OF YOUR EDINBURGH EXPERIENCE EVENTS / MEET THE ARTIST Hamish Blakely Sunday 16 July, 1-4PM Nic Joly Saturday 05 August, 1-4PM Lawrence Coulson Saturday 17 September, 1-4PM

NEW MEDIA SCOTLAND: THOUGHT COLLIDER City Art Centre, 27 July-27 August

Susana Cámara Leret and Mike Thompson's practice explores metabolic processes, bodies and spaces. Motivated by emergent nature cultures, their artworks span various media, generating experiential insights that confront the norm. As Thought Collider they experiment with the meanings and values that can be derived from alternative ways of experiencing built and mediated environments.

Between March 2017 and March 2020, the entire ground floor of the Gallery’s Modern One building will be given over to NOW – a dynamic, three-year series of six major exhibitions, showcasing the work of some of the most compelling and influential artists working today.

PABLO BRONSTEIN: THE ROSE WALK Jupiter Artland, from 28 July

Argentine-born artist Pablo Bronstein lives and works in London. His work ranges from drawing and installation to performance and choreography, each with a focus on architecture and pre-20th century European design. At Jupiter Artland, the artist will create his most ambitious site specific piece to date that will form part of the permanent collection at Jupiter Artland.

PESTER AND ROSSI: LUNARNOVA CAMPOUT Jupiter Artland, 26-27 August

Glasgow-based duo Ruby Pester and Nadia Rossi have been working together since 2008. They create wearable sculpture, DIY costume and props working with an anarchistic and feminist approach often creating interventions around the body, sexuality and rituals. At Jupiter Artland they will produce an overnight event focusing on finding hope in the dark.

NIC JOLY: BEING HUMAN Castle Fine Art, 5 August

British sculptor Nic Joly will be showcasing his newly curated collection of signed limited editions and original wall sculptures in a one-off event. Tackling the intangible social restraints that we impose on ourselves and each other, his collection Being Human casts off convention to celebrate honesty and the words that, too often, go unspoken.

BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE AND THE JACOBITES National Museum Of Scotland, 23 June-12 November

This summer National Museums Scotland will present the largest exhibition about the Jacobites to be held in over 70 years. Over 300 paintings, documents, costumes and items of jewellery will help build a detailed picture of a turbulent period in history.

20 Multrees Walk, St Andrew’s Square, Edinburgh, EH1 3DQ t: 0131 261 9181 e: edinburgh@castlefineart.com

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ART LISTINGS

YOU HARDBOILED SOFTBOILED

I

Rhubaba Studio and Gallery, 26 July-27 August

Rhubaba presents an ongoing polyvocal project centering around the work of Melbourne-based writer Jessica Yu. The project will bring together the voices of Jessica, editor Claire Walsh and poet Sam Riviere, amongst others. You hardboiled I softboiled consists of an in-gallery press, and a purpose built streetfront display case.

TOBY PATERSON: THE SOCIOLOGY OF AUTUMN Chessels Court, 27 July-27 August 2017

Clockwise from top: Pablo Bronstein, Ed Ruscha and Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich

PATRICK STAFF: TO THOSE IN SEARCH OF IMMUNITY (OBSERVERS' WALK)

SHADOWS OF WAR: ROGER FENTON'S PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CRIMEA, 1855

Collective, 27 July – 27 AuguST 2017

The Queen’s Gallery, 4 August-26 November

Patrick Staff will develop a new Observers’ Walk to be launched at Edinburgh Art Festival this year.

Observers' Walks is a series of downloadable audio guides created by artists specifically to be listened to on Calton Hill, an iconic and historic location in Edinburgh city centre.

Roger Fenton arrived in the Crimea several months after the major battles of 1854. This is the first exhibition to focus exclusively on presenting his powerful photographs and demonstrates his extraordinary genius in capturing the futility of conflict.

PLANT SCENERY OF THE WORLD

SHANNON TE AO: WITH THE SUN AGLOW, I HAVE MY PENSIVE MOODS

Inverleith House, 28 July-29 October

Gladstone Court, 27 July-27 August 2017

Plant Scenery of the World presents new, commissioned and existing work by Laura Aldridge, Charlie Billingham, Bobby Niven, Oliver Osborne and Ben Rivers alongside rare and unseen archival material, botanical paintings by Işık Güner, Jacqui Pestell and Sharon Tingey and paintings by R.K. Greville from the Garden’s own collection. A must for green thumbs.

Shannon Te Ao’s new multimedia installation explores the physical and emotional depths of love, grief, sickness and healing. Centred around video footage shot in different locations throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, the work explores a poetic assemblage of tenuously related content.

ROSS LITTLE Collective, 22 July-10 September

Talbot Rice Gallery, 28 July-30 September

Artist and filmmaker Ross Little is based in Glasgow and predominantly works with film and painting. Ross is working with Collective as part of EAF’s Satellites Programme and will present a harrowing project in which he traces different forms of globalised labour found in the ship breaking yards of India and on board a transatlantic cruise ship.

Sex Symbols in Sandwich Signs takes its title from a damning review of David Storey's novel, Radcliffe, which was critical of all the qualities Sutcliffe admires - namely its bleak, alienating narrative and 'garrulous' characters. The exhibition pulls at the seams of identity, expanding upon recurrent themes in Sutcliffe's work: self-doubt, obsession, cultural constructs and class conflict.

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Paterson’s new work is a series of interrelated sculptural, architectural and landscape elements responding to the essential colours, materials and form of Edinburgh's Old Town , producing a micro-landscape that invites reflection on Patrick Geddes' observations on the city, in the context of Chessels Court and the High Street today.

ZOE WALKER AND NEIL BROMWICH: THE DRAGON OF PROFIT AND PRIVATE OWNERSHIP Trinity Apse, 27 July - 27 August

Talented duo Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich are known internationally for their largescale sculptural works and public performances that invite audiences to imagine better worlds. At the heart of the project will be a giant, playful, inflatable sculpture of a dragon, the contemporary descendant of the mythical fire-breathing creatures slain by St. George.

STEPHEN SUTCLIFFE: SEX SYMBOLS IN SANDWICH SIGNS

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LISTINGS MUSIC

These shows will be, quite literally, like music to your ears 70TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION CONCERT

BEEFHEART – FAST AND BULBOUS

Usher Hall, 27 August, 8pm

Henry's Cellar Bar, 12 and 19 August, 7.45pm

Marking the 70 years since the first Edinburgh International Festival, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra plays highlights from the festival's history accompanied by archive film and interviews.

AFRICA ENTSHA New Town Theatre, 3-27 August, 12.15pm

Zulu sounds from the five-piece South African a cappella group, getting you dancing with the addition of percussive clapping, foot stamping and effects.

Step this way for your neon meat dreams as Orange Claw Hammer pay creative tribute to the wayward genius of Captain Beefheart.

LA BOHEME

FESTIVAL FIRSTS

Festival Theatre, 25-27 August, times vary

Usher Hall, 19 August, 7.45pm

The Edinburgh International Festival's resident company Teatro Regio of Turin takes on the Puccini opera, just as it did on its premiere in 1896. The visually striking production is directed by Alex Ollé of Catalonian theatre company La Fura dels Baus.

BWANI JUNCTION PERFORM PAUL SIMON'S GRACELAND WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

BERGEN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Liquid Room, 9–18 (not 12, 13, 24, 15), August, 7pm

Usher Hall, 12 August, 7.45pm

Edinburgh's very own world-music specialists Bwani Junction repeat their hit Celtic Connections show dedicated to Paul Simon's classics.

If you want to hear Grieg, you can do no better than the 250-year-old orchestra from his home town. In this EIF performance, his Piano Concerto in A minor is played by Paul Lewis.

BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

BLANCK MASS

Usher Hall, 8 August, 7.30pm

Summerhall, 22 August, 8pm

This first of three Edinburgh International Festival concerts by the BBC SSO features the music of Schubert, Schumann and Strauss.

Benjamin John Power best known as one half of F*ck Buttons steps out with a dark slab of solo electronica created from field recordings and analogue synths.

CAMILLE O'SULLIVAN: WHERE ARE WE NOW? Underbelly's Circus Hub, 4-26 August (not 9, 14, 21), 7.45pm

The stunning interpreter of the darker end of the pop canon brings a selection of songs for troubled times

by David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, PJ Harvey and Nick Cave.

CHARLOTTE CHURCH'S LATE NIGHT POP DUNGEON

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First heard at the International Festival of 1988, Mark-Anthony Turnage's opera presents the Oedipus story in a brutal modernday light.

HANNAH RARITY Acoustic Music Centre, 24 August, 5.30pm

New songs and traditional favourites from Rarity, who has been making waves and turning heads on recent BBC Hogmanay Live shows.

HINDS AND SUPPORT Summerhall, 16 August, 8pm

Ana Perrote, Carlotta Cosials, Ade Martin and Amber Grimbergen have emerged from Madrid's DIY scene to capture hearts around the world.

HOT DUB TIME MACHINE

Summerhall, 25-26 August, 10pm

The reinvention of Charlotte Church as one of the coolest people in pop continues apace with a night of good songs and bad, plus live music, presented by Nothing Ever Happens Here.

An edge-of-town ride back in time with the Australian retro rave that helps us party through history with the most danceable sounds from 1956 to the present day – in chronological order.

JESS ROBINSON: UNRAVELLED

Queen's Hall, 2 August, 7.30pm

Underbelly George Square, 2-27 August (not 14, 21), 7pm

Tempting pairing of the Squeeze lyricist Difford and the Mercury Music Prize nominated Williams for a night of intelligent pop and folk.

The award-winning impressionist returns to stun Fringe crowds with her stunning and hilarious vocal talents.

DON GIOVANNI

JULIE BYRNE

Festival Theatre, 9-12 August (not 10), 7pm

Summerhall, 23 August, 8pm

Iván Fischer conducts and directs the Mozart opera in this staging featuring the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

GREEK Festival Theatre, 5 August, 7.15pm; 6 August, 5pm

Royal Highland Centre, 11-12 August, 9pm

CHRIS DIFFORD AND KATHRYN WILLIAMS

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Sir James MacMillan conducts three pieces that were premiered in the Edinburgh International Festival during its 70-year history, performed by the BBC SSO.

The New York State singersongwriter demonstrates why so many people have fallen for delicate, ethereal new-age folk.

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MUSIC LISTINGS

SCOTLAND’S WILD HEART Queen's Hall, 22-23 August, times vary

Capercaillie's Donald Shaw presents a multimedia trip through the Scottish landscape in the company of Patsy Reid, Michael McGoldrick, Sorren MacLean, James MacKintosh and a string section by Greg Lawson.

TURNTABLE | EDINBURGH Scottish Storytelling Centre, 14-20 August, 5.30pm

Turntable started when MJ McCarthy and his Great Aunt Kathleen connected over a stack of vinyl. Since then, the Turntable team have toured her record case around Scotland, inviting listeners of all ages to investigate its contents while reflecting on music and life.

Clockwise from top: Camille O'Sullivan and La bohème

THE LAST POST

ORKESTRA DEL SOL

Army @ the Fringe, 17-22 August (not 21), 3.30pm

Summerhall, 12 August, 7pm

Love letters written by Dennis Marshall from the front line of WWII are set to music by his grandson, trumpeter Tom Poulson, in collaboration with Alistair MacDonald and Susan Worsfold.

LEMON BUCKET ORKESTRA AND BEN CAPLAN Summerhall, 8 August, 8pm

The band that was the driving force behind last year's hit show Counting Sheep return for a one-off night of infectious balkan-gypsy-party-punk.

The Edinburgh specialists in sousaphone-fuelled brassy honkstep are calling it a day, so don't miss this chance to hear tunes from their final album.

VIRGIN MONEY FIREWORKS CONCERT Ross Theatre, 28 August, 9pm

The Edinburgh International Festival gives another spectacular pyrotechnic display accompanied by musical selections from Sir James MacMillan, Tchaikovsky and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, played by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

WITHERED HAND, IKLAN AND SAVAGE MANSION Summerhall, 19 August, 7pm

Indie-rockers Savage Mansion set the pulse racing for Iklan (a collaboration between Law Holt, Timothy London and Leith Congregational Choir) and Withered Hand in full-band format. Presented

by Nothing Ever Happens Here in conjunction with Made in Scotland.

XFRMR BY ROBBIE THOMSON The Leith Volcano, 22-6 August, times vary

Artist Robbie Thomson harnesses the sonic capabilities of the Tesla coil to create a work as arresting as the scent of burning ozone and as lively as electricity itself, resulting in a physical assault on the senses.

XYLOURIS WHITE Summerhall, 27 August, 8pm

George Xylouris is a master of the Cretan lute. Jim White is the drummer with Australian instrumental rock band Dirty Three.

Together they create spellbinding music.

WORDS MARK FISHER

PJ HARVEY Edinburgh Playhouse, 7-8 August, 8pm

The double Mercury Music Prize winner plays tracks from her acclaimed album The Hope Six Demolition Project, inspired by her global travels, as well as material from her back catalogue. Part of the Edinburgh International Festival.

MACBETH RANT

Festival Theatre, 18-20 August, times vary

Queen's Hall, 14 August, 7.30pm

In the inaugural year of the ElF, the Verdi favourite was the first opera to be formed. As a 70th anniversary treat, Teatro Regio of Turin returns to the tragedy. Emma Dante directs.

Herald Angel Award-winning fiddle quartet from the Shetland and the Highlands comprising Bethany Reid, Jenna Reid, Anna Massie and Lauren MacColl.

MARTIN CARTHY

ROOM 29

Queen's Hall, 27 August, 7.30pm

King's Theatre, 22-24 August, 8pm

The folk balladeer who has influenced such major names as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon draws on a 40-year career for a showcase of songs old and new.

Intriguing collaboration between Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and piano virtuoso Chilly Gonzales, focusing on the stories of one room in a Hollywood hotel.

THE OPENING CONCERT

ROSE ROOM

Usher Hall, 5 August, 8pm

Merchant's Hall, 10 August, 9pm; 25 August, 6pm

Kicking off the 70th anniversary season, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus go back to 1947 when Haydn's Surprise Symphony was on the very first bill. www.edfestmag.com

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New and classic gypsy swing music in the style of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli performed by the Scottish Jazz Awards finalists from Glasgow.

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LISTINGS BOOKS

Discover more about the writers behind your favourite page-turners ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH

ANDY HAMILTON

15 August, 1.30pm; 17 August, 6.45pm; 19 August, 5pm

16 August, 3.15pm

It would scarcely seem like the Edinburgh International Book Festival without an appearance fom this Scottish author. This year, Mccall Smith will take us to Scotland Street and beyond with his stories.

ALI SMITH

A regular on Have I Got News For You, Hamilton's debut novel is about a soap star in trouble.

ANTHONY HOROWITZ 12 August, 7.15pm

Get under the murder-mystery skin of Magpie Murderers and discover how The Word Is Murder features a character called Anthony Horowitz.

20 August, 5pm

The brilliant Scottish novelist is one book into a four-novel sequence inspired by the seasons. Daniel Hahn finds out more about Smith's inventive style.

BERNARD MACLAVERTY 16 August, 12.15pm

It's been 16 years since Maclaverty's last novel, so there'll be plenty of questions to ask about Midwinter Break.

ANDREW O'HAGAN 17 August, 5pm

CAROL ANN DUFFY

In his latest book, The Secret Life, O'Hagan tries to pin down the elusive Julian Assange of Wikileaks and Satoshi Nakamoto, founder of Bitcoin.

13 August, 8.15pm

The poet laureate runs through a selection of verse from her favourite poets with musician John Sampson.

DENISE MINA 17 August, 7.15pm

The Glasgow crime novelist has extended into true crime in The Long Drop, a study of serial killer Peter Manuel who murdered at least seven people in 1950s Scotland.

EVAN DAVIS 24 August, 6.45pm

Do you believe the anonymous voice that says, "Your call is important to us?" Do you believe Donald Trump's claims to unprecedented greatness? Are we really stuck in a post-truth world? The BBC journalist investigates.

FRANK COTTRELL BOYCE AND CARL MACDOUGALL 12 August, 10.15am

Writer of the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics, Frank Cottrell Boyle knows all about launching events. Both he and Carl MacDougall talk about their short story anthologies with Sally Magnusson.

HANIF KUREISHI 22 August, 1.30pm

Clockwise from top: Ian Rankin, Tracy Chevalier, Jackie Kay and Reginald D Hunter IAN RANKIN 25 August, 8.15pm; 26 August, 8.15pm

He's tried to retire him, but somehow the persistent Inspector Rebus just keeps on coming back.

This month, the Edinburgh author celebrates 30 years since the publication of Rather Be the Devil.

IN THERAPY WITH SUSIE ORBACH: LAURA ALBERT 21 August, 3.15pm

The BBC Radio psychotherapist invites Albert onto the stage for a live therapy session with an aim to get to grips with her creative drives.

JACKIE JAY 16 August, 1.30pm

It’s 100 years since war poet Wilfred Owen spent time in Edinburgh recovering from PTSD. To commemorate, Scotland's makar Jackie Jay has been commissioned to write a poem, which will premiere at this event.

The author of My Beautiful Laundrette talks about his new novel The Nothing, a blackly comic study of a betrayed filmmaker getting back at his wife.

HARRY GILES AND KATHERENA VERMETTE 13 August, 3.30pm

Last year, the Book Festival commissioned a handful of writers to travel the Americas. In this instalment of the Outriders series, poet Giles and writer Vermette report on their journey from Montreal to Winnipeg.

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BOOKS LISTINGS

PAUL AUSTER

TARIQ ALI

VINCE CABLE

14 August, 6.30pm

12 August, 10.30am

16 August, 6.45pm

One of the most celebrated American writers of the past 70 years, Auster gives a keynote address about his life and work.

The polemical author turns to one of the most polemical of them all, Vladimir Lenin, as he asks big questions about whether the ends can ever justify the means. Scottish critic and author Stuart Kelly quizzes him on The Dilemmas of Lenin.

We're well used to hearing the former Lib Dem spokesperson sounding off about economics, but today he'll be focussing on about Open Arms, a political thriller about an Indian arms dealer and an MP.

TANYA LANDMAN AND REGINALD D HUNTER

13 August, 5pm

RAJA SHEHADEH 18 August, 12.15pm

One of the most reasoned and persuasive voices to reflect on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Shehadeh returns to Edinburgh to consider Where the Line is Drawn.

ROGER MCGOUGH AND CHRIS RIDDELL 19 August, 8.15pm

JAMES KELMAN

The ever popular Liverpool poet joins forces with illustrator Riddell to talk about their new book, Summer with Monika, and to reflect on the 50-year anniversary of The Mersey Sound.

18 August, 1.30pm

The Booker Prize-winning Glasgow author is a singular voice, influencing a generation of writers. Here he talks about his 13th anthology of short fiction, That Was a Shiver, and Other Stories.

JENNI MURRAY

WILL SELF The loquacious Self returns to dazzle and delight as he examines the limitations of traditional storytelling for a generation caught in a permanent present.

In particular, he'll be talking about Phone, the concluding instalment of his De'Ath trilogy.

17 August, 2.15pm

An intriguing pairing of Landman, the Carnegie Prize-winning novelist, and Hunter, the stand-up comedian, who'll be considering the shadow cast by slavery across the USA and asking why race is still such a tricky subject to address.

ZADIE SMITH 19 August, 6.45pm

TRACY CHEVALIER 20 August, 8.15pm

SABRINA MAHFOUZ 16 August, 6.30pm

Time to upturn a few clichĂŠs as the British-Egyptian poet and playwright draws attention to 20 British female writers who don't fit any narrow definitions of what a Muslim woman should be.

In New Boy, the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring has transposed the story of Shakespeare's Othello onto a school in 1970s Washington where a black boy finds himself the centre of attention in an allwhite class.

Stuart Kelly welcomes Smith back to Edinburgh after a hiatus of five years, quizzing her on her latest release Swing Time, a novel about two women of colour whose friendship changes as their lives progress.

WORDS MARK FISHER

19 August, 3.15pm

SARA PASCOE

WIGTOWN BOOK FESTIVAL

23 August, 3.45pm

The stand-up comedian shows her serious side in Animal, which takes a look at how a patriarchal society has developed so many peculiar ideas of the female form.

JOANNE HARRIS 28 August, 5pm

SARAH DUNANT

The author of Chocolate explains her love of Norse myth – a passion she's had since the age of nine and that she brings to life in the pages of Runemarks and Runelight which imagine an parallel universe shaped by the Vikings not the Romans.

15 August, 3.45pm

22 SEPTEMBER - 1 OCTOBER 2017

The novelist has returned again to renaissance Italy for In the Name of the Family, a historical intrigue featuring the Borgias and Machiavelli.

JUDY MURRAY

SARAH HALL AND ADAM O'RIORDAN

15 August, 5pm

18 August, 6.30pm

She's the power behind the throne, the mother seen urging on her two tennis-playing sons from the stands.

No mean player herself, Judy Murray is also passionate about encouraging girls into the sport.

Here, Ruth Wishart quizzes her about Knowing the Score.

Twice shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Hall writes in a rich poetic style, which makes her a good match for poet O'Riordan as the two of them celebrate the publication of short-story collections.

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SEBASTIAN BARRY The Irish playwright, novelist and poet has twice won the Costa Book of the Year award, most recently for Days Without End. He'll be talking through this fictional journey through 19th-century America with Jane Fowler.

Literature takes a musical turn in Laura Barnett's newest book, Greatest Hits, where each chapter is a song, and each song is a chapter in the life of the protagonist. www.edfestmag.com

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Charity No. SCO37984

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14 August, 11.45am

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LAURA BARNETT 16 August, 7pm

www.wigtownbookfestival.com

UNTRYF CO I

Sheena McDonald welcomes the familiar voice of Radio Four's Woman's Hour who will be talking about A History of Britain in 21 Women, a list that stretches from Boadicea to Nicola Sturgeon.

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LISTINGS THEATRE

All the world might be a stage, but these productions take to it with extra glee ADAM

ARM: MIREILLE AND MATHIEU

Traverse Theatre, 5-27 August (not Mon), times vary

Summerhall, 4-27 (not Mon), 4.20pm

Director Cora Bissett teams up with the National Theatre of Scotland to tell the true story of a trans man discovering his true self. The show features a 120-strong, international choir of trans people linked by computer. Companion piece to Eve.

The annual Big in Belgium season has a higher hit rate than most, so worth checking out this objecttheatre fantasy from a company famed for its surreal games.

ASSESSMENT Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 2-28 August, 2.30pm

ALL HELL TOUPEE Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 2-13 August, 2.15pm

One-woman satire by Kate Bowes Renna, whose screen credits include Love Actually and Downton Abbey, about love, blackmail and hairpieces among the A-list set.

ANCIENT SHRINES AND HALF TRUTHS Summerhall, 2-17 August (not 7, 14, 15, 21), times vary

Binge Culture invites us on an audio-based theatrical experience in a secret city location.

ARLENE! THE GLITZ. THE GLAMOUR. THE GOSSIP. Assembly Checkpoint, 22-26 August, 2.30pm

Star-spotters step this way, as the Strictly judge looks back on her dance career from Hot Gossip on Top of the Pops in the 1970s to We Will Rock You in today's West End. Both fans of Phillips and the show are sure to enjoy it.

Former journalist and drama critic for The Times Robert Dawson Scott has traded journalism for playwriting and here imagines a not-too-distant future in which citizens are discarded once they've hit average life expectancy.

ASSISTED SUICIDE THE MUSICAL Assembly Rooms, 22-26 August, 10am

The disability rights activist and actor Liz Carr, who had a memorable cameo in the BBC's Silent Witness, asks provocative questions about our attitudes to the idea of suicide for the terminally ill.

ATLANTIC: A SCOTTISH STORY/ATLANTIC: AMERICA AND THE GREAT WAR Assembly Hall, 3-27 August, 3pm

Students of the American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University in Chicago and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland come together under the expert guidance of Scotland's Noisemaker for two musicals playing on alternate days about nationality and the ocean.

AMY CONWAY'S SUPER AWESOME WORLD Summerhall, 2-27 August (not 3, 14), 5.40pm

Clockwise from top: Arlene!, Assisted Suicide The Musical, Cathy, Ancient Shrines Half Truths

BIG BITE-SIZE BREAKFAST SHOW Pleasance Dome, 2-28 August (not 15, 22), 10.30am

Start your day off with brunch, Fringe-style, and enjoy three bite-size morning performances, complete with tea, coffee, croissants and strawberries.

BORDERS BY HENRY NAYLOR Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-28 August (not 16), 4.30pm

Henry Naylor continues the run of contemporary political plays that began with the Fringe First-winning Echoes and Angel by taking us to the Mediterranean where a pregnant woman risks drowning as she flees Syria.

BREXIT THE MUSICAL C Venues – C, 2-28 (not 15), 6.55pm

Well, of course, there'd be a show called Brexit the Musical on the Fringe in 2017, but this one should at least be well informed. Its written

by Chris Bryant who works as a Brexit lawyer and will be touring it to legal board rooms after the run.

Video-game adventure with the Glasgow theatremaker who recalls her mastery of the Nintendo Entertainment System as a 10 year old and compares it with her adult experience of depression.

THE B*EASTS Underbelly, Cowgate, 3-27 (not 14), 6pm

Dark territory for TV face Monica Dolan, making her solo-show debut with a piece of storytelling theatre about the pressures faced by young girls because of relentless internet sharing.

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THEATRE LISTINGS

Donahoe, Duncan Macmillan's play for Paines Plough and Pentabus manages to be both funny and touching as it considers the difficulty of dealing with depression and trying to make other people happy.

FLIGHT Church Hill Theatre, 4-27 August (not 8, 12, 13, 16, 22), times vary

The inventive Glasgow company Vox Motus takes the audience one at a time into the world of Caroline Brothers’ 2012 novel Hinterland, the story of two orphans going on an epic journey across Europe.

Experienced through headphones and in the form of a graphic novel.

THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK Traverse Theatre, 15-27 August (not 21), times vary

BRIGHT COLOURS ONLY Assembly Rooms, 3-26 August (not 14), 2.25pm

Tremendously enjoyable black comedy by Pauline Goldsmith in which the audience becomes part of a traditional Irish wake, sandwiches, whisky and all. Back after acclaim ten years ago.

CATHY Pleasance Dome, 2-26 August (not 9, 14, 21), 3.30pm

Off the back of a successful UK tour, professional homeless people's theatre company Cardboard Citizens reimagines Ken Loach's Cathy Come Home in a retelling for the modern housing climate.

CIRCA: HUMANS Underbelly's Circus Hub, 4-26 August (not 9, 14, 21), 7pm

One of the classiest circus troupes on the circuit, Australia's Circa follows up its hit shows Closer, Beyond and Wunderkammer with a love letter to our endangered species.

CIRKOPOLIS Pleasance at EICC, 4-28 August (not 9, 16, 23), times vary

Quebec's Cirque Éloize gives Fritz Lang's classic 1927 film Metropolis a circus makeover in a show that won the 2014 New York Drama Desk Award Winner for Unique Theatrical Experience.

at would-be artists in this musical about a class of dysfunctional students going head to head in a songwriting contest.

THE DIVIDE PART I & II King's Theatre, 8-20 August, times vary

Emma Rice's last job for her Kneehigh company before she became artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe was to stage Daniel Jamieson's lively play about the relationship between the painter Marc Chagall and his wife Bella.

FOREIGN RADICAL Canada Hub @ King's Hall, 2-27 August (not 8, 15, 22), 1pm

Get a first-hand idea of what it's like to be judged by your appearances in this theatrical game in which the outcome depends on the choices made by the audience. Winner of the Critics' Choice Innovation Award in Vancouver.

HEADS UP Summerhall, 22-27 August, 7.40pm

Second chance to see Kieran Hurley's award-winning solo show after its 2016 sucess. Centering around life in a city under the cloud of an impending apocalypse and featuring four interlinked stories about 21st-century alienation, it's a must watch.

HOW TO ACT Summerhall, 2-27 August (not 7, 14, 21), 1.10pm

Former Suspect Culture director Graham Eatough joins forces with the National Theatre of Scotland to stage his own play about a theatre director on a quest to discover the essence of his craft. Robert Goodale and Jade Ogugua star.

The Edinburgh International Festival presents the premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's futuristic vision of a dystopian England in which men and women have been forced to live apart. The ambitious production by London's Old Vic takes place over two parts.

ENTERPRISE Assembly George Square Studios, 3-28 August (not 14, 22), 1.35pm

High-octane comedy by the Fringe First-winning American playwright Brian Parks about four businessmen desperate to do anything to prevent their corporation going under. Directed

by David Calvito, another Fringe regular.

EVE Traverse Theatre, 3-27 August (not 7, 14, 21), times vary

Like it's companion piece, Adam, Eve examines a trans person's journey through life. Starring the legendary trans rights activist and playwright Jo Clifford, Eve challenges our perceptions of gender while telling the star's story.

EVERY BRILLIANT THING

CREATIVES Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 15, 22), 4pm

Irvine Welsh takes satirical aim at the proliferation of courses aimed www.edfestmag.com

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Roundabout @ Summerhall, 21-27 August (not 22), 12pm

Another chance to see one of the best-loved shows of the past couple of years. Performed by Jonny EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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LISTINGS THEATRE

HOW TO WIN AGAINST HISTORY

LOVE, BOMBS AND APPLES Summerhall, 4-27 August (not Mon) 1.30pm

Assembly George Square, 3-27 August (not 14), 7.25pm

Three charged stories by Londonbased Iraqi playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak (whose day job is in stem cell research) about sex, terrorism and misunderstandings.

Part of the Arab Arts Focus Edinburgh Showcase.

Back after huge acclaim on last year's Fringe, this musical comedy

by Seiriol Davies is about Henry Paget, the cross-dressing black sheep of a 19th-century aristocratic family, who squandered his wealth within six years of inheriting his title. Expect a diamond-studded performance.

JOAN

LUKE WRIGHT: WHAT I LEARNED FROM JOHNNY BEVAN

Above: Monster Below: Leaf By Niggle

Underbelly, Cowgate, 21-27 August, 12pm

Underbelly, Cowgate, 21-27 August (not 26), 7.20pm

Return of last year's Fringe First-winning play about Joan of Arc performed by drag king champion Lucy Jane Parkinson in a colourful fusion of theatre and cabaret.

KAFKA AND SON Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 15, 16), 11.40am

Return visit for this Canadian one-man play, a bleakly funny examination of Franz Kafka's fraught relationship with his overbearing father.

KRAPP'S LAST TAPE

JOGGING

Church Hill Theatre, 4-27 August (not 10-13, 16, 22), 8pm

Summerhall, 15-23 August (not 21), 11.50am

The Irish actor Barry McGovern, a revered exponent of the work of Samuel Beckett, takes on the role of the irascible Krapp as he reviews the fragmented evidence of a taperecorded past. Directed by Michael Colgan of Dublin’s Gate Theatre who is also devoted to Beckett's work, having produced for film and television. Beckett enthusiasts, theatre lovers and everyone in between are sure to love it.

Lebanese performer Hanane Hajj Ali reflects on life in Beirut, a city she regularly runs through in an attempt to counter the effects of aging. Part of the Arab Arts Focus Edinburgh Showcase.

FROM INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED WORKLIGHT THEATRE PRESENTS

LEAF BY NIGGLE Scottish Storytelling Centre, 4-28 August (even days only), 5pm

Return run for the first stage adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s fairy story about an amateur artist whose work goes unappreciated until his painting takes on physical form. Actor Richard Medrington gives a captivating performance, Andy Cannon directs and a soundtrack by Karine Polwart and Michael John McCarthy delights.

LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS Roundabout @ Summerhall, 4-20 August (not 8, 15), 12pm

Commissioned by Theatre Royal Stratford East 03 - 27 AUGUST 2017 (NOT 16) 5.40PM (6.50PM)

The much loved play returns to the Fringe, reminding us of the power of language and the challenges we'd face if we had fewer words to express ourselves with.

Tremendous piece of performance poetry about a not-so-young man mourning the passing of his ideological youth as Things-CanOnly-Get-Better hope morphs into post-Iraq disillusionment.

MARTIN CREED'S WORDS AND MUSIC The Studio, Festival Theatre Edinburgh, 4-27 August, 10.30pm

Best known as a Turner Prizewinning visual artist, Creed turns music-hall host for this off-beat evening of talk and song in the Edinburgh International Festival.

Expect the unexpected.

ME AND ROBIN HOOD Pleasance Dome, 2-27 August (not 15, 22), 4pm

Having donated the proceeds of his last show to refugees – and got all his host venues to do the same – Shôn Dale-Jones is using Me and Robin Hood to raise funds for Street Child United. The one-man show is about the ethics of wealth redistribution in an unethical system.

LETTERS TO MORRISSEY Traverse Theatre, 3-27 August (not Mon), times vary

10-13, 17-20 & 24–27 August

Gary McNair stars in his own show about escapism and idolatry as he takes us back to 1997 when his 11-year-old self regarded the singer of The Smiths as the answer to all his prayers. £¥€$ (LIES) Upper Church @ Summerhall, 4-27 August (not Mon), times vary

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Fringe favourite Ontroerend Goed turns its attention to the rich and powerful, giving us the chance to imagine ourselves in the shoes of the 1% super rich. How would the economy look if we were in charge? www.edfestmag.com

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Looking for mummy

Nazanin's Story is a theatre piece based on the real life events that occured last March, 2016 to Nazanin Ratcliffe, after her baby daughter and her were detained in Iran. Nazanin is still being held captive and been sentence to 5 years for secret charges. Join us in Edinburgh to uncover the events that occured and reveal the secrets that they don't want you to know.

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HINT OF LIME PRODUCTIONS presents

The Power Behind the Crone “There are no good parts in Shakespeare for older women.”

Professor Artemis Turret, played by Alison Skilbeck, sets out to refute these words in a serio-comic celebration of Shakespeare’s older women, directed by Tim Hardy.

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THEATRE LISTINGS

MEET ME AT DAWN

REAL MAGIC

Traverse, 4-27 August, times vary

The Studio, Festival Theatre, 22-27 August, 7pm

The centrepiece of the Traverse Theatre's programme is also part of the Edinburgh International Festival's three-show mini-season of plays by Scottish playwright Zinnie Harris. Directed by Orla O'Loughlin, this two-hander is about the love and grief of two women washed up on an unfamiliar shore.

The live-art pioneers of Sheffield's Forced Entertainment present a multimedia hybrid of mind reading, cabaret and game show, using popular culture as a stepping stone to consider the complexities of today's political landscape.

RHINOCEROS Royal Lyceum, 3-12 August (not 7), 7.30pm

MEOW MEOW'S LITTLE MERMAID

Party Game

The Hub, 3-27 August (not Tue), 10.30pm

Cabaret-theatre fusion as the Edinburgh International Festival welcomes back the legendary Meow Meow for an idiosyncratic retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale with added digressions into her own misadventures in love.

MIES JULIE Assembly Rooms, 3-27 August (not 14, 21), 2.30pm

Welcome return of Yael Farber's stunning re-imagining of August Strindberg's 1888 play Miss Julie, which she sets in a post-apartheid kitchen where the characters carry the weight of South African racial oppression.

MONSTER Pleasance Courtyard, 2–28 August (not 16), 3.15pm

If you haven't seen Joe SellmanLeava's Fringe First-winning Labels, there's another chance on selected dates through August. And if you have seen it, you'll be intrigued to see Monster, his new play about violence and masculinity.

MOONLIGHT AFTER MIDNIGHT Assembly George Square, 3-28 August (not 9, 16), 3pm

A romantic mystery from New York's Concrete Drops Theatre.

It's a two-hander that keeps the audience guessing about the relationship between an enigmatic man and a beautiful woman.

MOUTHPIECE Canada Hub @ King's Hall, 3-27 August (not 8, 15, 18, 22), 3.30pm

Jodie Foster loved this Canadian two-hander so much she presented it for a two-night invitation-only run in Los Angeles. The creators and performers Norah Sadava and Amy Nostbakken embody the inner conflicts of one woman as she tries to find her voice. www.edfestmag.com

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MY REAL LIFE Assembly Hall, 3-27 August (not 14, 21), 8pm

Don Wycherley gives a tremendous performance as a man looking back at his life and trying to come to terms with the missed opportunities. The monologue is written by Eoin Colfer, author of the highly popular Artemis Fowl series.

NO SHOW Summerhall, 2-27 August (not 10, 21), 4.15pm

Glasgow-based circus specialist Ellie Dubois goes behind the showmanship and razzamatazz of the traditional big top to expose the bruised bodies and the dented egos of those who go in search of perfection.

A HUNDRED DIFFERENT WORDS FOR LOVE Summerhall, 2-27 August (not 3, 21), 4.30pm

of competitive dancing. Now the company is back with a surprise party that asks us to embrace the unknown.

One of three plays in the Edinburgh International Festival with the name of playwright Zinnie Harris attached, this translation of the absurdist classic by Ionesco features a Turkish/Scottish cast and is directed by Istanbul's Murat Daltaban.

PERFORMERS Assembly Rooms, 3-27 August (not 14), 4.45pm

Irvine Welsh collaborates with Dean Cavanagh on a play set in the 1960s during the filming of the Mick Jagger movie Performance.

The backdrop is a London where artists and gangsters rub shoulders.

SASQUATCH: THE OPERA Summerhall, 2-27 August (not 3, 14), 9.15pm

Faith No More’s Roddy Bottum turns his hand to experimental opera in this new show about the mythical man-beast, also known as Bigfoot, said to stalk the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

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BIG BITE-SIZE BREAKFAST MENUS!

James Rowland went down well last year with Team Viking, a tribute to a dead friend. He's in similar emotionally touching territory this time as he considers the nature of love.

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BIG BITE-SIZE LUNCH-HOUR SHOWS!

ORESTEIA: THIS RESTLESS HOUSE Royal Lyceum, 20-27 August, 6pm

A welcome revival of this brilliant modern re-imagining of the ancient Greek trilogy by Aeschylus. Dominic Hill's production of Zinnie Harris's three plays scored highly in last year's Critics' Award for Theatre in Scotland. Part of a mini-season of Harris plays in the Edinburgh International Festival.

PARTY GAME Traverse at the Wee Red Bar, 8-20 August (not 14), times vary

Six years ago, Canada's Bluemouth Inc staged the three-and-a-half hour Dance Marathon in which the audience joined in an evening

OPENING HOURS Mon – Fri: 12am – 11.30pm Sat/Sun: 11am – 11.30pm 1 Antigua Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3NH Tel: 0131 556 8337 www.pomegranatesrestaurant.com

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Saturday 5th August La Belle Angele 7 -10pm With guests the ultimate Jam Tribute ‘The Absolute Jam’!

Sunday 27th August Liquid Rooms 7 -10pm With guests Pretenders by Talk Of The Town

Advance Tickets £15 on sale at Edinburgh Fringe Box Office http://tickets-scotland.com & www.edfringe.com

www.dirtyharryblondietribute.co.uk

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THEATRE LISTINGS

SEAGULLS

aged man gets it into his head to change the world – and demands the help of his ex-wife. A coproduction between the Traverse and Birmingham Rep.

The Leith Volcano, 8-26 August (not 14, 21), 6pm

Chekhov as you've never seen him before, courtesy of Welsh physical theatre company Volcano. The talented crew is taking over the former St James' Church, Leith and flooding the stage with 45 tonnes of water. Prepare to get wet and experience Russian realism at its best.

WOKE Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4-28 August (not 17–19), 2pm

SNOWFLAKE

Clockwise from top: The Whip Hand, Sasquatch: The Opera

Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 15, 22), 1pm

Mark Thomson, former artistic director of Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum, writes and directs this play about the quest for human connection in an age of information and technology overload.

Performed by a company put together by the Scottish Drama Training Network.

THE SECOND COPY: 2045

TRAINSPOTTING LIVE

Summerhall, 4-27 August, 10.15am

Venue 150 at EICC, 2-27 August (not 9, 16 23), times vary

Morocco's Youness Atbane imagines himself in the year 2045 looking back on the modern-day art scene and blurring the line between fact and fiction. Part of the Arab Arts Focus Edinburgh Showcase.

Staged in a secret tunnel beneath the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Irvine Welsh's Scottish classic is adapted in a suitably in-your-face style.

STAND BY

THE SKY IS SAFE

THE WHIP HAND

Army @ the Fringe, 11-26 August (not 14, 21), 6.45pm

Summerhall, 2-27 August (not 3, 14, 21), 7.45pm

Traverse Theatre, 3-27 August (not 4, 7, 14, 21), times vary

Until he was 29, Dundee actor Adam McNamara was a police officer. Here, he draws on his experience in the force with a play about four officers awaiting the goahead to intervene in a domestic dispute.

Dogstar's Matthew Zajac stars in his own play about a privileged westerner meeting a Syrian refugee in Istanbul. Ben Harrison's production is put together by a multinational team.

Lively Glasgow playwright Douglas Maxwell drops global politics onto an ordinary family as a middle-

THE LAST QUEEN OF SCOTLAND

Summerhall, 4-13 August (not 7), 11.50am

Underbelly, Cowgate, 3-26 August (not 9, 16), 6.50pm

The story of Palestine's refugees – and of those who remained in their homeland after 1948 – filtered through the poetry of Taha Muhammad Ali and performed by Amer Hlehel. Part of the Arab Arts Focus Edinburgh Showcase.

Apphia Campbell and Meredith Yarbrough imagine the meeting of two women involved in the struggle for civil rights. One is a member of the notorious Black Panthers, the other is a modern-day student.

Both are criminalised by the justice system.

YOUR LOVE IS FIRE Summerhall , 4-27 August (not Mon), 11.30am

Political conflict is usually reported in terms of two extreme arguments, two polar opposites. But what of the indifferent people in the middle? Exiled Syrian writer Mudar Alhaggi looks how war gets under even these people's skin in this contribution to the Arab Arts Focus Edinburgh Showcase.

WORDS MARK FISHER

TAHA

Stellar Quines, working with the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep, present Jaimini Jethwa's play about a UgandanAsian forced to flee by Idi Amin in 1972 and ending up in Dundee.

Returning to Uganda years later she confronts Amin's ghost.

3000 TREES: THE DEATH OF MR WILLIAM MACRAE New Town Theatre, 3-27 August (not 15), 2.50pm

Much anticipated return of George Gunn's play inspired by the nationalist activist and anti-nuclear campaigner Willie MacRae who died in mysterious circumstances in 1985. Could he have been murdered by the state?

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THE TOXIC AVENGER Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 14), 10.30pm

Tongue-in-cheek musical in the Rocky Horror mold about a sevenfoot mutant freak on a mission to save the world (and get the girl). Co-written by Bon Jovi keyboard player David Bryan and Broadway dramatist Joe DiPietro, expect great tunes. www.edfestmag.com

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JIMMY JEWELL in association with CHILDREN’S CLASSIC CONCERTS presents

LISTINGS CHILDREN

These children's shows are not just kid's stuff THE AMAZING BUBBLE MAN Underbelly, George Square, 3-28 August, 11.30am

by Beatrix Potter

‘Perfect for kids’ Guardian

Whether you like your bubbles square, filled with fog or within other bubbles, Louis Pearl has the bubble for you. Expect to be beguiled.

BABY LOVES DISCO The Jam House, 6, 12, 20 and 26 August, times vary

Daytime clubbing with a ten-year track record as club DJs line-up a family-friendly soundtrack of retro favourites. There's also a chill-out room, karaoke booths and face painting.

BALLOONATICS Gilded Baloon Teviot, 2-15, 19, 20, 26 and 27 August, 12.30am

12.00PM (1.00PM) 05 - 26 AUGUST 2017

The I Hate Children Children’s Show

Award winning magic for teens tweens and hot soccor moms.

Having proved a hit in Australia with his blow-up antics, Scottish comedian Chris Henry returns home with his Balloonatics army.

JULIAN CLARY AND DAVID ROBERTS: CRAZY CAMPING Edinburgh International Book Festival, 14 August, 3.15pm

The comedian-turned-writer has produced The Bolds On Holiday, his third volume about a family of suburban hyenas. Here he is joined by illustrator Roberts for a fun-filled session of drawing and storytelling.

CRESSIDA COWELL: THE WIZARDS OF ONCE Edinburgh International Book Festival, 26 August, 1.30pm

She's sold seven million copies of her How to Train Your Dragon series, so all eyes are on Cowell as she launches The Wizards of Once.

DAVID WALLIAMS' THE FIRST HIPPO ON THE MOON Pleasance Courtyard, 2-20 August (not 15), 12pm

Get your tickets now.

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Clockwise from top: Jihan's Smile, One Man Shoe, A Strange New Space

JULIA DONALDSON AND FRIENDS Edinburgh International Book Festival, 12 and 13 August, 10am

The Gruffalo author is making four appearances at the Book Festival, helped along by singing, dancing and rhyming games.

THE ELEPHANT YOUR MAJESTY! New Town Theatre, 9-17 August (not 11 or 12), 1.50pm

Teenage refugees from the Al Marj camp draw on the Arabic tradition of storytelling as they perform a play about an elephant who accidentally kills a child.

VIVIAN FRENCH: A VERY UNCONVENTIONAL PRINCESS Edinburgh International Book Festival, 15 August, 10.30am

The Edinburgh author introduces us to the Cherry Pie Princess, a determined girl who insists on doing things her own way.

FUTURE PERFECT Pleasance Courtyard, 2-20 August (not 9, 16), 2pm

The Tall Stories company returns to celebrate its 20th birthday with an interactive time-travelling adventure about a boy who wants to fix the mistakes of the past. For six and up.

Les Petits brings to life the Little Britain star's picture book about a couple of competitive hippos engaged in their very own space race.

www.edfestmag.com

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CHILDREN LISTINGS

THE POLAR BEARS GO UP Pleasance at EICC, 10-27 August (not 14, 21, 23), times vary

snail, who is preparing to go on an adventure. Dance piece for children up to 12 months old.

It's up, up and away for the loveable bears as they go in search of their balloon by taking to the skies in whatever way they can.

Summerhall, 2-27 August (not 7, 14, 21), 10.45am

A STRANGE NEW SPACE

Making the connection between two types of dangerous journey, Tessa Bide uses puppetry and original music to imagine a voyage into space and the flight of a refugee.

THE ROAD THAT WASN’T THERE Xxxx

Assembly Roxy, 3-27 August (not 14, 21), 2.35pm

Trick of the Light Theatre combine puppetry, shadow play and live music to tell a story about a girl who follows a map off the edge of the world.

Summerhall, 2-27 August (not 7, 14, 21), 11.45am

IS THIS A DAGGER? THE STORY OF MACBETH

NICK SHARRATT: CLEVER CAT CREATIONS

Black-light magic brings a wardrobefull of jackets, shirts, dresses and trousers to life.

Scottish Storytelling Centre, 3–20 August (not 10, 17), 3pm

Edinburgh International Book Festival, 19 August, 10am

See the illustrator in action as he draws pictures from his latest book, The Cat and the King, before our very eyes.

HAIRY MACLARY

The brilliant Andy Cannon gives a one-man rendition of the story of Macbeth - the real one and Shakespeare's - and reminds us what an exciting tale it is.

Assembly George Square, 3-20 August (not 16), 10.30am

JIHAN'S SMILE

Dance Base, 4-27 August (not 7, 14), times vary

THE GRUFFALO'S CHILD Pleasance Courtyard, 2-20 August (not 5, 9, 16), 10.30am

The return of the five-star adaptation of the Julia Donaldson story that has been an international hit.

Nonsense Room Productions adapts the loveable story of Hairy Maclary and his band of canine chums and this time throws in a few new stories.

WILL HILL & ALEX WHEATLE: CULTS AND GANGS Edinburgh International Book Festival, 22 August, 6pm

The prize-winning Wheatle talks about teenage gangs and his novel Straight Outta Crongton, while Hill talks about a real-life sect and his novel After the Fire. For over 14s.

HOME SWEET GARDEN Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 4-15 August (not 9), times vary

Asylon Theatre's ecological drama reminds us of the valuable role played by the nation's front gardens in sustaining wildlife.

Summerhall, 2-13 August (not 7), 10.15am The Arab Arts Focus Edinburgh Showcase welcomes Al-Harah Theater and this early-years performance about a little girl who loses her smile. Only through team work can her village get things back to normal.

Introduce young ones to the French language courtesy of Le Petit Monde and a show about the world's tastiest carrot. Narrated in English with French from the puppets.

Enter the colourful and sensory S&D Edinburgh_QrAd_op.pdf world of Snigel, the inquisitive

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ONE MAN SHOE

One Man Shoe is the stuff of nightmares. The show must go on but the headliner is nowhere to be seen. There's only one thing for it: Jango, the caretaker, will have toC take to the stage. A silent comedy for M all the family.

Y

THE PAVEE AND THE BUFFER CM GIRL MY

Edinburgh International Book Festival, 12 August, 1.30pm

In this special event, illustrator CMY Emma Shoard and singer Geraldine Bradley breathe newK life into The Pavee and The Buffer Girl. Suitable for families and the over eights.

CY

HOW TO BE A KID

PIP AND POSY WITH AXEL SCHEFFLER

Roundabout @ Summerhall, 4-20 August (not 8, 15), 10.45am

Edinburgh International Book Festival, 25 August, 1.30pm

Sarah McDonald-Hughes's play looks at the pressures faced by young carers and the challenge of being a child again after you've taken on all the responsibility.

The illustrator, whose drawings for The Gruffalo are instantly recognisable, focuses on his earlyyears favourite Pip and Posy, with lots of fun and games.

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Scottish Storytelling Centre, 3-15, 19, 20, 26, 27 August, 10.30am

Assembly George Square, 3-28 August (not 14, 15, 21, 22), 11am

Edinburgh International Book Festival, 24 August, 6.30pm

www.edfestmag.com

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF LAPIN

SNIGEL AND FRIENDS

ANTHONY HOROWITZ: ALEX RIDER RETURNS

Get ready for a dramatic plot twist as the best-selling author introduces the freshly published Never Say Die, the latest instalment in the longrunning Alex Rider series.

TAIWAN SEASON: THE BACKYARD STORY

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LISTINGS DANCE

From comical ballet to activist hip hop, these shows don't miss a beat BLAK WHYTE GRAY The Lyceum, 16-19 August, times vary

Olivier Award-winning East London-based hip hop company Boy Blue Entertainment tackle slavery, colonialism and freedom in a bold, accessible way. They're also collaborating with Castlebrae Community High School with Project: R.E.B.E.L. BORDER TALES Summerhall, 4-26 August (not 7, 14 & 21), 2.40pm

The acclaimed Protein Dance use choreography, live music and dialogue to take a thoughtprovoking look at multicultural Britain, as seen through the eyes of the performers.

FAGIN’S TWIST Zoo Southside, 20-27 August, 1pm

Avant Garde Dance Company’s hugely entertaining hip hop reworking of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist focuses on the events that shaped Fagin’s youth.

5 SOLDIERS Army @ The Fringe 11-26 August (not 14, 15, 21 & 22), 9.15pm

Rosie Kay Dance Company’s highly acclaimed 5-star show capturing the experiences of five men and women serving on the front line.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING Greenside @ Royal Terrace, 4-9 August, 1.45pm

California Contemporary Ballet Theater explore a range of topics, from first love to the challenges of being a dancer, during its first visit to the Fringe.

Greengold Projects and Authentic Artist Collective present

FOLK Zoo Southside, 20-25 August (not 21 & 24), 3.30pm

The superb National Dance Company Wales delivers Caroline Finn’s quirky and darkly comic take on relationships and how we behave in a group.

CREATURE C South, 3-28 August (not 15), 5.35pm “VISIONARY MUSICIANSHIP… DISTINCTIVE VIRTUOSITY” THE HERALD

“BARE & UNABASHED HONESTY… YOU’LL FEEL TRANSFORMED” THREE WEEKS

“THIS ONE WOMAN SHOW IS TRULY UNIQUE”

Switzerland’s Vanessa Cook Dance blends aerial acrobatics with contemporary dance choreography in this highly physical exploration of falling, balancing, succeeding and failing.

GOSSIP Zoo Southside, 4-15 August (not 9), 8.30pm

Prague-based choreographer Lenka Vagnerova makes a welcome return to the Fringe with this mix of contemporary dance and physical theatre exploring rumours and misinformation.

DJUKI MALA

EDFESTMAG.COM

“EXQUISITE BLEND OF SKILL, ART, VITALITY AND EXPRESSION” MUSICAL THEATRE REVIEW

Assembly George Square Theatre 3-28 August (not 14 & 21), 4.30pm

Multiple award-winning Australian Aboriginal group Djuki Mala deliver a high-energy, joyful and humorous mix of dance styles, in a show charting their 10-year history.

THE HUMOURS OF BANDON Dance Base, 4-27 August (not 7, 14 & 21), 6.30pm

Fringe favourites Fishamble present this witty coming of age tale about the trials and triumphs of competitive Irish Dancing.

Pulse has been created with support from Creative Scotland

SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE VENUE 30A, 43-45 HIGH STREET, EH1 1SR

3/5/7/9/11/13/15/17/19/21/23/25/27 AUGUST

17:00 (17:55) www.mairicampbell.scot Pulse FRINGE 2017 A5.indd 1

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TICKETS:

£12 / 10 / 40 family Storytelling Centre: 0131 556 9579 www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com

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RAIN Edinburgh Playhouse, 25-27 August, 8pm

World renowned Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker re-stages her joyful 2001 work, Rain, set to Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians.

ROSALIND Summerhall, 4-26 August (not 7, 14 & 21), 4.30pm

#JESUIS Zoo Southside, 16-26 August, 8.30pm

British dancer Aakash Odedra blends contemporary dance with Indian Kathak in this powerful work about displacement and the rise of xenophobia.

LADY MACBETH: UNSEX ME HERE Dance Base, 4-27 August (not 7,14 & 21), 8pm

Company Chordelia’s dance drama explores Shakespeare’s most famous female character, with three male dancers delving into Lady Macbeth’s inner world.

NEDERLANDS DANS THEATER Edinburgh Playhouse, 21-23 August, 7.30pm

A triple-bill from one of the world’s most popular modern dance companies, including works by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot set to Philip Glass and Max Richter.

PROCESS DAY Zoo Southside, 22-26 August, 7pm

Scottish Dance Theatre present this fascinating work by Israeli choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, filled with compelling movement set to a techno soundtrack. www.edfestmag.com

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SKIN Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 14), 8pm

Contemporary hip hop ensemble 201 Dance Company take us on one boy’s journey through gender transition.

‘The performance is intimate and inclusive, spontaneous, passionate and exciting to watch.’

TUTU: DANCE IN ALL ITS GLORY Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 9, 15 & 22), 4pm

The six talented male dancers of French company Chicos Mambo take an affectionate and humorous poke at all things dance, from classical ballet to tango.

VELOCITY: RISING Assembly George Square 2-27 August (not 14), 6.35pm

Guinness World Record holder for fastest tap dancing, James Devine teams up with World Champion Irish dancer David Geaney for an explosion of music and dance.

YO, CARMEN Edinburgh Playhouse 12 & 13 August, 8pm

Contemporary flamenco pioneer Maria Pagés presents this reimagining of Bizet’s opera, told through live music, dance, singing and poetry.

WORDS KELLY APTER

Venue 237

Clockwise from top: Border Tales, Lady Macbeth: Unsex Me Here and 5 Soldiers

James Cousins Company uses passionate and athletic contemporary dance to bring Shakespeare’s heroine from As You Like It into the modern age.

August 4th - 27th Daily at 20:00 Fri-Sun Matinees at 16.00 Tickets: £14/£12 Tel: 07540335270 Email:info@albaflamenca.co.uk Alba Flamenca,74 East Crosscauseway,Edinburgh,EH8 9HQ w w w. a l b a f l a m e n c a . c o . u k EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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LISTINGS COMEDY

BARRY CRIMMINS: ATLAS'S KNEES

This year's best comedy acts will have you crying – mostly – with laughter

The Stand Comedy Club, 15-27 August, 9.40pm

Left-wing firebrand Barry Crimmins is a veteran of US comedy who is rightly regarded as a legend. Despite being a comic of 45 years standing, he's only now making his Fringe debut. Having helped to establish the artform of stand-up in America with his political activism and anger, the sexual abuse victim has been a dogged pursuer of paedophiles, with his fury channelled through his comedy.

ADAM HESS: CACTUS Heroes @ The Hive, 4-27 August, 6pm

With his nervy, excitable delivery, Adam Hess manages to pack more gags into an hour than many comics manage in an entire career. Although known as a witty one-liner writer with over 50,000 Twitter followers, he's also a compelling storyteller, sharing his awkward social interactions with women, family and the human race.

ALEXEI SAYLE Underbelly Med Quad, 2-11 August, 6.45pm

Back at the Fringe for the first time in four years, and for just the second time in 37 years, Alexei Sayle has justifiably been called one of the godfathers of alternative comedy. Still angry and inflamed by inequality, his passion is undimmed.

BIG HOWARD LITTLE HOWARD: MAN AND BOY Banshee Labyrinth, 5-27 August (not 10, 11), 4.20pm

Above: Dane Baptiste Left: Colin Hoult

AL PORTER IN CAMPUS MAXIMUS Underbelly Med Quad, 12-27 August, 6.45pm

The camp comic has drawn comparisons to the likes of Larry Grayson and Leslie Crowther, yet

he's also a hugely accomplished, instinctively filthy comic. His natural assurance at the mic rewarded him with an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination last year.

Back again as the world's only human/drawing double-act, expect the usual slick, multimedia production and knowing gags, undercut with a certain reflectiveness as Big Howard is caught up in middle-age, even as Little Howard remains frozen in his naïve curiosity.

ANDREW MAXWELL: SHOWTIME

CARL DONNELLY: THE NUTTER ON THE BUS

Assembly George Square Theatre, 2-27 August (not 14), 9pm

Heroes @ Bob's BlundaBus, 3-27 August (not 9, 16), 7.30pm

The garrulous Irishman is always one of the most reliably funny and informative observers on current events. Although he admits to ripping up much of his set after the general election result, it seems highly likely that this well-travelled rascal will be reflecting on Brexit, Trump and the rise of the DUP.

How often do you get to see a double Edinburgh Comedy Awardnominated comic, signed to a big agency, performing in an intimate, 45-seater venue? In the last few years, Carl Donnelly has taken on a hippyish, vegan lifestyle, creating a chasm of misunderstanding with his working-class, Irish parents.

ANDY ZALTZMAN: SATIRIST FOR HIRE (WORLD OF 2017 SPECIAL EDITION)

Assembly George Square Studios, 2-28 August (not 15), 5.15pm

The Stand Comedy Club 3 & 4, 1527 August, 3pm

Finally attracting some of the recognition given to his Last Week Tonight host John Oliver, Andy Zaltzman is a stand-up for those who like sharp, witty political comedy and sporting metaphors.

ANGELA BARNES: FORTITUDE Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 7.15pm

A self-confessed late bloomer, Angela Barnes has hit 40 with none of the trappings that people are supposed to have accumulated by this point in their lives. With her personal insecurities dovetailing neatly with her wider social observations, this assured act is a deceptively skilled writer and always agreeable company.

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CHRIS KENT: MOVING ON

Irish stand-up Chris Kent gives his surreality-tinged storytelling a feeling of consequence and jeopardy that really draws the listener in. In this hour, he relates how his and his pregnant wife's lives were turned upside down when they left Ireland.

COLIN HOULT / ANNA MANN IN HOW WE STOP THE FASCISTS Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 4.45pm

Colin Hoult's flamboyant, thespian alter-ego Anna Mann returns to introduce several more of Hoult's character creations. They include rabid UKIP Nick Crippin, passiveaggressive militant lefty Cheryl Glass and unlikely ex-squaddie turned filmmaker Andy Parker, with whom Hoult has just made a sitcom pilot. www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 13:02

COMEDY LISTINGS

DAN ANTOPOLSKI: RETURN OF THE DAN ANTOPOLSKI

peers. This year, she's returning to her trademark rich seam of selfanalysis, with an hour inspired by the implications of Brexit on immigrants.

Assembly George Square Studios, 2-27 August, 9.15pm

Despite his last Fringe appearance being seven years ago, you can expect Antopolski's usual intelligent daftness and geeky arrogance to remain intact, as he reflects upon separation, death, falling in love once again and watching his kids grow up.

HANNAH GADSBY - NANETTE Assembly George Square Studios, 2-27 August (not 15), 5.30pm Hannah Gadsby had the most talked about show at this year's Melbourne Festival, winning the Barry Award for an hour that she claims will be the last she ever performs. Reflecting on a range of topics, including violent assault, mental health and gay rights, as well as isolationism and Van Gogh's genius, she's come to believe in the limits of comedy for catharsis.

DANE BAPTISTE: G.O.D. (GOLD. OIL. DRUGS.) Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 16), 9pm

Since becoming the first Black British act to be nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award, Baptiste has landed his own, semiautobiographical sitcom, Sunny D, on BBC Three. Yet his return to the Fringe for his third hour marks something of a departure, as he leaves behind the personal stories to focus on some of the universal preoccupations and pursuits of our age, specifically gold, oil and drugs.

DOUG ANTHONY ALL STARS: NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22), 10pm

Back in bad taste and as mischievous as ever, The Doug Anthony's comeback was arguably the event of last year's festival.

The Australian trio remain a transgressive, boundary-pushing outfit, as well as being bona fide Fringe legends.

FERN BRADY: SUFFER, FOOLS! The Stand Club 2, 2-27 August (not 3, 14, 15), 12.05pm

After appearing in the television series Brexit Stage Left on Viceland, the unapologetically abrasive Brady returns to the festival with a new show chronicling all of the things that irk and irritate her. Brady stands out for her refusal to make herself more palatable, invariably telling things just as she sees them.

FIN TAYLOR: LEFTY TIGHTY RIGHTY LOOSEY Just the Tonic at The Tron, 3-27 August (not 14), 10.20pm

Fin Taylor's last Edinburgh hour was one of the critical hits of the Fringe.

Now he's using his platform at the world's largest arts festival to attack its overwhelming bias towards left-wing perspectives. Declaring yourself a hesitant centrist isn't exactly fashionable, but Taylor is a natural contrarian, exploding the myths of perceived wisdom. www.edfestmag.com

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THE INANE CHICANERY OF A CERTAIN ADAM GC RICHES Pleasance Dome, 2-27 August, 9.45pm

GEIN'S FAMILY GIFTSHOP: VOLUME 3

GRÁINNE MAGUIRE: GRÁINNE WITH A FADA

Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August, 10.20pm

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-28 August (not 15), 6.30pm

Promising yet more sketches about “jizz and bumholes,” everyone's favourite macabre sketch show idiots return with their third hour. Their brilliance is a given, having picked up many an award nomination, a BBC Radio Wales series and lead television roles for their wilfully depraved imaginings and joyously daft performances. Kiri Pitchard-McLean writes and directs.

Gráinne Maguire has always been a more considered, ambitious stand-up than the majority of her

After recent ensemble efforts, former Edinburgh Comedy award winner Adam Riches is returning to the one-man format that made his name. As ever, audience participation will feature high in the mix of his macho tomfoolery, as well as celebrity lampoons, sharks, snipers and injury-tempting stunts.

GEOFF NORCOTT: RIGHT LEANING BUT WELL MEANING Underbelly, George Square 2-27 August, 8.40pm

In recent years, Geoff Norcott has become the media's go-to rightwing comedian for a soundbite, with hardly a week going by without him popping up on a radio show.

However, his reputation belies a thoughtful and informed intelligence that confounds much of the woolier thinking and shibboleths of die-hard left-wingers.

“KILLER COMEDY” The List

“BRILLIANT”

The Irish Times

“ABSOLUTELY COMPELLING… AN EASY DELIVERY LIKE THE LATE, GREAT DAVE ALLEN” Chortle

GLENN WOOL: VIVA FOREVER Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 3-27 August (not 14), 7.40pm

As an international road comic, Wool has had an eventful life and has accumulated the entertaining anecdotes to match. His past two years have been particularly incident-packed, which you can hear about, along with his thoughts on the Brexit fallout, why it's time to stop mocking the Germans for World War II and a barrage of bad taste bestiality gags, in this latest hour.

a thisisjohnlynn Directed by Tom Stade

7.10PM (8.10PM)

02 - 28 AUGUST 2017 (Not 14)

EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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30/06/2017 13:59

COMEDY LISTINGS

Above: Ivan Brackenbury Below: Gráinne Maguire

IVAN BRACKENBURY'S 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY WITH TOM BINNS, IAN D MONTFORT AND FRIENDS Assembly George Square Studios, 3-28 August, 1pm

After a long process, Tom Binns' range of cartoonish characters finally landed a TV spot, appearing in BBC One's Hospital People earlier this year. Featuring inept hospital DJ Ivan Brackenbury, psychic turned hospital porter Ian D Montfort and inveterate joke teller Father Kenny, this is an hour of easy laughs.

JOHN KEARNS: DON'T WORRY THEY'RE HERE Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 4-27 August (not 16), 5pm

To date, the only act to have followed the best newcomer with the full Edinburgh Comedy Award, John Kearns's absurd persona is at once familiar and defiantly off-beat. He delivers a meta-commentary on the silliness he's sharing on stage, marvelling that he can make a living entertaining perfect strangers JOHN ROBINS: THE DARKNESS OF ROBINS

IVO GRAHAM: EDUCATED GUESS

Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 6.40pm

Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 8.15pm

Listeners to John Robins' Radio X show with Elis James will be familiar with his regular feature, The Shame Well, in which he absolves people of humiliating memories they've carried with them for years. But who will save Robins from his own creeping embarrassment and melancholy? This affable stand-up keeps it amusing as he peers into the personal gloom.

Ivo Graham hasn't let his Eton education hold him back. Or so he reckoned. This self-deprecating storyteller has begun to wonder if his privilege might have retarded his development as a human being.

Desperately trying to catch up with his more proletarian friends, his selfaware delivery is one of the best.

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JORDAN BROOKES: BODY OF WORK Laughing Horse @ Finnegan's Wake, 3-27 August (not 14), 6.15pm

One of the cult, sleeper hits of recent festivals, the distinctive Brookes presents himself as an actor rather than a stand-up, which is a way of affecting distance from his personal issues, freeing him up to pretend that it's all a performance. This year, he's promising a tribute to his recently departed grandmother, with the caveat that he's still capable of sliding into absurdist oddity and existential angst at any time. www.edfestmag.com

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䄀爀愀戀 䄀爀琀猀 䘀漀挀甀猀 㐀 琀漀 ㈀㜀 䄀甀最甀猀琀 ㈀ ㄀㜀 匀甀洀洀攀爀栀愀氀氀Ⰰ 䐀愀渀挀攀 戀愀猀攀 ☀ 一攀眀琀漀眀渀 吀栀攀愀琀爀攀 琀栀攀愀琀爀攀 ⴀ 䐀䄀一䌀䔀 ⴀ 瀀攀爀昀漀爀洀愀渀挀攀 ⴀ 䌀䄀䈀䄀爀䔀吀 ⴀ 吀䄀䰀䬀匀

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EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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LISTINGS COMEDY

JOSEPH MORPURGO: HAMMERHEAD

MAE MARTIN: DOPE Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 3-27 August (not 14), 8pm

Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August (not 14), 8pm

Joseph Morpurgo has developed his own style of high-concept character comedy inspired by the playful mashing up of audio, video and prop material. This year he's making the patched-together analogy explicit by giving a nod to the Frankenstein myth and including dark, monstrous elements. Beyond that though, he's giving very little away about what the show involves.

KEVIN MCALEER: SAYING YES TO YES New Town Theatre, 3-27 August (not 15), 1.30pm

Northern Ireland's quiet, deadpan maverick is spoofing the new age mindful movement and its commercial appropriation, appearing as the guru Deepjoy Chakra. Sharing his deep analogies while trying to flog his many, many books, this yogi may be a charlatan. But he's an entertaining one, encouraging you to sing with dolphins among other nonsense.

Above: Mark Watson Left: Kiri Pritchard-Mclean

KIRI PRITCHARD-MCLEAN: APPROPRIATE ADULT Pleasance Courtyard, 2-28 August, 8.15pm

Passionate and opinionated, Kiri Pritchard-McLean has a knack of exploring serious, topical issues with levity without compromising their import. From a background of relative privilege and with a comic's customary ego, this hasn't prevented her from mentoring a vulnerable young person and deciding that she will forego having children to adopt instead.

Winner of last year's Amused Moose Award, Larry Dean has a charismatic style that ought to help the puckish stand-up make good on his promise.

His show title offers some indication of his natural self-deprecation, which he complements by appearing a bit laddish, but actually being a gay Glaswegian with a stammer. One of Scotland's brightest talents.

Underbelly Med Quad, 2-28 August (not 14), 8.10pm

A show that touches on apocalyptic thoughts and suicidal impulses might not sound the best recipe for comedy. But Edinburgh newcomer Laura Davis has crafted an ingenious hour that seeks out small pleasures, no matter how odd they might initially seem. But it's witty, quirky and has points to make, all the better for being wrapped up in the Australian's giddy enthusiasm.

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MARK STEEL: EVERY LITTLE THING'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT Assembly Hall, 3-27 August (not 14), 9.35pm

Few comics mine the personal or political as effectively as Mark Steel and even fewer can marry the two together. But the seasoned stand-up returns to Edinburgh with plenty on his plate. Naturally, the huge upheavals in the UK, EU and beyond over the past year have given him plenty of gristle to chew on.

LARRY DEAN: FANDAN Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 3-27 August (not 15), 6.40pm

LAURA DAVIS – CAKE IN THE RAIN

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Nominated for the Barry Award at this year's Melbourne Festival, Dope reveals Martin's origins as a performer and chronicles her various addictions ahead of her Radio 4 show on the same topic.

The versatile Canadian has also become a kind of spokesperson for bisexuality. Honest, upfront but upbeat, she's a compelling listen.

MARK THOMAS: A SHOW THAT GAMBLES ON THE FUTURE Summerhall, 2-27 August (not 3, 14, 19), 6pm

Recently returned from Palestine, the campaigning Mark Thomas likes to put himself at the centre of events, speaking truth to power and challenging orthodoxies. But how can that be accomplished when the enemy changes every few months? In his latest hour, he's asking audiences to predict what will happen in the future and betting money on the outcome.

MARK WATSON'S FESTIVAL OF BAD IDEAS Pleasance Courtyard, 15-27 August, 10.45pm

No one has yet rivalled Mark Watson for high-concept Fringe shows that pull in scores of other performers. Participants in the excitable Bristolian's latest venture are under wraps. But we do know that other comics will try their most unprepared, ill-advised show ideas.

LUCY PORTER: CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES

MICHAEL LEGGE: JERK

Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 16, 23), 5.30pm

The Stand Comedy Club 2, 3- 27 August (not 14), 1.20pm

Employing secret ballots, visual aids and a punchbag with the face of Mary Berry, Lucy Porter is confronting her fear of confrontation this year, asking herself and her audience about the times she was right or wrong to walk away from conflict. One of the most consistent and reliable draws at the festival.

With his show named after his beloved late dog, Michael Legge is still likely to be as apoplectic with rage as ever. Although he has a tendency to simply reel off the things that rile him and lets his bilious pique do the rest, when he builds up a head of steam, there's few that can match his fury. www.edfestmag.com

30/06/2017 13:03

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LISTINGS COMEDY

PAUL SINHA: SHOUT OUT TO MY EX

RICHARD HERRING: OH FRIG, I'M 50!

The Stand Comedy Club, 2-27 August (not 3, 14), 4.55pm

Pleasance Courtyard, 2-26 August, 7.30pm

Paul Sinha's last appearance at the festival found him in a rare moment of contentment. Well, fate quickly put paid to all that and he's returning a chastised but wiser man. Sharp and political, but self-aware about his failings, Sinha's game is strong.

Richard Herring's last Edinburgh Fringe lost him a tremendous amount of money on a play he'd written about Rasputin. Yet, on the 30th anniversary of his first Fringe show, with his 40th Fringe show in his 50th year, a comeback was due.

This year, the now family man is fretting about losing his new-found contentment.

PETE JOHANSSON: PETE JO-HANDSOME COMES ALIVE! Heroes @ The Hive, 3-27 August (not 7, 14, 21), 4.45pm

Although not a household name, the Canadian recently released a Netflix special, confirming his capacity for thoughtful humour enclosed in a blokey persona. Blending whimsical ideas with an occasionally aggressive delivery, he's an assured storyteller who's also an attuned cultural observer.

PHIL NICHOL: YOUR WRONG Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 3-27 August, 9pm

One of the whirlwind Canadian's more personal shows, recalling the severe car accident that left his

SARAH KENDALL: ONE – SEVENTEEN Assembly George Square Studios, 2-27 August, 7pm

Above: Sarah Kendall Below: Richard Herring

brother Andrew in a coma for five weeks, Phil Nichol relates the tale of his family's resilience and recovery in his usual unpredictable manner. Tipping orthodoxies on their heads, this is a show that explores the power of faith and paranoia, and the idea that we're subject to forces far beyond our understanding.

PHIL WANG: KINABALU Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 7pm

Phil Wang uses his Fringe hours to showcase more personal material than his club sets, putting forward a satirical defence of the British Empire at a time when the UK could be said to be belatedly facing up to its imperialist legacy. He also questions the BBC Asian Network's exclusion of East Asians like himself.

PIERRE NOVELLIE Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August, 9.45pm

Pierre Novellie is an accomplished observational act who's stripping it back to basics this year. With no overarching theme, he's promising just an hour of US-style stand-up, admitting to his sins, exploring taboos and striving to offer catharsis.

RED BASTARD: LIE WITH ME Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 9.30pm

Taking audience participation to hilariously uncomfortable extremes, Eric Davis's devilish alter-ego is probing infidelity this year; the lies we tell our lovers and those bastards who made us lie in the first place.

Following her resurgence as a storytelling comic with an acclaimed trilogy of loosely autobiographical tales about her childhood, Kendall has turned her attention to the short story. One-Seventeen weaves together a series of vignettes, including a lost husband, a critically ill hamster and an astronaut.

SARA PASCOE: LADSLADSLADS Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 7pm

Former Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Sara Pascoe's latest show and forthcoming book develop the same deep social, cultural and biological enquiries into men that her previous show and debut book, Animal, applied to women. She's also just adapted Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice for the stage.

SEAN MCLOUGHLIN: YOU CAN'T IGNORE ME FOREVER Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 3-26 August, 6.45pm

Projecting a complex layer of emotions on stage, from thoughtful argument to extreme vulnerability, interspersed with the swagger of a comic who knows that he's much better than some of his more celebrated peers, catch Mcloughlin before the rest of the world does.

RHYS JAMES: WISEBOY Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August, 6pm

The cocksure wordsmith with the propensity for raps returns.

Reflecting on his upbringing with his frustratingly perfect parents, the fear of being spied on by intrusive technology and a video of a raccoon, James effortlessly blends engaging personal anecdotes with pithy and even sneery one-liners.

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30/06/2017 13:04

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30/06/2017 14:18

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30/06/2017 13:34

COMEDY LISTINGS

SEYMOUR MACE'S MAGICAL SHITCAKES FROM HEAVEN

the dysfunctional relationship she shares with both her racist grandfather and her psychopathic one, whose funeral she's preparing for, even though he's not dead. Spiky.

The Stand Comedy Club 3 & 4, 3-27 August (not 14), 1.30pm

The former clown turned comedy circuit stalwart seemed to come from nowhere to scoop a 2015 Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination. Since then, Mace has consolidated his appeal with shambolic but really entertaining shows that combine utter nonsense with probing explorations of the human condition.

SPENCER JONES: THE AUDITION Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 4-27 August (not 15), 6.20pm

Spencer Jones has just shot pilots for his own sitcom with both the BBC and Sky. Details are sketchy about what The Audition's about, but it's likely to be another heady mash-up of music, character and prop comedy from an act that ought to appeal to all ages.

SHAPPI KHORSANDI: MISTRESS AND MISFIT Assembly George Square Studios, 3-27 August (not 14), 6.40pm

The invariably excellent Shappi Khorsandi has narrowed her focus in 2017 to discuss Lord Nelson's mistress, Emma Hamilton. Initially written out of Nelson's heroic legend, Khorsandi is set upon rescuing her reputation.

SIMON EVANS: GENIUS Assembly George Square Studios, 2-27 August (not 14), 8.20pm

Given the extremely personal nature of stand-up, it's inevitable that most

www.edfestmag.com

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STEEN RASKOPOULOS: THE COOLEST KID IN COMPETITIVE CHESS

Spencer Jones

comics try to write shows that appeal to the heart rather than the brain. But Simon Evans has always had something of the invertor about him and is using his latest show to explore the nature of genius, and whether, after thousands of years of culture and human achievement, original thought is still a possibility.

SOFIE HAGEN: DEAD BABY FROG Bedlam Theatre, 2-28 August, 2pm

Former Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer winner Sofie Hagen expands on the upbringing she introduced in her previous shows.

Here, she explains her underlying anger issues with recourse to

Underbelly Cowgate, 3-27 August (not 14), 8pm

The Australian returns with his patented brand of audience participation, improvising around the unpredictable involvement of punters in his pre-prepared skits.

Established fans will be delighted to discover neglected schoolboy Timmy is back too.

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30/06/2017 13:49

COMEDY LISTINGS

STEVE BUGEJA: SUMMER CAMP

TRYGVE VS A BABY Assembly Roxy, 3-27 August (not 14, 21), 3pm

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 3-27 August (not 14), 5pm

Former BBC Radio New Comedy Award winner Steve Bugeja is a compelling storyteller who packs his tales with gags, mining the chasm between his desires and his beta male reality. For his third show, he's opted to revisit the summer of 2009, when as a woefully underprepared and naive Brit, he went to work at a kids' summer camp in America.

Trygve Wakenshaw's double-act partner in his latest clown show is his one-year-old son Phineas.

Pledging not to be overshadowed by the youngster, the former Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee is aiming to answer a question that has plagued mankind since the dawn of time – what's more entertaining: an acclaimed mime? Or the baby he's improvising around?

STUART GOLDSMITH: LIKE I MEAN IT

WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? – LIVE AT THE FRINGE

Liquid Room Annexe, 5-27 August, 3.45pm

Assembly Rooms, 3- 27 August (not 14), 8.10pm

Stuart Goldsmith has put in many hours picking the brains of some of the world's top comedians as the host of the Comedian's Comedian Podcast. Acquiring a child has added a degree of jeopardy to his tales of life on the road, but he's a charmer with a fine turn of phrase and sense of how to structure a show.

SUZI RUFFELL: KEEPING IT CLASSY Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 9.45pm

A comedian suffering from muddle class syndrome, whereby the metropolitan lifestyle of an up and coming stand-up takes her further away from her working-class Portsmouth roots, Suzi Ruffell is in a rich vein of form at the moment.

Adding trenchant social critique to her already entertaining anecdotes of growing up a lesbian, expect her to land her own television series soon.

TEZ ILYAS: TEZTIFY Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 16), 8.30pm

A cheeky crowd-pleaser who nevertheless enjoys dabbling in serious topics, Tez Ilyas is an entertaining guide to what it means to be British Muslim at the moment.

Here, he risks opprobrium with his hard-hitting opinions on cover songs and pets, as well as confessing to the potential murder of a chicken.

TOM ALLEN: ABSOLUTELY Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August (not 14), 8pm

The impeccably urbane Tom Allen cuts a smart, sophisticated presence at the stand-up mic. A shame then, that he's still living with his parents, a financial decision as much as one taken to ensure that he has a steady supply of material. www.edfestmag.com

173_185_EF_Listings Comedy.indd 185

Tony Law

TOM BALLARD: PROBLEMATIC Pleasance Courtyard, 2-27 August, 8.30pm

Tom Ballard's show Problematic has already been a hit at this year's Melbourne Festival. The former lawyer turned comic and radio host combines polish with knowing his way round a knob gag. As a white, gay man, the Australian retains an insider-outsider perspective and tackles political correctness, privilege, offence and virtue signalling.

TOMMY TIERNAN: UNDER THE INFLUENCE Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4- 27 August (not 13, 14, 24), 7.30pm

Returning to sitcom with Channel 4's forthcoming Derry Girls, and hosting an innovative Irish chat show, where he doesn't know who his guests are before they appear on set, Tommy Tiernan remains one of the most gifted comedians of his generation.

He can't quite identify what he's currently under the influence of – the crowd? His sense of mischief?

– but he's citing it as an excuse for anyone not getting his sometimes risqué humour.

TONY LAW: ABSURDITY FOR THE COMMON PEOPLE The Stand Comedy Club, 3-28 August (not 14), 12pm

After a much publicised battle with alcohol, the acclaimed Tony Law returns with a show that continues to champion buffoonery as a bulwark against the horrors of life.

Headline news with the return of the UK's favourite improv show is that Tony Slattery is rejoining his former castmates, his first extended run at the Fringe for 33 years. Also appearing are the familiar faces of Greg Proops, Josie Lawrence, Colin Mochrie, Phill Jupitus, Stephen Frost, Mike McShane and Richard Vranch, with all the fun and games chaired as ever by the aridly dry Clive Anderson.

WORDS BY JAY RICHARDSON

ROLLING IN THE AISLE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS:

Twelfth Night SIXTH NIGHT: Shakespeare For Those With Short Attention Spans Abridged from Shakespeare's original text by Marisha West

some are born great....

TOM WALKER: BEE BOO Underbelly, George Square, 2-27 August (not 15), 8pm

Fiercely inventive prop comic Tom Walker is wilfully odd for oddity's sake, dragging you into his anarchic world with his irresistible personality. While there's an occasional darkness to his unrelentingly energetic humour, the Australian's clowning retains a playfulness and uniqueness that makes him utterly distinct. Truly weird but very funny too.

Presented with the support of the English and Drama Department at Loughborough University

EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2017

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MY EDINBURGH SHAPPI KHORSANDI

n w o t o t o G S

he first did Edinburgh 16 years ago, sharing a bill with Russell Brand and Martin Felgate.

“I remember that summer in the entire run only one person bought a ticket and that was Omid Djalili. It was no pressure. I just ran around Edinburgh being 25 and having a stupid amount of fun. I remember going out with Russell Brand and carrying a bottle of Bacardi in our bag because we couldn’t afford to buy drinks.”

Khorsandi has gone on to make a name for herself as a comic, writer and broadcaster, often drawing on her personal experiences as the daughter of an exiled Iranian poet and as a single mother. But her show this year, Mistress and Misfit, is all about Emma, Lady Hamilton, mistress of Horatio Nelson and muse of artist George Romney.

“She is a beautiful, incredible part of English history and she was terribly let down. Just before the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson said: all I ask is that Emma and my daughter are looked after – and they weren’t. She died an alcoholic in Calais.

“I was never a beautiful courtesan but I was a single mum. I was also a life model, but while Lady Hamilton modelled for Romney I modelled for GCSE students in Tower Hamlets. Most of them were Muslim and they drew me without really looking at me.

One of them drew a Nike symbol on my breast.” She also had a child out of wedlock – with the massive difference that Shappi “had the means to keep my daughter but [Lady Hamilton] had to give up this little girl.”

Khorsandi plans to bring her son, aged ten, and her daughter, aged four, to Edinburgh this year.

“I’ll get the show up and running then they’ll come up. I’ll take them to see the street theatre on the Royal Mile. I love hanging out

orsandi Fringe legend Shappi Kh on her gives us the lowdown nces top Edinburgh experie CROCKETT PHOTOGRAPHY MATT WORDS CLAIRE SMITH

on the Meadows, listening to conversations going on around you.”

Like many comics, she loves the chance to catch up with others on the circuit.

“I’ll probably have one wild night, but the best time I had last year was meeting comic friends in bars and having a meal and a proper chat.”

But even a Fringe veteran like Khorsandi is not immune to the inevitable rollercoaster of emotion experienced by comics at the festival.

“I had one big meltdown in Edinburgh last year when I ended up unfollowing every person I know on Twitter apart from the Clangers. It was after the Scottish comic Limmy, who I love, said he was coming to my show and I spent the entire time on stage trying to find him and he wasn’t there.

I thought if I hadn’t been on Twitter I wouldn’t have got into this state.”

She’ll catch as many other stand-ups as possible but is most looking forward to seeing Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Suzi Ruffell and her ex-husband Christian Reilly. Khorsandi also likes to catch shows produced by Soho Theatre, of which she is a patron.

“Its exciting seeing people at the very start of their careers. It gives me such a lift. I feel like an old lady going around saying to them: ‘never give up on the arts’. They might not always put food on your table but they will always feed your soul.”

She hopes the rebellious Lady Hamilton will strike a chord with Fringe goers. “You don’t have to be a history lover to enjoy it. I think Millennials and Georgians have a lot in common. Last year I met some people in a throuple – which is a couple with three people in it.”

WHERE & WHEN Shappi Khorsandi: Mistress and Misfit, Assembly George Square Studios, 3-27 August (not 14), 6.40pm, from £14 Tel: 0131 623 3030

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30/06/2017 12:15

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