Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017

Edinburgh

FESTival Guide list.co.uk/festival

2017

+

DOUGLAS GORDON

ANOUSHKA SHANKAR CHINA GOES POP JARVIS COCKER KANDACE SPRINGS PAUL AUSTER KT TUNSTALL

280 sho ws +

ALAN AYCKBOURN DJUKI MALA IRVINE WELSH

The es city g senTial uide

ART books digital

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international Jazz city guide

£2.50

Silence is golden for a Fringe superstar

fringe

14 9

771744 390023

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Creatives

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Sue Perkins

Sara Pascoe

The Toxic Avenger

Last Clown on Earth

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James Acaster

Flesh & Bone

Comedy, Theatre, Dance, Kids’ shows... and so much more.

Join us for 200+ shows every day!

“The centre of the cultural universe” The Scotsman

Translunar Paradise pleasance.co.uk • 0131 556 6550

EH3 8EE

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EH8 9TJ

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“COMEDY OF A RARE SCOPE” TIMES

EDINB URG H

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH MANDY WARD ARTIST MANAGEMENT

mickperrin.com

201 7

reginalddhunter.com

22:30 3 - 27 AUG

MAIN HALL (NOT 9, 15, 21)

Tommy Tiernan

Under the influence GILDED BALLOON TEVIOT

7.30pm

4-27 Aug (NOT 13, 14, 24)

0131 622 6552 gildedballoon.co.uk mickperrin.com tommytiernan.com

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e d i n b u r g h f e s t i va l g u i d e 20 1 7

contents

FrontLineS & Features News in Brief

11

1970s Craigmillar revisited, Tony Slattery

Frontlines

12

Bowie tributes, sports shows, crazy puns

70

16

Happy birthday dear Fringe and EIF

China Goes Pop

20

A love story with somersaults

Letters Live

23

Correspondence across the festivals

pick u weekl p our free y issues festival 2, 9, 16on wed aug

Art Pester & Rossi

34

Camping out at Jupiter Artland

Douglas Gordon

36

Turner Prize-winner tackles Rabbie Burns

Books Paul Auster & Siri Hustvedt

44

At home with Brooklyn’s literary couple

International Crime Writers

48

Death penning from Scandinavia to Scotland

Laurie Penny

50

Journalist launches her Bitch Doctrine

Digital Immersive Gallery

54

FuturePlay platforms the latest in VR art

fringe Comedy

59

Tape Face, Ayesha Hazarika

Dance

77

Valda Setterfield, Djuki Mala

Kids

81

Arr We There Yet?, BambinO

Music

84

Choir of Man, Sasquatch: The Opera

Theatre

88

Arab Arts Focus, Irvine Welsh

International Alan Ayckbourn

106

Yorkshire playwright on the gender divide

Joshua Bell & Anoushka Shankar

110

Q&A with violin star and sitar legend

Jarvis Cocker

112

Pulp man checks into Room 29

Jazz Kandace Springs

119

Nashville singer taps into her lifelong influences

THE SPECTACULAR CHINA GOES POP ROLLS INTO EDINBURGH, PAGE 20

Other Festivals Fringe by the Sea

121

KT Tunstall takes North Berwick by storm COVER Photo: MAT RICARDO

City Guide

Published in July 2017 by The List Ltd Head Office: 14 High Street Edinburgh EH1 1TE Tel: 0131 550 3050 list.co.uk

©2017 The List Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of The List Ltd. ISSN: 1744-3903

Extensive efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication; however the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors it may contain.

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Printed by Acorn Web Offset Ltd, W. Yorkshire Maps ©2017 The List Ltd.

Old Town

126

Southside

133

New Town & Stockbridge

140

West End

146

Leith & Broughton Street

153

Index #-Z

160

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Edinburgh Art Festival 27 Jul–27 Aug edinburghartfestival.com Telephone booking: Please call individual venues. Many events are free but ticketed

Edinburgh International Book Festival 12–28 Aug edbookfest.co.uk Telephone booking: 0845 373 5888 In person: The Hub, Castlehill; Entrance Tent in Charlotte Square Gardens; George Street box office

Futureplay 3–26 Aug futureplayfest.com Telephone booking: 0131 623 3030 In person: Assembly Rooms, George Street

04 – 28 August 2017

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 4–28 Aug edfringe.com Telephone booking: 0131 226 0000 In person: Fringe Box Office, High Street; University of Edinburgh Visitor Centre, Charles Street; Virgin Money Half Price Hut, Mound Precinct

e m o c Wel

Photo: DAVE STEWART

Festival Booking Information

Every year, the Edinburgh Festival is circled as a special moment in the cultural calendar. But the 2017 version is particularly momentous as it marks the 70th anniversaries of both the Fringe and International festivals. Many thousands of visitors to the capital (as well as those from here who can’t get enough of their festival city) will help blow out those candles.

We can’t help but play our part in festivities, so as well as laying on this Edinburgh Festival Guide, we’ll be gift-wrapping three weekly magazines in August, the first of which includes supplements for Canada 150 and for the programmes at Pleasance, Summerhall and ZOO venues. For those after an immediate festival fix, there’s essential online coverage at list.co.uk/festival while @thelistmagazine will be constantly buzzing with the latest news, reviews and gossip.

For this 160-page guide, we packed writers off to locations as far-flung as Brighton, Brooklyn, Shandong and Scarborough in search of the names and shows that will light up Edinburgh this summer. We met up with titans of their field from Yorkshire playwright Alan Ayckbourn, current Edinburgh Comedy Award winner, Fife’s Richard Gadd, and the world’s coolest literary couple, New York’s Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt. Phone bills were also run up talking to our cover star Tape Face, Turner Prize-winning artist Douglas Gordon, Nashville jazz singer Kandace Springs, Pulp man Jarvis Cocker, and dance veteran Valda Setterfield.

We also offer extensive coverage on new digital festival FuturePlay, hook up with Fringe by the Sea headliner KT Tunstall, and dig out our clan tartan for the Tattoo. But it’s not all about the amazing shows, as our jam-packed City Guide offers perfect advice on where to go for all your eating, drinking and shopping needs.

Edinburgh is set to have the world’s biggest party. Don’t have your excuses ready: just be there.

Brian Donaldson Edinburgh Festival Guide Editor

Edinburgh International Festival 4–28 Aug eif.co.uk Telephone booking: 0131 473 2000 In person: The Hub, Castlehill

Contributors Festival Guide Editor Brian Donaldson City Guide Editor Yasmin Sulaiman Words Seonaid Aitken, Kelly Apter, Nikki Baughan, Marissa Burgess, Hamilton Cain, Rachael Cloughton, Neil Cooper, Brian Donaldson, Lynn Ferguson, Mark Fisher, Gerry Fox, Rowena McIntosh, Rebecca Monks, David Pollock, Arusa Qureshi, Lucy Ribchester, Jay Richardson, Murray Robertson, Claire Sawers, Fiona Shepherd, Sara Sheridan, Louise Stoddart, Ben Williams, Jessica Yu

DIGITAL Andy Bowles, Andy Carmichael, Sharon Irish, Iain McCusker, Alan Miller CONTENT & EDITORIAL Scott Henderson, Alex Johnston, Rowena McIntosh, Henry Northmore, Arusa Qureshi, Murray Robertson, Kirstyn Smith, Louise Stoddart ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP Chris Knox, Sheri Friers, Brendan Miles, Debbie Thomson, Rachel Cree, Ross Foley, Jade Regulski, Emma Thompson, Craig Angus

PRODUCTION Design Lucy Munro, Stuart Polson, Carol Soutar, Carys Tennant Subeditors Yasmin Sulaiman, Paul McLean, Brian Donaldson THE LIST Editor-in-Chief Yasmin Sulaiman Head of Accounting & HR Sarah Reddie Director Robin Hodge CEO Simon Dessain

Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival 14–23 Jul edinburghjazzfestival.com Telephone booking: 0131 473 2000 In person: The Hub, Castlehill

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TOP 25 Another year and another Edinburgh Festival with far too much to see and just over a month to somehow see it all. Our essential selection features one chat-show host, two bards, three critic-bashers, nine blokey singers, and an 82-year-old dancer

art

DOUGLAS GORDON

Some slabs of marble and a sense of who Rabbie Burns might have been deep inside led the Turner Prize-wining Scottish artist and filmmaker to produce an intriguing new work. See page 36. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 29 Jul–29 Oct.

books

FRINGE

Puncturing prejudice and mocking misogyny is Penny’s bag as she offers up vignettes from her Bitch Doctrine. She may also be in town to skewer sexism. See page 50. Charlotte Square Gardens, 18 Aug.

Transgender issues are set to play a major role at the Fringe this year including this Trav double-header: Adam is directed by Cora Bissett and Eve stars Jo Clifford. See page 88. Traverse Theatre, 3–27 Aug.

FRINGE

international

A long-awaited return to the Fringe from the man previously known as Bing Hitler as he showcases his chat show-hosting skills with an array of stars across the festival. See page 23. Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 7–18 Aug.

Taking the rare move of not directing his own work, Alan Ayckbourn, the always innovative Scarborough playwright imagines a future world where contact between men and women can prove to be fatal. See page 106. King’s Theatre, 8–20 Aug.

LAURIE PENNY

ADAM + EVE

THE DIVIDE

COPYRIGHT: ALAN AYCKBOURN

CRAIG FERGUSON

6 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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TOP 25 FRONTLINES

FRINGE

FRINGE

A showcase of theatre and dance which sheds fresh light on both the past and present in the Middle East. See page 92. Various venues, 2–27 Aug.

The one-off night to end them all as some comics grapple with actual wrestlers.

Yes, it will have you gripped.

See page 12. Pleasance Courtyard, 15 Aug.

JAZZ

FRINGE

The Nashville singer was willingly fed the music of jazz greats as a child and she’s taken on their inspiration to find her own voice. See page 119. West Princes Street Gardens Spiegeltent, 15 Jul; Spiegeltent, George Square 16 Jul.

From the Aussie dudes who last year brought you Elixir comes a kids show all about the madcap shenanigans aboard the Red Rubber Duckie. See page 81.

Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 5–26 Aug.

ARAB ARTS FOCUS

KANDACE SPRINGS

THE WRESTLING

ARR WE THERE YET?

INTERNATIONAL

DIGITAL

Jarvis Cocker and Chilly Gonzales pay musical tribute to an ill-fated hotel room in LA which is deemed partly responsible for the suicide of Jean Harlow’s stricken husband. See page 112.

King’s Theatre, 22–24 Aug.

The event formerly known as Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival relaunches with a virtual reality extravaganza plus talks and plays. See page 53. Assembly Rooms, 3–26 Aug.

FRINGE

INTERNATIONAL

Next year will be the Fifer’s time to produce bold new work; this year is about laying on his Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning show for those who failed to see it last time or want another peek. See page 59.

Summerhall, 18–27 Aug.

Those innovative folk at Canongate started this project four years ago, and it makes an Edinburgh debut with a hush-hush cast of letter-readers taking to the King’s stage for two performances. See page 23.

King’s Theatre, 27 Aug.

FRINGE

BOOKS

Veteran of the dance world, Valda Setterfield once again portrays a man on stage, this time Shakespeare’s troubled monarch. See page 77.

Dance Base, 23–27 Aug.

Celebrating a 70th birthday alongside the EIF and Fringe, the evocative New York storyteller was almost fated to make his way here this summer. See page 44.

King’s Theatre, 14 Aug; Charlotte Square Gardens, 18 Aug.

ROOM 29

RICHARD GADD

LEAR

FUTUREPLAY

LETTERS LIVE

PAUL AUSTER

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frontlines top 25

INTERNATIONAL

FRINGE

The eclectic sitar player takes her ancient instrument and pushes forth into contemporary terrain with Land of Gold. See page 110.

Usher Hall, 16 Aug.

He upset Mel B on America’s Got Talent, which is yet another reason to go and see the silently majestic New Zealand mime act Sam Wills.

See page 62. Pleasance Courtyard, 2–27 Aug.

FRINGE

TATTOO

ANOUSHKA SHANKAR

TAPE FACE

CHINA GOES POP

THE ROYAL EDINBURGH MILITARY TATTOO

Another spectacular and jawdropping physical and musical work from the Shandong Acrobatic Troupe, this time with a love story at its core. See page 20.

Assembly Hall, 2–27 Aug.

The tartan gets rolled out this year as the main theme for this heavily anticipated display of bands, dancers and, of course, fireworks.

See page 123. Edinburgh Castle, 4–26 Aug.

FRINGE BY THE SEA

FRINGE

Before she decides to fully rock out on her next album, catch KT headlining Fringe by the Sea while she’s still strumming the delightfully jangly stuff. See page 121.

North Berwick, 7 Aug.

Just the two brand new shows from the Leith lad as we get a musical about a Chicago songwriting class (Creatives) and a play about London’s swinging sixties (Performers). See page 97. Creatives, Pleasance Courtyard, 2–28 Aug; Performers, Assembly Rooms, 3–27 Aug.

INTERNATIONAL

ART

KT TUNSTALL

IRVINE WELSH

Hip hop makes its breakthrough at the EIF as Boy Blue’s Olivier-nominated show proves that breaking and popping are very much here to stay. See page 114.

Royal Lyceum Theatre, 16–19 Aug.

PESTER & ROSSI

Photo: buzzcut festival

BLAK WHYTE GRAY

The Glasgow-based art duo host Lunarnova Campout, an all-nighter with installations, music, food and all kinds of surprise nocturnal happenings. See page 34.

Jupiter Artland, 26 Aug.

FRINGE

FRINGE

Those mean critics make life hard for writers and performers, don’t they?

Well, Adrienne Truscott, Zoë Coombs Marr and Ursula Martinez have had quite enough and are hitting back in some style. See page 28.

Traverse Theatre, 8–27 Aug.

Serving up some exhilarating cover versions is this nineman team of singers. And as if this wasn’t enough of an attractive proposition, they’re setting their show in a fully functioning pub. See page 84. Assembly Rooms, 3–27 Aug.

WILD BORE

CHOIR OF MAN

8 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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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 used to.

KALLO COLLECTIVE

3 – 27 AUG 13:30 · 50 MIN

HELGA

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).

All genders and ages (18+) welcome!

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.

SADSONGSKOMPLEX:FI

I AM FARANSIS W. ACE-PRODUCTION

6 – 27 AUG 17:45 · 75 MIN

SUMMERHALL

2 – 27 AUG 19:45 · 75 MIN

DATES

SUMMERHALL

AT THE SPEED OF SOUND

VIIRUS THEATRE

RAMY

2 – 13 AUG 20:40 · 75 MIN

SUMMERHALL

– IN THE FRONTLINE

@ STARTTOFINNISH

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E1

News in Brief ––––––– Snippets of stuff from across the festival –––––––

ROLL UP

Photo: cca archives

During the 1970s, plays and exhibitions were a regular occurrence in Craigmillar, with local residents running their own Festival Society. Edinburgh Art Festival marks that fruitful creative period with Rolls and Shutters, focusing on the work of photographers Angela Catlin and John Brown. The exhibition takes place at Craigmillar Library (1–14 Aug) which will also show a new film made in the area last year.

BLOOM SERVICE 59 Productions will once again help launch the Edinburgh International Festival with another public art explosion of light and sound. Bloom (4 & 5 Aug) seeks to act as ‘a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’ and represents a potent symbol for Edinburgh’s burgeoning as a cultural centre since 1947.

TONY AWARD Having largely cut himself off from the world of showbusiness, Tony Slattery is back doing what he always did best: making it all up on the spot.

He’s due to hook up again with his old Whose Line Is it Anyway? chums for seven dates during the show’s latest Fringe run at the Assembly Rooms (3–27 Aug).

A BIG DRAW Many illustrators of the world will be gathering at the Edinburgh International Book Festival as part of the children’s programme. Among their number is Emily MacKenzie discussing the food in her books (28 Aug), Emma Shoard (pictured) doing a live drawing with vocal accompaniment from Irish singer Geraldine Bradley (24 Aug), Barroux talking about polar bears and climate change (26 & 27 Aug), and the festival’s illustrator in residence, Kristina Stephenson, reflecting on ten years of Sir Charlie Stinky Socks (20 Aug). list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 11

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frontlines ––––––– News | Gossip | Opinion –––––––

Whether it’s wrestling, swimming or fishing, the festival has a sporting endeavour for almost every taste For many, the Edinburgh Festival is a cultural olympiad that comes around annually rather than every four years. We might not have an actual Olympics or football World Cup this summer, but there are plenty activities going on to satisfy sporty types.

From the inspired minds of Max & Ivan, The Wrestling has become a genuine cult event with comics and actual wresters grappling the hell out of each other. Still in the ring, Brendon Burns and Colt Cabana will once more supply comedic commentary to classically bad wrestling matches.

In Bikeology, Ned Boulting gives the inside lowdown on professional cycling, absurdist comic Pat Cahill muses on fishing, Ladies Day is a comic play about Royal Ascot, Golfing Comedian of the Year has stand-ups taking each other on across the fairway, and Tumble Tuck (pictured) looks at the joys and terrors of competitive swimming.

Unsurprisingly, the national sport is well-represented with boozed-up fitba pundit Bob Doolally commemorating Scotland’s victory at Wembley in 1967 in his own inimitable (ie. sozzled) fashion, while Don’t Cry for Me Kenny Dalglish reflects on a less glorious Scottish venture: the ill-fated 1978 Argentina World Cup. Offside explores the beautiful game from a female perspective and The Damned United is a stage adaptation of David Peace’s controversial ‘faction’ about Brian Clough.

Photo: scott rylander

Game on Relatively speaking

The festival is a genuine family affair for these particular pairings Some people come to Edinburgh in August to get away from their families. Others just love their relatives so much that they follow them all the way to the Scottish capital. Irish comedy cousins Eleanor and Tommy Tiernan (pictured) will be spreading some craic this month while twins Tom and Phil Bancroft are doing separate events at the Jazz Festival.

Over at the Book Festival, the brilliantly named Inkpens (father and daughter Mick and Chloë) are in the children’s strand while the Unthanks (Northumbrian sister duo Becky and Rachel) pay tribute to the music and poems of Molly Drake (mum of singersongwriter icon Nick).

Janey Godley (mum) and Ashley Storrie (daughter) will be blowing off some steam on the stand-up stage, as will the Steels: father Mark and his boy Elliot. Lynn Ferguson has co-written a play while her bro’ Craig has his own chat show, and silent comic Trygve Wakenshaw introduces us to his toddler son Phineas to speculate on whether his own offspring might actually be funnier than him. n Full details of shows at list.co.uk/festival

12 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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‘SPECTACULAR AND DAZZLING!’ Beijing Daily

‘HIGHLY ENTERTAINING!’ Shanghai Daily

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frontlines From top left, clockwise: What Bowie Did Next; From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads; The Sensational David Bowie Tribute Band; Simply Bowie

Still loving the alien

Photo: THOMAS CLAXTON

Punny business Who can resist a show title with a top-notch play on words? Not us, that’s who.

Here’s a mere selection of this year’s finest cringeworthy names

Whine List Wombmates The Silly Iles The Afterwife IlluminArchie Soixante Mirth One Man Shoe Class Half Empty Hymen Manoeuvre

Eighteen months on since the Thin White Duke’s untimely death, the entertainment world continues to pay tribute to Ziggy Stardust. Here, four fans pitch their Fringe show in 50 words with as many Bowie-related references as they could cram in

rock outfit. No dressing up, no prancing around, just Bowie loud and in your face. So why not leave the capsule if you dare? When it’s time to look at these cavemen go, and your mummy is yelling ‘No!: LET’S DANCE!’

Tom Gk: What Bowie Did Next Let’s spend the night (or late afternoon) together. Why? My show charts the fantastic voyage Bowie took after death: little wonder all the young dudes dig it. Young Americans, cats from Japan: all Earthlings are welcome (despite me, shhh, being afraid of Americans). See me before I’m a star, man.

Adrian Berry: From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads It would take me at least five years to tell you what an amazing feat of sound and vision my show is.

The reality is I feel hugely under pressure but you’d be aladdin sane not to buy a ticket. In fact you’ll be dancing in the street for days.

Oliver Darley: Simply Bowie I can’t give everything away but one early morning we stripped back the Starman’s amazing hits. People cried ‘what in the world? That is the last thing you should do!’

But fill your heart as tonight time will crawl, the speed of life will slow, as the London boys keep swinging, unwashed and slightly dazed.

n What Bowie Did Next, Just the Tonic at the Caves, Cowgate, 0330 220 1212, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 4pm, £6–£7.50 (£4.50–£5; family ticket £18–£20). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £4.50 (£3; family ticket £14). Or Pay What You Want at the venue. n Simply Bowie, Frankenstein Pub, George IV Bridge, 0131 226 0000, 3–13 Aug, 5pm, free. n The Sensational David Bowie Tribute Band, Merchant’s Hall, Hanover Street, 01241 830770, 16 Aug, 9pm, £20. n From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads, Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–28 Aug, 1.55pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

Andy Lawrie: The Sensational David Bowie Tribute Band The Sensational David Bowie Tribute Band is a power

Standing out The Stand might well be one of the world’s finest comedy venues, but at this Fringe it’s making strides into other areas There’s a whole heap of fun for the kids at The Stand this August with Gary Dunn offering some Monkey Magic, while Kidocracy has the bairns showing grown-ups where they’re going wrong.

There are a couple of obvious clues in the title, but we should still clarify that gunge fans might want to check out Gunge! A Show With Gunge in It. There’s a spot of variety from JoJo Bellini’s CrashBang Cabaret!, while two theatre productions are laid on: the Bay City Rollers-inspired And They Played Shang-A-Lang, and Wife, based on Carol

State of the Nathan Last Brexit to ‘ooklyn Trash Test Dummies Party Political Podcast Orwell That Ends Well Newcastle Brown Tales You Can’t Polish a Nerd Super Cally Fragile Lipstick The Kindness of Stranglers My Last Will and Tasty Mint Let’s Get This Party Startled Take a Long Hard Luke at Yourself

Ann Duffy’s 1999 poetry collection, The World’s Wife. The Glasgow-born Poet Laureate is also at the venue with a spoken-word show alongside her musical collaborator John Sampson. And Somethings Old, Somethings New is another literature-music concoction, this time with Liz Lochhead and saxophonist Steve Kettley.

A dance, physical theatre and circus show at The Stand? The world has surely finally gone totally mad. But there it all is in stark black and white: NightDanger – Dance Hard (pictured) starring accomplished duo of movement, Antoine and Phillippee. The fact that this twosome bear a rather remarkable resemblance to anarchic Canadian comics Tony Law and Phil Nichol is pure coincidence . . . n Full details of shows at list.co.uk/festival

14 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre in association with Gecko presents

EUROPEAN PREMIERE International collaboration inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Peony Pavilion by his Chinese contemporary, Tang Xianzu

Winner Best Stage Design 2016 – One Drama Awards, China ‘Physical movement that sparks with light and shadow... touching the boundary between reality and dreams.’

Pleasance Grand

2–15 August at 1.30pm (not 9 Aug) Tickets from £8 available at www.pleasance.co.uk or 0131 556 6550

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18 17

YMCA Theatre

18

LITTLE Theatre

17

The magnificent 70

16 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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FESTIVAL 70

As the International and Fringe festivals celebrate their 70th birthdays, we compare the city centre venue maps from 1947 with a sample from 2017 and notice that, well, there was a lot less going on in the inaugural event. Plus, we take a look at other anniversaries being marked in town this August and list some cultural landmarks from 1947

Y

CASTLE STREET

FREDERICK STREET

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A very good year: (main pic) Richard Herring (below from left), Tall Stories, Doug Anthony All Stars, Anna Pasternak, Arthur Smith

WHAT DID 1947 EVER DO FOR US? While the Fringe and International Festivals were being born, this also happened in the cultural year of 1947 . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU From 40 years at the Fringe to a century of jazz, we honour some people who are blowing out a landmark number of candles this year

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very August now seems to be cause for a celebration in the Doug Anthony All Stars camp. In 2016, the cheeky Australians made a long-awaited and joyously devilish return to the Fringe and, this time around, they can pop the corks of whatever happens to be their tipple as it’s 30 years since they exploded onto the festival with their offstage mayhem and close-to-the-bone onstage sing-songs.

Another man who knows plenty about Edinburgh capers is Arthur Smith, who’s been a Fringe regular having first landed here in 1977. This year, he’s giving us three memorial gigs which pay a final tribute to the recently departed Leonard Cohen. A decade ago, Richard Herring brought Oh Fuck, I’m 40! to Edinburgh. So, naturally enough, the time is as ripe as it’ll ever be for his equally exclamatory half-century show: Oh Frig, I’m 50!

Tall Stories have been entertaining the wee ones for so long that it won’t be too far off into the future that the target audiences for their 1997 debut will be bringing their own kids along to see them. Their 20-year anniversary bash is a double-header with Future Perfect and perennial fave Gruffalo’s Child on show. Another children’s icon is Harry Potter who marks two full decades of wizardry with 20 Years of Harry Potter Magic at the Book Festival c/o Fleurble Laffalot while the Hogwarts references will be flying around during In the Pink’s a cappella show Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Meanwhile, Pottervision is a parody sketch show for those willing to laugh at the JK Rowling phenomenon.

This year is a big one in the world of jazz with a fair number of legends being born 100 years ago. So, keep an eye out in July for celebrations of Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. Back at the Book Festival, Anna Pasternak will be talking about her dad Boris’ most famous book, the 60-year-old Doctor Zhivago, while poet Roger McGough is reflecting on The Mersey Sound, the anthology which launched his career in 1967.

Over in art-land, Ed Ruscha will be celebrating his 80th birthday later this year and Nathan Coley is 50: you can catch work by both of them at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Many birthday wishes to one and all.

l Marilyn Monroe made her film debut (or at least her voice did) as a telephone operator in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim l David Bowie was born l Richard Attenborough stars in Brighton Rock l the BBC goes off the air for a month due to a national fuel crisis l Farrah Fawcett was born l Jean-Paul Sartre published What Is Literature? l Benjamin Britten’s opera Albert Herring premiered at Glyndebourne l just under half a million watched the marriage of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh l Compton Mackenzie published Whisky Galore l Stephen King was born l André Gide won the Nobel Prize for Literature l Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston passed away l Arnold Schwarzenegger was born l Jackson Pollock produced the first of his ‘drip’ paintings l Gerry Rafferty was born l another home birth as the Edinburgh International Film Festival celebrated its debut

Full details of shows at list.co.uk/festival 18 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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THE PERFECT

The Czech Centre presents

TEN

Five outstanding Czech companies with three Herald Angels Awards and four Total Theatre Award Nominations offer six unforgettable shows. Featuring the spectacular 420PEOPLE with their Fringe debut. Part of Czech Season in Scotland presenting dance, literature, performance, music and visual arts.

ARS OF CELEBRATING TEN YE AL

FESTIV SCOTLAND’S COOLEST

7-13 AUGUST 2017

BATACCHIO Cirk La Putyka 4—12 Aug / 18.30

ARTISTS INCLUDE:

ALE IN JUNE TION VISIT:

#czechshowcase #CzechSeasonScotland

, STEVE HARLEY KT TUNSTALL, BIBB, IC ER , ER RB S, CHRIS BA TERS, ZOE LYON THE HONEYCUT ITH, SM C NE AI EL , THE REZILLOS CHAN MICHAELA STRA

GOSSIP Lenka Vagnerova & Company 4—8 / 10—15 Aug / 20.30 WIND-UP 420PEOPLE 10—19 Aug / 15.20 YOU ARE NOT THE ONE WHO SHALL LIVE LONG DOT504 13—19 Aug / 13.20

THE NARRATOR Spitfire Company 14—15 / 18—19 / 23 Aug / 17.00 25—27 Aug / 17.00 ONE STEP BEFORE THE FALL Spitfire Company 16—17 / 20—22 / 24 Aug / 17.00

VENUE 82 ZOO SOUTHSIDE 117 Nicolson St Edinburgh EH8 9ER 0131 662 6892 Booking — zoofestival.co.uk edfringe.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

7-13 AUGUST 2017 NORTH BERWICK WWW.FRINGEBYTHESEA.COM SUPPORTED BY:

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CHINA GOES POP

Pop idols The acclaimed Shandong Acrobatic Troupe will entertain Edinburgh with another high-energy and visually stunning show. Kelly Apter travelled to Jinan where she met a dedicated and talented crew that have juggling, somersaulting and hoop diving in their DNA

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s the lights go down, a ripple of excitement runs through some children sitting in the front row. It’s only a dress rehearsal, but for those young trainees of Shandong Acrobatic Troupe, watching the grown-ups is a glimpse into their own future. Each trick is, quite rightly, greeted with enthusiastic applause until the performance ends and they trot, single file, back to the training centre next door. For them, and the performers on stage, being part of one of China’s most acclaimed acrobatic troupes (and with 180 across the country, that’s no mean feat) is a vocation you don’t take on lightly.

Zhang Xu, who plays the lead female role in China Goes Pop, the troupe’s production for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, was just eight years old when she began training here. Like the others, she moved away from her family to take up residence at the Shandong Acrobatic Troupe headquarters in central Jinan, and has been here ever since. ‘When you start something, you should finish it,’ she says, echoing the commitment all performers demonstrate on stage.

Filled with tricks and flips, clever costuming and slick dance moves, China Goes Pop is also a romance, with Zhang Xu slowly falling in love with Guo Quinlong (her real-life fiancé). And for a particular scene, performed on Chinese double silks, it’s just as well he’s the one she clings to. ‘I’m actually afraid of heights,’ she says with a smile, ‘but because I do the aerial routine with Guo, I trust him completely. I know he would never let me drop, so I feel safe up there.’ Then she flexes an impressive muscle on her petite arm, the result of upper body training she starts each day with, to prove it’s not just him that’s in complete control.

Guo joined the Shandong Troupe when he was 18, having spent ten years training elsewhere. Watching him and his colleagues fly through hoops with a speed and precision that has the audience on the edge of its seat, you can only imagine the discipline and determination that got them there. ‘When I first started training, aged eight, we did somersaults every day,’ he explains. ‘Then we did somersaults through the hoops on the ground, and gradually we added more hoops on top of each other.

Now after 20 years of training, I just look at the hoops and instinctively know how fast I need to run, and how much strength I’ll need to get through them; it’s like they are a part of my body.’

Hoop diving is just one of countless routines that pepper the show, including a precarious bicycle act, beautiful hand-balancing sequence, traditional mask changing with a modern twist, and some finely-honed juggling and diabolo work. You would find much of that in other Shandong Acrobatic Troupe shows: the crucial difference here is in the show’s title. A pop soundtrack, contemporary set and costume design all conspire to create an East meets West feel. The stars of the show may all hail from China, but the creative team surrounding them – director, choreographer, designers – have all worked extensively in British and American theatre and television.

For Shanda Sawyer, the US co-director and choreographer, one of the most enjoyable aspects of working on the show has been helping the Shandong Acrobatic Troupe deliver a believable love story. ‘That was a really exciting challenge,’ she says, ‘because here we have these extraordinary acrobats with such skill, but who have been trained not to show emotion. So they’ve had to learn how to take the audience on an emotional journey, inbetween the hair-raising hoop diving and intense acrobatic routines. And it’s amazing how thirsty they are for that kind of knowledge, how open they’ve been to it and how much they’ve grown.’

Sawyer may have been amazed by the cast’s transformation into romantic storytellers, but as far as Shandong Acrobatic Troupe director Yao Jianguo is concerned, adaptability and a desire to learn are key qualities for anybody entering the company. Having spent 47 years of his life here, since joining the troupe aged ten, Jianguo is well-qualified to talk about life as an acrobat. Those excitable children I watched the show with were cherry picked from an audition group three times the size, and Jianguo knows exactly how to help them reach their potential.

‘One of the most important aspects of being a good artist is that you want to learn more and do more,’ he says. ‘The artists in China Goes Pop started with multiple disciplines, but in the course of rehearsing the show, they’ve learned even more. They’re good artists so they want to continually develop themselves.’

China Goes Pop, Assembly Hall, Mound Place, 0131 623 3030, 4–27 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 4.20pm, £13–£15 (£11–£13). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £8.

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CHINA GOES POP

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THE HOME OF INTERNATIONAL CIRCUS AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE

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letters live

To whom it may concern In this digital age and fractured world of 140 characters, the noble art of letter writing appears to be an ever increasingly ancient one. But the International Festival is helping to reinvigorate that practice with Letters Live as real correspondence is read by some of the great and the good in town this August. Created by Edinburgh publishing institution Canongate and launched in 2013 at London’s Tabernacle, the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Kylie Minogue, Jude Law, Gillian Anderson, Caitlin Moran and Sanjeev Bhaskar have all delivered often funny and frequently moving missives penned by everyone from Elvis to Bowie and Ghandi to Guevara.

In Edinburgh, the evening’s drama will be ramped up with readers’ identities being kept secret right until the moment they take to the King’s Theatre stage. To mark Letters Live, we asked a number of people from across the various festivals to pen their own letter to a person or place that will be important to them this August. Read on . . .

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letters Live

Dear Craigsy,

Lynn Ferguson to Craig Ferguson

your Edinburgh I’m gutted to be missing my brother (so it’s ’re you show. Even though ays loved watching uncool to say it), I’ve alw August though, I’m your work. Throughout and plastic surgery stuck in the land of sun of of basking in the world tead ins called California, . rgh nbu Edi ce called culture and salt and sau ce 2008, to bed year for the first time sin t las ge Frin the I visited was really It . ald ote for Horse McDon in Careful, the play I wr tely the ple com re we e some things strange to be back becaus d, and hot col g zin free be to ows you same: the climate that all d voice lou ly; Karen Koren’s great and sweaty simultaneous g up etin me d; great soft heart of gol of Norway covering her e to abl ng bei and ls, r see at festiva with people you only eve of ple versation you started a cou effortlessly carry on a con decades ago. ning the s too: Katy Koren is run But there were big change just a bump); s wa she en I remember wh Gilded Balloon! (W TH?!? in Edinburgh sible to see early morning discovering that it is pos , most and ; of just before going to bed after getting up, instead band e pip pan a e did I encounter incredibly of all, not onc promise ’t can (I e onc Not kel covers. hope). playing Simon and Garfun ays alw years in a row, but there’s t. fortune will smile two fel I ve ecti though, was how refl rts, What surprised me most, wa Hog nt gia a e town lights up lik Maybe because the whole set a ng doi lay cAu Ma sts there: Fred memories float like gho rescued by ting Late’n’Live and being hos ss; dre s m’ wearing mu lm Hardee lco ng Jaffa Cakes with Ma a guy from New Order; eati Stewart dy An of with the sound in a tartan upholstered taxi ily party. fam y rul un ge t like some hu playing full blast. It fel noisy, at, n about the people. The gre The Fringe has always bee in, adm , tech of writers, performers, ers chaotic, wonderful band nk dri al ion fess pro ters, bookers and . agents, publicists, promo cle cta spe e ibl red inc st create the mo who gather every year to rt, the seems to be breaking apa rld wo the en wh At a time here that ple peo re beautiful. I’ve told Fringe could not feel mo d like lan al gic ma a nth of August is d Edinburgh during the mo tol o als I’ve . obe rdr wa get there by are s Narnia, except you can’t obe rdr Ryanair, they’ll know wa them that if they ever fly more comfortable.

Big love, Lynn xox

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letters live

Gerry Fox to Fingal’s Cave

Seeing you for the first time from a wooden sailing ship, red mast ablaze, I could see why you had so entranced young Felix Mendelssohn. The glor ious Hebrides Overture, ins pired by work your outlandish landscape, is a So when my t. pas the in ges ima to I had set I decided and am composer friend Ned Bigh ic, I mus and film for to create a new piece . you of tely thought immedia ary: white That initial sight was extraordin inst your aga y entl crests of waves crashing viol abo ve, far es slop ssy gra rocky cliffs topped by the cing oun ann s hole k dar unmistakeable s, the third entrances of three separate sea cave appeared dis t tha and largest a curling fissure into nothingness. the captain ‘That’s Fingal’s Cave!’ shouted As we ter. in his yellow oilskin and sou’wes here, now of out sailed around your shores, ns hove atio form cliff alt endless columns of bas nge pillars come into view. Where did these stra if ‘the giants from? Keats himself wondered of men had ers ght who came down to the dau and bound mns colu e thes taken a who le mass of ches’. them together like bunches of mat with your one at and , here be to yed Overjo skies my stor solitary beauty, even whilst perilous r you g alon d threatened, I clambere nds of sea sou ing hiss the to g sea edge, listenin cracks in less water draining away through end agonal hex of thes those haunting, unique swa edifices. und to the Eventually I found my way aro sea spray cave opening as waves crashed, r imposing you red drenching my body. I ente little a was I it adm interior. At first I be vast to you d ecte exp I . . . disappointed long a just and cavernous. But you were hued plepur , oily chasm, densely packed with hing rus a by only d rate sepa symmetrical pillars of k the bac torrent of water repeatedly hitting e I watched, mor The ng. eati retr re befo the cave if inside a as me, the more fascinated I beca an’ as org e ens ‘imm an musical instrument, ion pan com ’s ohn elss end M Klingemann, and ing described you, ‘black and resound absolutely without pur pose’. ng shards The sea surged forward, glisteni arked that rem tly righ ats Ke g. of foam swirlin passes sur ‘for solemnity and grandeur it far So nd! sou r you d the finest cathedral’. An t tha n upo hit had ohn that’s how Mendelss and e ther t righ ody mel g nin ope unmistakeable waves from the then: the reverberating echo of the -inspir ing. awe and high vault utterly musical anew, that it spir r you ture If only we could cap never-ending ebb and swell . . .

Jessica Yu to Leith

I remember you.

Little blue corridor with the red stripe. Someone on the telephone in the fla t next door with a raised voice.

I saw inside: a sa sh imicoloured carpet an d an egg-yolk wall.

You never know ho w quiet you can be until you’ve gone overseas and walke d around all day wi th the only person who hears your voice the apron you buy a sandwich off. I re member the swimm ing pool during women -only hour and no lanes, just a large square space. Women criss-crossing, swim ming slant-ways, adjacent, horizontal ly across, vertically , this ways, that ways , making up their ow n rhythms. One askin g me how to do it, ho w to swim. ‘Blowing bubbles is a good pla ce to start’, I said, an d she blew and bl ew.

Kingsway Sweet Pe anuts and Je nny’s Homemade Sweets: ‘Finest in Scotlan d’ in the window. Ra dishes in a packet fro m Sainsbury’s. Bitter red skin and sweet white flesh. Open the brown envelope.

PLEASE DO NOT BE ND. Small gallery with artist caves an d blinking slide sh ows and people out the front trying to rev erse parallel or having a smoke. Click. A lad y with a dog. Click. Th ree generations of family crowded in to the one frame.

Click.

The beach. Click. Bl ack.

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8 12pm - 10pm daily PRESENTING

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MASTERCLASSES · COMEDY · PRIVATE TASTINGS · LIVE MUSIC · LIVE ART BARTENDER COMPETITIONS · STREET FOOD · FLEA MARKET · BOTTLE SHOP www.edinburghcocktailfest.com

Please drink responsibly

letters live

Hanoverian. As I cut onto Charlotte Square from the lane that runs up the side of West Register House, there’s a whiff of Jacobite Edinburgh

here in the grand West End. The Hanoverian men were poxy, fat and pasty: all those dull Georges, one after the other. That said, I’d have got on with Queen Charlotte, Queen Victoria ’s much-troubled grandmother who entertained scientists and poets in her drawing room and loved her particular German George to distraction, trying her damndest to protect him from their eldest son, the connivi ng Prince of Wales and his avaricious appetite for Catholic lovers, 17-course meals and the notion of Regency.

AUTHOR PHOTO: BETHANY GRACE

The Square lies empty most of the year, the precious green space locked. Sometimes there is a solitary dog walker or a scatter of hopeful seagulls drumming the sodden grass for worms, glassily eyeing the tourists outside Bute House and the Deliveroo drivers lounging on the slabs waiting for an order. In summertime their shadows tip down Glenfinlas Street.

I watch for the first signs. It might be the biggest book festival in the world but it feels like a fete on the village green if you live close by.

I watch it rising, the tents popping up like mushrooms until, like Queen Charlotte’s salon, the square is suddenly full of bright ideas. Ticketed .

Debated. Revealed. And for a while, in our thousands, we sit on the right side of the railings. There, at the heart of it all.

The Craig Ferguson Show, Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, Rose Street, 0131 622 6552, 7–18 Aug (not 12 & 13), 10.45pm, £16.

Lynn Ferguson is co-writer of Sam Shaber: Life, Death and Duran Duran, Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, Rose Street, 0131 622 6552, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 5pm, £10 –£11 (£9–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

Afternoon Tea with Sara Sheridan, Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 23 Aug, 4pm, £22; Sheridan’s On Starlit Seas has been shortlisted for the 2017 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize.

Seonaid Aitken: A Night with Ella, Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street, 0131 473 2000, 15 Jul, 8pm, £17.50– £27.50.

Gerry Fox & Ned Bigham’s Staffa is presented at National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 17–27 Aug, 10am–6pm, free; Staffa is also part of the 70th Anniversary Celebration Concert, Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 0131 473 2000, 27 Aug, 8pm, £13–£47.

Jessica Yu’s work is part of Edinburgh Art Festival’s You hardboiled . . . I softboiled at Rhubaba, Arthur Street, 0131 629 8821, 26 Jul–27 Aug, Fri–Sun, noon–5pm, free; her letter was partly in response to Leith Creative: People and Places Make Leith Better, Leith Community Education Centre, Newkirkgate, 0131 554 4750, 18–21 Aug, 1–4.30pm, free.

ald Seonaid Aitken to Ella Fitzger

Letters Live, King’s Theatre, Leven Street, 0131 473 2000, 27 Aug, 7pm, 10pm, £18–£28.

Sara Sheridan to Charlotte Square

I think I’d have been a Stuart and not a

Dear Ella,

I’ve been listening to you a lot recently and d it suddenly struck me: what if you had opte for your original plan to dance instead of sing in that Amateur Night at the Apollo back in Harlem, 1934? You might have est ever voices. deprived the jazz world of one of its great spie’s band or You wouldn’t have toured with Dizzy Gille Norman Granz, who been introduced to your lifelong manager, the Song Books series. produced your most revered body of work, fan, Marilyn Monroe, You may never have met your most famous Los Angeles and sat who got you on the bill at the Mocambo in prejudices and helping in the audience every night, defying racial fuel your rise to stardom. nically gifted you Only now do I realise how musically and tech s, as faithfully as I truly were as I try to recreate your recording the sheer joy which can, for a centenary tribute. I am awed by er any melody with imbued your music and that you could deliv Your improvised such incredible control, timing and emotion. , exploiting the full solos were mini masterpieces of their own rtless acrobatics and range and timbre of your voice through effo invention. a great dancer, We’ll never know if you would have made You’ve graced us with but I’m glad you chose to sing that night. s which, in my eyes, definitive versions of so many jazz standard will always be the classiest and the sassiest.

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WILD BORE

‘We’ve written a magnificent stew of obscene incompetence’ The relationship between critic and performer is often a fraught one. Claire Sawers talks to Adrienne Truscott and Zoë Coombs Marr about using their own bitter experiences of bad reviews to create a thoroughly meta theatrical show 28 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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WILD BORE

The slate show

Confronting their critics: (below from left) Adrienne Truscott, Ursula Martinez, Zoë Coombs Marr

Some game festival acts dip into their souls and dig out the reviews that truly hurt

MILLY Thomas

Photo: FAYE THOMAS

(PLAYWRIGHT / PERFORMER)

GUY PRATT (MUSICIAN)

I was once reviewed by a young girl who had never heard of any of the people I’ve played for (Madonna?!) and was mystified as to why anyone would want to hear about these people. I also once had a glowing review in The Spectator, only to be crushed when I realised it was

by Toby Young. Inglourious Basstard, Frankenstein Pub, 14–27 Aug, 5pm.

Photo: STEVE ULLATHORNE

MARK THOMAS (COMEDIAN)

One should never read good reviews. But a bad review, especially from a publication or a journalist you don’t like, is a thing to treasure (and vice versa: I once got a good review in The Telegraph and sent a message to the journalist which read ‘if you repeat that, I’ll sue’). The Red Shed was the ‘best reviewed show’ at Fringe 2016 according to the British Comedy Guide, so The Times’ two-star review was the icing on the cake.

The press release just read ‘this is what the Murdoch press thinks of us: two stars “socialist schmaltz”.’

We sold out our Liverpool show. Summerhall, 2–27 Aug, 6pm.

Photo: JANE HOBSON

‘F

eminazi’. ‘Killjoy’. ‘Silly girl’. ‘Not good mother material’. You can almost hear the massive eyeroll as Adrienne Truscott, Zoë Coombs Marr and Ursula Martinez scroll back through a list of bad things they’ve read about themselves in reviews. Luckily though, these three aren’t the kind of women who’d let harsh words from critics burst their bubbles. Instead, they’ve dismantled all the misogyny, the snark, the conservatism, the lazy journalism and, as Truscott puts it, ‘the stuff that’s so livid, it just reaches a level of mind-boggling deliciousness’, and built a theatre show out of it.

Wild Bore is their exploration of the relationship between performer and critic, a thing they know is essential and symbiotic, but also full of daft, dysfunctional and darkly funny bits. ‘We started seeing patterns in the way we were reviewed,’ says Coombs Marr, the Australian comedian whose Edinburgh Fringe hits Dave and Trigger Warning focus on standup’s sexist side. ‘There was often this lack of engagement, this failure to watch or try and think about ideas that might be unfamiliar. And usually a lack of benefit of doubt that we’d be given. Reading some of those visceral, sometimes hilarious bad reviews, we realised we had this rich source of language and discourse to play with.’

So they took the best clichés, the most personal insults and the bluntest put-downs and used them as the script for their show, a very meta critique of the reviewing game . . . complete with bared arses. ‘It’s intentionally terrible,’ says Coombs Marr, who took her love of leg-pulling to an extreme last year when she (a lesbian in a long-term relationship with writer Kate Jinx) married gay comedian Rhys Nicholson in a pro-queer stunt about inclusivity, making her feelings known over Australia’s anti same-sex marriage stance. ‘We’ve written a magnificent stew of obscene incompetence. Wild Bore is like watching a bad review unfold onstage in a series of visual metaphors,’ she says, over Skype from Melbourne where they’re giving the show its final rehearsals before opening night, and unaware that a couple of days later it’ll get a five-star review from the Australian Guardian.

The reviewer called it ‘truly, outrageously funny’, and ‘the rally for supported, considered writing that we critics need’. If that last line seems a bit obsequious, the writer did also type, possibly with slightly trembling hands, ‘there is nothing like watching your profession be torn apart for an hour to make you question every single choice you make.’

The show isn’t just about trashing reviewers though; it’s more sophisticated and smart than that, hopes Adrienne Truscott, the New York dancer and comedian who’s probably best known at the Fringe for her 2013 knickers-off, one-woman show about rape, Asking for It. ‘The art of criticism is really important, to audiences and performers. When >>

I was on a terrible date. When he went to the loo I checked my phone and there it was.

Two stars. It was savage. I cried. When he came back I pretended my pizza was too spicy (it wasn’t, it was delicious). On the tube he opened the paper at a random page. Another bad review. I sobbed. I never saw him again. At the time it felt so personal. Now I feel fearless.

Because the worst has already happened. Plus it’s hilarious. Dust, Underbelly, 3–27 Aug, 4.40pm; Brutal Cessation, Assembly George Square Theatre, 3–28 Aug, 4.20pm.

>>

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ONGALS:

BABBLING COMEDY

Ongals: Babbling Comedy is back at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a full run this year, ahead of its stint at Soho Theatre in London’s West End. A show that’ll impress and amaze folks of all ages, Ongals: Babbling Comedy brings together breathtaking magic, effortless circus moves and formidable beatboxing skills, in a show which proves that laughter is a universal language.

The Ongals - four grown men dressed as toddlers - will have you keel over repeatedly in fits of laughter, with their fusion of physical comedy and diligent choreography performed alongside absorbing musical accompaniment. It’s a fast-paced performance that sweeps you along for a white-knuckle ride, a relentlessly energetic display of K-Comedy that’ll provide sidesplitting fun for the entire family.

The highly acclaimed, award-winning show returns to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August after travelling the world, with sold out runs under its belt at Melbourne and Sydney comedy festival.

It is no surprise that Ongals have been invited for a 5-week family show over the Christmas season at London’s Soho Theatre. Invited by Assembly founder, William Burdett-Coutts, it’s a show you can take your Gran, your three-year- old, your partner or your work colleague to, with tears of laughter guaranteed!

Director’s Choice Award winner (Melbourne Comedy Festival) 1st Prize at Busan Comedy Festival

+++++ Broadway Baby (UK) +++++ Fringe Review ++++½ Herald Sun (Australia)

“A high-energy physical comedy spectacular to tickle the funny bone of every age” FringeReview.co.uk “The act is reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin.

Physical theatre and the art of slapstick are very much alive and well in ONGALS” J Menidis, Director of Sydney Comedy Festival “this wave of K-Comedy is truly side-splitting fun for all generations and a show you won’t want to miss!”

BroadwayBaby.com “We are thrilled to have ONGALS. A perfect fit for us, we can’t wait to see them entertain and delight audiences of all ages with their unique Babbling Comedy” Steve Lock, Soho Theatre

un in d long r First ’s West En n o d o Lon th Dec 17 t 4 th n 18 6 Ja

performing every day

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wild bore

<<

‘A really humiliating review becomes a deeper learning experience’

DENISE MINA (AUTHOR)

<< I got great reviews for Asking for It, they were so deeply satisfying

Photo: OLLIE GROVE

. . . I almost can’t describe it. Then I came back the following year with a sub-par show that wasn’t quite ready, and it got panned. Some reviews were inaccurate, some were mean-spirited, but it felt shitty and cowardly not to publish them because I’d shared all the positive ones when I got hyped up for the first show.’

Truscott insists that she’s a believer in the constructive side of bad reviews and an advocate of that cheesy corporate adage that feedback can be a gift. ‘When they’re really humiliating, they become a deeper learning experience. They get you working very hard. It’s not that they’re not painful, but you get to a point where you’re secure and mature enough not to want to stay in your bath for a month after reading them.’

Audiences shouldn’t expect some kind of saintly, magnanimous, learning curve of a show, though, as there’s plenty room for a bit of reviewer-bashing. After years of flak coming in their direction, it’d be rude not to. ‘For those reviewers who seem to take a deep pleasure in tearing something apart (and it’s a particular type of male writer who comes at it from a misogynist place), it kind of reveals a lot more about them than it does about us,’ says Truscott.

As more very positive reviews trickle in from writers either terrified of being quoted in an upcoming parody scene in the show, or just genuinely gushing about how much they like it, the trio are pleased they’ve produced something that’s as politicised, boundary pushing and feminist as they’d intended. ‘We’ve made some pretty bold choices for this one,’ says Truscott. ‘But this time, there’s three of us. If we do get any bad reviews, we share a lot of camaraderie about critique and performance. We’ll be backstage afterwards having a good whisky either way.’

A reviewer contacted me after a terrible panel event I was on, expressed fury and I apologised. He sent me his ‘fairly negative review’ and contacted me again to ask if I’d read it. I said no but, fair enough, he was entitled to his opinion. He sent it to me many times, via Facebook and email. I still haven’t read it. Whoever you are, sorry about that, but this avoidant behaviour is why I’m happy and you are, I suspect, not. Charlotte Square Gardens, 17 Aug, 7.15pm.

TOM ALLEN (STAND-UP COMEDIAN)

When I was starting out as a stand-up I realised I was losing my hair at an alarming rate so decided it would be better to take control of matters and shaved my head.

It felt quite a drastic thing to do at the age of 22. Shortly afterwards I got a review implying that now I was bald it made me look like an alien: sort of odd, weird, like I was from another planet. The following year I took control of this matter also and put ‘otherworldly!’ on my poster. It felt like a much more positive spin. Pleasance Courtyard, 2–27 Aug, 8pm.

Wild Bore, Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 0131 228 1404, 9–27 Aug, various times, £21.50 (£9.50–£16.50).

Preview 8 Aug, 10am, £15 (£9).

SAM DUNHAM

Photos: tim grey photography

Photo: LIAM PRIOR

(COMIC ACTOR)

Back in 2014 we [Last Chance Saloon] got a review from an online publication that labelled our show as ‘extremely infantile and immature’. We thought this a tad harsh as we’d had a really good show and got generally good reviews. Upon googling our reviewer (as everyone does!) we discovered he was also directing a show that just so happened to be on at the exact same time as ours! We bumped into him a few times around town and he always averted his eyes and scurried off rather sheepishly. We just found it all rather funny and liked the quote so much that we continue to use it to this day. Curse of the Mummy, Just the Tonic at the Caves, 3–26 Aug, 7.30pm.

Full details of shows at list.co.uk/festival

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27 Julyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; 27 August

45+ exhibitions & free art to see across the city.

Historic surveys / leading international & Scottish artists / the best emerging talent.

New publicly sited artwork for the city.

Children & family activities.

Art Late, events, talks & tours. edinburghartfestival.com @EdArtFest #EdArtFest

Funders and supporters: Supported through the Scottish Government Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund

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Art EDINBURGH ART FESTIV AL 27 JUL–27 AUG

TRUE TO LIFE

In between the two world wars, a taste for realism seemed to fade with surrealism and abstraction dominating the art debate. But, as True to Life proves, some British painters stuck to their guns even when their work was largely being ignored. Among those celebrated in this collection are Ernest Procter (his ‘All the Fun of the Fair’ is pictured), Laura Knight and Gerald Leslie Brockhurst. n True to Life: British Realist Painting in the 1920s and 1930s, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Belford Road, 0131 624 6200, until 29 Oct, Mon–Sun, 10am–5pm (Jul, Sep & Oct), Mon–Sun, 10am–6pm (Aug), £10 (£8).

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art PESTER & ROSSI

MOON GIRLS As Glasgow-based duo Ruby Pester and Nadia Rossi prepare to set up a highly collaborative overnight camp at Jupiter Artland, they tell Rachael Cloughton how to find hope in the dark

T

he grounds of Jupiter Artland are the setting for a night to remember as Ruby Pester and Nadia Rossi’s Lunarnova Campout pitches up. This one-off event will take place from dusk to dawn, with live actions exploring ‘nocturnal ritual and notions of destruction and renewal’ popping up across the full expanse of the West Lothian sculpture park.

As the duo explain via email, ‘we had both recently been reading Rebecca Solnit’s book Hope in the Dark and thinking about how we’d like to produce an artwork or event based on ideas of finding hope in the dark, finding ways to embrace and celebrate the “unknown” and the “unknowable” together.’

Pester and Rossi have been working in collaboration since they graduated from Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in 2008.

They create ‘live works that challenge conventional perceptions of the everyday’ and often team up with local arts, education and community organisations. This collaborative spirit underpins their approach to the Lunarnova Campout. ‘We’ve invited collectives of artists, musicians and friends to respond and play with these ideas to create a series of actions with us.’

Invited acts include the ‘crypto conceptual science-fiction anti-climax band’ Asparagus Piss Raindrop, and ‘a Glasgow-based DIY punk / weirdo siphonophore’ Fallopé & the Tubes, a group that includes Pester and Rossi. ‘We couldn’t pull this one off without our witch sisters, the Tubes. We’ll be spending quality time together at Jupiter to plan some collective magic for sunset and sunrise.’

The duo have also thrown previous collaborators into the mix, including Jarsdell Solutions Ltd, who create ‘performative durational solutions to practical problems’, and the Haunted Actors Guild, a performance trio based between Dundee and Glasgow that Pester and Rossi worked alongside at Glasgow’s Poetry Club. Also popping in are G.O.D.S (Glasgow Open Dance School): ‘we wanted a group who would loosen us all up and get us moving, and we knew the friendly faces of G.O.D.S could help us out. We’ve invited these collectives of

artists, musicians and friends as we love what they’re all doing. Each group work with a similar DIY collaborative approach to ourselves, but in many different ways and all in good humour. We felt each one would bring a different magic to the campout, all working site-specifically and crossing disciplines of dance, movement, music, theatre and visual arts.’

The live elements of the work will be site-specific taking place in scenes throughout the grounds of Jupiter Artland. The woodlands, the stonehouse, the water, the fire pit and The Divine Heart Centre (a glowin-the-dark sculpture, stage set and social space created especially for the event) will all become venues for performances throughout the evening, with attendees free to roam wherever they wish.

‘We have quite a busy night ahead: at 8pm people will have time to set up their tents and eat a hot meal. The first act will start at 9pm with a welcoming ceremony to the moon, and actions will continue until midnight when The Divine Heart Centre dance party will kick off and continue until 2am,’ explain the duo. ‘Then, between 2am and 6am people can rest, relax, wander the grounds or keep warm around the fire.

Around 6am Fallopé & the Tubes will perform a salutation to the sun followed by a morning yoga class with Jupiter Artland’s on-site yogi, and then breakfast rolls until 8am. Namaste.’

Pester and Rossi’s hopes for the evening are wide-ranging. ‘We hope that everyone has the best night of their lives and has a blast cutting loose close with Mother Nature. We hope that everyone has a laugh, does some wild dancing and meets some incredible fellow human beings. We hope that the stars align and everyone collectively finds some wee burning ball of hope in the dark during these uncertain times. And, at least, we hope there will be some decent grub and it’s not raining.’

Pester & Rossi: Lunarnova Campout, Jupiter Artland, Bonnington House Steadings, Wilkieston, 01506 889900, 26 Aug, 8pm–8am, £30 for adults (£27 for members), £20 for children (£18 for members), £80 family tickets (£72 for members).

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PESTER & ROSSI art

Photo: JUPITER ARTLAND

Pester & Rossi indulge in Fowl Play (top) and co-ordinate inflatable fun at Aberdeenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent Look Again Festival (below)

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art DOUGLAS GORDON

THE BLACK ARTS

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DOUGLAS GORDON art

A certain omnipresent serendipity led Douglas Gordon to create a new marble work of Robert Burns. Neil Cooper talks to the Berlin-based Glaswegian about our iconic bard’s irresistible pull

R

abbie Burns might not know what’s hit him once Douglas Gordon gets hold of the bard. Or rather, the full-length marble statue of Burns created in 1824 by John Flaxman and currently standing in the Great Hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh might not.

The statue, originally housed in Thomas Hamilton’s Burns Monument on Calton Hill, is the inspiration for ‘Black Burns’, a response by the Berlinbased Glaswegian to Flaxman’s original. The result literally breaks down perceptions of Scotland’s much-revered national poet, who stands as the only full figure in a room full of busts.

‘My initial idea was to have all the busts turning their back on Burns, so you had all the others ignoring the central character,’ says Gordon. ‘Then I began to be intrigued by the way he was ivory-coloured, which made me think about his history with slavery, and I thought, why not take this white man and turn him into a black man.’

Gordon was working with marble and found a black piece that appeared to be an ideal size. ‘We did a 3D scan of the existing sculpture and made a mini-Burns to see how it looked. It’s being finished in Italy where we’re polishing him up. Then we’re going to shatter him and bring him here in bits. Burns himself had to polish up his act. He had to change his language to make the move from being a farmer to becoming this Edinburgh society chap, and that must have left him shattered. It always does when you have to become something else. I left Scotland 30 years ago and have to practice my accent every day.’

Gordon is possibly known best for monumental film works, including his 1993 solo show at Tramway, ‘24 Hour Psycho’, and Zidane: A 21st

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art DOUGLAS GORDON

Gordon’s iconic 1993 video work, 24 Hour Psycho; (opening page) Black Burns

Century Portrait, his 2006 Mogwai-soundtracked homage to French football legend Zinedine Zidane. More recently, the 1996 Turner Prizewinner has kept himself busy with projects including acting and writing.

In 2013, he played a leather-clad trucker who befriends an 11-year-old girl fleeing from her abusive father in fashion designer Agnès B’s film, My Name Is Hmmm (Je m’appelle Hmmm). In 2015, his play Neck of the Woods opened at Home in Manchester, with Gordon damaging one of the venue’s walls with an axe.

‘Black Burns’ is the result of a long-standing invitation from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery for Gordon to create a new work, but there’s also a personal impetus driving the end result. ‘I’m about to make a phone call to my mum and dad to see if they can find a certificate for recitation which I was given at school. Rabbie was omnipresent in that way when I was younger, but as I got into music he faded away. Then as you get a little bit older you realise there’s something more mutual going on.’

This trajectory is very much in keeping with the one followed by Gordon’s friend, and Glasgow School of Art contemporary, Graham Fagen. Whether through accident or design, ‘Black Burns’ will sit in the Portrait Gallery alongside Fagen’s ‘The Slave’s Lament’ (the latter is on display until 29 October). His take on Burns reinvents the bard’s lyric in a reggae version performed by vocalist Ghetto Priest with a new arrangement from composer Sally Beamish. Born from a long-time love of dub which ran alongside Fagen’s Ayrshire roots, ‘The Slave’s Lament’ was Scotland’s entry to the 2015 Venice Biennale.

‘Graham got into reggae through the Clash,’ says Gordon. ‘We were in the Mack doing a life-drawing class, and a rumour went round that the Clash were playing The Rock Garden on Queen Street. One by one, everybody dropped their charcoal and left until there was just this naked woman alone in the room. It was the most disruptive time we ever had.’

As both artists pursued their respective careers, reggae and Rabbie continued to loom large. ‘It will have been different for Graham because he grew up in Ayrshire, whereas I’d been in Maryhill and then

Dumbarton, but if you came from a certain background, which invariably involved heavy drinking, you were going to be aware of Burns. I went to London but being away from Scotland, Burns becomes this totemic and anthemic figure: he’s still omnipresent. I used to do these Burns suppers and they were quite messy affairs. It’s even the case that my dad’s birthday is January 25th. I like the idea as well that Ghetto Priest has got a gold tooth: so have I.’ While preparing to install ‘Black Burns’, one of Gordon’s many projects is a planned film adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 2010 novel, Point Omega, which features references to ‘24 Hour Psycho’, with one of the book’s narrators obsessing over the installation’s details as he watches it all day long. Gordon first got wind of this through an email he received in 2008, but didn’t take it seriously. ‘I didn’t even respond. I thought it was some scamp taking the piss, but then I was sent a draft. After it came out, a friend said to me that I’d kidnapped Alfred Hitchcock’s film and now someone’s kidnapped my idea, so why not buy the rights to the book.’

With plans to shoot in the Highlands, Gordon has also spent much of the last two years working on a film about Jonas Mekas, the Lithuanian-born avant-garde filmmaker. ‘Mekas was born in a farming village the same as Burns was, so working on these two things at the same time seemed to make quite a lot of sense.

Burns was very much a man of the soil. It turns out that there are more statues of Burns than any other person. I was going to say any other living person, because it feels very much like he’s alive; since we started on this I’ve come up with another couple of Burnsesque ideas, so this may be the start of another furrow to plough,’ Gordon says, laughing at his own joke. ‘With “Black Burns”, I don’t know if it’s a shattered portrait of a man or a portrait of a shattered man . . . ’

‘We’re going to shatter him and bring him here in bits’

Douglas Gordon: Black Burns, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Queen Street, 0131 624 6200, 29 Jul–29 Oct, 10am–5pm, Thu until 7pm (Jul, Sep & Oct); 10am–6pm, Thu until 7pm (Aug), free.

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highlights art

other highlights Featuring photography, pageantry, plants and pizza, an abundance of artists, ideas and venues make for yet another exciting Edinburgh Art Festival programme

My Elevator Days Tragi-comic monologue that revolves around one man’s reflections on life, his poetry-loving dog, an abortive visit to a sex club and his lifelong love of Grace Kelly, all told to his elevator.

Finnish writer/performer Bengt Ahlfors directed the first production of My Elevator Days in 2006. Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 4–27isAug This one(not of several 13, 20), EAF 12.30pm, pieces which £9– link back to urban planner £10 (£8–£9).

Previews 1–3Patrick Aug, £5.

Geddes’ influence, with Paterson pursuing hisTheatre love of the National ofbuilt Scotland environment.Love Chessels Court,to the Presents Letters Canongate, 0131 226System 6558, 27 Jul–27 Public Transport Aug, 10am–6pm.

Bobby Niven A founder of the Bothy Project, Niven’s festival work also takes the ideas of Geddes as the starting

point to Molly Taylor’s createaffecting a temporary monologue studio for production, conversation, concenrs one woman’s questplantto growing andthose cooking pizzaheroes in a of track down unsung mud oven.

Terrace Wildlife modern life:Johnston the people who transport Garden, South, us to ourCastle placesWynd of work and 0131 areas226 6558, 27 Jul–27Assembly Aug, 10am–6pm. of significance.

Rooms, George Street, 0844 693 3008, 3–26 Aug (notKerray Jacob 6, 13, 20), 6.15pm, £10 (£9).

Glasgow’s Kerray explores Preview 2 Aug, 7.20pm, £9his (£8). interest in pro wrestling, football and historical NOLA painting in works he himself has ‘revisions redundant Lookdubbed Left, Look Right,ofthe company fantasies toattention reassert with that won aiming awardsnot and heroism, but show to present ideology and with a site-specific The Caravan sense of dilapidated lameness.’ the interactive one-on-one theatre Talbot Rice Gallery, South Bridge, 0131 experience You Once Said Yes, return 650 28 Jul–30 Sep, verbatim Mon–Fri, with 2210, an uncompromising 10am–5pm, Sun, noon–5pm. piece about Sat the &impact of the BP oil spill. Underbelly, Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, 4–26 Wendy McMurdo Aug (not 14), 3.30pm, Exactly much does being £10–£11how (£9–£10).

Previews 2&3 constantly Aug, £6. in front of a screen affect our children? Edinburgh-born photographer McMurdo Oliver Reed:Wendy Wild Thing documents theforgotten, often contentious Gone but not the hardrelationship kids and their drinking starbetween of Castaway, Oliver! and computers.

Museum of Childhood, that nude wrestling scene (as well as High 0131late-night 529 4142, 27show Jul–4 a trulyStreet, notorious chat Sep, Mon, Thu–Sat, 10am–5pm, Sun appearance), is dragged back from noon–5pm. the great boozer in the sky to share his incredible life story. This engaging monologue features Constable and McTaggart an acclaimed A pair of 19th from century performance Roblandscape Crouch as the paintings

by JohnGilded Constable and Teviot, iconic hell-raiser.

Balloon William McTaggart come sharp Bristo Square, 0131 622 into 6552, 4–27

Wendy McMurd o

contrast here for A Meeting of Two Masterpieces. Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, 0131 624 6200, until 25 Mar, 10am–5pm, Thu until 7pm (Jul, Sep–Mar), 10am–6pm, Thu until 7pm (Aug).

Shadows of War Roger Fenton’s 1855 photographs of the Crimean War capture the solitude of that conflict’s troops and a ghostly emptiness of the battlefields once war has subsided. The Queen’s Gallery, Royal Mile, 556 5100, 4 Aug–26 Aug (not 8, 0131 15), 3.30pm, £10–£11.

Nov, 9.30am–6pm.

Previews 1–3 Aug, £6.

Zoe Walker & Neil Bromwich Shopping Centre Portraying utopian fantasies that Stand-up Matthew Osborn returns many would love see reach to the people stage following thetosuccess of fruition oneCul-De-Sac. day, Zoe Walker and last year’s This August, Neil Bromwich’s work (such asCentre, their he stars in his own Shopping

Photo: Patrick Jameson

Jacob Kerray

Photo: COLLIN GRAY

Plant Scenery of the World Morning Celebrating a half century ofplay the A dark new coming-of-age Royal Botanic Gardens’ by award-winning writer glasshouses, Simon this mix of existing Stephens, exploringand thefreshly relationship commissioned work will evoke thetheir between two friends about to go dramatic and naturalistic displays separate ways but who are boundof plants under Inverleith House, together by aglass. moment that changed Inverleith 0131 248 2971, 28 their livesRow, forever.

Traverse Theatre, Jul–29 Oct, Street, Tue–Fri,0131 11am–5.30pm, Cambridge 228 1404, Sat Sun,(not 10am–5.30pm.

5–19& Aug 6, 13), various times, £18–£20 (£6–£15). Previews 1 Aug, Toby 7pm; 4Paterson Aug, 5pm, £13 (£6).

2005 ‘Love telling the story Cannon’, of a loner above) whose captures pageantry, participation public unhappiness is alleviatedand when he performances thatthe aimmall, to project starts frequenting which aone better, perhaps kinder future.into a riot day unexpectedly descends Trinity High Street, 0131 226 at of sex Apse, and violence.

Gilded Balloon 6558, 27 Jul–27 Aug, 10am–6pm.

Third Door, Lothian Street, 0131 622 6552, 4–26 Aug (not 13, 20), 4.30pm, Jac Leirner £9–£10 (£9). Previews 1–3 Aug, £5.

How the mundane can somehow become beautiful and poetic is at the The Trench heart of Brazilian-born Jac Leirner’s Edinburgh Fringe favourites Les sculptural work. Her firstan solo show Enfants Terribles deliver exciting in Scotland (Add itby Up) on new play inspired thezooms all-toointrue everyday such as cigarette story of a objects miner who became tragically papers, spirit and lightbulbs. entombed in alevels tunnel during World Fruitmarket Gallery, Market Street, War I. The company’s characteristic 0131 2383, until 22 Oct, Mon– blend 225 of puppetry, physical storytelling Sat, 11am–6pm, 11am–5pm and stirring verse,Sun as well as live (Jul, Sep & Oct), Mon–Sun, music from Alexander Wolfe,10am– is used 7pm (Aug). to create an epic journey of human salvation. Pleasance Courtyard, Daughters of Penelope Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 4–27 Aug Christine Borland,£10–£12 Hanna Tuulikki, (not 14), 1.10pm, (£9–£11).

Erin Riley,1–3 Elizabeth Blackadder, Aino Previews Aug, £6.

Kajeniemi and Claire Barclay are among the artists represented here Unmythable in an exhibition investigates Temple Theatre which draw on Le Coq the Dovecot Gallery’s pastbest-known as well as training to present all the poring over stories women and Greek myths in justabout one incredidble textiles.

Dovecot Gallery, hour. This funny and oftenInfirmary silly familyStreet, 20 Jul–20 friendly 0131 show550 uses3660, a vibrant mix Jan, Mon–Sat, 10.30am–5.30pm of physical comedy and drama as (Jul, Sep–Jan), Mon–Sun, 10am–6pm well as songs from Barbershopera’s (Aug).

Rob Castell to create exhilarating, accessible theatre, whether you’re All events every dayor and a fan of the on Greek myths not.free unless Chancesstated. are though, after you’ve

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

nzatedinburgh.com This August, artists, authors and theatre-makers from all over New Zealand will make Edinburgh their home for the month, as NZ at Edinburgh once again partners with the Edinburgh festivals to bring you some of New Zealand's most exciting artists.

From music and literature to comedy, visual arts and theatre, the NZ at Edinburgh 2017 season will be packed with an eclectic range of events, exploring themes of love, identity, devastation and negotiation as well as ideas of community, equality and friendship – and a lot of laughs along the way too.

With such a strong programme, this year’s season is one not to be missed, offering the unique chance to explore the creativity and talent that exists throughout New Zealand from within the Scottish capital.

WIN TICKETS

NZ at Edinburgh Art Festival Award-winning Shannon Te Ao’s new multimedia installation is the result of a collaboration between the Edinburgh Art Festival and New Zealand contemporary art gallery Te Tuhi. The video installation, With The Sun Aglow, I Have My Pensive Moods makes use of footage shot throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand, and various connected clips including an 1840s Māori song and a dance scene from a 1970s Charles Burnett film. By linking these differing motifs, Te Ao provides an exploration of the physical and emotional depths of love, grief, sickness and healing.

Gladstone Court, 179 Canongate, 27 Jul–27 Aug

To celebrate the NZ at Edinburgh 2017 Season , The List has teamed up with the NZ Fringe companies to offer ten winners a pair of tickets to one of the shows in the season.

One lucky winner will also walk off with a 6 bottle case of Villa Maria Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc wine thanks to Villa Maria.

Enter at list.co.uk/nzoffer

NZ edin DPS stu.indd 2

CREDIT: Shannon Te Ao, With the sun aglow, I have my pensive moods, 2017 (video still).

Two channel video, colour and sound. Cinematography by Iain Frengley.

28/06/2017 17:16

NZ at Edinburgh Festival Fringe

NZ at Edinburgh International Book Festival

For the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s 70th year, NZ at Edinburgh are bringing nine shows presented by innovative theatre makers and companies.

Wellington-based performance collective Binge Culture, known for their interesting and immersive productions, will unveil three shows, Break Up (We Need to Talk) (Summerhall), Whales (Assembly Gardens), and Ancient Shrines and Half Truths (above, Summerhall).

Meanwhile, Julia Croft, creator of 2016’s If There's Not Dancing at the Revolution, I'm Not Coming, will return with her new show Power Ballad (Summerhall), described as part performance lecture, part karaoke party.

Award-winning Trick of the Light Theatre also returns, following a sell-out 2016 season of The Bookbinder, with the dark fairytale The Road that Wasn’t There (Assembly Roxy), and Calypso comedy legend / Caribbean DJ Juan Vesuvius brings his turntables back to Edinburgh for I Am Your Deejay (Assembly, The Box).

For physical theatre and clowning, look no further than White Face Crew’s La Vie Dans Une Marionette (above, Gilded Balloon at the Museum), a whimsical story of a pianist and his puppet, packed full of hilarious moments and surprises.

Don't miss the hearty voices and cheeky humour of Modern Māori Quartet (below, Assembly George Square 3) who make their Fringe debut with a celebration of Kiwi music honouring the legends of Māori showbands with a contemporary 'Rat Pack' twist, while Eleanor Bishop’s Jane Doe (Assembly George Square 2) is a powerful show reflecting on rape culture and sexual violence.

Some of New Zealand's most exciting contemporary writers will present their work at Edinburgh International Book Festival in partnership with WORD Christchurch and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Auckland poet Hera Lindsay Bird (left) will perform with Hollie McNish (21 Aug, 7.15pm). Fiction writer Courtney Sina Meredith (below) will take part in a 21st Century Women panel (19 Aug, 8.45pm), as well as appearing in Reshuffling the Pack (20 Aug, 5pm) with Scottish poet and musician MacGillivray. Novelist, comic artist and blogger Sarah Laing (bottom) partners with English comic creator Hannah Berry for Graphic Novels of Influential Women (20 Aug, 6.30pm), and also hosts a reading workshop of Katherine Mansfield stories (20 Aug, 1pm). Plus, Rachael King, author and programme director of WORD Christchurch, features at an event alongside Scottish writer Lari Don (19 Aug, 6pm).

NZ edin DPS stu.indd 3

28/06/2017 17:17

THE SPIRIT OF THE FESTIVAL

discover where to find edinburgh gin throughout the festival at www. e d i nb u r g hg i n.com

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Books EDINB INTERNATUIROGH BOOK FEST NAL IVAL 12–28 AUG

CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE

In conversation with Nicola Sturgeon, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will be discussing equality in the 21st century. The US-based Nigerian writer of bestselling novel Half of a Yellow Sun, and the recent face of Boots No7 make-up, has been on a mission to protect feminism against attacks. Her latest book, Dear Ijeawele, takes up the baton in the form of correspondence to a friend who asked her for advice on raising her new baby girl as a feminist. n Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with Nicola Sturgeon, Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 26 Aug, 9.45pm, £12 (£10).

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brought to you by

28/06/2017 15:30

Partners in time EDINBURGH GIN

DISCOVER WHERE TO FIND EDINBURGH GIN THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL AT

WWW.EDINBURGHGIN.COM

N ETTLINGER (TOP) PhotoS: LOTTE HANSEN / MARIO

THE SPIRIT OF THE FESTIVAL

44 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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siri hustvedt & Paul Auster Books

New York literary champions Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster are finally making the trip to Edinburgh together. Hamilton Cain visited them in their Brooklyn home to discuss editing each other’s work, parental pride and a man called Trump

S

he was 26, raised in Minnesota, the daughter of a World War II veteran and a Norwegian immigrant.

She’d already published a poem in a leading journal and was immersed in her dissertation on Charles Dickens at Columbia University. He was 34, an aspiring writer who’d packed off for Paris following his graduation from Columbia but had circled back to the frenzy of New York City.

On the rebound from a failed first marriage, he was translating French writers and mulling the complex tensions of the JewishAmerican experience, grist for the imagination. They’d fallen in love and had just rented their first apartment together in Brooklyn: not the polished bohemian haven of today, but the Brooklyn of a generation ago, roiled by petty crime, crack vials and guttertrash, the necessity of neighbour escorts to and from the subway.

A borough overshadowed by its glittering sibling across the East River.

She was standing on the stairs in their apartment, he below her.

He grabbed her arm and leaned forward, lips puckered. But first he asked, in a gruff voice, ‘Beckett or Burroughs?’

‘Beckett!’ she almost shouted.

Their lips met, and they kissed and kissed, sealing the deal.

Nearly four decades later, when you visit Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster in their Park Slope

home, you still feel the gauzylens romance of their early days, but also the ‘ever-mutating’ (Hustvedt’s term) nature of a steely, enduring marriage and literary partnership, minds and hearts entwined, waltzing to their internal harmonies and dissonances. Hustvedt, tall and blonde, elegant and commanding; Auster, boisterous and broad-shouldered, hinting at his baseballplayer youth.

Over the course of their relationship they’ve brought out a total of 51 books that range across genres – literary fiction, memoir, crime noir, critical essays – along with a robust serving of translations and screenplays.

Though they spend their mornings and afternoons apart – Hustvedt’s study is on the top floor of their house, Auster’s tucked in the basement – they share drafts with each other in the evenings, benefitting from a mutual familiarity with their material. ‘I give Paul my manuscripts, chapter by chapter.

He inevitably puts his finger on the soft spots,’ Hustvedt

says. Auster asserts that ‘Siri’s an astute reader; I rarely fight her suggestions. If I’m going off track, she’ll pull me back.’

Their tastes in books, art, and film are, in Auster’s phrase, ‘congruent but not identical’, which could also describe their current work.

He is best known for his fiction oeuvre: City of Glass (the graphic novel of which has just been re-

issued), Leviathan, Mr Vertigo, and now 4 3 2 1, a panoramic epic that explores post-war America through four versions of a single character, Archie Ferguson, born (like Auster) in 1947 New Jersey.

Auster teases out common threads among the Archies but also myriad variations, sly and jazzy, a magician’s sleight of hand.

Also an acclaimed fiction writer – her last novel, The Blazing World was longlisted for the Man Booker prize and won the 2015 Los Angeles Times prize for fiction – Hustvedt has increasingly moved toward neurobiology and psychology, their influence on gender and behaviour and connections to art and literature.

Her collection of essays, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women, brims with erudition as it roams from swaggering, macho painters such as Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock to The Delusions of Certainty, a cerebral tour de force that leaps from Descartes to Darwin to Steven Pinker to Simone Weil.

list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 45

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Books siri hustvedt & Paul Auster

‘If I’m going off track, she’ll pull me back’ Paul Auster

EDINBURGH GIN THE SPIRIT OF THE FESTIVAL

DISCOVER WHERE TO FIND EDINBURGH GIN THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL AT

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But the HustvedtAuster marriage isn’t all about slipping the surly bonds of earth. Like many fellow authors, they’ve stepped up to the challenges posed by the surprising election of Donald Trump to the presidency, which revealed deep fault lines in American culture.

Throughout the gruelling 2016 campaign, Hustvedt recoiled from Trump’s ‘absolutely striking’ misogynistic statements.

She dove into the broader political crisis – ‘white populism and its emotional demons’ – with new pieces for Slate, The Guardian, and Le Monde, all cast with a feminist slant.

Auster’s new novel grapples with the eternal flame of racism; in the run-up to 4 3 2 1’s British publication, he conducted an interview with Newsnight. He’s also taking a more active role in the influential writers’ association, PEN International. But he insists that ‘there’s no obligation’ for writers to be political activists. ‘Writing is art; as a form, the novel offers the particular experiences of humans. Two strangers can meet on the page in the most intimate way,’ he observes,

and then inadvertently shifts into third-person: ‘Paul and Siri are citizens who write!’

Hustvedt concurs: ‘The novel must take place inside an aesthetic frame, one that makes it possible for readers to travel from their own experiences safely: Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment is the archetypal example.’

Both Hustvedt and Auster note an aggressive spirit of activism in the streets, kindled by the shock of Trump and the complacency that crept in during the Obama years. ‘Writing a novel is a democratic process that values all lives,’ Hustvedt says, hand curving into a fist: in that sense all novels are de facto political. But the strange, and strained, political climate in the United States has left the couple more puzzled than pessimistic.

Both concede that precedents and norms have unravelled; but as of this interview there’s no compelling evidence that laws have been broken. Hustvedt confesses to dark moments strobed by glimmers of optimism. ‘We’re accustomed to thinking of our institutions as strong granite buildings,’ Auster says. ‘We’re about to find out

whether they’re just shells.’

He nods, mouth a pursed line.

‘We’ll know more after the 2018 elections.’

For now, the personal, er, trumps the political. You can hear the tone of pride when Auster and Hustvedt mention their daughter, Sophie, a 30-year-old singer-songwriter who lives in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighbourhood. From an early age Sophie showed creative tendencies, drawn to music.

As a teenager she cut the first of her three albums. ‘She’s one of us, a real artist, she writes songs and performs,’ notes Auster. ‘We admire and respect her.’ Unlike many artists, though, Sophie has always seemed comfortable in her own skin: ‘she was constantly in good spirits, even as a child.’

Four decades in the making, Hustvedt and Auster’s literary partnership will come to Edinburgh for the Book Festival. They’ve been invited before but for various reasons have been unable to attend . . . until now.

Auster turned 70 earlier this year and 2017 marks the festival’s 70th anniversary. ‘How could we say no?’ he asks rhetorically, arms halfopen, filling his Brooklyn kitchen with warmth and brio. The good news for readers on both sides of the Atlantic: Hustvedt and Auster are at the height of their powers, and we should all look forward to more essential fiction and nonfiction that provokes debate and strips away feeling. Books that illuminate and delight even as they candidly speak truth to power.

Paul Auster at 70, King’s Theatre, Leven Street, 0131 473 2000, 14 Aug, 6.30pm, £15 (£12).

Siri Hustvedt, 17 Aug, 1.30pm, £12 (£10); 5.30pm (Amnesty International event), free; 18 Aug (with Elif Shafak), 3.15pm, £12 (£10).

Paul Auster, 18 Aug, 8.15pm, £12 (£10).

Events at Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, unless stated.

46 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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1000 authors in 900 events include: Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, Siri Hustvedt, Limmy, Charlotte Rampling, Paul Auster, The Last Poets, Zadie Smith, Reginald D Hunter, Robert Webb, Evelyn Glennie, Richard Ford, Eimear McBride, Chris Hoy, Hollie McNish, David Mitchell, Judy Murray, Luke Wright, Harriet Harman, Peter Høeg, Hanif Kureishi, Sebastian Barry, Maggie O’Farrell, Ian Rankin, Charley Boorman, Cosey Fanni Tutti, John Simpson, Aravind Adiga, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Ned Beauman, Nicole Krauss, Jackie Kay, Will Self, Ali Smith, Alan Johnson…

Book & browse events: www.edbookfest.co.uk @edbookfest

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Author: Paula Hawkins Nationality: English,

Author: Alexandria

Zimbabwe-raised Latest book: Into the Water Setting: The town of Beckford Cause of death: Drowning Crime solver: Jules Abbott, the victim’s sister Their flaw: Fear of water after a near-drowning two decades prior Sidekick: A sprawling, Broadchurchian cast of 11 The weather: Halcyon summer sunshine

Marzano-Lesnevich Nationality: American Latest book: The Fact of a Body Setting: Louisiana, 2003 Cause of death: This is the true crime tale of a murdered child Crime solver: The author Their flaw: Her personal reaction to a child molester on death row Sidekick: Author’s forensic attention to detail The weather: ‘The temperature dips at night’

When the first victim arrives:

Page 1 Author’s other job: Former

Author: Omar Robert Hamilton Nationality: Egyptian Latest book: The City Always

Wins Setting: Cairo, during the 2011

Author: Volker Kutscher Nationality: German Latest book: The Silent Death Setting: Berlin, 1930 Cause of death: A falling

Arab Spring

spotlight on a film set

Cause of death: Extra-judicial

Crime solver: Inspector Gereon

military killings Crime solver: Mariam and Khalil, activist filmmakers Their flaw: An inquisitive nature Sidekick: Each other The weather: ‘Cairo is jazz . . . the heat of New Orleans’

Rath impending Nazism Sidekick: Hapless detectives Plisch and Plum The weather: A brisk Berliner luft

When the first victim arrives:

When the first victim arrives:

When the first victim arrives:

Page 4

Page 1

Page 7

Author’s other job: Teacher at

Author’s other job: Palestine

Author’s other job: Former

Their flaw: The shadow of

business journalist

Harvard

Festival of Literature co-founder

newspaper editor

Event: 12 Aug, 6.45pm, £12

Event: 12 Aug, 8.45pm, £12

Event: 18 Aug (with Aleš Šteger),

Event: 21 Aug (with Eva Dolan),

(£10).

(£10).

3.30pm, £8 (£6).

10.15am, £12 (£10).

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K?< JC<LK? Author: Abir Mukherjee Nationality: Scots-Bengali Latest book: A Necessary Evil Setting: 1920s Calcutta Cause of death: Assassination

Author: Val McDermid Nationality: Scottish Latest book: Insidious Intent Setting: North of England,

Author: Yrsa Sigurdardóttir Nationality: Icelandic Latest book: The Legacy Setting: Reykjavik Cause of death: A Hoover Crime solver: Detective Huldar Their flaw: Over-promoted

Author: Arne Dahl Nationality: Swedish Latest book: Watching You Setting: Stockholm Cause of death: Unknown as the

When the first victim arrives:

including the Yorkshire Dales Cause of death: Strangulation Crime solver: DCI Carol Jordan and psychological profiler Tony Hill Their flaw: Tony’s talent usually takes him perilously close to the killer’s mind Sidekick: Each other The weather: It’s certainly grim up north

Page 20

When the first victim arrives:

Page 24

Page 16

Author’s other job: Accountant

Dead before the book begins Author’s other job: Director of Raith Rovers Event: 22 Aug, 5pm, £12 (£10).

Author’s other job: Civil

Author’s other job: Being critic

by shooting Crime solver: Captain Sam

Wyndham of the Calcutta Police Force Their flaw: Political naivety and opium use Sidekick: Sergeant Banerjee, also of the Calcutta Police Force The weather: ‘Turgid heat’

in the London financial sector Event: 21 Aug (with Kaite Welsh),

2pm, £8 (£6).

and not great at relationships, especially with Freya Sidekick: Freya, child psychologist The weather: It can probably best be described as typically Icelandic

corpse is missing Crime solver: Detective Sam Berger Their flaw: The murders may be sending a message to him Sidekick: Police colleague Desire ‘Deer’ Rosenkvist The weather: ‘A summer’s day, the sort that comes all too rarely’

When the first victim arrives:

When the first victim arrives:

engineer

and journalist Jan Arnald

Event: 24 Aug (with Kate

Event: 26 Aug (with Michel

London), 3.45pm, £8 (£6).

Bussi), 7pm, £8 (£6).

All events at Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888.

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DISCOVER WHERE TO FIND EDINBURGH GIN THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL AT

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8

ward-winning British feminist journalist Laurie Penny has made a career out of pulling zero punches. Dissecting the issues of our day (from the rise of Trump to internet dating), she has written columns and essays with both intelligent insight and brutal honesty. Some of her most resonant pieces are included in new collection The Bitch Doctrine, a title which some will see as provocative, but that the author views as entirely pragmatic.

‘We’re now at a stage of history where a lot of women are finding that we have tried being nice, we’ve tried making men feel comfortable, and it hasn’t worked. So there’s no point trying to be friendly about our politics anymore,’ Penny laughs, on the phone from San Francisco where she’s currently living and working. ‘It’s also very hard to find a title for a book of essays that sums up what’s going on in a way that’s not desperately boring.’

Boring is certainly not an adjective to describe Penny, who is as witty and engaging in person as she is in her writing, which spans the spectrum of human experience from geopolitics, elections and warfare to cinema, marriage and motherhood.

‘I don’t see any inconsistency between talking about the politics of how we respond to terrorism, and then talking about the politics of how we respond to the patriarchy on a very intimate and personal level.

You can’t talk about the economic structure of women’s liberation without talking about online dating, who does the housework, beauty and dieting. All these things are written off as frivolous “women’s issues”, relegated to the lifestyle pages. But they are important because, apart

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from anything else, they’re issues that many of us spend a lot of our time thinking about.’

Penny admits that tackling topics such as feminism or anti-capitalism poses difficulties simply because they are far from new issues. ‘Some of the problems you find yourself describing every single day are the same problems that not only you’ve been talking about since you started but that people have been talking about for hundreds of years. It’s a challenge to make it fresh, but also to pay homage to the long history of scholarship and thought.’

While Penny’s writing is certainly fresh, it’s also unapologetically outspoken in the way it confronts and dismantles a traditional order that is run by, and for, white men. Hers is an approach that brings with it a regular and abusive backlash. ‘I have people saying “oh, you’re such a strong woman, you’re very brave”.

I know people mean well but I really object to that phrasing. I’m not strong, I’m angry!’

Despite this, she’s determined to carry on writing, in the hope that such targeted protest will help to affect change in an age of Trump, Brexit and a seemingly unstoppable swing to the right.

‘Hope may feel unrealistic, but it’s a tool,’ she advocates. ‘We’re living through a very volatile time, and the worst thing that people can do is succumb to a sense of inevitability.

Nothing is written about the future of humanity and of gender. Things can change very fast and, hopefully, in a few years this book will be entirely irrelevant. I will be happy about that.’

Laurie Penny, Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 18 Aug, 8.45pm, £12 (£10).

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FK?<I ?@>?C@>?KJ K_\ ZXcd f] :_Xicfkk\ JhlXi\ >Xi[\ej `j Yifb\e Yp k_\ c`k\iXip d`^_k f] ni`k\ij ]ifd Xj ]Xi XgXik Xj EfinXp Xe[ E`^\i`X# Xe[# Zcfj\i kf _fd\# @em\ie\jj Xe[ G\ik_ Teju Cole In Blind Spot, the US-Nigerian writer and photographer merges those two talents as he captures the moments in words and pictures of travelling to locales such as Berlin, Brooklyn, Capri and Wannsee, all of which help to unlock memories and significances for him. 13 Aug, 4pm, £12 (£10).

Jackie Kay In this event, Scotland’s Makar reflects upon a notable moment in Edinburgh’s literary history. While Wilfred Owen was being treated in the capital for post-traumatic styress disorder, he met Siegfried Sassoon, changing the course of war poetry forever. Kay will premiere a new work to mark that occasion. 16 Aug, 1.30pm, £12 (£10).

PHOTO: SAM BARKER

Karl Ove Knausgaard The six-volume autobiographical fiction My Struggle is owned by one

in ten people in his native Norway, while the likes of Zadie Smith and Jonathan Lethem have raved about Knausgaard’s genius. Curiously, he’s the second writer at the festival to be currently writing a quartet of books named after the seasons . . . 23 Aug, 5pm, £12 (£10).

Elif Shafak Turkey’s renowned novelist and political scientist returns to the Book Festival armed with her latest novel, Three Daughters of Eve, which focuses on a trio of Middle Eastern women with very different worldviews while they’re all studying at Oxford.

Fact fans: among Shafak’s musical choices on Desert Island Discs in May were Radiohead, Leonard Cohen and Swedish death metal band Arch Enemy. 17 Aug, 7pm, £8 (£6).

Hanif Kureishi It seems a very long time since those mercurial early days of My Beautiful Launderette and Buddha of Suburbia, but Kureishi has simply kept on writing acclaimed and often controversial books and screenplays. His latest, The Nothing, features an ageing filmmaker and his revenge fantasies.

22 Aug, 1.30pm, £12 (£10).

Ali Smith Inverness-born, Cambridge-based and admired by readers everywhere, the thrice Booker nominated Smith will hopefully be teasing us with an

Teju Cole

early insight into Winter, Wi t the th second d off her h seasons quartet. Rather appropriately the novel is published this coming November, with a tagline that might reveal something: ‘it’s the season that teaches us survival’. 20 Aug, 5pm, £12 (£10).

Stuart Cosgrove 1967 was a momentous year in music (Sgt Pepper and all that) and this former scribe during the NME’s halcyon days recalls how Detroit became the focus for a true revolution in soul and disco. A backdrop of urban unrest lends weight to the Perth-born writer, commentator and football analyst’s story of social and cultural upheaval. 15 Aug, 8.45pm, £12 (£10).

P t L Poets Laureate t As part of the Babble On spokenword strand, former Aisle 16 ‘boyband’ member Luke Wright and a quintet of contemporary verse writers and performers (among them William Letford and Jenny Lindsay) consider 350 years of the Poet Laureate. Their subjects range from Charles II’s appointee John Dryden to Elizabeth II’s current choice Carol Ann Duffy. 19 Aug, 12.30pm, £12 (£10).

Reni Eddo-Lodge After her blog on the denial of most white people to acknowledge that structural racism was still a major problem grew arms and legs, Eddo-Lodge decided to expand her thesis further into a book. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race proceeded to strike more than a nerve or two. 18 Aug, 4pm, £12 (£10).

Harriet Walter Fresh from a scintillating trio of performances as Brutus, Prospero and Henry IV in the Donmar’s women’s prison-set Shakespeare Trilogy, acclaimed actress Walter chats with Jackie McGlone about the particular challenges of playing a number of Will’s signature men. 27 Aug, 3.15pm, £12 (£10).

Reni Eddo-Lodge

All events at Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888. c`jk%Zf%lb&]\jk`mXc s <[`eYli^_ =\jk`mXc >l`[\ )'(. s K?< C@JK ,(

WEITN S TO

TICK B DAHU CANA IVAL FEST Y PART

© Thus Spoke - Groupe Gravel Lepage

To mark Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations, Edinburgh will be home to the CanadaHub – dedicated to Canadian culture at the Fringe. What better way to celebrate all things Canadian than with a party!

Across the festival this summer, Canada’s writers, singers and musicians will be joined by the stars of comedy, opera, VR, dance and circus to ensure there is a dose of Canada for everyone in Scotland this August.

We’re giving you the chance to win tickets to the exclusive CanadaHub Festival Party on Mon 7 Aug at King’s Hall in Edinburgh. Showcasing a variety of performances, you can enjoy Canadian poutine from Barnacles & Bones, drinks from Innis & Gunn and Edinburgh Gin plus Maple Syrup ice cream courtesy of Graham’s Family Dairy.

To win tickets just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

What birthday is Canada celebrating this year?

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Fri 28 Jul 2017.

Entrants must be over 18 years old. The List’s usual rules apply.

THURSDAY 19 SATURDAY 21 OCTOBER AT THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT parliament.scot/festival /ScottishParliament @FoP2017 @scotparl #FoP2017

52 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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digital FUTUREPLA Y 3–26 AUG

WONDR

Last year’s Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival has regenerated as FuturePlay. As part of the event’s new approach, a number of Assembly stage works come under its umbrella. In Wondr, social media phenomenon @WondrWomanUK is trying to live a normal life while Pixel Dust features another woman struggling to find her identity amid the digital jungle.

Shame explores the online vilification of female sexuality, and Transmission (alongside a companion podcast) wonders whether we really do want to know if life exists on other planets. n Full details of shows at list.co.uk/festival

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digital Futureplay IMMERSIVE GALLERy

Deep space Digital artists are taking steps into a new virtual reality thanks to Google’s Tilt Brush.

Murray Robertson speaks to the brains behind FuturePlay’s Immersive Gallery

V

irtual reality has enjoyed a boom over the last few years thanks to exponential improvements in home-computing power and the launch of (relatively) affordable devices such as the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. While most virtual reality projects are aimed at the gaming market, some pioneers are working hard to expand its potential in more original areas. Daniel Burke-Ward and Nikita Wolfe Murray, founders of Edinburgh-based digital art collective Reality Is Only Screen Deep, are interested in using VR to explore interactive artworks.

For their Immersive Gallery exhibition at FuturePlay, Burke-Ward and Wolfe Murray have persuaded two digital artists – Handiedan and Dustin Lewis (aka Mr Clandestine) – to use a Google software application called Tilt Brush in conjunction with the HTC Vive hardware to create two interactive works. Artists are able to use the equipment (in conjunction with a pair of handheld controllers), to digitally ‘paint’ in 3D space an area the size of a small room: multiple areas can be painted and linked together using a ‘teleportation’ feature.

Under supervision by Burke-Ward and Wolfe Murray, visitors to the exhibition will wear VR headsets to explore the artworks in four dimensions; as well as being able to walk around and fully examine them from all angles, the installations will change over the course of each 25-minute session. It’s a unique way to explore digital art.

‘The two pieces are very, very different,’ explains Burke-Ward. ‘Mr Clandestine’s piece, “Queen Alala”, is his imagining of an African goddess of some description. It’s a temple of worship and audio reactive: he designed the piece to be placed in combination with audio, and the brush strokes vibrate in tune with the music. Handiedan is primarily a collage artist who cuts up photos and clippings from magazines or draws

them herself and stitches them together. Her piece, “Handria”, is a crazy creation which blends Tilt Brush’s strokes with the ability to import images and models into that world. You can spend a full 20 minutes in her piece and still not have explored every little nook and cranny.’

Budding artists will also be encouraged to create their own masterpieces using the equipment, a process that’s surprisingly easy to grasp. BurkeWard explains his ambition of creating a three-dimensional, collaborative tapestry over the exhibition’s three-and-a-half-week run. ‘In the first slot of the day someone will work on the piece and then in the second slot they can take that world where they wish. At the end we’ll have a new piece that’s been sort of crowdsourced. We’ll be guiding people through the process and then exhibit it on a media-sharing platform so that everyone can see photos and videos. But if someone wants to make a world on their own then we’ll be sure to email them the files.’

Although the high cost of virtual reality keeps it out of reach for most people, Burke-Ward is confident that it has an exciting future. ‘We believe that this is a huge medium,’ he says. ‘There is huge potential for creating new worlds here; I believe this will play a huge part in the future of gaming, web navigation and the capacity for architects – and artists in general – to completely reimagine how they see the world. It might take a while before it comes to fruition and everyone can see it, but this is definitely the direction in which the world is heading.’

FuturePlay Immersive Gallery, Assembly Rooms, George Street, 0131 623 3030, 5–26 Aug, every half-hour from 11am–7.30pm (not 1.30pm, 5pm), £12 (£10). Previews 3 Aug (from 2pm) & 4 Aug (from 11am), £6 (£5).

54 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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FutureplaY SESSIONS digital

tech talk

An innovative digital festival isn’t just about getting your hands on amazing kit. As Brian Donaldson finds out, the FuturePlay Sessions prove that sometimes it’s good to chat

Immerse yourself in VR art work from Mr Clandestine (top) and Handiedan

While it’s easy to get excited about the ever-larger strides being made with digital technology, warnings are often raised about potential dangers. In a series of morning talks, showcases and panel discussions with artists, performers and academics, the FuturePlay Sessions will seek to tackle some of the big questions head on.

Is the digitalised universe and an over-reliance on screen time permanently damaging our brains? In both Is Screen Time the Enemy? (5 Aug) and Bad Science: Myths About Digital Technology (6 Aug), award-winning science writer Pete Etchells and Metta Theatre’s Poppy Burton-Morgan wonder why the claims are so loud when the evidence seems scant. In Dear AI, Tell Me Who Am I? (8 Aug), the co-writers of Summerhall piece Siri divulge their two-year relationship with Apple’s virtual personal assistant and again confront concerns such as data protection and security.

For every upside to our online lives, there appears to be an immediate downside: one obvious negative of wider connectivity is the spread of hate and abuse which web anonymity seems to encourage. In #Unshamed (12 Aug), the makers of mixed-media theatre work Shame explore a campaign which offers solidarity to those at the sharp end of online malice.

Amid some of the doom and gloom that often revolves around the inexorable move away from an analogue world, it’s worth remembering that the entertainment industry can actually be improved by technological innovations. Theatre in the Digital Age (20 Aug) asks how life on the stage should embrace such progress while The Value of Gaming (19 Aug) wonders whether humanity is fully ready for a virtual-entertainment future. n FuturePlay Sessions Front Room, Assembly Rooms, George Street, 0131 623 3030, 5–20 Aug (not 13), 11.30am, £4. list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 55

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fringe EDINB FESTIVAL UFRGH RINGE 4–28 AUG

DOLLYWOULD

The Sh!t Theatre duo of Louise Mothersole and Rebecca Biscuit are back after their Fringe First glory from last year for Letters to Windsor House. Their mission statement is to explore ‘the political, the personal and the down-right perverted’, so we look forward to seeing how they achieve all that as they produce a show from their shared obsession with one Dolly Parton. In this Fringe affair subtitled ‘The Cloning of a Superstar’, they recall their visit to DollyWood and draw connections with the country legend, cloning, immortality and death. n Sh!t Theatre: DollyWould, Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 4–27 Aug (not 21), 9.15pm, £8. Preview 2 Aug, £6.

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19 SHOWS 9 VENUES EDINBURGH 2017

London’s most vibrant venue for new theatre, comedy & cabaret is back with this magnificent lot.

IVAL E F E ST M AN C R O F R AYLE E ST P E EXE I S Y • AL ’S B IGG E D RE E D N L T B R U F O L H W S • HA LIE N C L T TH E A IR A • AD D G S R G T AR D BAG • P O RT E ARTIS • RIC H • F LEA O RE H • AL H OWS & B A S IM H H A D S N S D E IL G H IR NS • D • RAS AS • W H L • AH D EXC ITIN A ID O T T J IR A S L E IT V O M DAV ES • O KE • OUR M AD ITI E N DS • ER JON C K RO F R IN G E DM O SPENC H T • JA P TH E IG AN N E F P R IN G U IM A E G T T E IG H H O AR L ATE N TISTS W UT FO R OOK O PLUS L

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Photo: THE OTHER RICHARD

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Richard GADD & SCOTT GIBSON Fringe:COMEDY

‘When I talk about my shows they sound really glum!’

At last year’s Fringe, Richard Gadd and Scott Gibson made Edinburgh Comedy Awards history by becoming the first two Scottish comics to claim both main prize and Best Newcomer. As Ben Williams discovers, they’re back with different goals this time around

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Fringe:COMEDY RICHARD GADD & SCOTT GIBSON

‘The content of his writing is just beautiful’ — Gibson on Gadd

F

or Richard Gadd, August 2016 was the best month of his life. Not just professionally – having scooped the Edinburgh Comedy Award, the biggest prize in live comedy, for his show Monkey See Monkey Do – but personally, too. ‘The show’s been life-changing,’ says Gadd, when we meet in London ahead of his return to the Fringe. ‘It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but the most rewarding by far.’

Monkey See Monkey Do has been a huge challenge for Gadd, both physically and emotionally. Not only does the Fife-born comic spend most of the hour running on a treadmill (after more than 200 shows, he’s clocked up over 2000km), its subject matter – coming to terms with being sexually assaulted at a party nearly five years ago – has been taxing, too.

But performing has been cathartic, says Gadd.

‘It was almost there to help me work through something, help me understand it. People comment that I’m more stable and happier, that there’s colour in my cheeks again. From that point of view, it’s helped phenomenally.

It’s always a journey and there are things about what happened that plague me on a daily basis, but not nearly to the extent that they did.’

The critical and audience reaction to the show, and winning comedy’s top gong, has also helped Gadd on a career level. ‘I was

skint before the Fringe and now I’ve been professional for nearly a year,’ he says. ‘I can do what I love full-time now. I always felt that I was only relevant for one month a year. I’d do these shows in Edinburgh and people would go, “this guy’s got something!” and then for the other 11 months no one’s interested. It’s almost like once you’ve got the award people go, “right, we trust him, we can bring him in for meetings”.’

For Scott Gibson, industry interest is a totally new experience. Alongside Gadd’s win, the Glaswegian nabbed the Best Newcomer prize during a festival where he had no agent or manager: ‘nobody knew who I was,’ he says.

In that respect, he agrees winning the prize has certainly helped him gain an audience but he’s not really interested in other industry attention.

‘Karen Koren [artistic director of the Gilded Balloon] manages me now. We sat down after she signed me and she said, “what do you want to do?” I said, “I just want to gig,” and Karen replied, “you need to stop saying that because you’re going to gig; you have to want to do something else”. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with just wanting to be a good comic. All I want to do is gig, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.’

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Richard GADD & SCOTT GIBSON Fringe:COMEDY

Photo: STEVE ULLATHORNE

‘He’s always had an amazing Billy Connolly-esque storytelling ability’ — Gadd on Gibson

Like Gadd, Gibson’s show, Life After Death, also focused on a very personal experience.

In 2009, he suffered a brain aneurysm, and this reminder of his own mortality was the encouragement he needed to make a proper go of comedy. Gibson always knew he’d tell the story of his near-death experience in his first solo show, but he had to wait a year longer than planned to tell it.

‘I had tried to go to the Fringe in 2015, but couldn’t get a venue,’ he explains. ‘It gave me the year to work on it, and within that year I wrote another show – which is the new one – and I’m now working on what will be the third one. Having that year really helped.’

Like Father Like Son is another confessional tale, this time focusing on his relationship with his dad and ‘the kind of fears I have about being a father myself. It is quite sentimental and it does have another personal theme, but it certainly feels like there are stronger comedy sections. Whenever I talk about my shows I think they sound really glum!’

Does he feel much pressure this year, following up on his award-winning debut?

‘None whatsoever,’ claims Gibson. ‘Some people will like the new show and some people won’t. It’ll always be compared to the old one because it won the award and it’s the

“difficult second album” syndrome. But I’m confident in the show and I’m confident in my storytelling.’

For Gadd, he’s returning to the Fringe with a victory lap of Monkey See Monkey Do, so it’s a different type of expectation than with previous years. ‘There’s the pressure that I still need to bring a freshness to it after 203 shows,’ he says. ‘But external pressure is never as big as the pressure I always put on myself.’

Gadd wanted to write a new show for this year, but having taken his award-winner on an extensive tour (including appearances at comedy festivals across the world), time got the better of him.

‘I definitely want to be back next year with a new show, but I think it’s important to really think through what to follow this show up with. I had a few ideas, but nothing as assured as what I had last year. I need a bit more of a run-in if I’m going to live up to an expectation.’

Gadd and Gibson’s victories made it a historic double Scottish win at the awards last year, something they’re both very proud of.

‘Scott and I started out together,’ says Gadd.

‘He was always amazing, always had a Billy Connolly-esque storytelling ability. He’s such a great performer.’

Gibson has similarly complimentary comments about Gadd. ‘The content of his writing, from a storyteller’s point of view, is just beautiful,’ he says. So would Gibson love another Scot to win this year? ‘I’d absolutely love it!’ he says. ‘I’d love it if Scottish acts could win the award from now until the end of time! The sad thing is, there’ll be a lot of comics in Scotland who, when myself and Gadd won the awards, went, “well, that’s it, another Scottish act won’t win for 20 years”.

That’s their mindset, though. Hopefully they’ll realise it isn’t London-centric after all.’

Only time will tell whether Scotland claims another victory this year. Gadd certainly thinks Gibson has every chance of making it onto the main prize shortlist. Gibson says he has ‘no idea’ who’ll be nominated for Best Newcomer this year. ‘But I’d love five minutes in an empty room with the winner just to say, “listen, here’s what to do . . . ”’ Richard Gadd: Monkey See Monkey Do, Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 18–27 Aug, 11pm, £15 (£14); Scott Gibson: Like Father Like Son, Gilded Balloon Teviot, Bristo Square, 0131 622 6552, 5–28 Aug, 3.45pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

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Tape Face Fringe:COMEDY

WORLD SHUT YOUR MOUTH His glorious career as Tape Face may have started as a five-minute joke that spun out of control, but Sam Wills is taking nothing for granted. The Kiwi comic tells Jay Richardson that his recent success in America has led to some curious consequences

I

t goes without saying that Sam Wills doesn’t give much away. The 38-year-old Kiwi, better known as Tape Face, and formerly as The Boy With Tape on His Face, is instantly recognisable with that kohl-eyed make-up, striped t-shirt and signature duct across his mouth. Last year he was seen by millions globally after reaching the final of America’s Got Talent, even inspiring a spate of Halloween costumes. ‘I counted about 700,’ says Wills. ‘I reckon it keeps parents happy. It’s a pretty straightforward costume and you’re guaranteed a quiet night.’

Yet despite that sudden attention, the prop comic and mime phenomenon still finds it easy to peel off his Tim Burton extra look and mooch about incognito. ‘I can just blend into a crowd when I need to and disappear,’ he says. ‘That’s one of the charms of starting as a street performer; you can choose when you want to be seen.’

He won’t share anything of his personal life, his marriage to burlesque performer Lili La Scala and their wonderfully named young son, Rafferty Basil Danger Wills, saying only that while he considers the UK to be home, the reality is that ‘I’m mostly based at Heathrow Terminal 4’. However, speaking to me from the US before his return to Edinburgh, he belatedly reveals that he’s shooting an American documentary: ‘there’s a camera pointed at me right now. It’s another little secret project,’ he laughs.

‘The best thing is not to tell people what I’m doing. It frustrates everyone.’

As with his polished act, Wills knows how to build anticipation by only revealing what he has to at the opportune moment. Currently writing his next live show, he discloses only that he’s returning to the mantra of ‘expect nothing, enjoy everything’. In the meantime, he’s performing a best-of show at the Fringe. ‘It’s a chance to purge this material completely. Because once it’s gone, it’s not coming back. The trouble with prop comedy and my style of comedy is it’s a bit like being in a band: people want to hear their favourite joke. I’ve certainly noticed in America that when I pull the oven gloves out, it often gets a spontaneous round of applause.’

He’s relaxed about the chancers and plagiarists who’ve emerged since his US success, from brazen Luke McQueen picking up his discarded moniker to perform a show entitled The Boy With Tape on His Face at this year’s Fringe to ‘a guy in Benidorm doing the better part of 50 minutes of my act. If an audience is confusing me with a guy in Benidorm, then I’m clearly doing something wrong with my career.’

While that career is essentially a five-minute joke that got out of hand, Wills is much more driven than Tape Face’s whimsical persona suggests. Witness his heartbreak in the documentary Not Out of Norway Yet, shot at the 2012 Fringe, in which the Edinburgh Comedy Award bosses reject his show from consideration for the main prize because he’s sold too many tickets; and then enjoy his subsequent delight at being awarded the panel prize.

‘There was a time when I felt that I had to win an award every single year,’ he recalls. ‘As a strategy, I had worked on the Edinburgh Comedy Award as a goal for the better part of eight years. So it was beyond frustrating to not be allowed to win that. To be a victim of my own success I found a wee bit ridiculous. I’m not sure if relieved is the right word for winning the panel prize. But I certainly gave up on awards after that because I realised what Jerry Seinfeld said is true: “all awards are stupid”.’ << list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 63

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Fringe:COMEDY Tape Face

silent treatment The talented Mr Wills is not the only mime act making a big noise this Fringe

ATTACHED

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‘She took off the toilet seat and threw it to the ground’

A classic showman, he always strives ‘to keep some surprises’. Too many comedians are too candid in interviews, he reckons, ‘because they’re trying to be funny. But you might as well save it for the stage because that’s where it actually counts. I take inspiration from people like Radiohead and Trent Reznor, finding interesting ways to advertise and be a wee bit different rather than just your bog-standard 8 Out of 10 Cats comedian.’

Admitting he had fun making an ultimately failed BBC pilot, Wills insists that television should always remain subservient to live performance. ‘Realistically that’s one of the reasons why I went on America’s Got Talent: TV is a giant advert for live shows. You can focus on being a great panel-show comedian and be appalling live. But live is where I want to excel. I’ll never do another reality TV show. AGT was a platform because it was the exposure I wanted. To do another would be silly.’

An odd consequence of his burgeoning fame is that potential ‘volunteers’ plucked from his audience are now occasionally famous, which rather changes a routine’s dynamic. As well as performing for New Zealand’s prime minister and the King of Tonga, he famously garlanded Mel B with a toilet seat in America’s Got Talent, a decision that the former Spice Girl and celebrity judge was not about to press her golden buzzer for.

‘Yeah, I’ve done various gigs for people of high status,’ Wills chuckles. ‘Mel B knew I was going to choose her as a volunteer but didn’t quite know what I was going to be doing with her. You can actually see in the video that she’s so ticked off she takes off the toilet seat and throws it to the ground. And it broke. So I took a photo and sent her an invoice. And no, I haven’t had a reply.’

Tape Face, Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 9.40pm, £13–£17 (£12–£15.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £10.

A knockabout experimental circus show from one big man and one little dude that has wooed European audiences. As Swede Manu and Italian Massimilliano fly and fall together, the allegory is clear: despite our divisions, humans are inexorably reliant upon one another. Underbelly, George Square, 03333 444167, 5–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 3.15pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £7.

CHAPSHTICK A non-verbal delight as ‘two loveable idiots’ prove how daft it is to be a man.

From playing chess to acting all flirty, Luke and Simon show us that blokes are bonkers. New Town Theatre, George Street, 0131 558 9005, 4–27 Aug (not 15), 4.10pm, £9 (£8). Preview 3 Aug, £8 (£7).

TRYGVE VS A BABY Last year, Fringe audiences were asked to watch a grandmother play with her seven-month-old grandchild for half an hour. This year, Kiwi silent comic Trygve Wakenshaw attempts to convince us that he’s funnier than his one-year-old son, Phineas. Assembly Roxy, Roxburgh Place, 0131 623 3030, 5–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 3pm, £11–£12.50 (£10–£11.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £8.

SLIPSTICK Buenos Aries-born Martin Kent (his Superman obsession led to that stage surname) certainly comes with a bold promise as ‘one of the best mime and impersonator artistes in Europe’. C, Chambers Street, 0845 260 1234, 16–28 Aug, noon, £7.50–£9.50 (£3.50–£5.50).

SLÄPSTICK This Dutch five-piece might crash around and eccentrically play their instruments, but not a word goes between them as they evoke the timeless vibe of Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers. Assembly George Square Theatre, George Square, 0131 623 3030, 4–27 Aug, 6pm, £12–£14 (£10).

Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £9.

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‘ The smash hit!’

Edinburgh Evening News

3-28 August 2017

Principal Edinburgh

41 5* lunch & dinner shows ƉůƵƐ ϭϭ ůŝŵŝƚĞĚ ĞĚŝƟŽŶ Anniversary shows!

19-21 George Street EH2 2PB (v119)

0845 154 4145

11.45am

9 - 13 August

Gilded Balloon Teviot Debating Hall

torquaysuitetheatre.com ‘Outstanding...

A rare theatrical treat’ The New Current

The critically acclaimed comedy dining show from the producers of Faulty Towers The Dining Experience

‘Highly spontaneous...

Perfect comedy timing’ British Theatre Guide

“SCOTLANDS MOST SEASONED COMIC PERFORMERS”

“A MASTERCLASS IN COMIC TIMING” Broadway Baby

3-27 August

The Scotsman

STARRING ANDY GRAY & GRANT STOTT WRITTEN BY PHILIP DIFFER

DIRECTED BY RYAN DEWAR PRODUCED BY GILDED BALLOON

(Not Mondays)

7.15pm

2 - 28 August (not 14)

Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre Main Theatre

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

All tickets include 3 3-course course meal + 2-hour show

Principal Edinburgh

5:30pm 19-21 George Street EH2 2PB Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun (doors 5pm) Venue 119 2pm & 7pm Tuesdays (doors 1:30pm & 6:30pm) 5:30pm & 9pm Saturdays (doors 5pm & 8:30pm) interactivetheatre.com.au/theweddingreception

0845 154 4145

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LAUREN PATTISON Fringe:COMEDY

dirt road As rising star Lauren Pattison makes her full Fringe debut, she tells Brian Donaldson that a bit of swearing is fine and why very young audiences frighten the life out of her

‘I

’m scum and proud of it’. It’s not the usual preamble that debut stand-ups put into their first full Edinburgh show, but Lauren Pattison doesn’t come across as a regular comic. At just 23 years of age, this Geordie has gained a master’s degree in Theatre and Performance, and steadily honed her craft until she became ready to take the plunge into the Fringe.

After some work-in-progress shows last August and a support slot on Katherine Ryan’s tour (‘this would fill Katherine with rage, but I couldn’t name any of the Kardashians’), she’s now fully prepared for a month in one of the capital’s hallowed spaces. ‘The first time I was in Edinburgh was for the So You Think You’re Funny semi-finals and I remember being in the Pleasance Courtyard and thinking “this is where the big boys are”. And I’m getting to do it now.’

As people are wont to do, it’s easy to try and pigeonhole a new act from the region they come from. Disappointingly, this profile is going to be no different: so, Pattison has the warm likeability of Jason Cook or

Chris Ramsey, a filthy frankness that Sarah Millican would blush at, and a willingness to prepare as little for her shows as possible when they’re at the gestating stage that brings her into Ross Noble’s orbit.

But Pattison is working towards being very much her own woman; staying true to herself, this has involved a decent amount of swearing.

‘I’m not one of those people who puts on any airs and graces, and I have been called out about my language on stage. But I think, “if I was a 23-year-old white male I wouldn’t be called out for my language”; a lot of it does boil down to gender. After a show some people say “oh, you’re quite the pottymouth aren’t you?” I find that so patronising. My language is part of who I am. As is the gin.’

If Pattison was ever to receive an invite to be sozzled on Comedy Central’s Drunk History (she has already done a spot of acting on the programme as Mary, Queen of Scots’ courtier) she would relish the opportunity, but with one slight concern: ‘I do like a drink and would probably ruin my life in about five minutes’. >>

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Fringe:COMEDY LAUREN PATTISON

<<

Women of substance

If she can avoid sabotaging her career, Pattison certainly has a pathway to potential greatness mapped out. First stop is Lady Muck. ‘I scrapped everything I’d done in my work-in-progress show except for one throwaway joke about not being very lady-like and I then focused on that idea.

The show has now changed into learning how to embrace all your flaws and insecurities. It’s the most personal material I’ve ever written. At first that was hard; there was one bit that the audience laughed at, but for me it was very hard to talk about. I’ve had people coming up after a show and saying “I don’t know what you’ve done but you’ve really gone up a level”. I’m like “thanks, I’ve just ripped out my life and put it on stage for you”.’

It’s the kind of thing she would never do in front of one particular audience: the children who show up at The Stand in Newcastle and watch her do Comedy for Kids. ‘I find that way more scary than doing comedy for adults. I’ll be standing at the side of the stage before going on just terrified. If a kid doesn’t like you they are ruthless. Adults have a filter which might stop them from heckling: kids just do not.’

Little ones won’t be getting anywhere near Lady Muck, given its 16+ Fringe certificate and ultimately it’ll be grown-up crowds who will help her on the road to where she wants to be. And in an industry that seems geared to having your face on the box as quickly as possible, Pattison seems reassuringly determined in her ambitions. ‘One day I’d like to do TV but I love stand-up so much that my focus just now is on being a great circuit act. If someone gave me a choice of gigging every night or having a chat show, I’d pick a full diary of live dates. I hear people saying “oh I just want to be on Live at the Apollo”. You’ve done two gigs mate: calm down!’

It could be a strong year for female stand-ups and here’s a quintet of aspiring debutantes

Lauren Pattison: Lady Muck, Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 5.45pm, £7.50–£10 (£7–£9.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

EVELYN MOK The ‘Swedish Amy Schumer’ has had enough of how her gender is treated in the public realm. Hymen Manoeuvre rips all that misogynist stuff apart. But in a funny way. Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6pm, £7–£9 (£6–£8). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

URZILA CARLSON This South African-born, New Zealandbased comic is big in Australia. And with her first show she muses on hipsters, morons and how to win arguments.

Assembly George Square Studios, George Square, 0131 623 3030, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 7.45pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

SARA SCHAEFER This US comic might not be ready for the apocalypse just yet, but if it’s pending then she might as well go down fighting.

In Little White Box, she tackles religion, America, death and that guy in the White House. Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 7pm, £9.50–£12.50 (£8.50–£11.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

ATHENA KUGBLENU BBC New Comedian of the year finalist Kugblenu has looked at the British political landscape and concluded that it’s time to talk about it in a different (and funny) way.

Underbelly Med Quad, Teviot Place, 03333 444167, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 5.50pm, £10– £11 (£9–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50.

Photos: andy hollingworth

TESSA COATES Breaking out from her Massive Dad sketch gang, Coates monkeys around with Primates, a show which utilises her degree in anthropology not one jot. Caitlin Moran likes her. Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–26 Aug, 3.30pm, £7–£9 (£6–£8). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

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PICK OF THE FRINGE! “Full-throttle, big on laughs. Go, go, go!”

CarlWoodward.com

Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Derek Nicol and Paul Walden for Flying Entertainment presents

t End 6 Off Wesinations Award nomding inclu al ic B e st M u s

“An intoxicating blast of fun”

“A must-see younger

brother to The Book of Mormon”

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Express

The Toxic Avenger

Book by

Joe DiPietro

MUSIC & LYRICS by David Based on Lloyd Kaufman’s ‘The Toxic Avenger’

Performed by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited

Pleasance One 10.30pm nightly (except 14th)

Bryan

PRIOR TO LONDON RUN

Running Time 75mins

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Ayesha Hazarika Fringe:COMEDY

Taking a stand From comedian to Labour special advisor and back to stand-up, Ayesha Hazarika has had a fully-rounded career. She tells Brian Donaldson that the political mess we’re in should be throwing up better satire

T

he old Harold Wilson quote that ‘a week is a long time in politics’ could probably have its timescale revised these days to ‘about every ten minutes’. Ayesha Hazarika, the Lanarkshire-born comedian and former advisor to Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband, knows this more than most. Early preview shows of her State of the Nation needed to be torn up in April when May chose June for a snap election, and by the time Hazarika’s Edinburgh Fringe dates come around, her guess will be as good as anybody’s on who might actually be in residence at No 10.

While her show will no doubt need some tweaking before midAugust, there are sections which form a solid bedrock and will be unaffected whether the PM’s surname at that point is May, Foster, Johnson or Corbyn (or anyone else you care to throw into the mix). ‘I try to make a wider point about why British politics has found itself in this mess, and talk about my own journey in the Labour Party,’ she says. ‘One of the reasons we’re in this slightly mad place is that politics is out of touch with the country. When I was a special advisor, there weren’t many women, or people who weren’t from London or from an ethnic or working-class background. It was a mono culture.’

Despite the apparently rich seam of farce in contemporary British politics, Hazarika feels that UK satirists still lag behind their comic cousins across the pond. ‘In America, satire is having a golden era because of Trump.

The Saturday Night Live stuff with Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer is the best thing I’ve seen in my life. In Britain we’re not cracking it, probably because satire isn’t simply making cheap jokes about someone saying he’s a wanker or she’s a whatever; it’s about capturing them while making a political argument.’

While Hazarika will be making plenty points in Edinburgh, you wonder whether she might be looking beyond the Fringe and harbouring ambitions to re-enter the fray as a potential candidate. ‘In one of my preview shows there was a Daily Mail reporter and they said “well, why don’t you stand?” I have tried in the past and wanted to be an MP a while ago, but sadly that ship may have sailed. I really enjoyed being an advisor to Ed and Harriet, but now I’m a political commentator and feel lucky to have a say in politics and get to talk about what I think is important.’

The worlds of politics and comedy do have some similarities (the rabid egos tempered by massive insecurity, the professional envy, having to deal with public heckling), but in general, any negative feelings towards comedians are nothing compared to the torrents of abuse thrown at politicians.

Hazarika feels that such blanket antagonistic attitudes from the public and media are largely undeserved and potentially unhelpful.

‘As someone who is open to laughing at myself and at politics, I think you have to be careful about not having absolute contempt for politicians,’ she insists. ‘You can get a cheap and easy laugh to say that they’re all corrupt idiots but if you keep doing that then you can easily end up with the politics you deserve.

I have friends all across the divide and most politicians are actually really good people; most of them are in it to do some good.’

Ayesha Hazarika: State of the Nation, Gilded Balloon at the Museum, Lothian Street, 0131 622 6552, 14–20 Aug, 7.30pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Photo: steve ullathorne

‘Politics was a mono culture’

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Fringe:COMEDY conservative comics

Blue comedians: (from ‘right’) Leo Kearse, Geoff Norcott, Fin Taylor

Right on If you thought the only comedy Tories were Jim Davidson and Chubby Brown, then you’re in for a shock this Fringe. Marissa Burgess meets three stand-ups unafraid of being called the C word

R

ight-wing stand-ups are as rare a sight at the Fringe as those green triangles in a tin of Quality Street three days after Christmas. But those with a political stance that doesn’t neatly sit left of centre are prominent this year: Leo Kearse claims I Can Make You Tory, Geoff Norcott follows on from his Conswervative show from last year, and antagonistic centrist Fin Taylor gleefully pokes a stick at liberals.

At the time of interviewing this trio, Theresa May was still PM and in cahoots with the DUP while Brexit talks were imminent. Their reactions to the general election result ranged from disbelief of the Tories on Kearse’s part (‘it was like an egg and spoon race, where they threw the egg over their shoulder and stamped on it’) to Norcott jokily claiming some regret: ‘I was one of those idiots saying that young people should go out and vote. I thought they wouldn’t do it and everything would carry on like it did before.’ And Taylor’s amused response to the disruption was, ‘it was a good shock result, wasn’t it?’

In his 2016 show, Norcott explained how a working-class boy from a council estate ended up being a Conservative supporter.

With the alarming shift to an

extreme right in some quarters over the last year, he felt a response was needed. ‘Being right-wing has been associated with quite a lot of unpleasant things. Last year in Edinburgh I overheard someone recommend my show, saying “oh, don’t worry, he’s right leaning but he’s well meaning”. Isn’t it interesting that you have to add that caveat?’ So Norcott decided it was time for an honest re-evaluation of his opinions. ‘I’m looking at my views on things like gender and race to evaluate whether at the end I can still claim to be a decent human being,’ he laughs.

Meanwhile, Kearse has also been reflecting on his upbringing and his turn towards conservatism. ‘I used to be quite left-wing; I grew up in Scotland and had very liberal parents.’ But all that changed when he entered the job market. ‘I started working as an analyst and was finding that a lot of the liberal stuff I had taken as gospel is just nonsense: resistance to nuclear power, opposition to the West and to capitalism . . . ’ Though a Remainer who favours a pro-business Labour government, Taylor simply enjoys taking issue for laughs as he proved with last Fringe’s Whitey McWhiteface. ‘I like a gig where I’m not pandering to the audience. It’s fun to play

with the preconceptions. This year I’m defending the Iraq War just because it’ll fuck people off.’

But the main focus of Taylor’s ire is ‘this kind of infallibility people on the left have about their own moral purpose. They say Tories are evil. They’re not, they genuinely think that smaller government is more ethical. Until you can actually meet them at that point, you’re never going to be able to take anyone with you, which is how you improve stuff.’

Differences in opinion are like that tin of Quality Street: it’s the source of a great family bunfight.

August should be contrariant fun.

Fin Taylor: Lefty Tighty Righty Loosey, Just the Tonic at The Tron, 3–27 Aug (not 14), 10.20pm, £6.50 or Pay What You Want at the venue.

Geoff Norcott: Right Leaning But Well Meaning, Underbelly, George Square, 03333 444167, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6.40pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50.

Leo Kearse: I Can Make You Tory, Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters, 0131 622 6801, 3–28 Aug (not 15), 7.30pm, free.

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Gilded Balloon presents...

JOCKY WILSON SAID Written by JANE LIVINGSTONE & JONATHAN CAIRNEY Directed by TONY COWNIE Starring GRANT O’ROURKE

“Brilliantly played by Grant O’Rourke...a hugely enjoyable slice of Scottish popular history” JOYCE MCMILLAN, THE SCOTSMAN

3.45pm

Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre Basement

2 - 24 Aug

LATE LA L AT A TE T EN NI NIGHT IG IG GH HT H T LIIIP LIP L P SERVICE SER RVI RV VIIC VIC V IICE CE Midnight 5, 6, 12 ,13, 19, 20, 25-27 Aug

Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre Main Theatre

OUR 10th EDINBURGH FRINGE! GILDED BALLOON & SEAN HUGHES PRESENT

HANNAH NORRIS “Phenomenally talented” The Skinny

THE BLANK BOOK 4.00pm

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

14-17 & 21-24 Aug

#####

‘Had me weeping with laughter… you absolutely have to go.’

LIFE ON THE NEVER-NEVER Directed by Teodor Janson

Mail on Sunday

“Best female stage comedian”

#####

‘So polished, it defies belief.’

Daily Telegraph

2-27 AUG, 6PM

EXTRA LATE NIGHT SHOWS 20 & 22 AT 11.20PM

COMEDY AWARDS

10.00pm

2 - 28 Aug (NOT 9, 14, 21)

Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre Basement

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

WWW.PLEASANCE.CO.UK | 0131 556 6550 list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 73

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28/06/2017 16:43

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28/06/2017 16:43

¥ ¥ ¥ ¥¥

“Joyful, Lively and Totally Hilarious”... Tetu

photo : Michel Cavalca - design graphique : Vincent Jacquet

TUTU

CHICOSMAMBO

DANCE IN ALL ITS GLORY! Choreography: Philippe Lafeuille

PRIX DU PUBLIC AVIGNON

tutu.valprod.fr

EFG17-Ad pages.indd 76

PLEASANCE GRAND 4:00 PM 2 - 28 AUGUST (not 9, 15, 22)

0131 556 6550 www.pleasance.co.uk

28/06/2017 12:49

e c n da e g Frin

VALDA SETTERFIELD Fringe:dance

MALE ROOM Having played Duchamp and Brecht, Valda Setterfield was excited to take on King Lear.

The veteran dancer tells Kelly Apter why performing as a man holds no fears for her

S

he knitted a four-armed jumper for Merce Cunningham, modelled clothes for Robert Rauschenberg and travelled around in John Cage’s camper van. But when Valda Setterfield was asked by Irish choreographer John Scott to dance in his adaptation of King Lear, it gave the 82-year-old pause for thought.

‘I had never worked with John before,’ she says. ‘But I had seen a little bit of his work, which was all very athletic, and I thought “what could I do at this stage in my life?” I was never that kind of dancer anyway. But then we met and talked, and it sounded fascinating.

So I said “yes, I’d like to do it”.’

The result is Lear, a stripped-back, dance-theatre production that cuts to the heart of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Performed

by Scott’s Dublin-based company, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, the show met with strong approval in both Ireland and New York and is now headed for the Edinburgh Fringe.

It’s easy to see why Scott was drawn to Setterfield for the lead role. A dancer in New York for almost 60 years (having moved there from her native England in 1958), she has performed with some of the postmodern greats, including Cunningham and her own husband, David Gordon. Latterly, Setterfield took on more acting roles (such as portraying Marcel Duchamp and Bertolt Brecht), so the character of King Lear was well within her grasp.

Having moved from one town to another to stay safe during World War II, and harbouring hopes for her son (playwright Ain Gordon), she felt she could focus on the troubled king’s inner world, rather than his physicality.

‘I didn’t particularly worry about the maleness of it,’ she says. ‘It was

more, “what is my role?” I know about war and being separated from your family because of political events, and I have a son, so there was a lot to mine there. But it’s been interesting, because I’ve never played somebody my age before: I’m actually a really good age for Lear.’

Scott’s version of the story focusses on Lear’s relationship with his daughters, played here by three male dancers, and fuses edited sections of Shakespeare’s text alongside the choreography. ‘John said “what do you think about the dancing?” she recalls. ‘And I said “well, I do a form of tai chi each day, and I wondered how that might be”. Then I got up and began to show it to him, and he said “that’s wonderful: you’re Lear!”’

Hearing Setterfield talk about her working relationship with Scott and her long-running connection with Cunningham, it’s clear she enjoyed the support and creativity of both men. ‘I think Merce would be interested in what I’m doing now, because he was a true man of the theatre. He was very important to me and gave me enormous confidence; before I moved to New York I was encouraged by some teachers to fake things, like to smile more. But when I met Merce, he said “don’t make everything so pretty”. That was thrilling and led me onto a whole other path, which was about total honesty in performance. I think that’s partly why I’m still up there on thestage, because people recognise that.’

Lear, Dance Base, Grassmarket, 0131 225 5525, 24–27 Aug, 4.15pm, £12 (£10). Preview 23 Aug, £10 (£8). Or Pay What You Want at the venue. list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 77

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Fringe:Dance Djuki Mala

FIVE literary

inspirations

Photo: paul trask

Brand new ancients

VIRAGO Plucked from John F Wake’s book The Cruel Streets Revisited, FFIN DANCE’s work revolves around Minnie McGuire aka the most arrested woman in Victorian Wales. Her poverty-stricken life led to prostitution and continual scrapes with the law: a tale that clearly still resonates in modern Britain. ZOO, Pleasance, 0131 662 6892, 13–19 Aug, 7.45pm, £10 (£8).

LEVIATHAN

Mixing hip hop and breakdance with traditional Aboriginal movement, Djuki Mala are set to bring something unique to the Fringe. Claire Sawers hears from a troupe determined to show the world their vibrant culture

E

lcho Island is a very remote spot in Arnhem Land, Australia. It’s a part of the world that didn’t have contact with white people until the 1930s, and visitors still need special permission to go there. The indigenous Yolngu have lived in this area for thousands of years, but it’s only now that the rest of the world is getting a look-in on their Aboriginal culture.

‘I grew up dancing,’ says Wakara Gondarra, a 23-year-old member of the Djuki Mala group. ‘There were weekend discos on the basketball court.’ That was where he learned to mix up the traditional, ancient dancing styles copied from the elders, with the hip hop, breakdance and pop styles that he liked.

Djuki Mala (Djuki is their pronunciation for ‘chooky’, an Aussie term of affection, and Mala means ‘mob’) tell the story of how he and his friends got famous through a YouTube clip that went viral. It showed ten barefoot men in ceremonial body paint, going wild under a basketball hoop at a festival, dancing to a speeded-up techno version of ‘Zorba the Greek’.

There was something about the mash-up of cultures that seemed to hit the spot, and the video’s been viewed over 2m times now. The show that’s coming to the Fringe is Djuki Mala’s British debut, a turbocharged mix of Bollywood, ‘Billie Jean’ and Singin’ in the Rain routines, with video footage of the bush background they come from.

‘It shows the rest of the world that this is a living, breathing culture,’ says Joshua Bond, the show’s producer and Gondarra’s uncle. ‘Wakara’s grandmother raised me and we grew up in the same house.

It’s really a family affair and we’re a tight little crew. It’s crazy that this is our ten-year anniversary but cool for us to be celebrating that in Scotland. Wakara’s never been but he’s heard that men wear dresses there . . . he’s pretty intrigued about that!’

Djuki Mala, Assembly George Square Theatre, George Square, 0131 623 3030, 4–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 4.30pm, £15–£16 (£13–£14). Preview 3 Aug, £8.

Featuring a cast of seven, James Wilton Dance deliver an athletic interpretation of Herman Melville’s epic story in which Captain Ahab obsessively pursues a white whale called Moby Dick. Expect a seamless blend of martial arts and capoeira with a pumping electro-rock soundtrack. Dance Base, Grassmarket, 0131 225 5525, 8–13 Aug, 5.30pm, £12 (£10). Previews 4–6 Aug, £10 (£8).

ORIGINS After murdering his brother Abel, Cain is haunted by dark memories while living in exile. Animikii Theatre have accepted the challenge of retelling probably the oldest psychological thriller. ZOO, Pleasance, 0131 662 6892, 6–25 Aug (not 7 & 8, 14 & 15, 21), 12.30pm, £10 (£8). Previews 4 & 5 Aug, £6.

DEATH IN VENICE From Thomas Mann’s novella comes a tale of unrequited love in the time of cholera, refashioned here by the inspirational Edinburgh Ballet Circle, a non-professional group comprised of nurses, students, lawyers and IT consultants. Greenside, Nicolson Square, 0131 618 6967, 21–26 Aug, 7.45pm, £10.

FAGIN’S TWIST Avant Garde Dance Company’s hip-hop spin on Dickens is an origins story of the man who took young Oliver under his wing in the mean streets of 19th-century London. ZOO Southside, Nicolson Street, 0131 662 6892, 21–27 Aug, 1pm, £13 (£11). Preview 20 Aug, £11 (£9).

78 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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FROM THE AWARD WINNING CREATORS OF SMOTHER

WEDNESDAY 16 AUGUST · 7.30PM A CHARITY GALA IN AID OF SYRIA RELIEF

CREATOR & COMPOSER DAVID CHOREOGRAPHY JASON

CAZALET MABANA

‘PASSAGES OF BEAUTY AND LAMENTATION’ THE STAGE

“STAND-OUT DANCE SHOW OF SUMMER 2017” THE GUARDIAN

AT

TICKETS ONSALE NOW · PLEASANCE AT EICC PLEASANCE.CO.UK · 0131 556 6550

150

GANDINI JUGGLING

SIGMA

++++

“TAKING HIP-HOP INTO THRILLINGLY NEW TERRAIN”

THE GUARDIAN ON 201 DANCE COMPANY

+++++ +++++ BROADWAY BABY

ED FEST MAGAZINE

‘STUNNINGLY SKILLFUL AND IMAGINATIVE CIRCUS WITH A POTENT CORE’ THE STAGE

13:30

03 - 28 AUG

8pm, 2 – 28 August 2017 0131 556 6550 www.pleasance.co.uk list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 79

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FROM OLIVIER AWARD WINNERS THE

HOWSTOPPERS

An iv e t rac l e i nt s ica

Mu ure ent adv r kids fo

Out of the gatelk, a and off for a wclary a M went Hairy son’s from Donald Dairy.

AAAA THE LIST: ‘This is old-school children’s theatre in all the right ways.’

‘Terrific… an absolute delight’ One4Review

PRIMARY TIMES: …a vibrant, fun filled show that cleverly brings Lynley Dodd’s much-loved children’s books to life.’

‘Mad, magic and marvellous…

Sold out - and for good reason.’

Arts Award Voice

2-20 AUGUST, 11.40AM WWW.PLEASANCE.CO.UK | 0131 556 6550

FO AG R ES 3+

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LIVE ON STAGE 2nd - 20th AUGUST, 12PM Pleasance Beyond 0131 556 6550 www.pleasance.co.uk @PetitsTheatre #FirstHippo Sunday unday ay 23 July, Julyy, Ju y, 2pm 2p pm p m

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From Les Petits theatre company, the creators of Captain Flinn & the Pirate Dinosaurs 80 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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s d i k e g n i Fr

cutting crew Australian circus trio Head First Acrobats take to the high seas in a raucous family show. Lucy Ribchester met them in Brighton to discuss some swashbuckling goings-on aboard the Red Rubber Duckie

ARR WE THERE YET? Fringe:kids

R

opes, ladders, rigging, flying cutlasses and derring-do: pirate ships and circuses have a surprising number of things in common. All of which Australian circus troupe Head First Acrobats make the most of in their fabulous family show, Arr We There Yet? But when it came to creating the piece, this swashbuckling gang from Melbourne had a more pressing reason for making the connection.

‘We had joked about it for ages,’ says Cal Harris aka Snotty Steve, the sailor with a serious sinus problem. ‘Then we booked a festival in Melbourne specifically with this show, but wrote the blurb before we’d done anything on it. The show then sold out so we realised we had to make it fit the blurb.’

The trio has just come offstage at the Brighton Fringe, and if their post-show banter seems joyously candid (with no-holds-barred selfdeprecation and ego-free descriptions of their creative process), it’s a measure of how much their relaxed stage personas are more than just an act. This is Head First’s debut show for children (they received much acclaim at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe with Elixir) and has taken two years of ‘trial and error’ development to reach its current incarnation.

Taking place on board the Red Rubber Duckie ship, we meet unhinged pirates Captain Pricklybeard (Thomas Gorham), softly-spoken Captain Joseph (Rowan Thomas) and the aforementioned Harris as Snotty Steve, as they steer a calamitous quest for buried treasure, dodging low-fi ghosts, a cuddly shark and the sneaking ambitions of one another to each seize the title of captain. There are head balances and hand balances, quickfire tumbling, plank walking, (or rather plank jumping, by way of a see-saw) and a riotous soundtrack of souped-up shanties and rock tunes.

But what makes the show truly special is the effortless way the three draw in the kids for some interaction.

Not only are they unfazed by the unpredictable ad-libs children can bring, they positively embrace them.

On the afternoon I saw the show, kids were on their feet shrieking at the ship’s ghost, eager to take part when volunteers are called for. In a variation on ‘What’s the Time Mr Wolf?’ involving a treasurehoarding shark, one participant steals the show by mimicking Harris’ floor-slide and seizing the treasure himself.

When I bring this up they all flip out. ‘That was amazing! I wanted to high-five him,’ says Gorham.

The group insist that they rarely experience shy, retiring audiences because, from the outset, their priority is to create an atmosphere where children feel welcome to be part of the action.

‘We engage them from the very beginning,’ says Thomas. ‘So from the start it’s not like a closed wall with us on stage and they watch. We bring them into it so that all the way through the show they have input; then they feel like they’re in a room with their brothers and sisters and can just yell and play.’

Meanwhile, grown-ups are entertained with groanworthy pirate puns and the acrobatic displays. But ultimately, Thomas admits, it’s hard to separate what children and adults respond to. ‘I think if we can laugh at what we’re making then we know that they will as well.’

Arr We There Yet?, Underbelly’s Circus Hub, Middle Meadow Walk, 03333 444167, 6–26 Aug (not 14, 21), 2pm, £10–£12.50 (£9–£11.50). Preview 5 Aug, £6.50. list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 81

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FringE:KIDS BAMBINO

FIVE PUPPETRY SHOWS

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF LAPIN

WEE STORIES

Having decided to write an opera that should entertain babies, Lliam Paterson discovered this could also be a valuable exercise in their language development. Kelly Apter hears from the composer about a project that divided opinion

W

hen Lliam Paterson told people he was writing an opera for babies aged 6–18 months, he found the replies fell into two camps: ‘great’ and ‘why bother?’ Thankfully, he didn’t have to look far for a response to the latter comment, having spent hours on research while composing BambinO, Scottish Opera’s latest show for infants. ‘I looked at various academic studies on the impact music can have on very young minds and found you can directly tie classical music to developing language skills,’ he explains. ‘But how I could bring that research into the piece was something I had to think long and hard about.’

One discovery he made was that babies recognise recurring themes; this prompted Paterson to include a distinctive sequence in the overture, repeated several times throughout the opera. The choice of instruments was also important, and having worked with a focus group of adults and babies, Paterson opted for a quartet comprising cello, percussion, soprano and baritone.

‘The babies’ most enthusiastic responses came when the soprano voice sang very high, so it was clear we had to have that voice. And a lot of babies aren’t exposed to male singing, so I wanted to introduce that in a gentle way with a baritone. With a very low male voice, you also feel physical vibrations.’

Having devised the simple tale of a baby bird hatching, connecting with its mother then making its way into the world, Paterson was aware he needed to hold his audience’s attention, but not scare them. ‘I’ve been careful about how I move through the different vocal registers, so I usually start in the middle and gradually move to the top or bottom. And I’ve tried not to combine all the musical and vocal components too much; it’s more about gently building up layers.’

BambinO, Edinburgh Academy, Henderson Row, 0131 624 4919, 8–20 Aug (not 14), 10am, 11.30am, £12 for adult and baby (£7 for additional adult).

A bilingual delight as Tania arrives from Paris to attend The World’s Tastiest Carrot competition. Only problem is that her animal chums are desperate for a taste of her prize vegetable. Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street, 0131 556 9579, 4–15, 19 & 20, 26 & 27 Aug, 10.30am, £8 (£6; family ticket £24). Preview 3 Aug, £6 (£4; family ticket £16).

THE TALE OF THE COCKATRICE Mumblecrust Theatre and Peafrog Puppetry bring us the story of a brave nun attempting to defeat a hideous monster. Venue 13, Canongate, 07074 201313, 5–26 Aug (not 14), 10.30am, £9 (£7).

A STRANGE NEW SPACE Tessa Bide is back after charming us in 2015 with The Tap Dancing Mermaid, this time exploring an imaginary journey into the outer limits. Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 10.45am, £8 (£6; family ticket £20). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £5 (£4; family ticket £14).

GOBLIN’S PETER AND THE WOLF Peter and grandad have gone camping for the weekend and when grandad tries to get Peter to stay in the campsite, you know the lad will have other ideas.

A musical adventure about kindness.

Assembly George Square Gardens, George Square, 0131 623 3030, 5–17 Aug, 11am, £7–£8. Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £5.

THE BACKYARD STORY As part of the Taiwan Season, this Puppet Beings Theatre show features a red balloon breathing life into some clothes that have been left out on the line to dry.

Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 11.45am, £10. Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £6.

82 THE LIST | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | list.co.uk/festival

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$ ƶUVW RSHUDWLF DGYHQWXUH IRU WR PRQWK ROGV

EDINBURGH ACADEMY 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20 AUG | 10AM & 11.30AM Also at Scottish Opera Production Studios, Glasgow 21 Oct â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5 Nov A new co-production with Manchester International Festival & Improbable

VFRWWLVKRSHUD RUJ XN Registered in Scotland Number SC037531 Scottish Charity Number SC019787

Supported by Scottish Operaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Commissions Circle & Scottish Operaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Education Angels

JIMMY JEWELL in association with CHILDRENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLASSIC CONCERTS presents

by Beatrix Potter

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Perfect for kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Guardian

12.00PM (1.00PM) 05 - 26 AUGUST 2017 list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 83

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c i s u m e g n Fri

Tunes of glory From top left (clockwise): Aidan Banyard, Tom Brandon, Andy Carter, Freddie Huddleston, Peter Lawrence, Mark Loveday, Ben Norris, Jami Quarrell, John Sheehy

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choir of man fringe:MUSIC

As the nine-strong Choir of Man prepare to bring their sublime cover version magic to the Fringe (with full bar in attendance), we ask them about some favourite songs and which tunes they’d move heaven and earth to turn off

Which song always makes you cry?

Aidan Banyard: ‘White Wine in the Sun’ by

Tim Minchin. It makes me miss my family: sad times.

Tom Brandon: ‘Heroes or Ghosts’ by the Coronas. A beautiful song.

Andy Carter: Peter Gabriel’s ‘The Book of Love’ from that last episode of Scrubs. Every time . . .

Freddie Huddleston: ‘Till I Hear You Sing’ from Love Never Dies.

Peter Lawrence: Brownstone’s ‘Half of You’.

Mark Loveday: I cry when I listen to ‘Lazarus’ by David Bowie. That’s if I can actually bring myself to listen to it.

It’s beautiful but brutal. It crushes me.

Ben Norris: Songs don’t regularly make me properly cry actual physical tears, but a timely Joni Mitchell number might get me going.

Jami Quarrell: Usually one of my own sad songs while I’m singing them: I’m a responsive audience.

John Sheehy: ‘Have a Little Faith in Me’

by John Hiatt.

Which song always makes you laugh?

AB: ‘The Good Book’ also by Tim Minchin.

TB: ‘Mother-in-Law’ by Cy Coleman. Check

it out.

AC: ‘Escape (The Piña Colada Song)’ by

Rupert Holmes.

FH: ‘September’ by Earth, Wind & Fire.

PL: Flight of the Conchords’ ‘I’m Not

Crying’.

ML: ‘A Boy Named Sue’ by Johnny Cash

always makes me chuckle. I always imagine the story playing out in my mind.

BN: Father John Misty’s ‘Pure Comedy’ is as bleak as it is hilarious, but it is hilarious; the most damning indictment of the human project imaginable, yet you have to laugh.

JQ: The shredded version of 1D’s ‘Story of My Life’ reduces me to a giggling mess.

JS: ‘I’m on a Boat’. I spent a summer in Boston and got arrested for breaking a boat while drunk. As I spent the night in the drunk tank (cell), that song kept going through my head.

Is there a song that you would race across the room to switch off if it was being played on the radio?

AB: ‘Girls Like’ by Tinie Tempah. His name

alone is enough to make me want to throw myself off a bridge, let alone this song’s awful rhyme and endless pointlessness of its very being.

TB: ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’

from Dirty Dancing: just no.

AC: ‘Blurred Lines’.

FH: Anything by Crazy Frog.

PL: Anything with Pitbull.

ML: I really detest ’She’s So Lovely’ by Scouting for Girls. Forget about the room: I’d run a marathon to turn that off.

BN: I don’t know if a particular song would inspire such rage, but I’m not a massive fan of commercial radio in general.

JQ: The Rihanna ‘work work’ song.

JS: ‘Hollaback Girl’ by Gwen Stefani. It’s bananas.

Favourite cover version?

AB: ‘Starships’ covered by Pentatonix. To

be fair, all of their covers are incredible so that’s a hard choice.

TB: ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’

by Amy Winehouse.

AC: ‘Teardrop’ by Newton Faulkner.

FH: ‘City of Stars’ by Gavin James.

PL: Prince’s ‘A Case of You’.

ML: Johnny Cash’s cover of ‘Hurt’ by Nine Inch Nails. It’s just perfect.

BN: I know it’s incredibly well-known, but that doesn’t mean Jeff Buckley’s version of Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ isn’t also incredibly brilliant. I also really like James Blake’s cover of ‘A Case of You’.

JQ: Nina Simone covering Bach and no one covering Nina Simone.

JS: ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ from Sara Bareilles.

Favourite female vocalist?

AB: Aretha Franklin for sheer velocity,

grandeur and class.

TB: Amy Winehouse.

AC: Aretha Franklin. Pipes for days.

FH: Whitney Houston.

PL: Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive.

ML: Shirley Bassey: I could listen

to ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ all day.

BN: Laura Marling is superb. Little Simz is one of the most exciting British rappers right now. Honourable mention to J Mitch.

JQ: Ella Fitzgerald.

JS: Celine Dion. I think most of my vocal technique comes from listening to Celine as a kid.

First song you remember hearing as a child?

AB: ‘Bat Out of Hell’ by Meat Loaf. He

was a favourite of my dad’s as we drove to school. Either that or ‘Baby Love’ by the Supremes, a favourite of my mum’s.

TB: ‘Lucky’ by Britney Spears. I even

bought the album #noshame.

AC: ‘Tiger Feet’. Dad had massive tiger

slippers and used to dance around the house.

FH: ‘Step in Time’ by Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins.

PL: Diana Krall’s ‘Frim Fram Sauce’.

ML: I remember dancing around the front room to ‘You Could Be Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses. It was on the Terminator 2 soundtrack and I was a child with a bit of an Arnold Schwarzenegger obsession.

BN: It’s mostly my dad’s stuff, cassettes from long car journeys. I love Steely Dan in particular. But I think I heard dad’s poorly sung versions of most songs before I heard the actual songs themselves.

JQ: Sinatra’s ‘Young at Heart’ or ‘Me and My Shadow’.

JS: Baywatch theme tune. I used to sing this non-stop as a child.

Which song will play at your funeral as the mourners troop out?

AB: ‘The Throne Room’ by John Williams

from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

Have you ever heard such a victorious hope-filled song to go out on?

TB: ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. They’d be weeping!

AC: ‘Send Me on My Way’ by Rusted Root.

FH: ‘PM’s Love Theme’ by Craig Armstrong.

PL: ‘Father and Son’ by Cat Stevens.

ML: ‘Mr Blue Sky’ by ELO. It always brings a smile to my face when I hear it and leaves me wanting more. That’s the best way to go, right . . . ?

BN: If there’s no Elbow at my funeral then I will die. Oh wait . . .

JQ: I’d have to go for an extended version of ‘Under the Sea’ from The Little Mermaid. Possibly not the most appropriate but I friggin’ love it. Would have to be with full steel-drum orchestra obvs.

JS: ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. I’m a huge Liverpool fan, but besides that, I think the hopeful and positive message behind the song is beautiful.

Choir of Man, Assembly Rooms, George Street, 0131 623 3030, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6.35pm, £13–£16.

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £10. For much more of this Q&A, go to list.co.uk/ festival

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Fringe:Music SASQUATCH: THE OPERA

FIVE SHOWS WITH UKULELES

REFORMED WHORES: GRAND OLE CUNTRY Can you imagine a scenario where Flight of the Conchords and Dolly Parton had a child together? If so, then you’re reasonably close to the vibe when Katy Frame and Marie Cecile Anderson take to the stage for their accordion and ukeinfused hoedown. Sweet, Grassmarket, 0131 243 3596, 4–27 Aug, 9.50pm, £7 (£5).

UKULELE DEATH SQUAD

Building the perfect beast As Faith No More keyboard player Roddy Bottum brings his debut opera to the Fringe, he tells David Pollock why this tale of a mythical creature has serious undertones

‘W

hat really speaks to me in stories is a monster, a character with really intense machismo who has a hidden sense of vulnerability and pathos.’ Roddy Bottum is discussing Sasquatch: The Opera, his musical about a family’s encounter with the mythical beast. ‘I loved The Elephant Man when I was younger, and things like King Kong and Frankenstein always spoke really clearly to me.’

It’s tempting to say that Faith No More’s keyboard player is launching a radical departure by branching out into composing opera. But when he talks about equal measures of machismo and pathos, he’s pretty much summed up the ingredients to classic rock songs. ‘Opera is an interesting artform that’s challenging and also really weird. In many ways, it sums up New York to me as a place of high art where people take a lot of care presenting a really odd piece of work. They take their weird here really seriously. The singing is top-notch and the talent spectrum of the people involved is mind-blowing. An opera takes a lot of patience, with the peaks and valleys of the drama being crazy intense.’

Bottum isn’t inclined to pore over specifics, but he says the piece is a love story which takes inspiration from hillbilly culture and also celebrates the outsider. Ultimately, it’s a reaction both to the current politics of his home country and his experience growing up as a gay man in the alpha male world of late 20th-century rock.

Although the first act was performed once in early 2016 in New York, a visit to last year’s Fringe inspired him to debut the full show here, with five principal cast members, a chorus and live band. ‘I know it sounds like a comedic idea for a show but it’s not. It’s dark and twisted, and it sounds cryptic and kinda gothic.’

Sasquatch: The Opera, Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 9.15pm, £14–£15 (£12). Preview 2 Aug, £12 (£10).

Talented Aussie duo Benjamin Roberts and Julian Ferguson do a decent job at reinventing the uke by playing everything from folk to flamenco in frenetic and death-defying style. Leith Depot, Leith Walk, 0131 555 4378, 9 & 10, 13 Aug, 9pm, £6 (£5).

CHARLIE DORE WITH JULIAN LITTMAN The ukulele is just one of the stringed instruments wielded here by Steeleye Span’s Littman, and Dore whose tunes have been covered by the likes of George Harrison and Celine Dion. Acoustic Music Centre @ UCC, Royal Terrace, 07968 131737, 16 & 17 Aug, 5.30pm, £13 (£11).

LEARN TO PLAY UKULELE WITH TRICITY VOGUE In a mere two hours, your musical life could well have altered forever as Tricity teaches you the uke basics, plays some tunes and invites you all up for a group finale. One for the young and not-so young alike. Rae Macintosh Musicroom, Shandwick Place, 0131 221 0041, 26 & 27 Aug, 1pm, free.

MARGARITA DREAMS A singing theoretical physicist attempts to explain string theory with a ukulele in one scene from this revue show written by Richard Sparks, who is most famous for Rowan Atkinson’s ‘Schoolmaster’ sketch.

Underbelly Med Quad, Teviot Place, 03333 444167, 5–28 Aug, 2pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50.

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tre a e h t e g n i Fr

‘There isn’t one definitive trans experience’ The transgender narrative is a big story at this year’s Fringe.

Rebecca Monks chats to those involved in puttin­g the lives of individuals front and centre on stage and in the public realm

G

enitals do not equal gender. Boys are not always born with penises and girls do not always have vaginas, just as life is not black and white, pink and blue, gay and straight. The notion of gender is far more complex, and speaks to questions of identity, representation and individuality.

This important message is powerfully present within this year’s Fringe. The Traverse has programmed a National Theatre of Scotland double bill of Adam and Eve, which offer authentic insights into the life of a trans person. Adam follows a man born into a girl’s body in Egypt, and features a 200-strong digital trans choir from around the world while Jo Clifford performs Eve, an exploration of one woman’s journey from 1950s boyhood to present day.

Trans Creative, the UK’s first transgender-led theatre company, has You’ve Changed at Summerhall, an autobiographical multi-arts performance which reflects artistic director Kate O’Donnell’s own experiences. And at the Pleasance, Rhum and Clay’s Testosterone is set in a male changing-room, exploring the idea of masculinity through Kit, a trans man, who finds himself in an all-male environment for the first time.

Speaking to the creators of these works, there’s one overriding commonality: trans narratives must be told by trans people. ‘I’m happy to speak on behalf of Trans Creative, but I’m a cisgendered person and Kate is an award-winning transgender artist and activist,’ says the company’s Megan Griffith. ‘We feel it’s only right that she does all the press and that trans stories are told by trans people themselves.’

This isn’t some rigid company policy, it’s a matter of principle that speaks to the company’s overall aim in presenting their work: ‘to increase the positive representation of trans people in the arts, by engaging people in art advocacy and education, as well as engaging more trans people in the arts themselves.’

This approach is shared by Rhum and Clay. Artistic director Julian Spooner worked closely with Kit, a trans male and theatre-maker.

‘When you’re making theatre like this, on a basic level there’s a duty of care you have to the performer,’ says Spooner. ‘You’re bringing someone into the rehearsal room who’s telling their own story and you have to respect that. Kit is in no way a vulnerable person, but nonetheless it’s quite a vulnerable experience for anyone to talk about their past especially when you’re talking about gender.’

Telling a story that’s true to the individual was something Cora Bissett also encountered when directing Adam. The idea for the show came to her around four years ago, when she saw a trans man named Adam talk about his experiences at a Citizens outreach event.

‘He shared this incredible story of how he had been born biologically female. He had always known inside that he was male but had absolutely no reference point for that. He had to leave Egypt. He had to flee for his life and through a series of bizarre circumstances ended up

in a Glasgow flat. The passion and the raw honesty of the way he told his story just moved me incredibly.’ Once Bissett approached Adam, he was involved every step of the way, and after initially rejecting the idea, he decided to play himself. ‘I hope this play opens up the trans experience for people, but there isn’t one definitive experience,’ she says. ‘Adam’s journey is one story, but that’s not the exact same as another person who’s transitioning.’

In Testosterone, Kit’s story, too, is unique to him, and should not be taken as an all-encompassing representation. ‘Everybody’s experience and story is different,’ Spooner says. ‘We’re just telling his. Kit was very clear that he wanted to create a representation of a trans person who isn’t just a victim.’

This is also important in Trans Creative’s You’ve Changed. ‘The narrative is always “born in the wrong body” or “depressed” or “sex workers”,’ Griffith says. ‘And they often end up abused or dead. It’s our whole goal to create positive and authentic trans representation, and seeing change as a positive thing.’ Spooner also hopes that Testosterone will speak to positivity. ‘We felt a lot of trans representation in media, film and theatre is from the position of being a victim, which is not uncommon. Kit was very adamant that he wanted to portray a trans character, not as a victim but as a rounded person, with flaws of his own.’

These productions are essential to continuing the trans narrative.

As Bissett says, ‘right now it feels like there’s an awakening to the fact that being transgender is a real thing and it’s not a tiny minority.

There are a lot of people in our world who feel like that and we have to get on board with it and understand that. Fifty years ago, people had to go “oh, homosexuality is real”: to negate that or debate it in any way right now would just seem utterly ludicrous to anyone of a sound mind. We’re on a much earlier journey with understanding what a trans person is, and I hope this play goes some way to helping an audience really get that.’

Adam, Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 0131 228 1404, 6–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), various times, £21.50 (£9.50– £16.50). Preview 5 Aug, 1.45pm, £15 (£9).

Eve, Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 0131 228 1404, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), various times, £19.50 (£9.50– £14.50). Preview 3 Aug, 6.30pm, £13 (£9).

Testosterone, Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–27 Aug (not 14, 20), 5pm, £9–£11.50 (£8–£10.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

You’ve Changed, Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 7–26 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 8.30pm, £12 (£10). Previews 5 & 6 Aug, £10.

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transgender fringe:theatre

Photo: chris bowen

Photo: lee baxter

Essential narratives: (from top clockwise) Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Changed; Testosterone; Eve; Adam

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This year, the Pleasance, Summerhall and ZOO have joined forces for the first time to create a brand new guide to the best in theatre, dance and music across all three venues.

From new writing to devised work, physical theatre to circus, this exciting collaboration highlights the very best performances on offer this August.

With hundreds of shows to choose from, there’s no better way to celebrate the Fringe’s landmark 70th anniversary. rsary.

pleasance.co.uk

Flesh & Bone Unpolished Theatre and the Pleasance

TUTU: Dance in All Its Glory Chicos Mambo in association with the Pleasance

Cirkopolis

Me & My Bee

Cirque Éloize in association with the Pleasance

ThisEgg in association with the Pleasance

Pleasance Dome, 0131 556 6550, 2–28 Aug, 4pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Preview £6.

Pleasance Courtyard, 0131 556 6550, 2–28 Aug, (not 9, 15, 22), 4pm, £11–£14.50 (£9.50–£13).

Preview £8.

Pleasance at EICC, 0131 556 6550, 4–28 Aug, (not 9, 16, 23), 2.30pm, 7.30pm, £12.50–£17.50 (£10–£14). Preview £10.

Pleasance Courtyard, 0131 556 6550, 2–28 Aug, (not 15), 11.45am, £7.50–£10 (£6–£8.50). Preview £6.

Feast your eyes upon the depravity, the triumphs and the utter hilarity of the underprivileged on a fast-paced ride through a working-class estate.

Through their eloquent voices we are made to listen. Supported by the Pleasance’s Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund.

With the TUTU men, laughter becomes poetic, theatre emerges on stage and things come to life. Successively classical, contemporary, ballroom or acrobatic, TUTU is versatile, irreverent, fun and always artistic – showing dance in all its glory.

Quebec’s award-winning Cirque Éloize transform the classic film Metropolis into a virtuosic spectacle for the whole family. As artists rebel, their grey cityscape is replaced by humour, poetry and brilliant colour, and fantasy defies reality.

‘Extraordinary’ (New York Post).

Climate change is massive. Bees aren’t. Our fuzzy little friends need our help and so we’re launching a political party disguised as a party party disguised as a show. Awardwinning theatre company, ThisEgg, invites you to save the world – one bee at a time.

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summerhall.co.uk

Orkestra Del Sol

Nothing

Last Resort

No Show

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Teater V

2Magpies Theatre

Ellie Dubois

Summerhall, The Dissection Room, 0131 560 1581, 12 Aug, 7pm, £12.

Summerhall, Main Hall, 0131 560 1581, 2–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21 & 22), 9.50am, £10 (£8). Preview £7.

Summerhall, The Machine Shop, 0131 560 1581, 2–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), noon; 4 & 5, 11 & 12, 18 & 19, 25 & 26 Aug, also 6.30pm, £10. Preview £8.

Summerhall, Old Lab, 0131 560 1581, 2–27 Aug (not 10, 21), 4.15pm, £12/£10.

Preview £6.

Edinburgh’s favourite purveyors of sousaphone-fuelled brassy honkstep are hanging up their horns, so catch them one last time.

One of the UK’s most exciting, inventive and theatrical live acts.

‘There is no way you cannot dance to Orkestra del Sol.’ (Herald)

UK premiere for the acclaimed Danish theatre version of Janne Teller’s award-winning novel. When 13-year-old Pierre-Anthon declares that there is no meaning to life, his classmates’ determination to prove him wrong spirals into a scary group dynamic of competitive sacrifice.

Menacing fiction made entirely of unimaginable fact, from the creators of The Litvinenko Project and Ventoux. This alternative future for Guantanamo Bay is performed in a secret Summerhall enclave. Sit in a deckchair and feel the sand between your toes.

All-female circus from director Ellie Dubois, last seen at Summerhall with Ringside in 2015. Go behind the flawless smiles and perfect execution of circus to reveal the wobbles, the pain, and the real cost of aiming for perfection. For anyone who has tried, failed and failed better.

zoofestival.co.uk

© Rhys Cozens

Anyone’s Guess How We Got Here

One Step Before the Fall

Barrel Organ

© Sodium

Folk

Nocturnes imitating the dog

Spitfire Company & Damúza

National Dance Company Wales

ZOO, 0131 662 6892, 13–28 Aug, 12.45pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Preview £7.

ZOO Southside, 0131 662 6892, 16–24 Aug (not 18 & 19, 23), 5pm, £14 (£12).

ZOO Southside, 0131 662 6892, 20–25 Aug (not 21, 24), 3.30pm, £12 (£10).

ZOO, 0131 662 6892, 21–26 Aug, 5pm. £14 (£12).

She’s standing in her childhood bedroom. Back for what she buried. Debt, eviction and what remains, long after you’ve paid it off. Commissioned by and developed at CPT, with support from Manchester Royal Exchange.

‘Theatrical knock-out’ (Times). In this award-winning show that has captivated audiences worldwide, dancer and singer fight in the boxing ring for their destiny. ‘Gut-wrenching tour-de-force’ (Herald). Part of Czech Showcase 2017.

National Dance Company Wales present the award-winning, dark, funny and enchanting Folk. ‘Finn knows how to choose a resonant image, and how to orchestrate emotions.’ (Guardian).

Internationally acclaimed imitating the dog premiere their latest work.

A multimedia twist on a 50s spy thriller, a mixture of le Carré and Kafka, digitally remixed for the post truth generation. Part of the British Council Showcase 2017.

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Fringe:theatre ARAB ARTS FOCUS

PIECE PROCESS From ancient storytelling to tales of modern-day conflict, the Arab Arts Focus showcase shines a dramatic new light upon Middle Eastern life.

Mark Fisher travelled to Germany and met the creative minds behind some daring new work

T

he refugee crisis has produced tales of knife-edge escape, but how many journeys have been made more terrifying by the smuggling of a puppet? That’s what Rafat Alzakout had to contend with when he fled Syria for Beirut in 2011. The director’s voyage was made extra perilous by his unusual contraband: a satirical figure of President Bashar al-Assad. One of the props for a series of 40 short films he’d made in Damascus, it did for the Assad regime what Spitting Image had done for Thatcher (look up ‘Massasit Matti’ on YouTube to see them).

Featuring a flat-faced finger puppet with a shark-fin nose and no mouth to speak of, it brought a knockabout Punch-and-Judy humour to an otherwise unbearable political situation. The films had the impudence to call Assad by his nickname, Beeshu (‘top bully’), and portrayed him as feeble and friendless.

If the security services had discovered Alzakout with that in his luggage, he’d have been in serious trouble. ‘It was so dangerous,’ he says, now safely resident in Germany. ‘Some of our artist friends were tortured to death. I was afraid to escape with the puppets. I left, firstly, to be safe and, secondly, to tell people the story from my side, as a Syrian citizen.’

We’re talking in Mülheim, near Düsseldorf, where Theater an der Ruhr is in the middle of a festival featuring performance from all sides of the Mediterranean. Alzakout is here with his Berlin-based expat company, Collective Ma’louba, to stage an open rehearsal of Your Love Is Fire by playwright Mudar Alhaggi. The piece tackles the way war gets under everyone’s skin and fractures domestic relationships, even for those who have not taken sides in the conflict.

At this year’s Fringe, the full production is part of a ten-show Arab Arts Focus, taking place at Summerhall, New Town Theatre and Dance Base.

‘All of the shows give an insight into a part of the Arab world we need to be aware of,’ says Cairo-based programmer Ahmed El Attar who whittled down the season from 120 applications.

‘I told the selection committee that we weren’t going to work geographically or by theme; we’re just going to choose the best work we’ve seen.’

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ARAB ARTS FOCUS Fringe:theatre

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Fringe:THEATRE ARAB ARTS FOCUS

middle eastern promise Away from the Arab Arts Focus, the region influences other intriguing works across the Fringe and International festivals

Tales of justice and existence: Your Love Is Fire; (previous page) The Elephant, Your Majesty!

The lineup criss-crosses the region, platforming everything from Egyptian dance to a multinational cabaret, and embracing Arab artists living all over the world. In The Elephant, Your Majesty!, teenage refugees from Syria and Lebanon draw on the Arab storytelling tradition for an allegory about justice. In Jogging, Hanan Al-Haj, a Lebanese woman in her 50s, relates her experiences as a runner pounding the streets of Beirut. And in The Second Copy: 2045, Moroccan visual artist and choreographer Youness Atbane steps into the future to consider contemporary art.

‘The roots of Middle Eastern theatre come from ritual dance and traditional storytelling,’ says Rolf Hemke, a specialist in Arab theatre, who, as well as programming the Mediterranean festival in Mülheim, was on the selection panel for the Edinburgh showcase. ‘Theatre in the Gulf is very different to the theatre in North Africa, which shows substantial differences to theatre in Syria or Palestine. If you know where to look, you find stunning artists and wonderful creativity.’

For audiences in Scotland, there are two focuses of interest. First, relatively little Arabic theatre has been seen in the West, so the season is an artistic primer. Second, there has been so much unrest in the seven years since the Arab Spring that the programme can’t help but provide a political insight. ‘All the shows have politics in them but they are also artistically solid,’ says El Attar.

For many artists, responding to the trauma of war is a necessity not a matter of choice.

Would Alzakout, for example, prefer to be the kind of artist who painted pretty landscapes, free of political concerns? ‘I don’t have that luxury,’ he says. ‘We have to talk about the situation.’

‘For Syrian and Lebanese artists, the Syrian crisis is the biggest issue and the biggest theme they are treating,’ adds Hemke. ‘Every show you see from the Levant is dealing with

this.’ They are not, however, always dealing with it in obvious ways. In the case of Your Love Is Fire, refugee playwright Mudar Alhaggi pictures a soldier on 24-hour leave with his girlfriend and her flatmate, spending time at home, where the act of waiting – for peace, for resolution, for a return to normal – is as psychologically damaging as the war itself.

‘We’re trying to tell the story from a different side,’ says Alzakout. ‘It’s a huge story of violence and a human fight, not only about power but about human existence, with brothers killing each other. We started eating each other because we don’t have any solution or any hope. The idea of Your Love Is Fire comes from here, about how you can talk after all this silence.’

It’s a play that deliberately tests the limits of its own naturalistic form, halting the drama, weaving stories within stories and allowing the action to be disrupted by a despairing dramatist. ‘The characters are trying to make their life as normal as they can,’ says Alzakout.

‘But all of the circumstances make them tired and frustrated. Nothing in the text is clear and there’s a lot of ambiguity. Everything is in the zone between life and death, like the Syrian people waiting to be at peace.’

The Elephant, Your Majesty!, New Town Theatre, George Street, 0131 558 9005, 9–17 Aug (not 11 & 12), 1.50pm, £12 (£10).

Jogging, Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 15–23 Aug, 11.50am, £12 (£10).

The Second Copy: 2045, Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 10.15am, £12 (£10). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £8.

Your Love Is Fire, Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 11.30am, £12 (£10). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £8.

RHINOCEROS One of three plays in the EIF with Zinnie Harris’ name attached, this translation of Ionesco’s absurdist classic puts together a joint Scottish and Turkish cast. Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street, 0131 473 2000, 3–12 Aug (not 7), 7.30pm; 8, 10, 12 Aug, 2.30pm, £10–£26.

BORDERS Fringe First-winning Henry Naylor’s latest is about a Syrian refugee, six-months pregnant and on the cusp of drowning.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, Bristo Square, 0131 622 6552, 5–28 Aug (not 16), 4.30pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£10.50–£11.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

FOREIGN RADICAL This award-winning interactive Canadian show gets the audience to judge on racial profiling and cybersecurity in Farsi, Arabic and English. Canada Hub @ King’s Hall, South Clerk Street, 0131 560 1581, 4–27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 1pm, £10 (£8). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £5–£8.

THE SKY IS SAFE Matthew Zajac, Ben Harrison and Nihad Al Turk join forces for a play about a privileged Westerner and a Syrian refugee.

Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 4–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 7.45pm, £15 (£10). Preview 2 Aug, £8.

REQUIEM FOR ALEPPO One-off performance of Arabic poetry and choral music, featuring 12 dancers and true-life stories of people from the devastated Syrian city. Pleasance at EICC, Morrison Street, 0131 556 6550, 16 Aug, 7.30pm, £15–£30 (£10–£25).

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LIVE

TRAINSPOTTING

‘A BIG FAT HIT. JUST DON’T SIT NEAR THE TOILET’ NME

‘THE BEST WAY TO EXPERIENCE TRAINSPOTTING’ WARNING:

Irvine Welsh

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Museum After Hours Friday Fringe Takeover

2014

2015

National Museums Scotland Scottish Charity, No. SC011130

Experience a taste of the Fringe with handpicked performers, music, comedy and more

Friday 11, 18 & 25 August 19:30–22:30 £18/£16 Over 18s only Includes admission to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites #NMSAfterHours www.nms.ac.uk/afterhours

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Photo: jeffrey delannoy

Irvine Welsh fringe:theatre

‘It’s like New York but without the pricks’ As Irvine Welsh brings two stage productions to this year’s Fringe, we take a mnemonic look at the man who reshaped the landscape of 90s Scottish literature and continues to churn out work at a phenomenal rate list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 97

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Fringe:theatre Irvine Welsh

Putting the fun into dysfunction: Irvine Welsh’s darkly comic pop-opera, Creatives

I

ndependence

A prominent Yes campaigner in 2014, Irvine Welsh described the vote against independence as a ‘glorious failure which might also be [Scotland’s] finest hour’. He remains hopeful that a second vote would produce a different result.

R

obin Robertson

Despite believing that it would sell very few copies, the editorial director of Secker & Warburg took a chance on Trainspotting when it was recommended to him by Duncan McLean. Robertson’s role in helping launch the careers of Welsh, Alan Warner, AL Kennedy, Janice Galloway and James Kelman led to him being dubbed ‘the godfather of Scottish literature’.

V

iolence

It’s impossible to discuss Welsh’s fictional universe without mentioning the brutal acts perpetrated within his books.

‘I think everybody is violent’, he told The Herald in early 2016 while promoting his Begbie spin-off, The Blade Artist. ‘We all basically have the fight / flight mechanism.’

I

mperialistic

How he described the Standard English he initially tried to write in for his early fiction, but ditched due to its lack of ‘funk or soul’.

N

ew York

Now residing mainly in Chicago, he has compared the Windy City rather favourably to the Big Apple: ‘it’s like New York but without the pricks’.

E

dinburgh

While he makes regular appearances at the Book Festival, Welsh’s presence in the capital during the month of August has

generally been limited to stage adaptations of his debut novel, Trainspotting. And sure enough, there’s another production this year, being laid on at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. The play has had sell-out runs at the last two Fringes and comes with the Irvine stamp of approval: ‘I was shocked; and I wrote the fucking thing.’

W

ork

In a 2015 interview with The Telegraph, Welsh described himself as the ‘worst employee in the world’ who would ‘cheat and steal time and resources from my employer, although I’ll con everybody into believing I’m essential to the operation.’

E

dinburgh Fringe 2017

So, what does he have in store for us at this Fringe? He’s collaborated with Don De Grazia on Creatives, a ‘dark, comic pop-opera’ about a dysfunctional songwriting class in Chicago, and Performers (scripted alongside Dean Cavanagh with whom he previously worked on 2007 Channel 4 drama, Wedding Belles), ‘a black comedy’ which focuses on 1960s swinging London. Directed

by Nick ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ Moran, it’s billed as ‘a cross between Waiting for Godot and The Italian Job’.

L

eith

It’s in his books, it’s where he was born and it’s where he heads for when he returns to Edinburgh. Little wonder his face was part of the I Love Leith banner campaign on Leith Walk in 2009.

S

cotland

If Welsh’s relationship to his home city could be described as ‘complicated’, his attitudes towards his birth nation are even more entangled. Take this quote from Trainspotting’s Renton: ‘It’s shite being

Scottish! We’re the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilisation. Some people hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonised by wankers. It’s a shite state of affairs to be in . . . and all the fresh air in the world won’t make any fucking difference!’

Well, that’s one point of view. In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, though, Welsh’s opinion perhaps reflects the altered perspective he has on Scotland and Scottishness given that he spends most of his time these days in the US. ‘There’s just something really cool about it; I can’t put my finger on it. When you travel the world, people are really interested in your accent and sometimes they can’t quite place it or it becomes a great conversation piece.’

H

ibs

While everyone was telling him that 2016 was a bleak year due to Brexit, Trump and all those celebrity deaths, Welsh insisted that he’ll always look back on it fondly given that his beloved Hibs won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years.

Unsurprisingly, he’s hinted at using the occasion in a future book.

Creatives, Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–28 Aug (not 15, 22), 4pm, £11–£14.50 (£9– £13.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.

Performers, Assembly Rooms, George Street, 0131 623 3030, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 4.45pm, £14–£15 (£12–£13).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £10.

Trainspotting Live, EICC, Morrison Street, 0131 519 4150, 4–27 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 6pm, 7.45pm, £17.50–£22.50.

Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £10–£15.

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VENUE 26

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME 2017

A venue like no other...

Summerhall hosted 10 Fringe First winners in 2016.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW - don’t miss out festival17.summerhall.co.uk

2 Aug - 27 Aug Box Office

0131 560 1581 Photographer - "© SANAE MATSUZAKI"

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highlights art

other highlights From the positively bulging Fringe programme, we pick a sprinkling of attractions including modern tap dancers, a celebrity impressionist, and correspondence to a charming man

CHARLOTTE CHURCH’S LATE NIGHT POP DUNGEON

VELOCITY: RISING If Irish dancing only makes you think of Riverdance, then think again, as tap world champ David Geaney and Guinness World Record holder James Devine propel their nation’s dance culture into the 21st century.

Assembly George Square Studios, George Square, 0131 623 3030, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6.35pm, £14–£15 (£13– £14). Previews 2–4 Aug, £10.

Photo: CARYS ELERI

STEEN RASKOPOULOS The one-man sketch machine returns with The Coolest Kid in Competitive Chess, surely one of the top titles in town. Underbelly, Cowgate, 03333 444167, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 8pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£10.50–£11.50).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £7.

The Welsh singing star has long since ditched her albatross-around-theneck ‘voice of an angel’ mantel to present this late-night cult success where she and her band bash out some unexpected cover versions.

Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 25 & 26 Aug, 10pm, £20.

MAVIS SPARKLE M6 Theatre’s delightful new production features a feather duster, cuckoo clock, mop and hedgehog called Spike as little Mavis attempts to reach for the stars. Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–20 Aug, 11am, £7.50–£9.50 (£6.50– £9). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

LETTERS TO MORRISSEY Two years ago Gary McNair entertained us with tales of gambling, dying, 1966 and all that, and now he’s charming all and sundry with a reflection on how life has

Photo: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

FERN BRADY After last year’s total triumph with Male Comedienne, the rising Scottish stand-up star is back with Suffer, Fools! But not gladly, obviously. The Stand II, North St Andrew Street, 0131 558 9005, 4–27 Aug (not 14 & 15), 12.05pm, £10 (£9). Preview 2 Aug, £9 (£8).

Letters to Morri ssey

changed since 1997 via the titular correspondence. Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 0131 228 1404, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), various times, £19.50 (£9.50–£14.50). Preview 3 Aug, 11am, £13 (£9).

PICTISH TRAIL & FRIENDS Seven glorious hours of intelligent balladeering from the Eigg-based Johnny Lynch followed by guest DJs. Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 24 Aug, 8pm, £14.

JOSEPH MORPURGO OK, to be blunt, he should have won the Edinburgh Comedy Award two years ago, but here’s a chance for the judges to make amends.

Hammerhead is the Austentatious guy’s latest multimedia hit. Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 8pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

JANE DOE Sure to be a Fringe talking point, this verbatim and interactive play from New Zealand reflects on rape culture and features audiences reading from trial transcripts. Assembly George Square Studios, George Square, 0131 623 3030, 5–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 3pm, £11–£12 (£9–£10). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £9.

5 SOLDIERS

Summerhall stretches their wings to base Rosie Kay Dance Company’s five-star 5 Soldiers in an actual army reserve centre. Hepburn House Army Reserve Centre, East Claremont Street, 0131 560 1581, 11–26 Aug (not 14 & 15, 21 & 22), 8.30pm, £12 (£10).

Fern Brady

AHIR SHAH If passionate, intelligent and fiercely funny political stand-up is your bag, then Ahir Shah is your go-to guy. Hot on the heels of Distant and Machines comes Control. He likes his one-word titles does our Ahir. Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, Blair Street, 0131 247 4704, 3–27 Aug, 2pm, free. list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 101

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other highlights THE B*EASTS Monica Dolan (TV’s W1A and Witness for the Prosecution) writes and stars in this dark tale about the sexualisation of children and the lengths to which one mother will go to give her daughter what she wants. Underbelly, Cowgate, 03333 444167, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50.

Camille O’Sullivan

JAN RAVENS The excellent impressionist makes her Fringe debut with Difficult Woman, as she gets her mimic on with hilarious

BARRIE CRIMMINS The likes of Judd Apatow and Louis CK both point to this guy’s influence on them, so best get along and see what this angry and committed standup has to say about our mad world.

The Stand, York Place, 0131 558 9005, 15–27 Aug, 9.40pm, £12 (£11).

SARA PASCOE Another comic who might be in the frame for awards and stuff.

LadsLadsLads is the result of Pascoe’s adventures on a (metaphorical but also quite possibly literal) year-long one-woman stag do.

Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 7pm, £10–£13.50 (£9–£12.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

takes on public figures du jour such as our PM (whether she will still be in office come 2 August is anyone’s guess though. Gilded Balloon Teviot, Bristo Square, 0131 622 6552, 5–27 Aug (not 16), 7pm, £12–£14 (£10– £13). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

HOW TO BE A KID

CAMILLE O’SULLIVAN Edinburgh’s queen of song is partly reflecting on the musical greats we’ve lost in recent times. David Bowie and Leonard Cohen get the classy Camille treatment. Underbelly’s Circus Hub, Middle Meadow Walk, 03333 444167, 6–26 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 7.45pm, £19–£21 (£18–£20). Previews 4 & 5 Aug, £13.

GOSSIP Lenka Vagnerova’s astonishing Czech dance troupe explore rumours, misinformation and general tittle-tattle in their thrilling ‘dance huddle’. ZOO Southside, Nicolson Street, 0131 662 6892, 4–15 Aug (not 9), 8.30pm, £14 (£12).

Home

HOME Frozen Light deliver another show devised specifically for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities as they immerse the gathering in a tale of unexpected friendship. Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 21–28 Aug (not 25), 10.30am, £12.50.

FLEABAG The comic play that inspired the TV show is back being a play as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s multi-award winning piece features Maddie Rice (member of sketch team zazU) taking on this seminal modern role. Underbelly, George Square, 03333 444167, 21–27 Aug, 5.15pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

TIM KEY The 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner delivers a work-in-progress show which will almost certainly be more rounded and complete than

Photo: jma photography

The Paines Plough Roundabout is home to several exciting shows, not least this tale of 12-year-old Molly who for too long has had to be the adult in her household. But now things are slowly getting back to normality, is she even capable of being a child anymore? Roundabout @ Summerhall, 0131 560 1581, 5–20 Aug (not 8, 15), 10.45am, £7–£10 (£5–£8). Preview 4 Aug, £5.

most folks’ final drafts. And funnier, too. But will he be bringing a bed or bath or some other cumbersome furnishing on stage this time?

Pleasance Dome, Bristo Square, 0131 556 6550, 14–27 Aug, 11pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

FRANKIE VAH Set deep in the heart of the Thatcher years (she knew how to keep a nation in the grip of endless austerity), Luke Wright’s long-form verse-play tackles love, politics and stardom with a pinch of musical accompaniment from Art Brut’s Ian Catskilkin. Underbelly, Cowgate, 03333 444167, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 9.20pm, £12.50–£14.50 (£11.50–£13.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50.

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3 CENTURIES. 1 GOAL. A GLORIOUS TALE OF STRUGGLE AND SWEAT

OFFSIDE

by Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish +++++ ++++ ++++ ++++ Edinburgh Guide

Morning Star

Presents the UK Premiere of

My Real Life

BY EOIN COLFER

STARRING DON WYCHERLY & DIRECTED BY BEN BARNES A new play by Herald Angel winner Eoin Colfer, starring Don Wycherley AKA Father Cyril MacDuff in Father Ted!

“Enthralling” - Iri rish sh Exa xami mine nerr

Supported by culture ireland

20:00

03 - 27 AUG (Not 14 or 21)

AllEdinburghTheat

How to Act Written and directed by Graham Eatough

Award-winning theatre-maker Graham Eatough returns to the Festival with a playful and provocative two-hander about art, truth and ethics.

National Theatre of Scotland is Core funded by the Scottish Government

Previews: 2 & 3 August 1.10pm £13 (£12) 4–6, 8–13, 15–20, 22–27 August 1.10pm £15 (£13) Summerhall (Venue 26) summerhall.co.uk / 0131 560 1581 edfringe.com / 0131 226 0000 nationaltheatrescotland.com The National Theatre of Scotland reserves the right to alter casts, performances, seating or ticket arrangements and latecomers may not be admitted. National Theatre of Scotland, a company limited by guarantee and registered in Scotland (SC234270) is a registered Scottish charity (SC033377).

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international EDINB INTERNATUIROGH FESTIVALNAL 4–28 AUG

Photo: RAHI REZvANI

NEDERLANDS DANS THEATER

Choreographer Mats Ek dubbed NDT as a ‘mini UN’, and this global perspective is once again on show as the company heads to Edinburgh for another world-class outing. Artistic director Paul Lightfoot (English) and artistic advisor Sol León (Spanish) claim ownership of two of the three pieces on show here. ‘Shoot the Moon’, with its revolving set and Philip Glass soundtrack, captures the love lives of three couples, while ‘Stop-Motion’ paints a moving picture of loss accompanied by the intensely beautiful music of Max Richter.

The performance’s middle section is ‘The missing door’, a nearLynchian nightmare choreographed by Gabriela Carrizo which zeroes in on a dying man’s final thoughts. n Nederlands Dans Theater, Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place, 0131 473 2000, 21–23 Aug, 7.30pm, £11–£35.

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brought to you by

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International ALAN AYCKBOURN

DIVIDE AND CONQUER Alan Ayckbourn is not so much a prolific playwright as a theatrical institution. Mark Fisher met with him in Scarborough to talk about his innovative new work and ask why he was finally happy to pass on the directorial mantle

W

hen a man has written 82 plays, you could forgive him for treading old ground. Alan Ayckbourn is just such a man, but there’s something about him (78 years old and semi-retired yet knocking out at least one play a year and directing another) that means he’s always moving on. ‘I am anxious not to repeat myself,’ he says.

‘People say “does it get easier to write?”, and it does in a sense because you get a facility; but equally as difficult is you say “oh my God, I’ve done that”!’

The urge to reinvent himself is pathological. It’s why he wrote a farce in which a single stage represented all floors of a three-storey house (Taking Steps). It explains how he came to write two plays of exactly the same length simultaneously performed by one cast legging it between adjacent theatres (House and Garden). And it’s the reason he wrote one play with 16 variations subject to an onstage toss of a coin (Intimate Exchanges).

The habit continues. Premiering at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre this September is A Brief History of Women in which characters are visible in four rooms but can be heard only when the lead player is present.

Ayckbourn calls him ‘Open-Mic Man’. After a lifetime of innovation, does he worry about getting set in his ways?

‘It is a fear but one tries to keep fresh. If you run a theatre for as many years as I did, people get out of the habit of coming, so you’ve got to present them with something where they say “hello! That I’ve got to see”.’

Even by those own adventurous standards, The Divide, his Edinburgh International Festival debut, is an unlikely proposition. Fearing Ayckbourn the writer and Ayckbourn the director had fused into a creature too confident in his own abilities, he chose to write a piece that would be beyond his directorial range. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a play at all, more an expansive prose experiment somewhere between a diary and a scrapbook.

‘I set myself into freefall,’ he says, describing a fragmented collage of fictional government memos, verbatim reports and children’s hand-written essays. ‘I wrote something I knew was going to be virtually impossible for me

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Photo: ANDREW HIGGINS

ALAN AYCKBOURN International

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International ALAN AYCKBOURN

PhotoS: SCARBOROUGH THEATRE TRUST

e: Scarborough far n, far (top) Ayckbour meo left, acts in Ro & Juliet, 1954; first appears in his re play, The Squa ) Cat, 1959; (below directs Sisterly Feelings, 1979

to direct. Budget-wise it was too big, logistically it was impossible: bottomless ponds, whole villages, waterfalls, caves . . . It was like a novel.’

When this curious five-part hybrid had a one-off public reading in 2015, it took nine hours and caused all the meal breaks to be delayed.

The audience lapped it up. ‘It was an extraordinary experience. I said then, “I guess this is the one-and-only time you are going to hear this in its entirety, so make the most of it, folks”.’

We’re sitting in the back garden of his house, a converted Georgian school perched on the hillside overlooking Scarborough’s South Bay. If ever there was a playwright you’d expect to find in such a pleasant English idyll, it is Alan Ayckbourn. Taking cover from the afternoon sun beneath a parasol, he’s a little stiff since having a stroke in 2006 and is awaiting the arrival of his osteopath to have a go at a back pain. In every other respect, he is sharp and lucid, genial, quick to laugh and selfdeprecating, a man still restlessly in search of the next theatrical kick.

In the garden below us, between the bushes and the pond, is the wendy house where, since the late 1980s, he has written his plays with only a cat for company. Which isn’t to say he’s spent very much time in there.

Eighty-two plays or not, Ayckbourn is a notoriously fast writer. ‘Plays brew in my head for anything up to a year and then I just have to burst out. I start and they’re usually written within a fortnight. That is getting all the ideas out in some semblance of an order. Then maybe a week or two revising it.’ He says it took him a long time to write The Divide, it being 80,000 words and all (‘it seemed to go on forever’), but when pressed, it turns out ‘a long time’ means a whole ‘month or two’. Ayckbourn is not a man to waste time.

Now it’s the job of director Annabel Bolton to make sense of The Divide, a task she was eager to take on from the moment she joined the audience at that first reading. ‘She keeps mentioning things like “oh, we’ve got a choir”,’ says Ayckbourn, both alarmed and intrigued about the first of his plays he has not directed since the late 1950s.

Performed in two three-hour sittings, The Divide is set in a science-fiction future where, because of an illness fatal in men, the two sexes have been compelled to live independently of each other. The all-male society of the north has kept its distance from the all-female population of the south and, as a result, reproduction occurs wholly by artificial insemination. Homosexuality has become mainstream. A woman who has lived through it all must try to define the new normal.

‘The norm is a same-sex relationship,’ says Ayckbourn. ‘So the abnorm then becomes heterosexuality. There are a lot of angry colonels writing to the papers, saying “what’s wrong with being two men together? How disgraceful to introduce women into this wonderful club!

Women are a perversion and a distraction”. I just wanted to change all the norms.’

As well as the formal innovation, The Divide shares another Ayckbourn characteristic with its focus on women. ‘There are two reasons for that.

One was that I was brought up in a single-parent family with a mother who gave me a somewhat biased slant on the world from the woman’s point of view. Most of her friends were women and I spent my formative years listening to women talking. The second is when I started writing for the theatre, we were running a company up here and it was a 50-50 split, a genuinely egalitarian company.’

It’s an approach he maintained in The Divide. ‘I strictly limited myself to the women’s side of the divide because it was more interesting. I imagined the other side in little glimpses as male mayhem, with a lot of violence in the streets.’

I leave him pondering how he’ll feel to see The Divide in the hands of another director. ‘It’ll be strange,’ he admits. ‘It’s weird enough going to see a second production of a play of mine. With this one, I’ve no idea how it is going to look or sound. I can’t wait to see it, but I’m a very anxious author.’

‘Plays brew in my head then just burst out’

The Divide, King’s Theatre, Leven Street, 0131 473 2000, 8–20 Aug (not 10, 14), various times, £10–£32.

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OPERA International

‘I became sickened by the cheapness of the music’ As the EIF prepares for a deluge of classic operas, we wonder how Verdi, Mozart, Puccini and Monteverdi were received by those nasty critics way back when

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi

Composer: Giacomo Puccini

Opera: Macbeth

Opera: La bohème

Year of debut: 1847

Year of debut: 1896

What the critics said: ‘The young Italian maestro is more deeply imbued than we could have imagined with the spirit of Shakespeare,’ The Observer, 1847.

What the critics said: ‘After four or five performances I never wanted to hear Bohème again. In spite of its neatness, I became sickened by the cheapness and emptiness of the music,’ Benjamin Britten, 1951.

In his own words: ‘This tragedy is one of the greatest creations of the human spirit . . . if we can’t make something great out of it, let us at least try to do something out of the ordinary.’ n Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street, 18 & 19 Aug, 7.15pm, 20 Aug, 5pm, £20–£95.

In his own words: Puccini insisted that his success came from putting ‘great sorrows in little souls’. n Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street, 25, 27 Aug, 7.15pm, 26 Aug, 3pm, 8pm, £20–£95.

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

Opera: Don Giovanni

Opera: L’Orfeo / Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria / L’incoronazione di Poppea

Year of debut: 1787

Year of debut: 1607 / 1640 / 1642

What the critics said: ‘Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like,’ Prager Oberpostamtszeitung newspaper, 1787.

What the critics said: ‘Both poet and musician have depicted the inclinations of the heart so skilfully that it could not have been done better,’ the Mantuan court theologian and poet Cherubino Ferrari on L’Orfeo, 1607.

In his own words: ‘Some of the notes fell under the desk, but the overture went capitally on the whole’: opening night was slightly chaotic given that Mozart was still tweaking hours before the audience took their seats.

In his own words: ‘The end of all good music is to affect the soul.’ n Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 14 & 15, 17 Aug, 7pm, £13–£47.

n Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street, 9, 11 & 12 Aug, 7pm, £20–£95.

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International JOSHUA BELL & ANOUSHKA SHANKAR

Old pals Anoushka Shankar and Joshua Bell first performed together in 2007. This August, they both land in Edinburgh for some very special concerts. Here, we ask them about violins, sitars and their fantasy dinner party

What are your first musical memories?

Joshua Bell: I can hardly remember NOT playing

music. My first musical memories are of my mother playing the piano when I was growing up. At the age of three I started collecting elastic bands and stretching them across my dresser drawers to make different pitches, attempting to play the melodies I heard. My parents subsequently got me a proper instrument, and my life as a violinist began.

Anoushka Shankar: Dancing around the living room with my mum to my dad’s music and going to loads of Indian dance and music concerts.

You’re planning a fantasy dinner party and can invite three musicians (alive or dead): who would they be?

JB: I guess I’d go for the dead ones if I had the chance!

One of my initial choices would be Beethoven, but since this is a dinner party, he might not make for great dinner conversation if he’s in a mood. Instead I might invite Robert Schumann, as he’s one of my favourite composers, and judging from his writings as a music critic, he would have so many interesting things to say about the other great musicians of his day. Perhaps Bach could come along (Schumann would love that too), and maybe I could invite Albert Einstein for variety: he did love music and played the violin. My dining-room table could also fit Paganini (I want to hear him play!), Mozart, Schubert and Brahms.

Photo: JAMIE-JAMES MEDINA

‘I bet I could kick his ass if we swapped instruments’

AS: Björk because I just love her and have always

wished to know her. Patti Smith, who is one of the most inspiring female artists of our time. My sister Norah Jones would round off the coven of women I’d have there because we always have a good laugh together.

If you hadn’t been a professional musician, what would you have been?

JB: I’ve always loved science, particularly physics,

hence the Einstein reference earlier. Any area of scientific research would surely be satisfying.

However, I do feel that I found my calling in music, and I can’t imagine any other profession (if you can call it that: it’s more a way of life) that would suit all the aspects of my personality in such a complete way.

I am extremely lucky.

AS: Probably a writer of some kind. I like the direct quality of expression as opposed to the more abstract expression of instrumental music.

There’s great footage of you playing together at Switzerland’s Verbier Festival in 2007. What do you remember about that show?

JB: I loved playing with Anoushka. She is a fabulous

musician and wonderful person. That concert in Verbier was both frightening and thrilling. The music we played was not exactly in my comfort zone, but I love NOT being in my comfort zone! I learn a lot

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JOSHUA BELL & ANOUSHKA SHANKAR International

from musicians that come from different musical backgrounds. Getting to play with Anoushka (and also being coached by her legendary father Ravi Shankar) was an amazing experience.

AS: That was my first time playing at or even being at Verbier, so I have really beautiful memories of that atmosphere. Performing with Josh was incredible because we’d been friends for years before that and I had always wanted to perform with him. Furthermore, getting to perform my father’s piece from India for the first time was incredible too. So it felt like many elements coming together to create a really special experience.

When did you first meet and then play music together?

JB: I met Anoushka and her family a decade and a

half ago through some mutual friends. We got along really well and immediately started talking about working together. Her father then wrote us a piece to play together, and we also performed a piece that Ravi had played with Yehudi Menuhin many years ago. I have beautiful memories of visiting their home in California and spending the day rehearsing with Anoushka and her dad, and eating the best Indian food of my life which was cooked by her mother!

AS: I first came across Josh on the soundtrack to The Red Violin and was totally blown away by his playing; from there I went back and began to discover more of

his music. We shared the same management company at the time and after he came to see my show in 2000 we continued to visit each other’s shows, predominantly in New York, and then we became friends from there.

What are your skills on each other’s instruments?

JB: Not only would I be unable to play a note on the

sitar, I’m not even sure I’m flexible enough to sit on the floor and hold the instrument properly!

AS: I bet I could kick his ass if we swapped instruments!

Anoushka Shankar, Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 16 Aug, 7.30pm, £14–£34.

Joshua Bell & Dénes Várjon, Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street, 21 Aug, 11am, £9–£32.50.

Joshua Bell Plays Bruch, Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 24 Aug, 8pm, £13–£47.

Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis & Dénes Várjon, Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street, 26 Aug, 11am, £9–£32.50.

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International Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzales

Suite dreams An old hotel room with a notorious history got Jarvis Cocker thinking about Hollywood myths and fantasy. He sat Arusa Qureshi down for a spine-tingling tale of illusion, excess and tragedy

H

ave you ever wondered about the history of a hotel room?

What of the characters that inhabited the four walls you find yourself in and the conversations which took place over the minibar? For Jarvis Cocker and Chilly Gonzales, these questions lie at the heart of Room 29, an elaborate album and stage show in which the pair invite you to join them in their ruminations on a notorious Hollywood hotel room’s past.

‘I stayed in the Chateau Marmont when Pulp did some concerts about five years ago and I just randomly got upgraded to room 29, which has a baby grand piano in it,’ Cocker recalls. ‘Seeing the piano there made me think about all those stories and all that history. That piano has seen all of it, so wouldn’t it be great to get the piano to tell you its story?’

This 16-track song-cycle album discloses many illusions of Hollywood through vignettes of shifty characters and superstars like Howard Hughes and Jean Harlow.

One song, ‘Bombshell’, tells the story of Harlow’s honeymoon in room 29 with second husband Paul Bern. Whether for mental or physical reasons, Bern was unable to consummate the marriage and was supposedly so mortified by the situation that he killed himself about a month later.

‘It’s a sad story but what was interesting is the idea that Hollywood created characters like Jean Harlow, who people would see in the cinema and fantasise about. Paul Bern had what maybe all the other guys in America would have liked but he just got too close to the screen, as if it was better to leave things in that fantasy world than have them in the real world.’

This disparity between reality and fantasy is a familiar area for Cocker, whose wry lyrical musings have previously included references to the screen’s power and how we’re affected by what we consume. But rather than merely warning us of the dangers within celebrity culture, Room 29 exposes the attraction of such a world, where life is represented with allure and extravagance.

‘One of the central myths of our culture is that getting famous could solve all your problems,’ Cocker notes. ‘It’s like going to heaven early. The Chateau Marmont opened in 1929 and that’s coincidentally around the same time that sound came to pictures.

What interested us in the hotel was that this was maybe the start of the pop culture we’re still living in.’

The parallels between classic Hollywood glamour and contemporary celebrity culture are easy to recognise. But Cocker and Gonzales were careful not to air any grievances relating to the internet and its power over modern-day consumption, instead choosing to focus on the silver screen’s early days. ‘Every single show or book you read nowadays somehow gets round to blaming the internet for what’s going wrong with humanity. And there’s probably some truth in that. But this was an attempt to go the other way, almost like trying to trace things back to the moment of the Big Bang: it’s an archeological dig in a way. But with music.’

For Cocker, there was no one better to join him on this journey than Gonzales, whose music features an air of old Hollywood akin to the Marmont’s atmosphere.

Their partnership allowed Cocker to depart from his usual way of

working, with Gonzales taking on all the musical duties and Cocker providing vocal melodies and lyrics. ‘I’d never really worked like that before on Pulp records or on my solo records. With this, I didn’t have a hand in the music at all which was interesting. We could practice in a room, just me stood by the side of the piano without a microphone and that was really nice. It made me perform in a different way.’

Despite the seemingly simple and reserved combination of voice and piano, Room 29 is anything but. Like the album itself, the stage show is a fully immersive experience, with clips from old Hollywood movies, film footage shot in the hotel, a bell boy, dancer, string quartet and more.

‘I get to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition by having a bed on stage,’ Cocker muses. ‘So if everything gets a bit too much, I can just go and have a lie down. The basic idea is that you’re checking in to the hotel room for this one night, joining in to see what the room can tell us.’

For both Cocker and Gonzales, this room and Chateau Marmont itself is representative of a life full of lavishness and excess.

But beneath the showbiz facade are stories full of sad truths and forgotten deviances, where reality collides with fantasy to reveal something dark and unexpected.

Room 29 is an invitation to temporarily escape into this world of wonder, all while remaining mindful of the illusory nature of perfection and idealism.

Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzales: Room 29, King’s Theatre, Leven Street, 0131 473 2000, 22–24 Aug, 8pm, £22–£40.

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Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzales International

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I fulfil my lifetime ambition to have a bed on stageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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International BLAK WHYTE GRAY

COLOUR BLIND Hip-hop show Blak Whyte Gray represents another watershed for the EIF dance programme. Kelly Apter speaks to Boy Blue co-founder Michael Asante about mood boards, making connections and that curious title

Photo: CARL FOX

T

here was a time, not so long ago, when it would have been unthinkable to open the Edinburgh International Festival programme and find a hip-hop dance show in there. The days of street corners and warehouses being the sole domain of breaking and popping may be behind us, but acceptance by the ‘establishment’ has taken over 40 years and is still a work in progress.

When Boy Blue Entertainment won an Olivier Award for its 2007 show, Pied Piper, the company carved its way into the mainstream with a successful UK tour. Ten years later, an invitation to the 2017 EIF with Blak Whyte Gray sends a clear message to the dance community: as Boy Blue co-founder Michael Asante puts it ‘hip hop cannot be ignored’.

Composer Asante and choreographer Kenrick Sandy set up Boy Blue in 2002, with the aim of creating hip-hop dance productions that elevated the artform to its rightful place. As co-artistic directors, both have fed equally into the work over the years; but when it came to Blak Whyte Gray, it was Asante who set the ball rolling.

Inspired by a conversation about his father’s African heritage and motivated by recent political events at home and abroad, Asante felt he had something important to say. ‘When we first started making the show, Kenrick said “Mike, this is something you’ve got the energy for; I can see it”. So he allowed me to run with it and really express how the vision would look. He likened it to a museum that he could walk through and look at. So I curated the museum and the exhibits, so to speak, which were a combination of music, ideas and sketches, and then created a mood board which we put in the rehearsal room for everyone to see.’

One of the first things that strikes you about the show is the name. Those deliberate misspellings are not for affect but to move us away from the idea of colour. ‘The colours are specifically written that way because they’re not meant to be colours per se, but personalities or individuals: someone could have those names,’ explains Asante. ‘One of the major things is the colour black and the notion of what it means. Black is always seen as darkness and death, so I wanted to flip that. I wanted us to look at black in a different way.’

Blak Whyte Gray went on to receive an Olivier Award nomination, overwhelming critical acclaim and, of course, that International Festival invitation. For Asante, however, all of that falls into the ‘nice to have’ rather than essential column. What he’s really looking for is our opinion.

‘We don’t do this for the awards or the applause,’ he insists. ‘We do it because we have something to say. Blak Whyte Gray received an Olivier nomination – and that’s great, it’s definitely an achievement – but the show’s intent is to connect, pure and simple. The beautiful thing about perspective is that your experience, the books you’ve read and the people you’ve met will all determine how you view the show. And that’s what I care about more than anything. I’ve made my statement and it’s in the piece; for the show to live, I now need yours.’

Blak Whyte Gray, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street, 0131 473 2000, 16–19 Aug, 7.30pm, 19 Aug, 2.30pm, £10–£26.

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#EDINTFEST

M EO W M EO W’s

L I T TL E M ERM A ID

‘SHE IS SENSATIONAL’

3–27 AUGUST BOOK NOW EIF.CO.UK 0131 473 2000 30

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FORGET THE LITTLE MERMAID YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW. MEOW MEOW’S SUBVERSIVE CABARET IS A FAIRYTALE GONE ROGUE.

An Edinburgh International Festival production of the original Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Festival production

Photo Andrew Gough | Charity No SC004694

THE TIMES

28/06/2017 12:52

A MODERN GIN BASED ON CLASSIC PRINCIPLES

T

ired of unbalanced gin flavour profiles, Ben, Josh and Alex set out to create a new recipe that paid homage to the core principles of traditional gin distillation.

A

fter years of distilling in their cocktail bar in Aberdeen, the team settled on a superbly balanced London dry style of gin but with a refined flavour.

P

orter’s gin combines the best of old and new – forward thinking distillation and respect for the classic flavour profile of gin results in a juniper body, with an exceptionally smooth mouthfeel and an unique citrus profile.

In order to celebrate the

Edinburgh Festival period, Porter’s are giving away one bottle of their premium gin for readers of The List.

To be in with a chance of winning, visit List.co.uk/offers

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AP

highlights international

other highlights As the EIF blows out those 70 candles, it lavishes us with fresh takes on Scandi fairytales, Spanish heroines, Greek tragedies and one-Irishman plays PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey MBE brings a ninepiece band along with her for this EIF debut. Inspired by her travels to Kosovo, Washington and Afghanistan, The Hope Six Demolition Project earned the Dorset-born act a Grammy nomination. Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place, 7 & 8 Aug, 8pm, £30–£48.

entire festival month. Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street, 23–27 Aug, 6pm, £10–£32. Preview 22 Aug, £10–£26.

Mitsuko Uchida Mozart, Schumann and Widmann are on the menu for this recital by the pianist who, earlier this year, won her second Grammy Award. Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 21 Aug, 8pm, £12–£39.

Soundtracked by Steve Reich’s minimalist epic ‘Music for 18 Musicians’, Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s 2001 work creates a dream space of capers, curtains and kinetic energy.

Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place, 25–27 Aug, 8pm, £11–£35.

Bryn Terfel Two major appearances from the great Welsh baritone: he’s Wotan in Wagner’s Die Walküre before being accompanied by Edinburgh-born pianist Malcolm Martineau to tackle the likes of Schubert and Schumann.

Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 6 Aug (Die Walküre), 5pm, £20–£60; 9 Aug (with Malcolm Martineau), 8pm, £20–£55.

Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid This Australian post-modern cabaret queen and charismatic performance artist also known as Melissa Madden Gray settles in for a residency at EIF

HQ to offer her own idiosyncratic perspective on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale.

The Hub, Castlehill, 5–27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 10.30pm; 12, 19, 26 Aug, 7.30pm, £15–£32. Previews 3 & 4 Aug, 10.30pm, £12–£26.

The Magnetic Fields To celebrate a half century on this planet, Stephin Merritt created a 50 Song Memoir which gets an airing over two nights, covering subjects as varied as cockroaches, cats, Judy Garland and jetpacks. King’s Theatre, Leven Street, 25 & 26 Aug, 8pm, £20–£32.

Photo: TIM MOROZZO

Photo: MATTHEW ALLEN

This Restless House Amid a busy International Fest for Zinnie Harris, her unflinching adaptation on Aeschylus’ Oresteia under the direction of Dominic Hill will prove to be a highlight across the

Yo, Carmen The acclaimed flamenco dancer and choreographer Maria Pagés presents her own take on Georges Bizet’s operatic heroine, dismantling the notion of her as simply a flawed femme fatale. Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place, 12 & 13 Aug, 8pm, £11–£35.

PJ Harvey

Photo: CHRISTIE GOODWIN

Photo: ANNE VAN AERSCHOT

Krapp’s Last Tape The go-to actor for anything Beckettshaped is Barry McGovern, and here he brings to vivid life this classic play of loneliness, memory, desire and the daily consumption of bananas.

Church Hill Theatre, Morningside Road, 6–27 Aug (not 10–13, 16, 22), 8pm; 19 & 20, 24, 26 & 27 Aug, 3pm, £25.

Previews 4 & 5 Aug, 8pm, £20.

Photo: MARIA MOCHNACZ

Rain

Virgin Money Fireworks Concert This traditional finale of the Edinburgh Festival season is never less than an explosive climax and the 2017 version will be no different as the sky is filled with both colour and the diverse sounds of Peter Maxwell Davies, Tchaikovsky and James MacMillan.

Ross Theatre, Princes Street Gardens, 28 Aug, 9pm, £15–£32.

This Restless House

For tickets call 0131 473 2000.

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jazz EDINBURGH JAZZ & BLU FESTIVAL ES 14–23 JUL

IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE

If your idea of a jazz festival means sitting around a smoky cellar stroking your chin and saying ‘nice’ while trying not to spill Campari over that new polo neck, then you’re probably a time traveller from the 1950s. Jazz festivals of the here and now effortlessly accommodate the likes of Ibibio Sound Machine (fronted by British-Nigerian vocalist Eno Williams) with their West African funk grooves, highlife guitar moves, ear-popping electro and sleek synths.

Their latest album, Uyai, translates, with very good reason, from the Nigerian as ‘beauty’. n Ibibio Sound Machine, West Princes Street Gardens Spiegeltent, 0131 473 2000, 14 Jul, 10pm, £16.50.

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KANDACE SPRINGS Jazz

Eyes on the prize Growing up on a diet of Ella, Billie and Nina, Kandace Springs just wants to be an inspiration. The Nashville singer talks to Claire Sawers about her idols and a pint-sized legend she knew as ‘Princey’

‘I

’m a big tomboy when no one’s looking,’ insists Kandace Springs, whose first album, Soul Eyes, came out on Blue Note last year.

‘Sure, I love getting my bedazzle on: it never hurts to glam up.

But girl, I can’t wait to get under the hood of my Jeep when I’m back home, do some tune-ups and bodywork.’ Springs is so obsessed with cars (buying them, selling them, taking them for long, off-road drives in the mud) that there’s a possible TV show in the pipeline, showing off her beloved Chevrolets and 4x4s.

For now though, this 28-year-old Nashville singer is touring America and Canada before heading to Edinburgh. She played here last year, during a UK tour supporting Grammy-winning, balaclava-wearing singer, Gregory Porter. This time around, Springs is headlining, and hopes Porter will join her onstage for a duet. Since her album, things have quickly gathered momentum and she can tick the Jools Holland box off her jazz career-milestone list now after playing his show in September. ‘This year has been a trip. Getting to play in Japan and Europe just blows my mind. All my hard work is paying off and I’m very appreciative.’

Springs began playing piano aged ten, encouraged by her dad Scat Springs, a Nashville session singer. When a friend gave her Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me, her 2002 jazz-pop crossover debut, it made a huge impression. Springs wanted to sing and play piano, with her own stripped-down, natural sound. Although offered a recording deal at 17, she knocked it back, preferring to play piano in bars, while valet-parking Ferraris and trucks for money during the day. Fast forward a few years, and she started working with Sturken and Rogers, the New York record producers who discovered Rihanna, and wrote hits for Shakira, Christina Aguilera and Luther Vandross.

Springs’ 2014 debut EP led to TV spots on David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, plus Afropunk and Bonnaroo appearances. Compared to the smooth, soulful jazz standards she’s recently been singing, the EP leaned in a younger R&B and hip-hop direction. She’s now focused on the classy, oldtime sounds of her musical heroes, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday and Nina Simone. ‘“Wild Is the Wind”: that’s my song. Nina would kick anyone’s ass on piano. I love the emotion of that track. I like to sing “Strange Fruit” too: a beautifully ugly song, it really goes to some dark places.’

Her cover of Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ also holds a special place in her heart after catching the attention of Prince. ‘Suddenly, “Stay With Me” gets this retweet from Prince,’ she remembers. ‘I figured it was an imposter. Then I got a DM, asking me to play at Paisley Park for the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain. I was crying happy tears and running around my backyard. That’s something I will never, ever forget. He let me call him Princey,’ she adds, with a down-low, infectious laugh. ‘I had to look down when he spoke; you don’t realise how short he really was!’

Celebrity friends aside, she’s hoping to make new fans on this tour.

‘I have this big hair which helps me stand out. Ultimately though, it comes down to the music and the tone. I hope people hear something that gets to them the way that so many of my musical heroes have got to me.’

Kandace Springs, West Princes Street Gardens Spiegeltent, 15 Jul, 7.30pm, £20; Spiegeltent, George Square, 16 Jul, 8.30pm, £17. For tickets call 0131 473 2000. list.co.uk/festival | Edinburgh Festival Guide 2017 | THE LIST 119

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Jazz YUSSEF DAYES

FIVE more

highlights

DAVID L HARRIS 4 That vibrant spirit of New Orleans drops into Rose Street courtesy of the vocals and trombone skills of Harris as his quartet deliver numbers from Blues I Felt, his stirring debut album. Rose Theatre, Rose Street, 18 Jul, 5.30pm, £12.50.

TOMMY SMITH PLAYS COLTRANE The Edinburgh-born tenor sax maestro marks the year of his 50th birthday with a tribute show to the legend who died in that auspicious 1967. Rose Theatre, Rose Street, 18 Jul, 8pm, £15.50.

Full focus As South London drummer Yussef Dayes prepares to entertain Edinburgh with his rhythmic, funky and improvised sound, he tells Arusa Qureshi that jazz is a vessel for experimentation

T

hough jazz is often overlooked as a mainstream genre in the UK, there’s been a surge in interest of late thanks partly to the innovations and creativity of a select few. This burgeoning scene has materialised through musicians whose choice to take their influences from a range of areas has ultimately created a new style of jazz.

One such artist behind this contemporary shift is drummer Yussef Dayes. Last year, he released the rhythmically striking, jazz-funk charged Black Focus with keyboardist Kamaal Williams. Inspired by experimental 1970s jazz as well as more modern bass-heavy grooves and beats, the album is a fascinating collision of styles and expresses a certain spontaneity.

‘I take influence from all kinds of music, whether it be jazz, grime, drum & bass, jungle, hip hop, broken beat or West African music,’ Dayes explains. ‘For me, jazz is a vessel to express my feelings freely on my instrument. Improvisation plays a big part in my approach and compositions. Keeping it spontaneous and going with the moment allows me to be free on the drums.’

Though the duo are no longer playing together as Yussef Kamaal, Dayes and Williams will still be performing Black Focus separately, with alternative lineups to give fans the opportunity to experience their album’s explosive live energy. Dayes will be bringing a slice of this to Edinburgh as he presents his version of the project to festival audiences. ‘We’ll be bringing the fire!’ Dayes says enthusiastically.

‘I’ll be performing with Mansur Brown and Charlie Stacey, who are both crazy talented. We’ve been recording some new music, so you’ll have to hear for yourselves where we’re going with it.’

Yussef Dayes Presents Black Focus, West Princes Street Gardens Spiegeltent, 0131 473 2000, 15 Jul, 10pm, £12.50.

AMYTHYST KIAH All the way from Tennessee comes Kiah with her Southern Gothic vibe as she spins magic from her influences: the early 20th-century sounds of Ola Belle Reed and Mississippi Sheiks to later R&B and country vocal legends such as Mahalia Jackson and Loretta Lynn. The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street, 19 Jul, 8pm, £10.50; Rose Theatre, Rose Street, 20 Jul, 6.30pm, £10.50.

FRAGILE BLISS / MEDBØE HAMILTON KANE In the intimate setting of the Trav bar comes two hot European ensembles: Czech band Fragile Bliss unveil their rootsy folk-jazz while Edinburgh-based Norwegian guitarist Haftor Medbøe shows off his current trio, completed by pianist Steve Hamilton and bassist David Kane.

Traverse Café Bar, Cambridge Street, 20 Jul, 8pm, £12.

JOOLS HOLLAND AND HIS RHYTHM & BLUES ORCHESTRA Everyone’s favourite groovy feller (will he ever live down that one-series 80s sitcom?) returns to the capital alongside a couple of his old Squeeze mates, Gilson Lavis and Chris Difford, as well as guest vocalists such as Ruby Turner and Beth Rowley. Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street, 22 Jul, 7.30pm, £37–£53.50.

For tickets call 0131 473 2000.

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other festivals list.co.uk/festival

KIN for a day As she prepares for a headline slot at Fringe by the Sea, KT Tunstall tells Fiona Shepherd about nicking lines from The Fast Show and being energised by her new audiences

I

n case anyone is wondering where KT Tunstall has been for the last few years, the answer is Venice Beach, California, where she relocated following the break-up of her marriage to drummer Luke Bullen in order to do some green-tea drinking and soul-searching. Writing her poppiest album to date was not on the agenda; in fact, Tunstall was close to quietly retiring from the pop business to concentrate on film composition in the movie industry’s heartland. But the big skies and open roads of her new adopted home ended up inspiring the chunky choruses of her fifth album, KIN. ‘I felt I was writing something useful, because it was a positive and upbeat record and it felt celebratory,’ she says, embracing the feelgood characteristics of the Golden State. But that was before a certain astounding election result. ‘Yeah, it used to be really cool to say I lived in California . . . now it doesn’t sound quite so cool.’

As an expat in the bearpit, Tunstall is quite happy to share her perspective on the current US political

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climate. ‘I think politics has probably been conducted like this for a very long time,’ she says. ‘But what you’ve got now is a businessman behaving in the job of the president in the way that the head of a corporation would, which is “we don’t worry about it, we just pay them off. Yeah, we lied, but let them sue us; it’s cheaper than us dealing with it”.

It’s what record labels do. Instead of asking to use your song and paying the fee, they’ll pay you off because it’s cheaper.’

The one upside Tunstall can see in having Trump in the White House is that Americans have become more aware and active. ‘This is certainly the most poignant political time I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime. But I think the amazing thing is it deeply politicises younger people. There wouldn’t

››

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other festivals FRINGE BY THE SEA / FOOD FESTIVAL

‹‹ have been a Women’s March if Hillary had got in; it would just have been a party. So in a way it’s been very good for the country because it’s made people wake up and realise what is important to them.’

Tunstall was one of half a million protesters who travelled across the country to take part in the Women’s March on Washington DC in the wake of Trump’s inauguration. But she has been cheerily leading by example since accepting her Brit Award for Best British Female in 2006 with a ‘ladies: disregard your limits!’ rallying cry. ‘I don’t know if anyone knew that it was nicked from The Fast Show,’ she laughs. ‘“Ladies: know your limits!” Do you remember that sketch?’

Understanding that there is no more potent message than just getting up there and doing it, Tunstall is less about banging a drum and more about strumming her guitar. On a recent trip back to Scotland, she took time out to build confidence and creativity with groups of schoolgirls from difficult backgrounds.

Her endless zest for communicating passion, spirit and identity through music is infectious and, late last year, she was the deserving recipient of the Inspirational Artist Award at the Music Week Women in Music ceremony. ‘I really hope there doesn’t need to be a Women in Music awards in ten years’ time and that it doesn’t really matter anymore because it’s a bit more balanced.

Still, it was really cool.’

Tunstall will return to her teenage / twentysomething stomping ground when she headlines North Berwick’s Fringe by the Sea, the latest in a string of more intimate and informal solo shows she’s been playing since the release of KIN. ‘Touring can get really hard if you’re not hitting some fashionable zeitgeist,’ she says. ‘So it’s been a massive challenge for me in the last couple of years keeping in touch with the people who I know want to come and see me. I’m at the age now when I’ve got teenagers and 20-year-olds coming up to me at shows and saying “I’ve been listening to you my whole life”.’

But Tunstall is far from discouraged. In fact, she plans to seal her return to the pop fray by recording another album in London this summer. ‘I really want to make a stripped-back and raw rock record,’ she enthuses. ‘It’s gonna be a physical record. It’s about the meat and the skeleton.’

KT Tunstall, Palais Des Glaces Spiegeltent, North Berwick, 01620 890787, 7 Aug, 8pm, £35.

OTHER FRINGE BY THE SEA HIGHLIGHTS For those keen on escaping the madding crowds of the Royal Mile but still wish to sample a slice of festival fun, the ideal antidote is Fringe by the Sea (7–13 Aug) in North Berwick. This year’s programme offers plenty of excitement from Scottish crime author Denise Mina, with her latest book The Long Drop, to that national treasure of stage and screen, Elaine C Smith (pictured).

The comedy comes thick and fast with Richard Herring reflecting on being 50 while Jan Ravens delivers her astounding array of impersonations in an evening hosted by the Mock the Week staple Zoe Lyons. Music treats arrive from top bluesman Eric Bibb, Zimbabwe’s Jit Jive Band, Morocco’s Omar Afif Gnawa Fusion Trio, our very own traditional duo Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain, while Chris Barber’s Big Band do their bit in celebrating a very special centenary anniversary for jazz. n Full details of shows at list.co.uk/festival

Feast of fun Louise Stoddart takes her pick of the Food Festival highlights in late July

Run by Assembly, their food festival is now in its third year and invites food producers from all over the country to park up in George Square Gardens. Last year over 25,000 visitors passed through to try the broad range of dishes on offer and sit in on talks, tastings and demonstrations.

The five-day event welcomes back some of the industry’s key players while also bringing in fresh faces. After hosting a Ready Steady Chef competition alongside Guy Grieve in 2016, Tom Lewis – the award-winning chef-proprietor of Perthshire’s boutique hotel, Monachyle Mhor – is back in the Spiegeltent Palais Du Variete. This time, the Mhor team headline the festival with their exclusive six-course tasting experience, Eat Mhor.

The Three Chimneys’ Shirley Spear also returns as part of an interesting programme of talks and discussions taking place daily in the Piccolo Tent while Carina Contini, restaurateur, chef and author of Kitchen Garden Cookbook is scheduled to appear. Visitors can sample dishes from some of the country’s most innovative street-food outlets including Umami Spice Girl, Alanda’s Scottish Seafood, Crema Caravan, and Thinking Chocolate as well as guilt-free ‘rawsoda’ from JUS and fizz from Poco Prosecco. n Edinburgh Food Festival, Assembly George Square Gardens, George Square, 0131 623 3030, 26–30 Jul.

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TATTOO / JUST other festivals

TARTAN ARMY Rowena McIntosh finds a splash of colour bedecking this year’s Tattoo The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is just a few years shy of the 70th birthday that the International Festival and Fringe are celebrating this year. Running since 1950, the Tattoo is an iconic part of the capital’s August as hundreds of musicians and performers from across the globe congregate on the castle esplanade to entertain an international audience.

Each year one of the three British military services takes the lead, with 2017 being fronted by the Royal Navy and featuring the Massed Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines.

This is also the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, and the Tattoo aims to build on that by celebrating the diversity of Scotland’s global family. Having worked with the Standing

Council of Scottish Chiefs, organisers invited clan chiefs to lead their people to Edinburgh Castle, where each night different clans will take part in the opening ceremony.

In keeping with the heritage aspect, the Tattoo have chosen Splash of Tartan as their theme and want to reinvigorate interest in the national fabric. Everyone visiting the Tattoo,

whether they have a connection to Scotland or not, is encouraged to wear tartan. If you don’t have any, the shops on the Royal Mile are well stocked. n The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Edinburgh Castle, 0131 225 1188, 4–26 Aug, Mon–Fri, 9pm, Sat 7.30pm, 10.30pm, £25–£300.

Fair play

As the Just Festival prepares to launch, Brian Donaldson has a peek at some of its stage treats With social justice firmly on the British political agenda this summer, the Just Festival has managed to become even more relevant. As the event extends an annual welcome to all communities, it restates the aim to challenge perceptions, celebrate differences and promote respectful dialogue.

To that end, this year’s month-long festival is another fine selection of talks, conversations, exhibitions and performances.Among its stage highlights are The Lady Doth

Protest Too Much with Nadine Aisha bringing us her ‘poetry in resistance’ and 100 Years of Balfour which features a dramatised reading of correspondence between the main parties negotiating land settlements in the Middle East, a ‘resolution’ which has led to a century of bloody conflict.

Lal Batti Express tells the story of girls working in Mumbai’s red light district as they aim to become agents of their own social change, Freedom focuses on the tale of an

orphan in Uganda while Spect-Act is a series of interactive plays exploring the power of devised theatre to promote social justice. Plus, there’s dance from the Ragamala Dance Company, comedy from junior doctor Ed Patrick and UK-Iraqi drag performer Glamrou (who will be joined by supergroup Denim), and music from the HarmonyChoir. n Just Festival, St John’s Church, Princes Street and Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Street, 0131 225 6470, 4–27 Aug.

BEST OF THE REST OF THE FEST The Edinburgh International Television Festival (23–25 Aug) industry extravaganza takes over the Edinburgh International Conference Centre with speakers including Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sky programmes director Zai Bennett, footie pundit Rio Ferdinand, Line of Duty’s Vicky McClure, and Blue Peter icon Valerie Singleton.

This year’s Edinburgh Book Fringe (3–30 Aug) at Lighthouse bookshop features the likes of poet Don Paterson, comedian Rosie Wilby, climber Dan Richards and novelist Henrietta Rose-Innes, while the Turing Festival (2 & 3 Aug) also has its moment in the EICC sun with speakers from the likes of Skyscanner, GitHub and Google.

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It's our favourite time of year again – the Edinburgh Festivals season is here. And 2017's set to be a vintage year, as both the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Edinburgh International Festival celebrate their 70th birthday. But between the celebrations – and going to see all the shows you've just read about – you'll need to refuel. So here are our top picks for places to eat, drink and make merry over August. Plus, we've thrown in a few suggestions from performers too. Enjoy.

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This St Mary's Street vegetarian restaurant has become something of an Edinburgh institution. The music-free space feels calm and convivial from the outset. With global ambitions, the menu spans India, Mexico, the Mediterranean and Thailand to name a few. A thoughtful wine list, with a particularly strong house offering, will satisfy most budgets, and a well-curated selection of vegan beers reinforces their proudly held vegetarian credentials. With consistently good ingredients, the results are always wholesome and hearty. >Xee\k >l^X Le`k )# EldY\i *# K_\ 8iZ_\j# <Xjk DXib\k Jki\\k# '(*( ,,/ (.-)# ^Xee\kXe[^l^X%Zfd

Part of the massive New Waverley/ Caltongate development, this sandwich shop makes a real effort to stand out from the crowd. Housed in one of the converted arches by Waverley station, there’s only space for eight stools and they don’t take bookings, so be prepared to take away. Build your own banh mi is their focus. Choose bread, herbs and tofu, chicken, smoked haggis or prawn fillings, then customise with homemade pickles.

Gourmet sandwiches are top-drawer too.

They also offer Vietnamese spring rolls, with vegan variations (swap crayfish tails for avocado) or low-carb style (without rice noodles). ?XeXd j * Af_ejkfe K\iiXZ\# '(*( )), (*)0# _XeXdj%Zfd

Hanam’s sticks to what it does well: no-frills Middle Eastern cooking, Kurdish at heart, with dishes from Lebanese to Saudi. There’s a downstairs room ideal for big groups, while a nearly-free BYOB policy (just a 30p recycling charge) assists the atmosphere. Try the mushakal starter selection including arancini-like kubba and Kurdish breakfast staple kulicha – fried naan dough fritters.

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PHOTO: BRIAN ROBERTS

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Kurdish-style with naan and salad, or Iranian with a veggie shillah side, either bamya (okra) or tapsi (aubergine and pepper). Ease up with gentle rose ice-cream, then finish with a fortifying Arabic coffee. ?lcX Al`Z\ 9Xi Xe[ >Xcc\ip ('*Æ(', N\jk 9fn# '(*( ))' (()(# _lcXal`Z\YXi%Zf%lb

When the sun’s shining, the Hula Juice Bar is a magnet in the Grassmarket.

On a grey day, it’s the perfect antidote to the weather. With a menu that oozes vitamins, it’s almost guaranteed you’ll feel better by the time you leave. A revitalising salad of raw curly kale, baked butternut squash and uncooked quinoa is packed with added nuts and fruit and works harmoniously with a tangy sweet dressing to make it all pleasure and no pain. This little ray of sunshine has deservedly earned itself a healthy reputation with locals.

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This small, friendly spot just off the Royal Mile stands out in the increasingly crowded market of places serving a modern European take on Scottish ingredients. Brothers Lukasz and Bartek Jedrejek bring more than a touch of their Polish roots to their cooking. The emphasis is on using cheaper Scottish seasonal ingredients to keep the prices down, eschewing the principles of fine high-end dining in favour of the French idea of ‘bistronomy’ – humbler food served in a more relaxed atmosphere. It’s a winning formula. The food surprises and delights in equal measure and the bill won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

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Health and happiness mingle harmoniously here, as do a plethora of contented customers from families with kids in tow to art lovers and lunching foodies. Treat yourself to a creative and thoughtfully constructed salad such as sweet potato, kale and quinoa fritters partnered with cinnamon-spiced carrots, seeds and yoghurt. Sandwiches are enlivened by flatbreads and homemade chutneys; even breakfast options provide a refreshing departure from the usual suspects. Despite being one of a growing band of Milk venues in the city, the selfconsciously stylish but friendly interior here can’t help but make its own unique mark.

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J?åE ;8C<$AFE<J I love sneaking away to Bells Diner in Stockbridge and enjoying a burger and a walk along the river…

Q Shôn Dale-Jones is in The Duke, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 15, 22), 2pm, £5; and Me and Robin Hood, Pleasance Dome, 2–27 Aug (not 15, 22), 4pm, £5.

Andrew Usher & Co

The modest exterior of Mother India's Café gives little hint of the culinary riches that lie within. Locals in the know flock here – booking is more or less a must.

Specials change daily and with so much choice at reasonable prices, tapas-style portions provide a welcome invitation to gorge with abandon. Chicken achari blends lime and chilli pickle with succulent chicken pieces; baby aubergines with lightly spiced potatoes nail the combination of taste and texture, and crisp, fluffy garlic-laden naan is the perfect vessel for scooping it all up.

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This is Edinburgh’s destination seafood restaurant, the high end of shellfish dining. The room spreads out from a central bar with dining tables looking out on to the busy Old Town streets. The menu offers starters such as potted crab or smoked salmon and mains ranging from haddock and chips to lobster thermidor, but the star dishes are their luxurious seafood platters. For oyster lovers, there's also a good early evening deal where you can enjoy them for £1 each, and feel good about your green credentials as the shells are recycled into chicken feed.

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tubs (with sides such as barbecue baked beans and triple-cooked chips) are filled to the brim, with choices from smoked baby back pork ribs to pulled barbecue Scotch beef. Splash on one of their homemade sauces such as Irn Bru BBQ or Buckie Broon to add a spicy – and Scottish – tang.

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Ronaq's newest venture transports the tried and tested cuisine of its sister venue to the central, vibrant New Waverley district. Downstairs is an informal lounge bar, while upstairs floor-to-ceiling windows display panoramic city views.

The menu’s fresh, punchy flavours span

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The dark bustle of The Outsider on a Saturday night has an edge of excitement, surprising for a restaurant that has been on the scene for 15 years. There's the sense of an outfit always pushing the boundaries and absorbing new ideas. The menu offers great choice for meat and fish lovers; perhaps not quite so much for vegetarians.

Lead chef Will Dale seems to have a knack of putting unusual things together and making them sing, everything carefully judged and beautifully executed, while puddings combine comfort and sophistication.

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Checked table cloths, walls cluttered with vintage French posters and staff bantering in their native language – stepping into Petit Paris makes it feel like time to dust off dormant language skills. When summer arrives, street-side tables offer an opportunity to relive the joys of the Gallic outdoor dining experience. Diners choose from a menu boasting a host of French classics and several daily specials. To finish, top-notch gateaux and tarts make it tough to decide on dessert – so how about crêpes doused in Grand Marnier to evoke those memories of the French capital?

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Low and slow is the order of the day at this Scottish barbecue restaurant. With counter service and a laid-back feel, it works well for an informal stop-off. The quality of the meat is high and all sourced from local East Lothian farms. The meat

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around 100 cans and bottles too (these and growlers are available for take away).

The menu is hearty enough to sustain an extended sampling session: there are burgers, macaroni cheeses and Scottish tapas and platters available to share. Bar shelves groan with interesting spirits including milk vodka, 40 gins and, of course, a whisky collection Mr Usher would be proud of.

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As you enter Wings, greeted by C3PO (not the real one), you feel sort of like you're walking back into the sixth form common room circa 1995. Sit at manga montage-covered tables among pop sci-fi artwork, students, Spanish tourists and tech bros in baseball caps. There’s no mucking about: chicken wings in polystyrene bowls, instant service. Drinks: cheap cans, beers (Black Isle on draft) and shakes (including alcoholic, like Oreo cookie and spiced rum). Choose your wings dry or from a deluge of sauces, grouped under bbq, fresh (a vague nod to salad dressings), sweet, and boozy.

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Despite being named after the father of Scottish whisky, this basement bar focuses on beer. Knowledgeable staff guide you to the perfect pint among 20 rotating kegs and casks, and there’s

PHOTO: STEPHEN ROBINSON

the Indian sub-continent. A starter of black pepper machli hits just the right notes to enhance, not mask, the tender chunks of sea bass; a vegetarian starter of paneer tikka is chargrilled and smoky; while a jalfrezi (meat, veg or seafood) is packed with fresh chillis, ginger and a perfectly hard-boiled egg, if so desired.

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On the historic curve of West Bow and Victoria Street, the Bow Bar remains delightfully traditional. That’s not to say their choice of tipples is outdated, however. Somehow, this little nook fits in an astonishing 310 single malts, eight cask ales and six kegs. Keeping things local, they dispense beer from Scottish brewers Fyne Ales, Tempest, Cromarty and others, as well as bottles of Belgian duppel, German lager and good old, all-American beer. If you enjoy your pint with a pie, get down before 3pm, grab a wee table and get your chops round one from Findlay’s of Portobello.

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Amid the Cowgate’s late-night drinking spots, The City Café has become a magnet to those starting the night young. With DJs at the weekends, groups of revellers set up camp in the café's booths, tucking into ginormous burgers, sharing pitchers of beer and eyeing up the pool table.

Open from 9am, the breakfast menu is predominantly American and fills hungry tummies with eggs benedict, royale and florentine, syrupy waffle stacks and full Scottish brekkies. Not surprisingly, this, and the reasonably priced kids' menu, makes it a hit with families – until the serious drinkers arrive, anyway. <ZZf M`ef (0 :fZbYlie Jki\\k# '(*( )), (++(# \ZZfm`ef\[`eYli^_%Zfd

In case the name didn't tip you off, Ecco Vino's main pull is its wine selection.

Bottles adorn the walls and the wine list is so long that if you're hoping to make it to the bottom you'll need some fortifying olives to sustain you. If you're after something more substantial there's antipasti to share or small plates, such as ricotta meatballs, potted crab or Scottish oysters. Mains have a Mediterranean feel and are split into land and sea sections, with pan-fried sea bream, sea trout and surf and turf popular seafood options. <g`Zli\Xe ( >\fi^\ @M 9i`[^\# '(*( ))' ----# ^Xe[m_fk\c%Zfd

This bar makes mixology an art – quite literally. The drinks list is inspired by watercolours (and yes, the menu does come with a complimentary paintbrush).

You won’t find traditional cocktails here, though. Instead, there’s bespoke drinks inspired by botanical Europe, like Lavender Fields and the Apple Jar. The tapas menu features Mediterraneaninspired bar bites, as well as meat and cheese sharing boards. This is an upmarket bar with a first-rate drinks list – a perfect start to a night at next door's hit Italian Cucina, or simply to be enjoyed on its own.

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K?< 98B<; GFK8KF J?FG 56 Cockburn Street, 0131 225 7572 The best spot in town for heft vegetarian and vegan jacket potatoes. Good choice if you've only got time for one meal a day.

DFFE ?8I< 167 Bruntsfield Place, 0131 228 9250, moonandhare.co.uk This all vegan and gluten-free café in Bruntsfield is particularly wellknown for its sweet and savoury waffles.

G8I8;@J< G8CDJ 41 Lothian Street, 0131 225 4186, theparadisepalms.com Just across the road from the Pleasance Dome, you'll find this kitsch hangout, with an all veggie/vegan menu.

K8EAFI< 6-8 Clerk Street, 0131 478 6518, tanjore.co.uk South Indian Tanjore serves delicious, good-value dishes, including vegan and gluten-free options, in a café-style setting.

K?< 8LC; ?FFJ< 23-25 St Leonards Street, 0131 668 2934 Veggie and vegan-friendly pub that's just a short walk from ZOO, the Pleasance Courtyard and Summerhall.

K?< G8BFI8 98I 96 Hanover Street, 0131 225 1115 Small, quirky Indian street food bar serving vegan and veggie Punjabi food in the New Town until the early hours.

?FCP :FN 34 Elder Street Vegan café building a buzz about its take on the burger, located close to The Stand and the Edinburgh Playhouse.

?<E;<IJFE J M<>8E 25 Thistle Street, 0131 225 2605, hendersonsofedinburgh.co.uk 100% vegan food, nestled in a city centre cobbled side street, situated just round the corner from the long-established cafe.

GLDGB@E 9IFNE 16 Grassmarket, 0131 225 2728 The ex-market stall is now a permanent shop dishing up raw vegan food, coffee and cakes, while catering to other dietary needs.

LE@FE F= ><E@LJ 8 Forrest Road, 0131 226 4436, unionofgenius.com Edinburgh’s first soup café takes locally sourced ingredients to create wholesome, comforting, better-than-homemade soups.

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Assembly’s ’s Edinburgh Edinburgh Food Food Festival Festival is is back back to tease teease and and tantalise tantalise your your tastebuds tastebuds ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE

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?FE>A@8 H@ I bumped into Italian restaurant Lucano's Kitchen (37-39 George IV Bridge) at the festival two years ago and I had the most wonderful and memorable dish – blueberry risotto topped with venison tenderloin. The risotto was cooked perfectly and the venison was full of flavour. I’ve even tried to make the dish by myself several times at home but it never was as good as the one I had at Lucano's.

Q Hongjia Qi is the producer of the From Start to Finnish Showcase at Summerhall: I Am Faransis W., 6–27 Aug (not 14 & 21), 5.45pm, £12 (£10); Ramy – In The Frontline, 2–13 Aug (not 3, 9), 8.40pm, £12 (£10); Dates at the Speed of Sound (pictured), 2–27 Aug (not 3, 14, 21), 7.45pm, £12 (£10).

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Even with six venues now across Edinburgh, we're quite happy for the Swedish owners of Hemma to continue their empire building. The office-y look of Hemma’s exterior belies the cosiness inside, created by mismatched furniture, comfy sofas, fairy lights and table football. There’s a strong selection of draught and bottled beers including Williams Bros ales and low alcohol beer; 14 wines, all by the glass; and a classic cocktail selection. The food is hearty and homely, with frequently changing mains like Norvik beef stew or paella, lots of open and toasted sandwiches, salads, burgers and sharing platters.

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A subtle smoky smell softens this industrial space in the bustling Cowgate area: oak provides fuel for the blacksmithforged grill and flavours the food, while logs line the walls. Scorch-marked steaks and succulent spatchcock chicken excite the taste buds well into the small hours, although perhaps a towering burger would be more fitting at 2.30am, while salads include charred ingredients like aubergine, chicken and tuna. Children are welcome, with their own menu up until 11pm.

Tempest brewery taps are supplemented with a selection of craft beers from across the UK and US while classic cocktails are available too.

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Half bottleshop, half bar, Salt Horse is a lively addition to the craft beer scene in Edinburgh. With 12 keg lines of foreign and domestic beer, it's a great place for fans of barley and hops – although the choice can be a little overwhelming (try checking the blackboard for picks of the day if that sounds like you). Wine and spirit drinkers have a small but high-quality selection to choose from. If you want to escape the busy Royal Mile with a stylish city centre drink, this beer haven is well worth adding to your little black book.

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Capably demonstrating that the redevelopment of Edinburgh’s Waverley Arches site has brought some useful space back into creative good use, one of the largest arches has been turned into a lovely, glass-fronted wine bar and bottle merchant you’ll want to stop and hang around in, even if only for a classy carryout. With snack-sized boxes of cheese and charcuterie prepared by nearby Gannet & Guga, packets of Smally’s Suffolk

biltong and an Enomatic machine to keep open bottles fresh – wine can be drunk by the glass or, with corkage, by the bottle – it’s hard not to recommend Vino for a cultured yet informal after-work drink.

You can even bring in a snack from the nearby Food + Flea market, or one of the other vendors along the row.

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Part of the Waverley Arches development, this self-styled ‘donutterie’ offers coffee, breakfast, lunch and, er, doughnuts just a couple of minutes from the train station. Coffee is sustainably sourced from Coffee Collective in Copenhagen and many ingredients come from local suppliers, with food cooked from scratch in the bespoke kitchen next door. All the doughnuts are made in-house and change daily, with over 40 different varieties in the kitchen’s repertoire. The breakfast menu includes an immense bacon and egg roll and live music on Sundays adds to the chilled-out vibe.

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Housed in the world-renowned tapestry and weaving centre that is Dovecot Studios, spools of yarn and bright textiles on this café’s walls reflect the site's usage.

A vibrant list of sandwiches, such as hummus with carrot, beetroot, tomato and coriander, can be combined with a homemade mug of soup. Other options are more than tempting, from a delicately constructed Vietnamese rice paper roll with chicken or avocado to daily-changing stews. Run by Leo’s Beanery, good coffee and cake are taken seriously here. Try the memorable brownie alongside a cup of freshly ground coffee or a smoky Russian Caravan tea.

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Minimalist in design but lavish in technique, Brew Lab uses the latest coffee kit and knowledge to create caffeinated gold. Each cup is measured, weighed, and timed to ensure the single origin beans are infused into liquid perfection.

Passionate baristas explain the processing of the bottled and tapped cold brew while showing off impressive latte art skills. Food is locally sourced with a selection of Lovecrumbs cakes and pastries sitting prominently on the counter, while Union of Genius soups and salads are accompanied by well filled crusty baguettes in meat, veggie, and vegan options.

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Lovecrumbs once called themselves a ‘cake-only cake shop’ but they’ve added excellent savoury items to the menu.

Toast and butter (it’s not just any old bread either, it’s from Andante in Morningside) gets jazzed up with delicious ingredients; like peas, crushed garlic and seeds. Grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon jam or pies from Archipelago Bakery in the New Town are other options, on top of the regular cakes which first made the place a much-loved spot. Rhubarb and rose cake, lemon torte, vegan beetroot cake and daily gluten-free options; it’s tough to choose.

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One thing comes to mind when you hear Holyrood 9A: burgers. The pub has a well-earned reputation as one of the city's best burger joints with over 16 meaty (and veggie) options. It’s also a hotspot for beer lovers, with 25 taps of rotating brews which showcase local and international ales, ciders and beers. If you're in a little early for burgers and beer, fear not: there's a good breakfast, too. The veggie breakfast is substantial, while the Holyrood is a slapup full Scottish. Beer, burgers and big breakfasts: it's a winning combination, alright.

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Sciduernansdhlaiunghes! !

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry we have heaters too

open from June to September!

Head down to

Bar 50â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new

EDINBURGHâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FAMOUS FOSSIL SHOP 5 Cowgatehead Grassmarket Edinburgh, EH1 1JY

0131 220 1344 www.mrwoodsfossils.co.uk

GARDEN

free comedy shows from the 3rd to the 27th of august

Sign up for 20% student or 10% local discount Food served till late | drinks promos

Lunch from £14.75 Royal Mile, 267 Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8BQ www.wedgwoodtherestaurant.co.uk

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The Milkman coffee and espresso bar is small but perfectly formed. Coffee, tea and hot chocolate are impeccably sourced, from Dear Green, Pekoe Tea and Edward & Irwyn respectively, plus a monthly guest espresso and single origin filter coffee are available. As well as an ethical and sustainable approach to the drinks menu, cakes and pastries are supplied by local businesses including regular glutenfree options. Inside, it’s exposed brick, industrial but cosy, with the window seat a prime spot for people watching. Just right for a quick pick-me-up in town or for killing time before catching the train.

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G@QQ<I@8 (0)85 Dalry Road, 0131 337 5757 Outstanding no-frills pizzeria serving up authentic Neapolitan pizza and street food near Haymarket.

>FF; 9IFK?<IJ N@E< :FDG8EP 4-6 Dean Street, 0131 315 3311, goodbrothers.co.uk Good wines and good food in cosy Stockbridge. Best New Bar winner in The List Eating and Drinking Guide 2017.

FJK8I8 52 Coburg Street, 0131 261 5441, ostaracafe.co.uk Friendly new Leith café-bistro. Best Newcomer winner in The List Eating and Drinking Guide 2017.

=FF; =C<8 D8IB<K Address here, address here, Daily food market with a flea market running alongside at the weekends. From the team behind Leith's The Pitt.

EFIE 50-54 Henderson Street, 0131 629 2525, nornrestaurant.com Fresh, bold and committed contemporary Scottish cuisine. Best Newcomer winner in The List Eating and Drinking Guide 2017.

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Billing itself as Edinburgh’s freshest café, Pumpkin Brown sees the clean eating trend firmly establish a foothold in the capital. Its creative menu is all gluten-free, dairy-free, raw and vegan. Don’t be surprised to see customers clicking away with their cameras before digging into the colourful butterfly smoothie bowl, presented like a work of art. Seasonal salads include pad thai, packed full of carrots, peppers, salad leaves and courgette spaghetti and seasoned with almond butter and soy dressing. The amazing thing is you can follow that up with a chocolate raspberry vanilla slice, totally guilt-free.

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Overlooking Princes Street Gardens, and housed in one of Edinburgh’s top attractions, it would be easy for this place to rest on its laurels. Happily it doesn’t.

The menu has Victor and Carina Contini’s recognisable creative and accomplished twists on traditional Scottish dishes. Local and seasonal produce is the genuine article here and extra fruit, vegetables and flowers are supplied by the Contini’s own kitchen garden. The menu covers all bases and mains from fish pie to venison are well conceived. Suppliers are intelligently sourced and afternoon tea at a table beside the expansive windows is a definite treat.

1 Merchiston Place, 0131 228 4641, honeycombandco.com

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Bright and sunny addition to Bruntsfield with strong breakfast options, cheerful lunches and homemade baking and ice-cream.

This café ploughs all profits back into

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8C J8DL<CJ 989P N8EKJ :8E;P First can I say how (obviously) bummed I am that I missed the Game of Thrones themed pop-up pub that closed in March? All clever pop-up bar concepts must die, I suppose.

We always love heading to Sandy Bell’s after our shows.

It’s a wee little place often packed to the gills but features incredible musicians in a tiny corner playing great Scottish folk music nightly. It is really tiny, and probably doesn’t need more people crammed in there, so forget I told you this. Go to Pizza Hut. Q Baby Wants Candy: The Completely Improvised Full Band Musical, Assembly George Square, 2–27 Aug, 9.30pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14); Thrones! The Musical!, Assembly George Square, 2–27 Aug, 4.55pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14).

overarching philanthropic approach is reflected throughout, from the wall hangings made by community members to the volunteers helping run it. Despite a tiny kitchen, the menu extends to some heartier options as well as the expected baked potatoes, soup and sandwiches.

This bright modern space, next to historic John Knox House, is a popular spot with families and locals in-the-know as well as tourists trundling down the Royal Mile, or those attending events at the neighbouring Scottish Storytelling Centre.

9C8:B G@> FPJK<I 82 Commercial Quay, 0131 554 1777, blackpigandoyster.co.uk Contemporary tapas featuring pork from specially bred Iberian black pigs, in an a high-end, candle-lit cave in Leith.

HL8P :FDDFEJ 92 Commercial Quay, 0131 554 6681, quaycommons.co New venture from the folk behind the Gardener's Cottage: part prep space, part wine shop, part café, part butchery, part restaurant.

JFLH 57-59 South Clerk Street, 0131 667 6601, souq-edinburgh.com New cafe / shop in the Southside from the team behind Hanam's, Pomegranate and Laila's.

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if you have funny rules about eating pizza before noon, look away now – a compact range of breakfast pizzas, perfect for eating on the go, is also in development.

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There’s a buzz about this place, and it’s nothing to do with bees. The warm atmosphere lends itself to lingering lunches, family get-togethers, and romantic dinners huddled in the cosy booths. Well-priced lunch, brunch, and pre-theatre menus offer exceptional value while dinner features ever-changing specials and giant sharing plates. The kitchen produces a diverse range of international dishes highlighting well -sourced ingredients. Desserts are big enough to share and feature a host of intriguing ice-cream flavours commissioned by the restaurant from Langshaw Farm.

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This bustling fourth branch of BRGR often has a queue outside, but that’s nothing a quick turnaround can't handle.

Talk about hangover heaven: the burgers arrive in brioche buns with thin patties of halal beef or panko-breadcrumbed chicken, lettuce, sauce and a pickle, all wrapped up in foil. Meanwhile sides of gooey mac 'n' cheese, crispy piri-piri seasoned fries and onion rings come in paper cups, wedged with upright plastic forks. The concept is basic: filling, locally sourced fast food in a minimalist wooden shack diner, with zero washing up for the staff. It's a win-win.

Illegal Jack's is now in a prime spot for university students and the summer Fringe crowds, having relocated from Lothian Road. The new premises are brighter, cosier, less canteen, more cantina. Tacos and burritos are stacked with spicy marinated chicken, locally sourced steak, haggis or veggie chilli, then layered up with beans, salad and guacamole. The grilled quesadillas and nachos are also ideal for a quick lunch, and (slightly) less messy to eat. Don’t bother trying to use cutlery, just rely on your hands and prepare to work your jaw.

Think cheese. Lots of gooey mature cheddar and gruyère, oozing out of fresh sourdough bread. Meltmongers is serious about all things melted. With a minimalist interior and only 18 covers, this Americaninspired café keeps things intimate and incredibly friendly. The grilled cheese concept evolves: from the cheddar-filled classic; to melts crammed with brie and caramelised onions; and lemony grilled chicken and Jarlsberg. Plans are in place to introduce a breakfast menu, and their range of fried desserts feature the meltmallow: a Nutella, banana and marshmallow sandwich of dreams. Wash it down with Hershey's chocolate milk and Karma Cola’s Fairtrade sodas.

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After the roaring success of their Hunter Square pizza and Italian street food temple, the team behind Civerinos opened Civerinos Slice in April. Entirely pizzafocused and open from 8am untill the wee sma' hours, the 80-cover restaurant features 20 different pizzas, all available by the slice. As well as their own thin sourdough base they’ve introduced a deepdish New York-style ‘Nonna slice’. And

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Next to Edinburgh Central Mosque, this café is a haven for students, university staff and, of course, the post-prayer hungry. Big tables are ideal for groups tucking into generous portions of chicken, lamb or vegetable curry. Halal meat is freshly cooked in medium spices and may include a tikka masala or a biryani.

Vegetarians and vegans are well catered for with a thick, rich tomato aubergine curry or a nice gooey sag aloo. It’s all wheat-free unless you request a naan on the side, which can be cooked on request.

Mosque Kitchen is also completely alcohol-free.

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DFEJB@ DFLJ< When I am in town for the festival, I’m at the Pavillion Cafe on the Meadows with my two kids. We love hanging at the super- friendly cafe enjoying coffee, toasties, toys, books. Such a great spot.

Q Monski Mouse's Baby Disco Dance Hall, Assembly George Square, 4–27 Aug (not 7–9, 14–15, 21–25), 11am, £7.50.

Summerhall’s own Royal Dick Bar & Bistro has built a loyal following as people discover this lovely spot on their adventures around the arts complex.

Overlooking a courtyard, there's plenty of outdoor seating for nice days, too.

The Dick showcases Barney’s beer and Pickering’s Gin – both of which are made on-site. A sharing platter of cured meats, seasoned olives, hummus and crunchy fried sticks of Orkney cheddar is just the ticket with a pint of one of the four Barney’s beers. If hunger precludes much sharing, try 14-hour slow-cooked oxtail and Barney’s Porter stew, piled high on creamy chive mash.

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In a light-filled first-floor room with views across to the the Festival Theatre, Spoon holds its own as a reliable venue for generous breakfasts, healthy lunches and veggie-friendly dinners. The eclectic, decade-clashing mix of charity shop furniture and carefully curated curios gives the interior a quirky feel to which the laid-back service is well matched. The menu is a jack of all trades, suiting most dietary requirements and tastes. Brunch is served daily alongside a daytime menu which smoothly transitions to pre-theatre and dinner. Finish with one of the liqueur coffees featuring delightful roasts from Luckie Beans.

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The wow factor at this excellent Southside curry house comes from wafer-thin honeycoloured dosa, perhaps stuffed with a thick, rich lamb masala and accompanied by a selection of chutneys. It’s certainly not a bad idea to share this, alongside the speciality stuffed brinjal curry; soft

baby aubergines crammed with crunchy coconut, coriander and poppy seeds. Soak up any remaining sauce with a lovely fried puri bread but be prepared to leave room for homemade dessert, such as banana dosai in toffee sauce. A traditional jiharthanda juice goes down well if you don’t BYOB alcohol.

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It’s likely you’ll have to queue here: it’s a popular hangout with no reservations.

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Paradise Palms

looks traditional, the food tells a different story â&#x20AC;&#x201C; succulent roast pork belly with smoked pork collar croquettes is just one choice from an interesting selection of mains flanked by equally enticing starters and desserts. Be prepared for a lack of tables just before performances next door.

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Plastic palms, Christ the Redeemer mural, framed Ronaldhino and Kaka footie shirts: yes, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Brazilian-themed bar. Over the road from Edinburgh Uni, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popular with students who pack in for cheap cocktails and pre-club partying, while regulars come for a roster of dance classes (salsa, bachata) in the venue downstairs.

Botecoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all-day menu is themed on traditional Brazilian home-cooking-meetsstreet-food, with dishes drawn from all Brazilian compass points. For mains, go for a regional dish like Bahiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s xinxim de galinha â&#x20AC;&#x201C; chicken in a cashew and coconut sauce. After another few Caipirinhas, maybe youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll feel like youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in Rio. :_\Zbgf`ek * 9i`jkf GcXZ\# '(*( )), 0*,)# Z_\Zbgf`ek\[`eYli^_%Zfd

Checkpoint achieves the delicate balance of being achingly hip without being pretentious. Lighting imported from old Berlin subway stations adorns the walls while an orange shipping container-cumdining area creates an intriguing focal point. Open from 9am, a daytime menu of brunchy pancakes, eggs, subs, salads, and filled brioche buns is served until 5pm

chilli and cakes are also offered; main allergens are highlighted, and gluten and dairy-free options available. On weekday lunchtimes, their vintage CitroĂŤn van serves soup and hotpots in nearby George Square, too.

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Staff work at breakneck speed at the busiest of times (which is most of the time) but still find time to check that everything is to your liking. The food is divided into small boxes, rice and noodles, curries and soup bowls. Highlights include king-size prawns coated in a light coconut beer batter with mango salsa; and fried chicken (khao mun gai tod) which is crunchy, spiced with ginger, chilli and coconut and served on jasmine rice. Sides are just as impressive. Quick, fun and delicious.

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Union of Genius has established itself as the ethical soup place in the capital, with many of Edinburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finest cafĂŠs serving their creations. Their small, bustling cafĂŠ operates mainly as a takeaway, with just a few stools and a sharing table. The daily-changing menu features six soups, with enticing flavours such as caldo verde (kale, chorizo and potato), or sweet potato, coconut and tamarind. Salads, vegan

Long communal benches stretch past sit-up window seats in this effortlessly well-dressed room. Carefully composed cocktails and a handful of beers come well matched to an appealing array of small plates and a selection of expertly crafted pizzas. Pork, chilli and fennel meatballs appear from a skilful open kitchen alongside popular plates of crispy squid and whitebait. Sobrasada sausage and mushroom or creamy smooth burrata and potato adorn reassuringly thin pizzas. A chilled-out front of house delivers weekend brunch, with all roads ultimately leading to the hard-to-resist dessert pizzetta, smothered in Nutella. No booking, casual dining at its finest.

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Taken over by the team behind La Petite Mort, things have changed at Bennets Bar. It's still a busy, traditional pub with a wide range of cask ales, whiskies, wine and cocktails. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popular with students and does a roaring trade in theatre-goers on their way to the King's. But while the pub

The Tanjore - bringing the taste of authentic, home-cooked southern Indian food to Edinburgh

Come in and try our delicious Dosai and Curries!

6â&#x20AC;&#x201C;8 Clerk Street, Edinburgh, Íş Íť Č&#x2C6; Č&#x2039;Ͳͳ;ͳČ&#x152; ͚͜ͺ ͸͡ͳͺ www.tanjore.co.uk j HITLIS IN THE EA TED DRINKING TING & G 2012, 2013UIDE 2014, 2016 , & 2017

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alongside good coffee. The dinner menu starts with a selection of savoury bites and bowls while mains are well balanced, with steaks, chops, and filled baguettes weighing in alongside large salads, fish, and vegan tagines. ;X^[X 9Xi 0* 9lZZc\lZ_ Jki\\k# '(*( --. 0..*

Real ale and real whisky come first in this real old man's pub, popular with locals and students alike. It's a wee place but there's plenty of corners and barrels to perch next to, and it's just a stone's throw from Summerhall. Plus, dogs are welcome too if you have a pooch in tow. >i\\edXekc\

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This eclectic New Town boutique offers high-end designer clothes, accessories and Cashmere in an elegant setting.

The Greenmantle is a student pub if ever there was one. It's known for three things: the burgers, the beer and the quiz nights.

The burgers are buffalo, the meat coming from The Buffalo Farm in Kirkcaldy (although vegetarians are well catered for with halloumi/mushroom options).

There’s a strong range of cask ales on tap, and as prices are low and choices wide, you get a lot of bang for your buck. Get there early on Mondays to take part in the quiz league – it’s a tiny place, so you'll have to stake out your territory early.

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9 West Port, 0131 221 9212, godivaboutique.co.uk

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A big front room stuffed full of exciting design talent and a back room of vintage, just off the Grassmarket.

The Montebar may not look like much from the outside, with its fading red paint and 'old man pub' aesthetic, but on the inside it's simple and stylish – not to mention a haven for whisky lovers.

(Bonus points: they serve pizza too.)

Locals will remember the bar as the old Montague, but the drink stakes have been upped significantly with a solid range of craft beers and single malts. There are also regular live music nights, plus a weekly quiz. The bar staff are all well versed in the art of whisky and they serve excellent coffee, too.

I8>8DL==@E 278 Canongate, 0131 557 6007 Gorgeous, tactile knitwear for wool enthusiasts. Offerings include several hard-to-find Scottish and European designers.

:LI@FLJ<I :LI@FLJ<I 93 Broughton Street, 0131 556 1866, curiouserandcuriouser.com One of Broughton Street's shopping highlights, with everything from prints and gifts to kitchenware and jewellery.

I<; ;FFI >8CC<IP 42 Victoria Street, 0131 477 3255 The best place to pick up artisan jewellery, prints, paintings, sculpture and fun greetings cards, all by local artists.

K?< ;I8>FE=CP 11a Broughton Street, 0131 629 4246, thedragonflygifts.co.uk

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The décor of this cocktail bar, record shop and music venue is kitschy, 80s and tiki – sort of like a cocktail decoration itself. It’s fun just reading the cocktail menu, with drinks like a Miami Nice or Snozzcumber Sour. Vegetarian/vegan soul food lines

EA8D9@ D:>I8K? Walk down the humped ancient stone staircase on Broughton street and a little treasure trove that is Asti awaits. The courteous waiter, all too attentive, readily goes through the exotic menu full of delights.

I wave my hand to stop him because I am only there for one thing; risotto. The charming waiter smiles with persistence.

'Perhaps you might consider the fish of the day. Its pan-fried sea bass on a bed of rocket and risotto.' Mmmm, I am in heaven.

Q Breaking Black by Njambi McGrath, Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 3-26 Aug, 12.05pm, free;

the stomach with carbs and cheese. Meat substitute seitan dominates, like in Philly cheese steak – seitan strips and fried onion on sourdough with smoked applewood and chipotle cheese sauce. Grab a bite before kicking back with the house DJ, poetry nights, live band or speed-dating with an eclectic crowd who don’t take themselves too seriously.

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In the heart of studentville, it would be easy for The Southern to succumb to cheap, easy burgers and a couple of value pints. But while the menu is reasonably priced, it's clear from the 20 rotating cask ale pumps and the expansive range of bottles that this is a cut above the average budget boozer. All burgers are handmade, there's plenty of choice for veggies,

Lovely gift shop at the bottom of Broughton Street that's well worth a look-in if you're looking for a present for someone special.

=IL@KD8IB<K >8CC<IP 45 Market Street, 0131 225 2383, fruitmarket.co.uk One of Edinburgh's top galleries is also home to one of the best stores for books, cards and colourful gifts.

<;<E 18 North West Circus Place, 0131 225 5222, edenretail.co.uk Head to this Stockbridge boutique for designer womenswear from around the world.

9F?<D@8 17 Roseneath Street, 0131 478 6909, bohemiadesign.co.uk Visit this glorious Marchmont boutique for fashion and home accessories from a team with an eye for great design.

The Whistle Stop Barber Shop

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WELCOME TO SOUQ EDINBURGH 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.

SOUQ CAFE AND DELI 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 info@souq-edinburgh.com www.souq-edinburgh.com

01316676601

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whether you like mushroom or halloumi, and if you're not in the mood for a two hander, try a hot dog. There’s an expansive range of spirits, too (gin drinkers are particularly well looked after).

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This barber shop-themed corner bar tries plenty of things out and gets them largely right; from the selection of cocktails and craft ales to an American diner-style menu of food which is both hearty and highly satisfying. The homemade steak burgers – reassuringly made of two thinner patties rather than the ball of meat which has become fashionable – feature combinations like the Southwest Benedict (chorizo, fried egg and chipotle hollandaise) and the Crabby Louis (avocado and white crab meat). Hot dogs, chargrill steaks, nachos, buffalo wings and pizza round out the eating options.

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In the heart of Causewayside, August_21 serves hot drinks, breakfast and lunch plus a great display of cakes and pastries.

There’s well-brewed coffee from Matthew Algie and generously filled sandwiches such as pastrami and brie, as well as a daily veggie soup and platters of fresh, seasonal salad. Cakes include a range of locally made gluten-free baking (and some dairy-free options). Downstairs, a communal table is available for laptop users, handy for students and freelancers along with the free wifi. A monthly curry

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Tucked away in Marchmont, this place is undoubtedly one of the leaders of the current doughnut uprising, offering freshly made, high quality and rather ingenious doughnut recipes on a daily basis. Owned and managed by classically trained chef, Freddie Spindler, the selections range from classic flavours like chocolate and hazelnut, salted caramel and lemon curd to the more intriguing matcha green tea, strawberry milkshake and Oreo cookie.

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With its simple white and grey colour scheme, concrete flooring, some ironically

naff furniture and too-cool-for-school staff, Clerk Street’s Filament certainly earns a full house in barista bingo. But any worries this hip hangout is all scene, no bean are neatly sidestepped thanks to some excellent coffee (supplied by Has Bean, Square Mile and guest roasters including Edinburgh's Williams & Johnson) and equally fine cakes courtesy of local home-baker Suki Bakes. Pastries are from North Berwick's Doorstop Bakery, and there's a handful of bagels from the Bearded Baker too, while tea, fresh smoothies and juices complete the liquid lineup.

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The café formerly known as Peter’s Yard (it’ll change its name to Söderberg later this year) is a good spot for people watching or picking up a flat white and a cinnamon bun. Delicious Swedish cakes, quality bread, continental breakfast trays and open sandwiches – try crayfish, dill and lime on their in-house brown bread – offer a satisfying taste of Scandinavia.

Pizza is no longer served here (head further into Quartermile for Söderberg Pavilion if that’s what you’re craving), but they can still be relied upon for slices of pecan pie, almond-filled mazarin tarts, homemade soups and more.

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Despite the many corridors and imposing doorways in this expansive old university building, the café at Summerhall nevertheless manages to create a friendly and inviting space for lunch. Fresh pies are supplied by a business based within the building and alternative lunch options range from a chicken and chorizo salad to nachos, as well as soup and sandwich staples. Gluten-free cakes include a peach, pear and yoghurt sponge or white chocolate and raspberry. Parents with toddlers in tow are clearly attracted by the bright spacious dining area and laid-back

ethos. Even dogs are welcomed with open arms.

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Now firmly back under family management, and with a new prosecco lounge next door, this deli favourite offers a huge selection of gourmet food to take out or sit in. Pastrami on rye is the real deal, worthy of presentation in downtown Manhattan, while eggs Victor Hugo is a house speciality involving gently toasted muffin, soft smoked salmon, two perfectly cooked brightly yolked eggs and a shiny lemon hollandaise. A hot dish of duck confit satisfies larger appetites.

Pear frangipane is only one of several seductions in the baking section, going down especially well with own-blend coffee.

DP G@:BJ

PHOTO: NICOLE GUARINO

A treasure of a spot for tea lovers – with a time-travelling feel and amazing attention to detail. Don’t expect to log on to wifi here, or find them on Facebook; their dedication to creating an old-timey haven is as refreshing as the teas they offer.

There are 80 to choose from and staff (dressed in prim waistcoats and pinafores) are very knowledgeable and helpful. It’s an antique shop as well as a teahouse, so the curios decorating the room are available to purchase, as are their delicious rose petal and violet jams and specialist tea making kit.

AF8E :C<M@CCy I love to sit on the terrace at Victor Hugo by The Meadows and watch to world go by while having a pastrami sandwich with a cappuccino and a scrumptious cake…

Q Joan Clevillé Dance presents The North, Dance Base, 5–13 Aug (not 7), 4.15pm, £12 (£10); Plan B for Utopia 21–27 Aug, 10.30am, £12 (£10).

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B & Bar Kitchen K

EAT - DRINK - DANCE OPEN 7 DAYS 10AM TILL *5AM! ((*FESTIVAL SEASON)

4 Lothian Street 47 EDINBURGH 0 0131 220 42 87 62 Trongate GLASGOW 0777 284 73 11 0

www.botecodobrasil.com Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Tropical Cocktails, Live Music, Club Nights, Dancers, Latin Music, Salsa....and more!!!

LOCALLY SOURCED, FRESHLY MADE FOOD. 18 CRAFT BEER LINES. HANDCRAFTED COCKTAILS.

32-34 Potterrow, Edinburgh

0131 6629788

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avoiding spice) baja cod, or the veggiefriendly sweet potato with sheep's milk cheese, pomegranate and pumpkin seeds.

Homemade sorbet or ice-cream wraps up proceedings.

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El Quijote serves unpretentious, homestyle cooking in a rustic tavern-like room with the aim of delivering the ‘real’ food of Spain as an alternative to the ‘normal’ tapas experience (tortilla and paella aren’t available here). Iberian pork plays a central role, imported from Spain and found on the menu cured as chorizo and salchichon, simply griddled as presa and secreto, and in more involved dishes like flamenquin cordobes. There’s plenty for veggies here too and wine drinkers are very well-catered for. There’s a palpable passion and pinch of playfulness, which makes it an energetic, entertaining and enjoyable place to be. =fik_ =cffi I\jkXliXek

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Belted Burgers menu boasts a broad range of burgers including beef, chicken, pork and vegetarian options. The beef, from the restaurant's own farm in Dumfries and Galloway, is exemplary and the patties are the perfect consistency. Burgers are wellproportioned, served in a lightly toasted bun (with a choice of classic, brioche, sourdough or gluten-free) and come with potato chips or sweet potato fries. As the portions aren't too heavy, hungry diners may be tempted by the many extra sides on offer, including Cajun beer-battered onion rings, purple slaw and sweetcorn fritters. :fek`e` >\fi^\ Jki\\k ('* >\fi^\ Jki\\k# '(*( )), (,,'# Zfek`e`%Zfd&Zfek`e`$^\fi^\$jki\\k

A spring makeover saw Carina and Victor Contini's opulent all-day Italian ramping up the fun and modernising the menu. It’s still rooted in Italian tradition and family recipes, but takes a progressive approach towards sharing plates and contemporary dishes. A lavish fritto misto feast of squid, langoustine and courgettes sees its components arrive in as crisp and light a batter as you are likely to find. Breakfast is worth mentioning too; from hearty black pudding focaccia and scrambled organic eggs to fresh fruit salads and excellent coffee, there are good options for an early meeting or a longer lazy brunch.

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Dishoom pulled out all the stops for their first opening outside London and this 1920s former office building feels like something from a more romantic time, with its art deco fittings and green stainedglass windows. The food is based around influences brought to Bombay's café scene

by Iranian immigrants, with a British twist thrown in (bacon naan for breakfast? Yes please). Later in the day, choose from small plates, or larger dishes such as tikka paneer and a light, juicy coriander-infused lamb sheekh kebab. Wash the whole lot down with Dishoom IPA or a Thums Up cola. ;fl^_ (.) Ifj\ Jki\\k# '(*( )), (,//# [fl^_$ g`qqX%Zf%lb

The finest ingredients imported from Italy and an unwavering attention to detail make Dough’s pizzas among the best in town. The stylish Rose Street takeaway, lined with subway tiles and cool copper pendants fronts a feet-up, deliver-to-yourdoor service. A window seat and sit-up bench make it possible to linger with BYOB in hand and choose from nearly two dozen expertly crafted pizzas, from familiar favourites to gourmet creations.

Tuscan fennel sausage and wild broccoli toppings feature alongside cured pigs cheek and smoked mozzarella, all ably supported by popular flatbreads and a sprinkling of sides and salads. <c :Xik\c :Xj\iX D\o`ZXeX -+ K_`jkc\ Jki\\k# '(*( ))- .(.(# \cZXik\cd\o`ZXeX%Zf%lb

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El Cartel is paving the way for Mexican street food in Edinburgh. Food is served tapas-style, arriving throughout the meal, making sharing almost mandatory. The menu is brief, focusing on doing those dishes extremely well. Start with spicy corn topped with crema and sprinkled with melted cheese, or frijoles, the deliciously ‘drunken’ refried pinto and kidney bean dip. Guacamole is served with crispy plantain and topped with feta and pomegranate. Hand-pressed tacos include the tasty (and mild, for those

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By night, you enter this temple to wellheeled shopping by a side entrance on Multrees Walk and zip to the open-plan top floor by lift. The corner restaurant overlooks St Andrew Square with a balcony for al fresco dining in summer.

It's screened off from the bar/brasserie by twinkling glass beads, adding a touch of glitz – like the champagne-led wine list – though the décor overall is understated.

The wines are impressively varied and good by the glass, while the vote for best pudding goes to the hot raspberry soufflé.

PFC8E;8 D<I:P Nando's ... so why Nando's?

Well you can't say Nando's without saying 'cheeky Nando's' which always makes me laugh. The food is really reasonably priced, tasty and very filling. After seeing a lot of shows, it's nice to take a seat have a Quarter Chicken (lemon and herb), peri chips, corn on the cob and chicken wings (extra hot).... hmmm this is making me sooooo hungry.

Q Yolanda Mercy: Quarter Life Crisis, Underbelly, 3–27 Aug (not 14), 2.40pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

there’s far more to this cheerful spot than a late-night stop off for drunken, hungry revellers. Brothers Mark and Paul Singh run the business, with mum Rajinder

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You come out of Holy Cow feeling like everything is a bit right-er in the world than it was before. It may be vegan, vegetarian and mostly gluten-free but the food is delicious. There’s always a choice of five burgers (such as pulled jackfruit, which tastes much like pulled pork, apparently), five sandwiches on lovely, spongey homemade gluten-free bread and a soup, such as tasty beetroot and green lentil. Ingredients change according to what’s available organically and in season.

There are several huge, homemade vegan cakes and it's very child-friendly. Seriously good, without being earnest.

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With a menu reminiscent of Belgian moules-frites places, this bustling city centre restaurant is all about simple tasty food. Black pots of sweet mussels scented with garlic or spices are the star attraction or try rich mineral-flavoured oysters, perfectly cooked scallops and crab paired with warming aromatics. Although the menu is predominantly shellfish, with some fish for good measure, there are a couple of meat dishes, too, and their puddings are homemade. Brightly lit, Mussel Inn has a utilitarian feel but it’s very popular with tourists and does a good express lunch and pre-theatre deal.

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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doing the cooking. Haggis pakora, served with mango and hint-of-chilli chutney is a speciality, but there's a huge variety on offer, with lots of vegan choices like the brilliant cauliflower pakora. There's chicken tikka and paneer as well as curry, wraps, spicy and warming soups and full Scottish or Indian (paratha and purgi) breakfasts. It’s BYOB, and there’s a DJ on the last Saturday of the month.

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Word of mouth seems to have got out about this little Greek taverna. Now into its second year, it attracts locals and others in the know who lap up very reasonably priced traditional Greek mezze. It’s a proper family venture with twin sisters managing front-of-house and an uncle and niece team in the kitchen. Celebrating what they feel is special about Greek eating, the food is designed for sharing. As you tuck into grilled octopus and prawn saganaki flambéed in ouzo, it’s easy to see why the menu claims it’s normal for diners to order two or three times during a visit.

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Taisteal? It’s Gaelic for travel and chef Gordon Craig creates dishes based on the

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best local Scottish produce, laced with inspiration from his cook’s tours, whether to Copenhagen or China. The fusion here is not forced though, and doesn’t feel like a twist for novelty’s sake. It works.

A shiitake samosa shakes up a maple and five spice Gressingham duck with grilled pak-choi and edamame beans.

Two-textured deep-fried butternut squash gnocchi stand out alongside venison haunch with sesame seeds and cassis jus.

Taisteal hints at the exotic without being elite, inaccessible or scary. It’s a moveable feast indeed.

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Urban Angel plays host to a constant stream of lunching and brunching regulars, thanks to a reputation now over ten years in the making. From a deli-style front of house leading to two basement rooms, it’s a rabbit warren for laid-back daytime dining. A brunch of kedgeree partners creamy smoked haddock alongside a medley of nutty lentils, quinoa and rice. Daily specials might include a steak sandwich topped with a colourful confetti of roast peppers, served with a pile of freshly cut chips. Desserts come in the form of equally tempting cakes, such as a slice of lemon, poppy seed and thyme.

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PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

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J:FKK 8>E<N It's not fine dining by any stretch but Cafe Piccante on the weekends around midnight is an absolute must. It may appear like just a chip shop, but it's not any old chippy, it's a chippy with decks and a DJ. Sometimes it's a terrible pain in the arse if you're just trying to grab something between gigs and a full on rave breaks out amongst your sausage supper But if you're already soused and you're trying to soak up the booze so you can carry on until the wee small hours, and you get a disco with your deep fried Mars bar (yes, they actually do them) it's the most wondrous thing ever. The music makes everyone chill out, puts them in the mood for fun and nonsense and it becomes a proper party.

I have met and lost friends and lovers in that place. It is an absolute must do.

Q Scott Agnew: Spunk on Our Lady's Face, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2–28 Aug (not 15), 10.15pm, £10 (£9).

The Bon Vivant does many things right.

The dark blue walls, candle light and vintage touches in gold create a cosy yet stylish intimacy. The service is spot-on; from being brought a jug of water even as you go to stand at the bar, to laid-back and knowledgeable waiters. You can spend a happy evening in the bar area sipping on a cocktail like Under the Clootie Tree (gin, apricot, grapefruit bitters, lemon and soda), share a bottle of wine and a series of ‘bites’ or sit down for a full meal.

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You'll need to be a bit of a detective to find the place, but once you've navigated the cobbled lane and dark doorway it's worth it. Bryant and Mack’s private detective agency's muted teal and mahogany interior, classic jazz soundtrack and gorgeous glassware lends all the glamour and romance of a bygone age, but their cocktail menu (delivered in a brown envelope marked ‘confidential') is seriously up to the minute. Beers and wines are available too, although this is definitely a bar for the discerning cocktail drinker where (for once) the theme doesn't overwhelm the real quality behind the bar. ;Xpc`^_k IfYY\ip )-9 ;lYc`e Jki\\k# '(*( ,,- ,0-.

Recently taken over by the team behind Safari Lounge, Daylight Robbery is a wee bit hidden in its corner of the New Town.

Just off Queen Street and Broughton Street, although not visible from either, the bar is halfway below street level, with another sunken level below that forming an atmospheric, clubby basement used at weekends and for special events. The main room is decorated in an eye-catching

Hoot the Redeemer

combination of bright yellow and shiny white tiles, while the impressive range of craft ales behind the bar is equally modern and pristine. The bar menu mainly focuses on burgers but there are other offerings too, from small plates of Ethiopian-spiced chicken wings and margarita firecracker chillis to mains like pork belly or pea bhaji burritos. ?ffk K_\ I\[\\d\i . ?Xefm\i Jki\\k# '(*( ))' '*('# _ffkk_\i\[\\d\i%Zfd

Step down the stairs and behind the fortune-teller, back into a 1950s funfair complete with vintage cinema seating, booths and stools. Hoot the Redeemer is all about having fun – and cocktails.

There’s a large menu of house cocktails but staff will also recommend something to suit your mood. If that’s not your thing there are plenty of bottle and draft beers and wines. Boozy Capt’n Hoot slushies and alcoholic Senor Scoop ice-cream bring out the inner child. Or play Pinch’n Sip; use the claw crane to grab a ball with a flavour you like and the staff will mix up something just for you.

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Long-known as a members-only club, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s city centre offshoot is working hard to share its love of Scotland’s national drink to the wider public. The most apparent change is Kaleidoscope, the new ground floor public bar which has taken the place of the previous dining space. It's a snug, semicircular bar staffed by a knowledgeable crew and loaded with 200 malt whiskies, including branded varieties and examples of the society’s collection from around the world. Whisky cocktails and flights are also available, while the food is – perhaps unexpectedly – deserving of a visit all on its own.

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Forget the superstition – as all adherents to the cult of the cocktail know, 13 is the luckiest number especially when it refers to the lucky #13 at Lucky Liquor. 13 cocktails on the list, 13 bottles on the back bar, and a new list every quarter. Keeping it tight means creative, classy choices.

There’s also an element of chance – if you request your off-list favourite and they have the ingredients in, fine; if they don’t, then you’ll have had yer chips. Fear not

though, there’s a compact wine list, the usual mixers plus a range of beers.

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‘Hidden gem’ is an overused cliché, but it seems the old reliable Magnum has been hiding in plain sight. Sure, it’s always been there for a pub lunch or a quick drink after work. But hold onto your hats, because this venerable lady is swapping her slippers for dancing shoes and shaking things up. Cured trout with an orange and dill jelly, cucumber foam, pomegranate seeds and blood orange meringue sounds like it’s trying too hard, but is actually a triumph, while a ballotine of butternut squash and butter bean is as inventive a vegetarian dish as you’ll find anywhere.

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Nightcap opened as a festival pop-up in 2017 and decided to keep going. It’s well worth a visit as it’s one of the most architecturally distinctive bars in the city – a sub-street level room with a warren of alcoves and snugs stretching under the pavement. Anyone involved (it’s the same team behind the St Vincent bar) will tell you it’s actually two bars. Nightcap itself is in the higher level, serving cocktails and table beers, while downstairs Feed offers a sit-down menu of meat and vegetarian burgers, ribs and chicken wings.

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For all that Edinburgh’s first branch of classy Indian restaurant Dishoom has created something of a buzz in the city, its basement bar – hidden away behind the booking table, the pass and a nondescript doorway in the wall – has gone somewhat unnoticed. Yet this enclosed room, decked out in wood panelling and frosted glass dividers as though it were a waiting room in colonial India, is more than just a holding area for the restaurant upstairs.

The table or bar service is excellent, as are the ranges of wine, beer (including their own Dishoom IPA), lassis and particularly cocktails. j`o efik_ )+ ?fn\ Jki\\k# '(*( )), -+0'# j`o[efik_%Zf%lb

'The idea is to have fun, chat and imbibe,' says the menu and it’s a philosophy this craft brewery and bar does well, with its

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Cairngorm Coffee

Kitsch natural sodas provide an alternative to coffee. Soup, a small selection of rolls, cakes and pastries are also available.

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Slightly hidden in its basement location, Lowdown is a welcome change to the city-centre café chains. With a cool and minimal interior, the coffee is wellsourced (supplied by Bath coffee roasters Colonna) and well-brewed. A separate tea menu showcases a range of loose-leaf options from Postcard Teas. Lunch dishes are generous and packed full of great ingredients – tasty grilled sandwiches include fillings such as speck, Mull of Kintyre cheddar and sun-dried tomato on big slabs of crusty sourdough bread. Local suppliers are featured too, with soups from Union of Genius and cakes from Archipelago, just down the hill.

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group-friendly leather booths, tapas-style bar bites and extensive drinks range. The onus here is on Belgian beer, though house brews are made in Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. Each table has a tome containing information on hundreds of beers, including their percentage, origin and what is available on draught. There's also an impressive wine and spirits list and the kitchen serves everything from scallops to steak, though the meat and cheese-filled sharing platter is the real star.

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Dedicated to her craft, owner Caroline Walsh starts her day at 4am to produce exceptionally flavoured and textured breads, thanks to a slow 24-hour fermentation process and organic flour.

Around 10 to 12 breads are offered, including many sourdoughs and yeasted loaves. Also operating as a small veggie café and takeaway, Archipelago provides continental breakfasts, and lunches of vibrant salads, stuffed baguettes, individual tarts, frittata and homemade soup. The cake counter brims with enticing offerings, many free-from and vegan, while homemade jams and chutneys, Mr Eion coffee and Jenier loose-leaf tea ensure high quality across the menu.

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A fantastic wee spot that’s easy to miss.

The menu focuses on simple, good quality ingredients, using a lot of additive-free and organic items, so expect freshly pressed apple, cucumber, celery, ginger and lemon detox juice; multicoloured quinoa, mixed bean, radish and alfalfa salad; wholemeal rolls with hot smoked salmon and horseradish crème fraiche, and a table full of cakes, traybakes and biscuits made in-house. The coffee is from Artisan Roast, your hot chocolate can come plain or jazzed up with organic white lavender, lemongrass, vanilla, cream and marshmallows, and there are a dozen or so teas to choose from.

Wooden shelves given over to brewing paraphernalia and beans highlight that coffee is the focus here. There’s a selection of single origin, seasonal coffee with a monthly guest espresso – the quarterly changing house espresso is just an example of Fortitude's recent ventures into roasting their own. Simple tasting notes on the wall guide your choice: try a pour-over for a more subtle taste, or stick to the milky classics. Tea from Anteaques and

The focus here is firmly on the best coffee they can coax from a bean. Panini and bacon rolls have gone, replaced by excellent brownies, sizeable scones and tray bakes from sister joint Project Coffee. This leaves time and space for two grinders: a regular filled with Square Mile, doyenne of the coffee world, and a guest grinder often featuring Has Bean’s Red Brick, of World Barista Championship fame. For non-coffee lovers they do a mean hot chocolate, as well as Waterloo Gardens tea. If you want to know more about your daily caffeine fix, just ask the enthusiastic baristas.

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Tucked away at the pedestrian end of Castle Street, Castello is popular with tourists, shoppers and coffee purists alike. The interior is compact, with just enough room for a couple of tables, while the outdoor space possesses one of Edinburgh’s finest castle views. Owner Sandro’s vegetarian credentials are evident in the high proportion of meat-free soups, wraps and filled croissants. Pesto, basil and goat’s cheese focaccia is fresh and surprisingly light. Cakes and pastries are locally sourced and the vibe is easy going, but when it comes to coffee, they take things extremely seriously. <k\Xb\k

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Cairngorm sits high within Edinburgh’s independent coffee scene, particularly with the opening of a second, larger branch in Melville Place in March 2017. Sustenance comes in the form of crunchy, cheesy sourdough melts. The popular cheese and bacon toasties face stiff competition from unusual combinations such as stilton, bacon and pear with Edward & Irwyn chocolate which delivers a hearty lunch fit for a mountain climber. The guest filter is creamy and subtly fruity and lives up to the passionate recommendation made by the clued-up staff. With a team that takes great pride in their product, their enthusiasm is contagious.

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Almost a decade since Eteaket founder Erica Moore set out in search of a superior cuppa, the Eteaket tea brand has found legs of its own and supplies stylishly packaged leaves as far afield as Japan. Meanwhile the basement tea shop continues much the same as ever, serving wonderful brews, made to exacting specifications. From the Chocolate Abyss with coconut flakes to chilli rooibos, small pots with pleasing aromas come with a timer to achieve optimum taste.

Though tea is predictably the main event, sandwiches and simple smoked salmon or chicken salads are served in generous portions too.

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Kenji

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At street level of this West End favourite is the pleasant Bar à Vin wine bar while upstairs is the bustling L'Escargot Blanc restaurant. Dive into steamed mussels in blue cheese, crème fraîche and parsley – thank goodness for the bread basket,

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

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K8D8I 9IF8;9<EK When I was doing free fringe last year, Ciao Roma (64 South Bridge) was my favourite place to go for delicious, affordable food. A snug, classy restaurant, where the wine is divine and the waiters don’t get mad at you for paying for a rib-steak in twenty pence pieces.

Q Tamar Broadbent: Get Ugly, Underbelly Med Quad, 2–28 Aug (not 14), 5.30pm, £9.50– £10.50 (£8.50–£9.50).

because you’ll definitely want to dunk into that sauce. A good omelette can be tricky to master, but the duck egg variety presented here is large, fluffy, full of sautéed potato and quite delicious, as is a roasted cod fillet with prawns, mussels and saffron. Wrap things up with a pudding treat, like the chocolate tarte with salted caramel. =fiX^\ :_Xkk\i (X 8cmX Jki\\k# '(*( )), +,00# ]fiX^\Xe[Z_Xkk\i%Zfd

Forage & Chatter gave gourmands new reason to go West (End) when it opened at the end of 2017. Its decor is a mixture of reclaimed wood and tweed upholstery, but any fears of style-over-substance prove unfounded. A starter of squid and barbecue pork shoulder is lifted out of a protein reverie by the addition of comforting cauliflower. Mains pack a serious punch with toasted seeds adding depth to mouthfuls of curried butter monkfish and winter squash. There are signs the South African head chef knows his way around a Scottish hipster’s store cupboard, too, with the presence of Douglas fir on the pudding menu.

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Kenji’s dining area is split in two; tables and benches at the front of the restaurant and a more conventional Japanese space in the back, where seat cushions replace chairs and noren (curtains) conceal the kitchen. Spicy fried squid rings are well seasoned with salt and pepper and, if overwhelmed by the variety of maki, gunkan, nigiri and roll sushi, opt for the set sushi platters which come reasonably priced and are a

thing of true beauty. A tranquil Japanese playlist sets the tone for a meal where the focus is entirely on the delights coming out of the kitchen.

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You don’t often find pan-fried scallops on an Indian restaurant menu and it’s equally rare to enjoy them as gently seared as they are at Navadhanya.

Lightly crusted with fennel and spices, these lovely little delicacies are topped with a mound of mango and sit on a tomato coulis, quickly establishing that this is indeed the food of kings. Mains bring a beautifully presented fresh lobster curry, lightly spiced without overpowering the taste of the sea, or feathery slow-cooked lamb shank in coconut milk-infused tomato sauce.

Navadhanya successfully takes Indian dining up a notch.

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The Pantry in Stockbridge has started doing evening meals at weekends but it remains primarily a daytime gathering point. Parents with kids, couples and friends meeting up to chew the fat and catch up on life, enjoying casual, yummy food like the Vegetarians Anonymous plate, with its selection of tempting roasted veg, guacamole, poached eggs and delicious nibbles. Carnivores settle firmly into slow-cooked pulled pork with bourbon BBQ sauce or brisket quesadilla with kidney beans, guacamole and cheese. And as there is never a wrong time for cake – indulge in masses of home baking worth every calorie.

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At Pizzeria 1926, the heart and soul of Neapolitan pizza seems to have been transported direct from a Naples piazza.

A confidently short menu consists of various cuoppo (Neapolitan-style fritto misto) and around 10 pizzas. Cuoppo come in a brown paper cone; rustling deep-fried morsels of courgette flowers, stuffed olives, mozzarella, whitebait and more. Their pizzas have a touch of yielding softness to the base and a special with friarielli (Italian bitter greens), spicy sausage and provola cheese is as delicious as it sounds. This spot is alive with nofrills fun, fantastic food and a real sense of place.

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Hidden from street view, Purslane could never rely on passing trade. What keeps this subterranean restaurant perennially busy is a young owner-chef who knows just what he’s doing, conjuring up flavours to stimulate the most jaded palate. And there’s a playful inventiveness here, from the gin-free, smoky G&T with lemon and sage right through to the puddings. Lamb

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expertly made, and the Valencia orange brownie is worth risking the inevitable sugar crash for. Under new management, there are plans afoot for the space, including the downstairs bar, which is currently a low-key yet buzzing spot for grabbing one of many excellent beers or wines for a post-play analysis.

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IFJ@< N@C9P I'll always have a soft spot for Viva Mexico on Cockburn St as I lived in the flat above them the year I did my first ever Edinburgh in 2006. Friendly staff, delicious fish!

Q Rosie Wilby: The Conscious Uncoupling, Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 3-27 Aug (not 14), 6.30pm, free.

rump with artichoke is a fine main course where the olive purée and a red wine jus cut through the sweetness of the meat. To finish, try and squeeze in some smoked milk ice-cream and a buzzy, espressopacked coffee parfait.

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Social enterprise Social Bite has been working to help tackle homelessness and social problems since 2011. The Rose Street branch is one of five, with food prepared in their Livingston kitchen by a team including those who have previously experienced life on the streets. They offer a fine range of sandwiches, salads, soups and hot lunches as well as breakfast rolls and cakes. Customers can also buy ‘suspended’ items that a homeless person can come in and claim. The social enterprise is focused on more than handouts, helping people off the streets with profits going to good causes.

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Sushiya has earned a reputation as a neighbourhood favourite. Intricate sushi platters are scattered across the tables among hearty servings of ramen, sweet teriyaki salmon rice bowls and dumplings.

The diverse menu keeps a modest kitchen busy, and out front there’s more to see as sashimi is systematically prepared behind a counter of fresh fish. Full of texture, the black sesame seed ice-cream is a pleasant way to round off the meal. Enjoy each dish as it comes; admire the attention to detail and take comfort in the fact that the bill will most definitely warrant a return.

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This wee spot above the iconic subterranean theatre offers an everchanging selection of freshly made soups, sandwiches, salads and hotpots, most at a screamingly low price. A robust salad of chicken, chickpea and chorizo is a harmonious tumble of flavours. Coffee comes from Machina Espresso and is

Serving up diverse and tasty Indian street food at around a fiver a dish, Tuk Tuk’s relaxed tapas-style of eating positively demands sharing. With its bright Bollywood inspired décor, the hits of spice that punctuate most dishes, and the clientele (Tuk Tuk is renowned for large groups), an evening here can be fairly described as lively. Ordering around three dishes per head is recommended: making the puri yoghurt bombs at least one of the choices should be mandatory.

These crisp little explosions of yoghurt, tamarind, chickpea, mint and crunchy sev are a revelation and work well alongside hotter dishes.

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Vietnam House Restaurant is understated and full of life. Cha gio (fried spring rolls) for starters are generous in size, wonderfully crisp on the outside with delicate, fresh flavours inside. For mains, the thit heo kho (braised pork in caramel sauce) is a winner, a surprisingly light pork dish infused with a tasty sauce and punchy star anise. Alternatively, the xoi ga (lotus chicken rice) is a simpler, but still satisfying, dish with chicken, shrimp and shitake mushrooms, which add a real depth of flavour. All in, it’s an enjoyable experience for a low-key meal.

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Edinburgh's Swedish presence has grown considerably over the years.

What started with Boda bar on Leith Walk now includes several other bars in the city – the biggest of which is Akva, next to the Union Canal. The menu has all the Swedish touches you'd hope for (some hasselback potatoes to go with that smörgåsbord?), plus burgers, homemade soups and pan-fried salmon. If you're just in for a drink, there's a good range of craft beers, ciders and cocktails to choose from and, weather permitting, try and grab a seat in the canal-side beer garden.

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It's easy to overuse the word 'sophisticated' when describing a wine bar, but in this case, it’s well earned. There's soft jazz on in the background, the extensive wine menu requires a comprehensive sommelier's dictionary, and the waiting staff are fully clued up on the origin, texture and strength of every piece of cheese, meat or otherwise to grace the kitchen's lauded charcuterie platters. The real star here is the wine list, though.

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Rory and Graeme Sutherland really love their wines, particularly those with something new to offer. Orange wine may not be for everyone, but it’s an interesting alternative to explore, and there are plenty of other tipples on the 120-strong wine list here. The good brothers seek out a personal connection to their vintners and this convivial attitude is also reflected in the warm atmosphere of the bar and the sharing plates on the menu. Dishes range from simple but carefully sourced olives, cheeses and bread to more substantial prospects. All this combines to create a lovely addition to the Stockbridge scene.

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The Hanging Bat is full of nooks and crannies set into split-levels of exposed brick, chunky wood and reclaimed furniture. Depending on your love for all things hoppy, the choice of 158 bottles and cans may be either overwhelming

or exciting. However, the staff are more than happy to share their love and understanding, gladly offering tasters of the six cask beers or 14 keg lines. The food is all about meat, with an American accent. That means pulled pork, ribs, or a choice of hotdogs (including the haggis-topped Greyfriars Bobby) and sides of ‘slaw, collard greens or beer mac 'n’ cheese. ?\Zkfi j +.Æ+0 ;\Xe_Xl^_ Jki\\k# '(*( *+* (.*,# _\ZkfijjkfZbYi`[^\%Zf%lb

A staple of the Stockbridge pub scene, the near 25-year-old Hector's bears traces of the style-bar fashion which dominated in its earlier years, without feeling tired or stale. The back room feels cosy and bustling while the front bar affords street views onto Raeburn Place through curved, floor-to-ceiling windows. There’s a very reasonable two and three course fixedprice menu and a good selection of budget sandwiches served with chips, while a fuller daily menu mixes its influences, from Gloucester old spot sausage and mash to southern fried chicken and fries.

Saturday’s extensive brunch menu is a local favourite.

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take your pick from the likes of haggis bonbons, blue cheese and cauliflower pâté, monkfish with baba ganoush, and ox cheek with crispy mushroom and smooth butternut squash.

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Whether you pop in for a quick glass of bubbles on the way home from work or settle in for a few hours with a wine and cheese flight, the sophisticated and welcoming Smith & Gertrude will see you right. There’s no rush here – and it’s a good job too, because it will take a while to work through the thoughtfully curated wine list. The global list features wellknown and less-familiar varieties, with more than just lip service paid to English producers. Edinburgh-sourced charcuterie and cheese boards (and even some locally made chocolates) make trusty accompaniments to your chosen tipple.

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It’s easy to imagine the fictitious William ‘Buck’ Clarence appreciating what the team from Big Red Teapot (of Treacle, Hamilton’s and The Blackbird fame) have done with his old home. A lover of travel, he’d enjoy reliving his adventures through the extensive and entertaining cocktail list.

The food also reflects Buck’s appreciation of the finer things in life. Curious ingredients are combined in interesting dishes like guinea fowl, purple potato skordalia, hazelnuts and pomegranate jus. A varied band of locals follow in Buck’s footsteps through lively weekend nights into relaxed brunches, guided by enthusiastic and efficient staff.

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Tucked away in a Stockbridge basement, The Last Word’s cosy atmosphere and welcoming staff should make you feel instantly at home. While the décor may be traditional, there’s nothing conventional about the fabulous cocktail menu. A Tiger Moth is a beautifully berry-sweet blend of maraschino liqueur, gin and grenadine, while the addition of sugar-snap pea syrup gives the Lear’s Lyric a delightful savoury lift. There’s nibbles available or a cheeseboard from neighbouring IJ Mellis, and if cocktails aren’t your thing, there are plenty of wines by the glass, plus rotating guest beers and an impressive array of single malts.

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Stockbridge isn’t short of swanky watering holes where you can spend time catching up with friends over a large glass of Pouilly-Fumé. So what makes Rollo different? Well, there’s the intimate and inviting décor, the cosy candlelit tables, the exceptionally friendly staff – and the total lack of pretension. Here you can munch your way through an eclectic menu of bites, bowls, plates and sides. Carefully balanced between elegance and fun,

Bringing a splash of South African colour to the West End, the Caffeine Drip is as far away from bog standard cafés and dreary sandwich shops as you can get.

All the food, including soups and cakes, is made from scratch in a kitchen many restaurants would envy. It shows too, with huge doorstep club sandwiches filled with spicy pulled pork and sour pickles while the boerewors rolls feature traditional South African beef and pork sausage made to an authentic recipe by a local butcher. The coffee's up to scratch too, impeccably sourced from Peru, Honduras and Ethiopia. :flek\i fe k_\ :XeXc C\Xd`e^kfe C`]k 9i`[^\# Le`fe :XeXc# ef g_fe\

This restored narrowboat serving coffee and sweet treats is moored just beside the Leamington lift bridge. The Counter also operates three converted police boxes at the Usher Hall, Tollcross and Morningside, but this is their first floating venture. With great branding and a fresh, colourful feel, this is a welcome addition to the area, with a couple of tables on the towpath for enjoying canalside views. The excellent coffee is from Stockbridge roasters Mr Eion, while the baking includes brownies and biscuits all

9I8E;FE J F= :8EFED@CCJ 1 Canonmills, 0131 558 7080, brandonsofcanonmills.tumblr.com One of the most impressively all-purpose pubs in Edinburgh serving brunch, lunch, dinner, wine, cocktails and rotating craft beer casks.

?<DD8 75 Holyrood Road, 0131 629 3327, bodabar.com/hemma Settle down in an armchair and tuck into brunch at this Old Town hangout, just a stone's throw from the Scottish Parliament.

K?< >I8E8IP 32-34 The Shore, 0845 166 6005, granaryleith.co.uk Grab some brunch to perk you up at this favourite haunt on Leith's The Shore, or a Sunday roast if Saturday night's been hard on you.

FJK8I8 52 Coburg Street, 0131 261 5441, ostaracafe.co.uk Blow away those cobwebs with all-day brunch at this lovely Leith cafe-bistro, then take a walk along the nearby Water of Leith.

9IF:?8E 24 Marchmont Crescent, 0131 629 2622 This wee café is all about the oats – healthy bowls of porridge and granola served with inventive and delicious toppings.

CFL;FE J :8=< 8E; 98B<IP 94 Fountainbridge, 0131 228 9774, loudons-cafe.co.uk Bright, spacious, and relaxed, Loudon's serves eggs benedict all day with six different toppings.

:?<:BGF@EK 3 Bristo Place, 0131 225 9352, checkpointedinburgh.com Casual all-day dining and drinking in the same building as Assembly Checkpoint, and neighbouring all the action of Bristo Square.

K?< 9C8:B9@I; 37-29 Leven Street, 0131 228 2280, theblackbirdedinburgh.co.uk Colourful, lively bar popular with students and workers alike for its good craic and great cocktails. Lovely beer garden too.

EF9C<J :8=<# 98I I<JK8LI8EK 44a Constitution Street, 0131 629 7215 One of Leith's best looking pubs, serving good food and full of oldworld charm.

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A newcomer to Tollcross, the Early Bird should become a firm favourite. The owners obviously care very much about what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing, with attention paid to the details, right down to the water temperature of the tea (70 degrees for green tea) and coffee that's just as lovingly made. The speciality is Hungarian chimney cake â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a deliciously soft, cylinder-shaped Danish pastry dusted with cinnamon, iced, or even savoury. Food is mainly sandwiches, soups and savoury croissants with vegetarian and gluten-free choices. Once youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve sunk into a beanbag and supped the perfect cup of tea, it becomes very difficult to leave. =Xcbf Bfe[`kfid\`jk\i (/, 9ilekj]`\c[ GcXZ\# '(*( -,- '.-*

A steady trickle of customers shows a dedicated following for Falkoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s traditional German rye breads, sourdoughs and freshly baked pretzels. While this authentically continental coffeehouse

and bakery may have been in town long enough to have lost its novelty factor, the counter of flamboyant cakes, from fruit-laden apfelkuchen to rich chocolatey sachertorte, has certainly maintained its appeal. Lunches are of a similarly authentic persuasion. A wurst salat is packed with gherkins and cheese and made with sausages sent from Germany.

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Fieldwork loves a bit of experimentation, working with great ingredients to create innovative sweet treats. Their gluten-free carrot cake â&#x20AC;&#x201C; sweet, moist sponge packed with spices, nuts, seeds and dried fruit, topped with tart cream cheese â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is very satisfying, especially alongside a smooth, fruity long black. Aside from cakes and pastries, porridge bowls come with organic oats and four different topping options, all warming and nourishing.

Rather than trying to do it all, limited offerings ensure top-notch quality, with Steampunk coffee, Anteaques tea,

Chocolate Tree hot chocolate and Roots sodas keeping things local and artisan.

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Is there anything better than a leisurely brunch? Enjoy it in a room flooded with natural light, complimentary papers, Artisan roast coffee and you're probably eating at Loudonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. The quintessential brunch dish of eggs benedict is served all day with six different toppings such as savoury chorizo and black pudding.

Weekday breakfasts include Loudonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own veggie sausages and homemade granola while the lunch menu is wellbalanced with burgers, salads, quiches and soups. Every slice of bread, piece of cake and crumble of cookie is baked downstairs; get there early and you may catch a glimpse of the bakers in action.

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Milk at Morrison Street, in Edinburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s West End, is the original cafĂŠ among their other art space venues: the Fruitmarket Gallery, the Collective up on Calton Hill, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and Jupiter Artland.A seasonal sit-in and takeaway menu of homemade food offers breakfast, sandwiches, salads, hot food, and daily soup (always vegan), with plenty of gluten-free and vegan options. The vegan chocolate truffle slice (a gluten-free staple) provides a smooth dark chocolate and coconut cream ganache, topped with sultanas, apricots and walnuts. Alongside stylish dĂŠcor, good coffee and delicious food, welcoming staff dish up an all-round memorable cafĂŠ experience.

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Smith & Gertrude

The former Peter's Yard Stockbridge KDV UHEUDQGHG DV 6Î&#x2013;GHUEHUJ EXW WKH\¡UH still serving all the same quality baking

and Swedish cakes. Healthy lunches can include a satisfying salad of spiced roast potato, quinoa and cauliflower, or a hearty bowl of homemade soup of the day, which comes with bread, or a filling sandwich, VXFK DV WKH VPRNHG VDOPRQ ÂśOD[UÎ&#x2013;UD¡ The sourdough pizza is sadly no longer available, which will make many hearts in Stockbridge sink (itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now available LQ 6Î&#x2013;GHUEHUJ 3DYLOLRQ QHDU 4XDUWHUPLOH instead) but there are still Scandinavian spiced cardamon buns, parsnip cake, chocolate balls and cookies as consolation.

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handmade by the owners. They also take cards, so it's handy for visitors and hurried commuters alike.

<C@JJ8 :?LI:?@CC E<NJI<ML< Perhaps a bit far off the beaten track for your average fringegoer, but the Marchmont Fish & Chip Takeaway is well-worth a visit. Very generous helpings of everything, fresh fish cooked to order, and if you take your show's poster and win over the ladies behind the counter, they'll do your publicity for you and send everyone who comes in your way!

Q NewsRevue 2017, Pleasance Courtyard, 2â&#x20AC;&#x201C;28 Aug (not 15), 6.30pm, ÂŁ13.50â&#x20AC;&#x201C;ÂŁ17.50 (ÂŁ12â&#x20AC;&#x201C;ÂŁ16).

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After popping up in festivals and markets Alplings now have a permanent home: a small, bright mountain hut of a restaurant.

The cooking reflects owner Martin Auer’s South Tyrol roots – so as well as the signature vegetarian alplings which come in delicious beetroot, cheese or spinach varieties, there are spätzle (Austrian egg noodle) dishes with carbonara and four cheese sauces; vegan ‘kuku’ tart; pepper goulash with polenta; sweet vanilla pancakes; and soft pretzl rolls. It may look like a nondescript sandwich shop from the outside, but inside, the alpine menu is a breath of fresh air.

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Bodega is almost a blink-and-you'll-missit space. One long bank of near-communal seating and two tables for two mean there's little choice but to scooch up and get friendly. Street-style tacos buck traditional Mexican food trends. Sure, the black bean and cheese dip starter is pleasingly familiar, but the smoky carne asada steak is tempered with cool ranch dressing, while fusion gets a look-in with crunchy tempura tiger prawns and Asian slaw. Scallion fries on the side are a lighter take on onion rings; battered and ripe for dipping into sweet mustard sauce. Oh and it's BYOB, too. :X] I\eifZ 0( Dfek^fd\ip Jki\\k# '(*( -)0 *.).# ZX]\i\eifZ%Zf%lb

At Renroc, on a quiet street corner off

Leith Walk, you can comfortably dine solo or meet with friends and family to enjoy breakfast, brunch, lunch, or on a Friday evening, a candlelit dinner. Sit outside on sunny days, or experience the quirky ambience inside. The all-day breakfast menu is served weekdays, and bigger dishes are served everyday from noon, alongside a licensed drinks menu.

Spiced pumpkin and butterbean soup with fresh wholegrain bread is hearty and flavoursome, while homemade cakes provide an indulgent treat. This neighbourhood café is certainly worth seeking out whether you’re local or not. :_fg ?flj\ C\`k_ (') :fejk`klk`fe Jki\\k# C\`k_# '(*( -)0 (0(0# Z_fg_flj\jk\Xb%Zf%lb

Now in its second year, Chop House Leith has already built up an outstanding reputation thanks to its premium dry-aged chargrilled steaks, impeccable service and intimate surroundings. Despite its quiet location, it’s extremely popular – it’s worth arriving early to enjoy a tipple at the well-stocked bar. Chop House’s 35-day-aged steaks are cooked over an open-flame grill, lending them a subtle smokiness. The marbled fat in the ribeye is perfectly rendered, and the fillet practically melts in the mouth. To accompany, try buttery mash with rich beef gravy or the toothpick-thin skinny fries.

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The owners of L’Escargot Bleu have a good eye and excellent taste, in more ways than one. Great vintage pieces and artwork create an atmosphere that reeks of authenticity. There’s a strong wine list, too, though starting with a Ricard or kir is just the ticket. And then there’s the food. Tuck

into a chicory salad, studded with artisan goat's cheese, poached pear, hazelnuts and balsamic vinegar, or a brilliant ohso-smokey sea bass fillet served with a lovingly seasoned salad on potato and Jerusalem artichoke. Year-old Agen prunes soaked in Armagnac syrup make a terrific finale.

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Khushi’s first opened in Edinburgh's Potterow in 1947 and its name remains synonymous with ‘curry’ in the capital.

Intoxicating aromas lure the lion’s share of walk-ins in an area packed with pretheatre competition. The well-executed menu is a generous belt notch above standard Indian fare. Prawn kolhapuri is redolent of cumin and curry leaf, delicately coated in chickpea flour to produce crisp but yielding mouthfuls. In a venue producing its own dairy products, it would be remiss not to sample the saag paneer: it’s a great contrast of smooth spinach, garlic and tempered cumin and firm salty curd.

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Norn offers a modern, stripped-down take on fine dining without the swagger of white tablecloths and flouncy menus.

The four or seven-course menus are in constant seasonal flux and dependent on the locally foraged herbs and leaves that flavour many of the dishes. Be it some gentle haddock, egg yolk and crab apple on a broccoli foam, or rich, gamey lamb with walnut paste, these are served and described by the chefs themselves.

‘Enjoy!’ they invariably cry before retreating to the kitchen, and it’s pretty

hard not to, especially with one of the most thoughtful wine lists in town.

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At Ostara, brunch takes centre stage, served all day, alongside daily specials, soup and sandwiches – using locally sourced and seasonal ingredients, with most dishes adaptable for dietary requirements. Roast sweet potato with hot smoked salmon (from Welch’s Fishmonger) comes with a colourful

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K<IIP 8C;<IKFE I know it maybe a little cliche, but I love to go for lunch at the Witchery. The oldy worldy feel the moment you walk in the door. The smell, the sight, the sound. And then there's the grub! Traditional Scottish for me please, no doubt, haggis neeps and tatties.

Q Terry Alderton: All Crazy Now, Pleasance Courtyard, 2–27 Aug (not 14), 10.40pm, £10-£11 (£9-£10).

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G@GG8 <M8EJ My favourite place is City Restaurant because they don't judge you when you ask for a green tea, a garden salad, no dressing, with a side order of haggis. It's open late for friend phoning, critic moaning and carb loading.

Q Pippa Evans: Joy Provision!

Pleasance Courtyard, 2–27 Aug, 2.40pm, £10–£13 (£8.50–£12).

salad of alfalfa sprouts, yellow and pink beetroot, pickled cucumber and leaves.

Inventive specials, such as venison haggis and potato cake topped with fried-egg, offer something new on every visit.

Homemade sweet treats complement coffee from Williams & Johnson or Pekoe loose leaf tea. There’s also wine and Scottish craft beer / cider, or fresh coldpressed juices. Overall, a neighbourhood treasure.

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Charity Sikh Sanjog set up this social enterprise café in 2013 to provide Indian women with training opportunites.

Lunchtimes are a hive of activity as customers flock to grab a thali lunch for a fiver, or a takeaway for as little as £3.

Top tip though: eat in and ask for a freshly made momo, pakora or samosa starter – there may be a wait but it’s worth it and the aubergine pakora is especially good.

The fish curry is also a favourite, white fish soaked in a medium-spiced thick tomato sauce with lots of garlic.

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At The Walnut, mismatched furniture, charming tea-towel napkins and a chalkboard menu create a casual, and cool, first impression. Informed staff are on hand to open your wine (whether BYOB or from their concise wine list).

Food is categorised into smaller and larger plates. A salad of roast carrots delivers caramelised roots, with bites of ripe goat's cheese providing a creamy foil to the sharp sherry vinaigrette. The ever-popular beef short-rib is unctuous meaty joy, and a supremely satisfying main. The Walnut brings neighbourhood dining up a notch and makes a formerly humble Leith Walk address seem positively aspirational.

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This little Polish diner is something of an undiscovered treasure. It’s all that

you hope Polish food will be: big, meaty dishes, like fiery hunter’s stew and deep, satisfying beef broth infused with smoked pork belly. There’s a generosity that comes through in the flavours. Don’t be misled by the simple menu descriptions either; the humbly described potato pancakes are packed with herbs and crisp like rösti, while the accompanying salad includes beetroot relish, carved radishes and tangy sauerkraut. Polish classic pierogi come in three or twelve to share; unexpectedly light and melt in the mouth, go for twelve.

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This light, bright and inviting space is somewhere you could easily while away an afternoon or evening looking out over The Shore. With a real passion for good ingredients, owners Rhiannon and Jamie have got the basics very right. Broad beer and wine lists have been carefully chosen and menus change daily, offering local produce prepared with heart, including a roast on Sunday. Pub classics feature in new formats, alongside tasty, comforting options like steak and dumpling stew, special salads and sharing platters featuring fish, meats and pickles smoked and cured in-house.

on the radar of beer lovers across the city. This free house keeps a good and thoughtful cellar – they have a range of ten constantly-changing keg and cask lines, as well as 30 international bottles and cans. There is a link-up with local brewery Pilot, a fascination with gin – many from Scotland – and the hungry drinker can order a delivery from Leith Walk pizza joint Origano.

the food emphasises healthy if hearty choices. The menu focuses on seafood and vegan and vegetarian options; beerbattered haddock with handmade chips and smoked garlic aioli, Scottish mussels by the quarter, half or full kilo, and a fresh fish special of the day. Elsewhere, dishes like vegan spelt gnocchi and inventive leek fritters served with lemon zest cream and a fried egg deserve to entice non-meat eaters.

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This new update of old Broughton Street favourite Mather’s has all you might want from a modern city centre local.

Customers can choose from six rotating craft beers, pale ales and dark beers and around 30 beers in bottles and cans.

There's also a strong list of bespoke and classic cocktails, made with an impressively diverse collection of rare malt whiskies procured from auction sites, small batch Scottish gins and other assorted spirits. Alongside standard pub food items like fish and chips or macaroni and cheese, the emphasis is on filled flatbreads and diverse, substantial burgers.

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There’s a real community focus to Leith Depot, with the upstairs performance area playing host to gigs by local talent, open mic nights on monthly Thursdays and community group meetings, while

Nobles may technically be a pub, but it certainly doesn't act like one. The re-imagined Victorian space is filled with mismatched furniture, vivacious artwork and a giant framed picture of Bill

Leith is familiar with the up-cycling of old boozers. The trick is to turn them into cool new bars where people actually want to spend time – and the Lioness of Leith slickly made this transition in 2013. Cocktails are a big draw as is the well-executed food from a compact menu that includes bar faves like fish & chips and burgers, but also stretches to more ambitious options like Thai curry mussels and satay salmon. Cool tunes on the stereo, a pinball machine, great local beers on tap and acoustic sessions on Sunday evenings all add to the appeal.

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Homely, quirky, community-spirited – adjectives that could describe any of the Leith-end group of Swedish bars (which includes Sofis, Victoria and Joseph Pearce’s). That's not to say they are clones of each other though: each has its own identity and loyal regulars. Boda has a well-stocked bar, good range of beers and a cracking cocktail menu. The ‘cocktail of the moment’ may be a Marmalade Martini or something seasonal invented by the bar staff. There’s no kitchen, so no food is served beyond the odd cup of nuts, but you can order a pizza from nearby Origano.

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Brandon’s has evolved into one of the most impressively all-purpose pubs in Edinburgh. As a quality dining destination, it’s comprehensive. Weekend brunch takes in everything from Balearic poached eggs with sobrassada to salt beef hash with potato, poached egg and sriracha sauce.

To lunch – short rib burger and fries; a light miso broth with mushroom, pak choi and poached egg; or fluffy bao buns with a range of fillings. Meanwhile, dinner swaggers through distinctive meat and fish plates with confidence. Excellent teas, coffees, wines, cocktails and rotating beer casks mean this is a bar worth making a detour for. ;i\X[efl^_k C\`k_ .) Efik_ =fik_ Jki\\k# C\`k_# './.-*,(,*,# [i\X[efl^_kc\`k_%Zfd

The Dreadnought is a little too far out of the way to become a destination bar – and in fact, most customers are locals – but it absolutely deserves to be

WELCOME WE W EELCO LCOOM MEE CO COCK COCKTAIL COOCCK CKKTTTAI AI AIL IILL + FOUR UR UR E M NU (£40 (£40) £40 ££40) FOUR-COURSE MENU Live eM Music usic | Late us atte e Night Ni h Bar N Barr |Cocktail C kttail Masterclasses Mast rc asses ssses

The Biscuit iscu F Factory a tto orry y 4-6 A so on o n Pl la e,, E H6 5NP 5NP 4-6 Anderson Place, EH6

Tickets Tick T k s ava a available va bl att dramandsmoke.com d m ndsmo dssmo e co c m

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I<8C =FF;J *. 9ifl^_kfe Jki\\k# <?( *AL '(*( ,,. (0((# i\Xc]ff[j%Zf%lb All the vegetarian, vegan, free-from, Fairtrade, natural and organic foods you need to see you through this year’s festival fun. Edinburgh’s original health food shop recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the opening of their first store in the city in 1974. Today they sell over 10,000 products and ship worldwide.

C <J:8I>FK 9C<L ,- 9ifl^_kfe Jki\\k# <?( *J8# '(*( ,,. (-''# c\jZXi^fkYc\l%Zf%lb Dynamic couple Frederic Berkmiller and Betty Jourjon are the patrons and creative force behind L’Escargot Bleu (and sister restaurant L’Escargot Blanc). Their particular take on the classic French bistro fizzes with quirky Gallic charm. A handsome dining room with vintage posters and big windows provides a suitable backdrop to bold cooking served up joyfully by mostly native French staff.

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Smoke Stack prides itself on a nononsense approach towards dining, aiming to serve simply cooked, quality dishes prepared from locally sourced ingredients. Located half-way down Broughton Street, it offers a selection of rump, fillet, ribeye and sirloin steaks with crisp hand-cut chips, mash, salad or baby potatoes and a dauntingly comprehensive dessert menu.

Standing proudly on the corner of Broughton Street and Broughton Place, Narcissus is one of the oldest residents on the street. Unmissable with their classic Edinburgh bay window showcasing a marvellous array of fresh blooms and botanical gems, Narcissus has long been the go-to florist and a great place to grab a moment of calm within the busy city centre during the festival season.

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Winners of the 2017 Scottish Food Awards, Best New Restaurant title and described by The Scotsman as 'the hot table in town', Le Roi Fou has made its mark since opening in March. At the helm is Chef / Patron Jerome Henry, previously head chef for the legendary Anton Mosimann, cooking the freshest Scottish ingredients with both skill and complexity, providing the very best culinary experience.

Rosevear Tea is an Edinburgh-based retailer of loose leaf tea with a new store on Broughton Street. There are over 60 teas of all varieties, 20% of which are organic, all of which are delicious. Their shops have an extensive selection of teaware and accessories, including the well regarded Zero Japan. Rosevear Tea also has a store on Bruntsfield Place.

Expect a friendly welcome.

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Punjabi Junction offers traditional Punjabi, home-cooked cuisines, alongside supporting opportunities for social inclusion of women from the capital’s minority Ethnic background.

The café provides cooking classes, outside catering and a fantastic array of dishes packed with spice. The atmosphere is warm, friendly, full of laughter and with a BYOB policy, it's one not to miss.

A new and exciting addition to Leith Walk’s bar and restaurant scene, Leith Depot offers a wide variety of wines, craft and draught beers and a food menu with a great selection of vegetarian and seafood dishes plus bar snacks. The Venue upstairs offers live music and arts performances throughout the week.

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A new bar gracing Leith's shore from the team behind The Empress of Broughton Street and Jeremiah's Taproom. The Salvation of Leith serves a selection of craft beers, Scottish gins, an extensive cocktail list and a creative menu. Try The Salvation burger, topped with cheese, smoked streaky bacon, haggis fitters and ailoi – it's worth the trip alone.

There's prime outdoor seating too.

This award winning Gastropub and Cocktail Bar has been open since 2013 and has become one of Leith’s goto venues for food, cocktails and local beer. Eat and drink amongst eclectic décor, unique vibes and regular live music and DJs. Boutique tea, artisan coffee, lunch and a seasonal menu are all served daily, with brunches and roasts at weekends.

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FZ\Xe ;i# <?- -AA# '(*( ,,, ,,--# ifpXcpXZ_kYi`kXee`X%Zf%lb One of Scotland's best and most popular attractions, the Royal Yacht Britannia was home to Her Majesty The Queen and the Royal Family for over 40 years. Now berthed in Edinburgh, you can follow in the footsteps of royalty to discover the heart and soul of this most special of Royal residences.

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Norn offers a modern, strippeddown take on fine dining without the swagger of white tablecloths and flouncy menus. It's fresh, bold and committed contemporary Scottish dining using ingredients from local seas, shores, hedgerows and kitchen gardens. Expect inventive dining with a reasonable price tag.

Instantly invoking memories of those brilliant Spanish backstreet bars and restaurants – electric with bustle and animated conversation – that you remember so vividly from your holiday, the Iberian Black Pig takes centre stage at Tapa, where, even with the unpredictable Scottish weather, you can saviour stunning Spanish flavours long after your tan has disappeared.

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Murray. Pub grub staples are nowhere to be seen on the elegant evening mains menu, which features the likes of roast pheasant, Scottish crab claw and squash jalousie. The starters too are a cut above, with miso-glazed aubergine and confit rainbow trout taking centre stage.

There's an ever-rotating selection of craft beers and ales on tap, and gin and wine fans will find an expansive, well thought-out selection.

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The team here mean it when they say they â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;try to make everyone feel at homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the hungover will find juicy Stornoway black pudding and salty Bloody Marys; vegans can share copious Gorgeous Grazer platters (hummus, garlic mushrooms, salad, dhal, homemade bread and rye crisps), dairy avoiders can try beetroot burgers or ham hock terrine, and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a rhubarb and vanilla panacotta for the gluten-free. They have served signature â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Pot-tailsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (cocktails in teapots) here for almost a decade now, and board games and Scottish beers give extra reasons to linger.

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Treacle feels like a child has had its own way with the interior designer, choosing comic character wallpaper for a wall facing 200-year-old exposed brick, but the space has been cleverly arranged, making it as appealing to brunch-goers as evening drinkers. Mischievous creativity has also helped shape a diverse menu, where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s acceptable to drink a vodka Asian Hooker with a large bowl of ramen, or play it safe with a chicken pie and pint of Drygateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IPA. This may all sound like chaos, but Treacleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enthusiastic team have a knack for making the unusual seem totally easy breezy.

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Known as a supplier of hand-baked bagels around Edinburgh, the baker with the beard (Rowan Walker) has now opened a small cafĂŠ on Rodney Street. The bagels have earned themselves a deservedly good

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reputation, and are available filled with the likes of cream cheese, pickles, dill and smoked salmon; clava brie, homemade onion chutney and spring onion, or to takeaway plain for 80p a pop. Their homebaked doughnuts are also a highlight, available in Eton mess, affogato, lemon meringue and maple cinnamon varieties, depending on the daily specials (keep an eye on Twitter for updates). :X]\ GiXc`e\ 0) C\`k_ NXcb

This new spot at the foot of Leith Walk comes from the couple who also run Le Petit Français, a French bakery that does wholesale and delivery out of its nearby premises. Sit in and savour their homemade bread, pastries, quiches and cakes. Their excellent poppy bagels, rosemary focaccia and ciabatta come filled with the likes of goatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheese, honey and walnuts or roast ham and emmental, or buy a baguette to shove under your arm and take home with you. Their tempting plum and almond tarts, fluffy pains aux chocolats and selection of traditional patisserie are very reasonably priced. :XjX 8d`^X C\`k_ )0+ C\`k_ NXcb# '(*( +-. ,--+# ZXjX$ Xd`^X%Zfd

Casa Amiga popped up towards the end of 2014 on Leith Walk, specialising in Portuguese cakes and bakes. The long list of savoury items includes dense, chorizopacked bread and baccalao fritters, plus homemade soup of the day and corn bread. More than likely itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be the promise of sweet treats that entice casual passersby, in particular the mound of pastel de natas â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Portuguese curd tarts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that are crisp, creamy and every bit as good as the ones to be found in Lisbon. With beautiful cakes, great coffee and an easy-going vibe, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s set to become a local favourite.

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This repurposed drill hall is now home

to creative spaces and a gem of a cafĂŠ which is about to celebrate its 10th year.

As a community training cafĂŠ they aim to both feed and nurture the area, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just the ethos which is wholesome. Rolls from the Manna House are generously filled with a selection of well-sourced ingredients for both breakfast and lunch, while hot offerings change daily but are likely to include options like goulash and macaroni cheese. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plenty of choice for veggies and vegans and if you have other requirements, just ask.

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The Hideout CafĂŠ is a popular spot, with a steady stream of locals and workers picking up takeaway coffees from a team of baristas happy to indulge in a bit of latte art. Sitting in has its benefits too, though, providing a chance to people watch, catch up with friends or make use of the free wifi. The menu mainly focuses on the familiar stalwarts of sandwiches, soups and homemade cakes. A tuna melt, served in doorstops of focaccia, oozes cheesy goodness, while fine homemade courgette and brie soup comes with quality Manna House bread, or your choice of sandwich.

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Start your day off right, ideally with a stripy black and white paper bag filled with fresh doughnuts, bread and pastries from Twelve Triangles. The original, tiny Brunswick Street shop opened in 2015, with a second takeaway bakery/ cafĂŠ appearing on Portobello High Street the year later. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now an excellent sitdown cafĂŠ/ restaurant on Duke Street too, but the two original shops are good for a quick pit-stop. Doughnuts come in daily-changing varieties, such as pumpkin cream cheese, apple and cinnamon or lemon ricotta, and their top-quality â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;realâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; breads might include black charcoal or chocolate, fig and almond sourdough.

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=<JK@M8C @E;<O FLI $Q F= J?FNJ# <M<EKJ 8E; 8:KJ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Fern Brady Fin Taylor Fleabag Foreign Radical Fragile Bliss Frankie Vah Fringe by the Sea From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads FuturePlay Immersive Gallery FuturePlay Sessions Geoff Norcott Gerry Fox Goblin’s Peter and the Wolf Golfing Comedian of the Year Gossip Graham Fagen Gunge! A Show With Gunge in It Guy Pratt Hanif Kureishi Harriet Walter Home How to Be a Kid Ibibio Sound Machine Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria Irvine Welsh Is Screen Time the Enemy?

Jac Leirner Jackie Kay Jacob Kerray Jan Ravens Jane Doe Janey Godley Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzales Jessica Yu Jogging JoJo Bellini’s Crash-Bang Cabaret!

Jools Holland Joseph Morpurgo Joshua Bell Just Festival

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#Unshamed 55 5 Soldiers 101 20 Years of Harry Potter Magic 18 70th Anniversary Celebration Concert 23 Abir Mukherjee 48 Adam 88 Ahir Shah 101 Alan Ayckbourn 106 Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich 48 Ali Smith 51 Amythyst Kiah 120 And They Played Shang-A-Lang 14 Anna Pasternak 18 Anoushka Shankar 110 Arne Dahl 48 Arr We There Yet? 81 Arthur Smith 18 Ashley Storrie 12 Athena Kugblenu 68 Attached 64 Ayesha Hazarika 71 B*easts, the 101 Backyard Story, the 82 Bad Science 55 BambinO 82 Barrie Crimmins 101 Barroux 11 Bikeology 12 Blak Whyte Gray 114 Bloom 11 Bob Doolally 12 Bobby Niven 39 Borders 94 Brendon Burns 12 Brutal Cessation 31 Bryn Terfel 117 Camille O’Sullivan 101 Carol Ann Duffy 14 Chapshtick 64 Charlie Dore with Julian Littman 86 Charlotte Church 101 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 43 China Goes Pop 20 Chloë Inkpen 12 Choir of Man 84 Colt Cabana 12 Constable and McTaggart 39 Craig Ferguson 12, 23 Creatives 97 Damned United, the 12 Daughters of Penelope 39 David L Harris 4 120 Dear AI, Tell Me Who Am I? 55 Death in Venice 78 Denise Mina 29 Divide Part 1 & 2, the 106 Djuki Mala 78 DollyWould 57 Don Giovanni 109 Don’t Cry for Me Kenny Dalglish 12 Doug Anthony All Stars 18 Douglas Gordon 36 Dust 31 Ed Ruscha 18 Edinburgh Book Fringe 123 Edinburgh Food Festival 122 Edinburgh International Television Festival 123 Eleanor Tiernan 12 Elephant, Your Majesty!, the 92 Elif Shafak 51 Elliot Steel 12 Emily MacKenzie 11 Emma Shoard 11 Eve 88 Evelyn Mok 68 Fagin’s Twist 78

Kandace Springs Karl Ove Knausgaard Kidocracy Krapp’s Last Tape Kristina Stephenson KT Tunstall L’incoronazione di Poppea L’Orfeo La bohème Ladies Day Lauren Pattison Laurie Penny Lear Leith Creative Leo Kearse Letters Live Letters to Morrissey Leviathan Lliam Paterson Lynn Ferguson Macbeth Magnetic Fields, the Margarita Dreams Mark Steel Mark Thomas Mavis Sparkle Medbøe Hamilton Kane Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid Michael Asante Mick Inkpen Milly Thomas Mitsuko Uchida Monkey Magic Nathan Coley Nederlands Dans Theater Nicola Sturgeon NightDanger: Dance Hard Offside Omar Robert Hamilton Origins Pat Cahill Paul Auster Paula Hawkins Performers Pester & Rossi Phil Bancroft Phineas Wakenshaw Pictish Trail & Friends Pixel Dust

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11 Wife 14 Wild Bore 28 Wonderful World of Lapin, the 82 Wondr 53 Wrestling, the 12 Yo, Carmen 117 Your Love Is Fire 92 You’ve Changed 88 Yrsa Sigurdardóttir 48 Yussef Dayes 120 Zoe Walker & Neil Bromwich 39

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