12 minute read
Ian McKellen
Prince charming
PICTURE (AND BELOW): DEVIN DE VIL I f it’s big theatrical beasts you’re looking for at the Fringe, then look no further than Edinburgh Festival Ballet’s take on Hamlet: director Peter Schaufuss was the man behind seminal BBC documentary Dancer; the venue is named after famed British choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton; and last but not least, it stars none other than Sir Ian McKellen in a role he’s revisiting at the age of 81. ‘I have had a lot of Hamlet recently,’ McKellen reflects. ‘I was part of a film made by Ken McMullen, Hamlet Revenant [scheduled for 2023 release]. I filmed the ghost of Hamlet’s father for it . . . and then Sean Mathias asked me to play Hamlet in his age-blind production. I wasn’t much looking forward to returning to it, but it seems such a challenge to be playing a young man at my age that I fell for it.’ After those most recent encounters with the Prince Of Denmark, McKellen thought he would have been finished with the Dane. ‘And then, Peter Schaufuss, out of the blue, contacted me. I had always admired him as a dancer and he has this school in Edinburgh, and the church had adapted as a theatre.’ The school McKellen talks of is Edinburgh Festival Ballet and the church is the former St Stephen’s in Stockbridge, now the company’s base and venue for this much-anticipated production. ‘My motive for saying yes was not to get back to Hamlet but to see how a ballet was rehearsed and planned. I have no idea how it is done: and I still don’t quite know, because we haven’t started our rehearsals yet!’ While McKellen is now a star of film and stage, he retains a warm sense of humour and openness. Sharing the title role in this production with dancer Johan Christensen, he ponders whether he will be allowed a ballet step or two while performing Shakespeare’s speeches and admits that returning to the Festival is another reason he accepted the part.
‘It will be nice to be back,’ he says. ‘It was way back in 1969 when I was first there, part of the official festival with Richard II and Edward II, having the time of my life. I have been to about a dozen and I was actually in Edinburgh during August only a couple of years ago with my one-man show for my 80th birthday. I wanted to go back to the Festival because it has always been central to my career.’
McKellen’s career, especially from the 1980s onwards, has been notable for his roles in blockbusting franchises, including X-Men and Lord Of The Rings, as well as continuing respect for his stage work and activism. An important figure in the foundation of Stonewall, he admits that he’s still politically active, but observes delightedly that ‘the younger generation are so much wiser than mine: our job now is to support their initiatives.’
But Shakespeare remains, as he puts it, ‘a big part of what I like to do on stage. Whatever your age, there are wonderful parts to play throughout your lifetime.’ And while name recognition will no doubt make this one of August’s most popular runs, there is something that McKellen recognises in the production that speaks to the Fringe’s experimental spirit.
‘It is unique as far as dance is concerned,’ he continues, ‘because in the middle of the story, when the actors arrive in Elsinore, and Hamlet decides to put on a play to trap his uncle into confessing the murder of his brother, they do a mime; a dance, no words, and tell the story of the play that they are going to do. And Shakespeare has written down the choreography. There is a dance choreographed by Shakespeare! I think Shakespeare might have approved and that makes the whole project . . . appropriate.’
An imaginative and bold response to a script that can be overfamiliar in production, Hamlet is a rare chance to see a powerful ballet company and one of the most famous actors of his generation in an intimate setting. And that seems equally ‘appropriate’ for the Fringe.
Hamlet With Ian McKellen, Ashton Hall, St Stephen’s Stockbridge, 2–28 August, 7pm (also 4pm Fridays & Saturdays). Stage and screen legend Sir Ian McKellen is returning to the iconic role of Hamlet in a hot-ticket collaboration with Edinburgh Festival Ballet. He tells Gareth K Vile of his love for the Festival and what drew him back one more time to Shakespeare’s classic work
Brian Donaldson speaks to Trainspotting Live director and co-star Greg Esplin about a missing Spud while Irvine Welsh claims that this stage version is the perfect way to immerse yourself in his original story
choose live
‘It’s one of the few things we excel at,’ says Irvine Welsh of a proud Scottish tradition. But what is he referring to: great music? Never electing a Tory government? Snooker players? Not quite. ‘We’ve exported the term “cunt” as a genuine compliment. I think it’s something to do with the bad weather or the gallows humour due to this weird status we have politically within this fag-end of a crumbling empire. It breeds this dark humour and that transfers well to drama, no question about it.’
It’s almost 30 years since the sweary and sweaty Trainspotting put a firecracker straight up the literary establishment (resignations were threatened when it landed a place on the 1993 Booker longlist), with a later cult stage play by Harry Gibson and two box-office busting films from Danny Boyle making sure that Welsh’s iconic novel has become much more than a one-decade wonder.
Back at the Fringe again before heading out on a UK tour, Trainspotting Live is an up-close and visceral experience which starts with a 15-minute rave before taking its audience on a scary ride into oblivion (it seems almost too ideal that the theatre company producing the play is called In Your Face). Not for nothing (asides from the great headlines) has Welsh dubbed this stage version as better than the 1996 film or, indeed, the original source material.
‘What I meant, in a way, is that the ideal entry point to the work is through this live version which really engages with audiences who are so close to the action. It’s mixed up the whole Trainspotting thing with the spirit of rave; I was mad into rave at the time of writing
the book and I wanted to capture the energy that I felt from that onto the page. This is the true realisation of it which is why it has always excited me as a show.’
Greg Esplin was only one year old when Trainspotting was published. By the time he was at secondary school in Falkirk, he’d read the book a couple of times and written an English essay on it. And now he’s the co-director and key actor of this 75-minute production (performed twice a day no less). ‘It’s structured to be like drugs,’ he notes. ‘At first it’s fun, a rollercoaster look at what a good time we’re having. Then there’s a pivotal scene where Tommy stops the guy beating up his girlfriend and the play then just crashes. It’s like a comedown.’
Esplin takes on the role of Tommy who here is the moral compass: first solid and pointing the right way but soon going wildly off-grid before completely losing his direction. For fans of the original works, there might be some disgruntlement that the beloved Spud is not in the cast; but he’s integral to the play’s DNA. ‘Spud is split between Renton and Tommy,’ explains Esplin. ‘Renton wakes up covered in his own mess and Tommy gets the interview scene. It’s about those two characters but they embody the innocence of Spud; he’s definitely there in spirit if not in name.’
For the man who conjured up these characters, he’s not sure he’ll ever return to them, but insists their status has evolved in his mind. ‘Then, they all seemed to be rebels,’ Welsh says. ‘But now they’re not really; they’re like the rest of us. We’re all on the fringes of capitalism and trying to get by, making money from the dregs of a decaying system.’
Trainspotting Live, Pleasance At EICC, 4–28 August, 6pm, 9pm.
I find the showmanship particularly repugnant ”
Unsupportive words from her mother didn’t stop Uma Nada-Rajah launching a successful career in theatre. Reshma Madhi chats to the playwright about a new work that examines political operatives and their wicked games
Exodus is a dark comedy about a fictional Home Secretary with prime ministerial ambitions whose PR campaign is interrupted when a baby is washed ashore at the White Cliffs Of Dover. The play has been created by Uma Nada-Rajah, the Scottish playwright of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage who won this year’s inaugural Kavya Prize (a literary award honouring Scottish writers of colour) for Toy Plastic Chicken.
Nada-Rajah began writing plays ‘half as a joke’ during her first degree (her mother’s response was less than encouraging: ‘this little brown girl is going to be a playwright? Get a grip!’). After working odd jobs, she became an NHS nurse in 2014, a move that inspired her pandemic-era piece, The Domestic, which has gathered up more than 4.4m views as part of National Theatre Of Scotland’s series, Scenes Of Survival. She now returns with a play satirically exposing deceitful power structures and apathy towards human suffering.
‘Personally, it took me a while to find my voice,’ NadaRajah insists. ‘There are so many competing voices in your head about how things should be and how it should look; of being a woman, being a woman of colour, what a good play looks like. You have to strip it back.’ Directed by NTS’ Debbie Hannan, Exodus centres on Home Secretary Asiya (Aryana Ramkhalawon) and her cut-throat advisor Phoebe (Sophie Steer). Faced with the chance to capitalise on a human tragedy, what will they choose to do in their clamour for power?
That was the dramatic question in mind when Nada-Rajah wrote this. Back then, she was pregnant, Sajid Javid was Home Secretary, and Europe’s largest migrant camp had been destroyed in a fire. It seeks to understand how recent refugees or migrants are interacting with policies and asks what’s behind that. It’s not simply about Priti Patel but a whole front bench of South Asians using their cultural background or colour, for themselves.
‘As an NHS nurse, what angers and frustrates me is the use of such policies, instrumentally, to gain power. While there’s this assumption that everyone from the same heritage should have the same political opinion, I don’t agree. Everyone is entitled to their views. It’s the showmanship that I find particularly repugnant.’
It’s those very differences that Nada-Rajah appreciates. ‘When there’s a diversity of voices, people write from their very unique perspective, whatever background they’re from. Anything that breaks down barriers, and is written with honesty and from the heart is so beautiful.’
From the freaky to the utterly fantastic, Fringe shows of all flavours are back in their masses. Here are seven genre-spanning performances to consider
THE DELIGHTFUL SAUSAGE
The award-winning double-act from Yorkshire return with their brand new show Nowt But Sea. Find out what happens when comedians Amy Gledhill and Christopher Cantrill get stuck on a desert island. Expect some surrealism and lots of silliness. n Monkey Barrel, 3–28 August, 12.45pm.
BEN HART
Celebrity magician Ben Hart (of BBC Three’s Killer Magic fame) prepares to dazzle with his new show Wonder. Watch the Britain’s Got Talent finalist impress with minimal props and stellar sleight of hand. n Pleasance Courtyard, 3–28 August, 7.50pm.
SHE WOLF
Written and performed by Isla Cowan, She Wolf follows the character of Maggie as she finds herself hiding out in a zoo. A commentary on gender, class and capitalist structures, this is a fiercely told one-woman show. n Assembly Roxy, 3–28 August, 1.50pm.
DANCE BODY
As a plus-sized Black woman, writer and performer Yolanda Mercy challenges the world of contemporary dance and its narrow-minded beauty standards in this powerful fusion of dance and theatre that is both defiant and joyous. n Summerhall, 3–27 August, 4.15pm.
THE SONG OF FERGUS AND KATE
Suitable for children up to eight years old, this show from Jay Lafferty fuses animation, music and interactive elements to tell the heartwarming story of Kate and Fergus’ special friendship. n Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–28 August, 10.15am.
She Wolf (and bottom from left), Dance Body, Los Bitchos, The Delightful Sausage FRINGE HIGHLIGHTS
SEANN WALSH
Following a highly successful hour on the perils of his 2018 Strictly Come Dancing appearance, stand-up comedian Seann Walsh returns with a new show titled Seann Walsh: Is Dead, Happy Now? Expect slick storytelling and acute observations. n The Stand, 3–28 August, 10pm.
LOS BITCHOS
This international group of London-based musicians perform 70s and 80s-inspired psychedelic surf music with a Latin twist. Their 2022 album Let The Festivities Begin! is full of memorable hooks and vibrant rhythms, perfect for dancing the night away. n Summerhall, 16 August, 7pm.
PICTURE: CAMILLA GREENWELL PICTURE: TOM MITCHELL
INTERNATIONAL
REFUGE
This year, the Edinburgh International Festival launches a dynamic season of online and in-person events exploring migration, identity and inclusion, in collaboration with the Scottish Refugee Council. Spanning contemporary theatre, art, dance and conversation, Refuge invites artists from a host of countries to reflect upon migration’s impact on the cultural landscape of Scotland and a wider world. A Wee Journey (pictured), choreographed by Palestinian artist Farah Saleh, features on the in-person programme, while its At Home series will offer exclusive interviews and sessions on themes of displacement. (Paula Lacey) n A Wee Journey, The Studio, 16–20 August, 7.30pm; 18 August, 2.30pm.
EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 5–28 AUGUST
