Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival will run this year from the 14th of August to the 6th of September. It will be the 63rd Festival and will include new works from the Traverse Theatre and Scottish Ballet amongst the 75 productions which have been chosen the festival’s director Jonathan Mills. The main theme for this year is the Scottish Enlightenment.
‘The Last Witch’ plays at the Traverse and was commissioned by the festival. It was written by Rona Munro and will be directed by Dominic Hill who was asked to do the project after Mills had been impressed by the director’s production of ‘Peer Gynt’ for Dundee Rep. The play is based on a historical account of the last woman executed for witchcraft in Scotland.
A new take on Voltaire’s ‘Candide’ will be presented by Malthouse Melbourne; ‘Optimism’ was written by Tom Wright. Another reinterpretation of a classic will be seen at the Highland Showground where Silviu Purcarete has adapted Goethe’s ‘Faust’ into a promenade production.
Dance lovers may be disappointed as there are only four productions for them. However, one of those sees Scottish born Michael Clark returning to the festival for the first time in twenty years. His production is based on the music of David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.
As always many will forgo the joy of a London show in August and will already be planning their itinerary.