FRONTLINES
NEWS AND GOSSIP FROM
ACROSS THE FESTIVALS
DIARY FESTIVAL NEWS IN A NUTSHELL RESIDENT TOURIST
Pleasance. Guests will include Mike McShane, Felicity Ward and Bryony Kimmings & Tim Grayburn.
In conversation with playwright and Fringe veteran Jonathan Maitland, who’s
bringing An Audience With Jimmy Savile to
the festival this year
Alistair McGowan in An Audience With Jimmy Savile
Describe the Fringe in four words. Frenzied, unpredictable, annoying and surprising. Why are you bringing the play to the festival this year? Because I think I’ve been coming to the Fringe on and off for 35 years and there’s no other arts festival like it. It’s got way too big and it’s kind of a crazy out of control monster, like Glastonbury actually, but it builds an incredible explosion of creativity and cutting-edge comedy and drama and God knows what else.
What was your most surreal festival experience? I think it was back in the mid- 90’s when I was a reporter, there was a guy called Jim something, and his speciality was nailing genitals to a cross, something like hanging off a wall with his testicles nailed to it in a big wooden crucii x.
What’s the best thing reviewers have written about your work? I think they’ve been very kind. One person said it’s the best doc drama he’s ever seen on the stage, which is extraordinary and that’s great. And the worst? Totally lacking in drama, which is quite surprising because we’ve had people fainting and vomit and burst out crying during and after the performance. So I’m not sure if they’re in the same room.
Why do you think acts return to Edinburgh year-on-year? I think it’s like a drug, it’s one of those relationships where there’s a lot of bad but there’s a whole lot of good, and no matter how bad it gets the good always exceeds the bad. ■ An Audience With Jimmy Savile, Assembly George Square Studios, until 22 Aug, 7.55pm, £15–£16.
• And, it’s a go-er! The Fringe, International Festival and Tattoo are all already in full swing, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival is ready for lift off this Saturday (15 Aug). This year’s theme is Around the World, so follow your literary compass to Charlotte Square Gardens if you fancy getting your book on. • The Sick Of The Fringe may sound a fancier term for fringe l u, that dastardly life-ruining cold approximately everybody gets mid-festival, but in actuality, it’s a new movement funded by the Wellcome Trust, which brings together scientists, doctors and performers to explore the vulnerabilities of festival participants. In essence, it looks at how stressful the festival can be, and will offer some practical support for performers under pressure. Let’s face it, less stress is always best.
• Another Fringe i rst has been cracked, as Italian duo David Labanca and Gianmarco Pozzoli joined together to make the ‘world’s i rst human disco ball’.
The morph suit-clad performers created the effect by stepping inside a giant kaleidoscope at Camera Obscura in order to promote their show, Discoteque Machine at Zoo Southside. That’s one for the record books, or at the very least, their Twitter bio. • It’s 2015, and the smartphone is king, which means that there’s a strong chance this is the most text you’ve read all day that doesn’t include an emoji. Comedian Adam Kay is embracing the emoji spirit (and we don’t mean the little ghost emoticon), by putting on the world’s i rst show written entirely in emojis. Let’s see, how can we explain it further? Winky face, shocked face, monkey covering eyes.
• The Waverley Care Gala takes place at the Edinburgh Playhouse this Sunday (16 Aug), and is being hosted by Adam Hills and Marcus Brigstocke. Elsewhere, A Gala for Mental Health takes place this weekend (15 Aug) at the
• Dicing with Dr. Death – a play on the subject of euthanasia – saw ofi cials storm the stage at a performance last week, following safety concerns surrounding the ‘Destiny euthanasia machine’, which Dr Philip Nitschke was planning to ask an audience member to inhale non-lethal gases from. Ofi cials went in to check the gas canisters were empty before the show was allowed to go ahead. • Approximately 19,500 people turned up to watch the Harmonium Project open the Edinburgh International Festival last week. The free outdoor event celebrated 50 years of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, and featured a series of projected art works set to John Adams’ choral work, Harmonium. The music was recorded by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, conducted by Peter Oundjian.
#WTFRINGE WHAT A SELL OUT
The F word is all over Twitter, as Edinburgh embraces the Fringe
@isyourmindsafe: A dog in a pushchair. Welcome to #EdFringe. #WTFringe
@RKWelsh: Starting off @edfringe properly with Haggis Pie and Irn Bru at Auld Jocks. #WTFringe @msamyburge: Ah, the Edinburgh Fringe. Reliably making your daily coffee more expensive than it was yesterday since 1947 #WTFringe
@ThePrepidemic: Literally running across Edinburgh with ticket printers on my back to install. #WTFringe
@LilaWhelan: Hasn’t eaten this much food while not gaining any weight since doing a 3 week trek in Nepal ten yrs ago #RoyalMile #WTFringe #Edinburgh 10 THE LIST FESTIVAL 13–20 Aug 2015
Tickets don’t last forever, y’know. Here’s what’s selling fast at the fest, and what’s already sold out* (12–18 Aug).
GOING, GOING...
Aisling Bea: Plan Bea • Alan Davies: Work in Progress • An Audience With Jimmy
Savile • David O’Doherty: We Are All in the
Gutter, But Some of Us Are Looking at David O’Doherty • Flight • Gruffalos, Ladybirds and
Other Beasts • James Acaster: Represent • Jason Byrne: 20 Years A Clown • Reginald D
Hunter: Bitchproof • Rob Beckett • Tommy
Tiernan Alive in Edinburgh
GONE
Avenue Q • Bridget Christie: A Book For Her
• Katherine Ryan: Kathbum • Nina Conti:
In Your Face • Oh Hello! • Paul Foot (limited availability 15, 16, 18) • The Colour Ham –
One. Last. Time. *Correct at time of going to press