N E W S N E W S A N D G O S S I P F R O M A C R O S S T H E F E S T I V A L S
fast facts
• The Edwin Morgan Poetry Award recognises the work of Scottish or Scotland-based poets under the age of 30. Shortlisted poets for this year’s award are Tom Docherty, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Daisy Lafarge, Peter Ratter and Roseanne Watt. The winner will be announced at a special Book Festival event on Wednesday 22 Aug. • Could you handle a longer Festival? The Edinburgh Hotel Association are urging the city’s leaders to spread out festival- time to ease demand on accommodation. This comes after soaring prices to stay in
the city and Airbnb bookings going up 70% to more than 1.1 million stays. • Enjoy an authentic Finnish sauna outside Summerhall. To accompany the dance, physical theatre and circus show The Sauna, the team behind it have set up a real sauna that will be free for anyone to use and is open from 7–9pm everyday. A good way to stay warm in Scotland.
• A savvy business mind has been selling up to 250 rolls a day of his specially made Donald Trump toilet paper at the Festival. New Zealander Tim Baker decided the comedy haven would be the perfect spot to peddle his unique product. • A mentally well Fringe is key to having the best Festival experience possible and Fringe Central are putting
on a series of events (Fri 24 Aug) to help participants ease some pressure and stress. The sessions offer respite and the chance to try out therapy practices that are known to boost mental well-being.
5-STAR RATED
Cold Blood
My Left / Right Foot Ross Birrell & David
Harding Shilpa Gupta
Six
Underground Railroad
Game Vessel
Spaces
Jordan Brookes: Bleed
My Land
Natalie Palamides: Nate
L IST AT THE F e s t i v a l
It looks like festival-goers have been loving their weekly edition of The List. Check out our editor Arusa reading her copy in her favourite offi ce wear, Miss Behave and Tiffany checking out their feature in Issue 2, or our Issue 1 cover-star Anya Anastasia going all meta on us.
INTO THE UNKNOWN
The theme of this year’s Fringe – Into the Unknown – carries particular resonance, as old truths are challenged and the future sometimes seems imperilled by a single tweet. But the unknown can be a powerful quality too; one that moves us to greater empathy and understanding, rather than fear. We believe the following shows best encapsulate this ethos in their push beyond stereotype to explore deeper, more complicated truths about the experiences of those often marginalised by power.
HUFF Brutal yet darkly comic one-man play about the historical and institutional prejudice that is faced by Canada’s indigenous population, centred on one family’s disintegration due to trauma, cultural genocide and solvent abuse. See review, page 81. CanadaHub @ King’s Hall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 4.15pm, £11 (£9). QUEENS OF SHEBA A series of loosely structured vignettes around the rise of misogynoir, which follow four women who are denied entry into a club for being ‘too black’. An hour full of pain, joy and incredible vocal prowess. See review, list.co.uk/ festival Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug, 6.50pm, £11 (£10).
MY LEFT / RIGHT FOOT A riotously funny musical about a local am-dram society that tries to stage a play about ‘the disabled’ when they don’t know any disabled people. Stereotypes and inspiration porn are skewered with close to the bone gags. See review, page 83. Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 21), 6.10pm, £16 (£12).
STARDUST A provocative exposé of Colombia’s narcotics history, combining hand-drawn animations, physical theatre and verbatim storytelling to deconstruct toxic assumptions about the country and its people, as well as the trivialisation of the drug trade by movies and television shows like Narcos. See review, list. co.uk/festival Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 20), 4.20pm, £9–£11.50 (£8–£10.50).
15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 9