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NEWS GOSSIP OPINION
Achille Lauro, the cruise liner on which Leon Klinghoffer was murdered
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A cluster of politically explosive performances will form the backbone of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. Words: Tim Abrahams
he centrepiece ol‘ this year’s lidinhurgh l'cstiyal is a
controyersial opera ahout an inlainous act ol’
terrorism. The Dear/i of. Kline/roller is ahout the hijacking ot‘ the .-\chille l.atiro cruise liner in IUSS hy a group of armed Palestinians which led to the murder of a disahled Jewish—American tourist l.eon Klinghol'l'er.
The John .-\dams—composed work will he directed hy' Anthony Neilsolt. Whose 'I'lit' lliHIt/(’I_‘/il/ llin’lt/ (I’./)I..\.\'H('I.(l won huge critical praise at last year's l"esti\';tl.
The project will he performed hy‘ Scottish Opera. which has undergone major hudch cuts since its amhitious performance ol‘ Wagner‘s entire Ring (yr/u in 2003.
When The Deal/I of Kling/ujibr played at the San l’rancisco Opera in I‘NZ its performances were picketed hy' Jewish groups. It hasn‘t heen produced in America since the Boston Symphony cancelled performances in the wake ol‘ l l Septemher 200l. while in l.os Angeles the sets were destroy ed under my steriotis circumstances and the lihrettist. .-\Iice (ioodman. receiyed death threats. Palestinian groups hayc acctised it of heing pro-Zionist.
This year‘s l'cstiy‘al also I‘eatures the premiere til a production hy the Birmingham Repertory Theatre
('ompany. whose lie/1:1! ll)islionourl was staged at Birmingham Rep last l)ecemher hut was pulled lollowihg protests ahout portrayals ol Violent scenes in a Sikh temple. l’or the l‘estiyal. Birmingham Rep is to present l’myt'r Rnum. a proy'ocatiy‘e allegory ahout multicultural Britain hy' l.anarkshirc—horn playwright Shan Khan.
In I5ehruary. liyentScotland and lidinhurgh (‘ity (‘ouncil
jointly raised £000,000 to coy'er a I‘unding shortfall at the
International l'estiy'al. (‘ulture minister Patricia l’erguson warned that while she didn't want to see the reputation ol‘ the l'estiyal diminish she also wanted 'to make sure that we encourage people to come along to perl’ormances‘.
Last year's Royal Batik ol' Scotland—sponsored series of late night eyents will not run this year hut the l‘estiy'al organisers liaye retained the popular 'l‘urn [p and Try It scheme. which inyolyes 50 tickets tor a liycr heing put on sale immediately hel'ore the show hegins.
The List is sponsoring two impi'ompttis hy Sasha \\';ilt/ and (itlests. The full programme is announced today. and hooking is open from Saturday 2 April.
Full programme details at www.eif.co.uk
£300,000 IN AWARDS MONEY FOR SCOTTISH ARTISTS I Eduard Bersudsky, co-creator of the Millenium Clock in the Main Hall of the Royal Museum of Scotland, is among a handful of artists to have won a £30,000 Creative Scotland Award, announced yesterday. The awards are open to artists with a track record but who may not have the funds to develop a cherished project. Bersudsky’s work, ‘The Druid Clock’, is a planned collaboration with Russian theatre company, Derevo. The other winners are sculptor Claire Barclay, poet Robin Bell, photographer Thomas Cooper, painter Moyna Flannigan, ‘The River Poet’ Valerie Gillies, new media artist Stephen Hurrel, choreographer Janice Parker, sculptor Louise Scullion and composer William Sweeney. (TA)
I The media's Robert Crumb-mania reaches a peak with the cartoonist's appearance at London's NFI' in interview with Steve Bell on 18 March. The Glasgow International art festival, meanwhile, has bagged an exhibition by everyone's favourite acid casualty, for April 2006.
I Much ado at Fopp Rmords Four members of found n Gordon Montgomery's hoard have left the company suddenly. Mentor )ll ten; h; is denied that former members of HMV's management are planning to invest III the company. But sources; Within the chain have said that Fopj; IS looking at buying a Smaller independent (:haln south ()1 the border.
I The Beck's Futures art prize kicks off in London with Dumfries-born Donald Urquhart, (club promoter, drag queen and artist) grabbing most of the attention with his painted homages to dead heroes and, in particular, the special fragrance he has created for the event. The media has been curiously coy about the scent. ‘lt’s the recreation of a perfume that was popular amongst homosexuals in Edinburgh during the 19305,’ says Urquhart.
I The eagerly awaited launch of That TV. a new satellite televrsion mus:c channel to be based in Edinburgh and set to broadcast to the UK on Sky, has been postponed. lts major investor. Umbrello Entertainment - whose directors include Chns Sourre. former member of prog outfit Yes — isn't even a company yet itself. That TV hopes to launch in April, with further announcements about its plans expected then. (TA)
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