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More from Edinburgh Festivals 2011
Full details of BBC Scotland's coverage of this year's Edinburgh Festivals, covering TV, radio and online.
BBC Scotland's coverage of Edinburgh Festivals 2011 -
Ten Plagues
Thirty years on from the hit song Tainted Love, Marc Almond swaps pop music for classical performance at the Traverse theatre in Mark Ravenhill’s libretto, Ten Plagues. Working with composer Conor Mitchell, Ravenhill used influences such as Samuel Pepys and Daniel Defoe for inspiration, resulting in this ambitious song cycle, which tells the tale of one man's journey through plague-ridden London.
The Traverse Theatre Website
Ten Plagues is on at the Traverse Theatre until 28th August. -
Edinburgh Art Festival
The 2011 Edinburgh Art Festival programme is their most ambitious yet, from a new Anish Kapoor commission at the Edinburgh College of Art, to Ingrid Calame's first major exhibition in the UK at the Fruitmarket Gallery. The programme is packed with superstar contemporary artists and relative unknowns. Kirsty went down to the City Art Centre to speak with David Mach about Precious Light, an exhibition of colossal sculpture and intricate collage; his most significant exhibition in the UK to date.
The Edinburgh Art Festival Website
Ingrid Calame is at the Fruitmarket Gallery until 9th October.
Anish Kapoor: Flashback is at the Edinburgh College of Art until 6th October.
David Mach: Precious Light, is at the City Art Centre until 16th October.
Robert Rauschenberg: Botanical Vaudeville is at Inverleith House until 2nd October.
Tony Cragg: Sculptures and Drawings is at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art until 6th November. -
Fascinating Aida
Fascinating Aida are a well known festival fixture, quietly hoofing away at the coal face of cabaret for many years. Recently however, one song in particular threw the trio into the spotlight when it became an internet sensation. To date ‘Cheap Flights’ has received more than six million hits. They join us fresh from their show at the Gilded Balloon, in the Review Show studio, live, this Friday to perform it.
The Fascinating Aida Website
Fascinating Aida appear at the Gilded Balloon, Teviot Debating Hall, until
29th August. -
Comedy or Controversy?
Each August comedians on the Fringe court controversy by tackling taboo subject matter. This year is no exception.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Website
Torchwood actor Tom Price mines his own family and childhood for the show Tom Price: Say When, in which he recounts tales of his mother's cerebral palsy and alcoholism.
Celebrated San Franciscan stand-up W Kamau Bell's Edinburgh debut is The W Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour. Part stand-up, part social commentary, it's a show that aims to prove that in spite of America electing its first black president, racism is still alive and well.
Radical comedian and recording artist Margaret Cho is back in the capital for the first time in a decade, with her show Cho Dependent. Based on the recent Grammy nominated album of the same name, the bisexual Korean-American can be depended upon to court controversy with her trademark in yer face treatment of race and sexuality - which one critic has said would make Richard Pryor blush.
And almost a quarter of a century since she first appeared on the Fringe, Ruby Wax is back on stage in Edinburgh, supported by singer-songwriter and close friend Judith Owen. Now a trained psychotherapist, her show Ruby Wax: Losing It is a partly autobiographical examination of the stigmatisation of mental illness.
So do these shows prove there are still plenty of taboo subjects to be busted through comedy? And in today's world does comedy still have the power to shock, provoke and challenge an audience?
Ruby Wax: Losing It is at Udderbelly's Pasture until 29 August.
Tom Price: Say When is at the Pleasance Courtyard until 28 August. -
Comedy or Controversy?
Margaret Cho's show Cho Dependent is at Assembly George Square until 29 August.
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Comedy or Controversy?
The W Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About An Hour is at the Pleasance Courtyard until 29 August.
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EXPERIMENTING ON THE FRINGE
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe thrives on innovation in both form and content. This week's panelists went to shows with an experimental approach to their performances and venues.
The Lounge Room Confabulators at Underbelly
The Lounge Room Confabulators are for those of us who miss bedtime stories. These two Australian troubadours come to your own living room and tell you humourous and dark tales straight from their imaginations. They're making their Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut after a sell out tour of Australia and winning the Adelaide Fringe Award for 2011.
The Lounge Room Confabulators appear in Your Lounge until 29th August. -
EXPERIMENTING ON THE FRINGE
Alma Mater takes place in a specially constructed child's bedroom where the performance happens on an Ipad. The audience is encouraged to move around the space, following the action within the film. The 20 minute performance offers an opportunity to experience childhood from a child's eye view.
Alma Mater at Fish and Game
Alma Mater is at Remarkable Arts, St George’s West, until 29th August. -
EXPERIMENTING ON THE FRINGE
'Audience' celebrates those of us more accustomed to sitting in the dark by turning the cameras onto the ticket-buying public. The actors engage members of the audience and pose questions about group mentality and individuality.
'Audience' is at St. George's West until 28th August. -
WORBEY AND FARRELL
To play us out on this week's Review Show, the piano-playing duo formerly known as Katzenjammer. Their show WELL STRUNG is as much about gymnastics and comedy as it is a celebration of the classical repertoire.
Worbey amd Farrell's official site
Worbey and Farrell: Well Strung is at the Udderbelly Cowbarn until 28 August.
Credits
- Presenter
- Kirsty Wark
- Participant
- Hari Kunzru
- Participant
- Natalie Haynes
- Participant
- Hannah McGill
