Edinburgh
August 4-8, 2022
The Fringe. It is a huge festival and we had no idea what to expect. During our exploring yesterday we had checked out some of the posters. I say “some” of the posters, because there are probably literally thousands of them. Anyone who is performing has created some version of advertising.
This one turned out to be excellent
There was quite a variety of styles, subjects, and choices
We had picked out a couple of shows that might be interesting. This being the first day of the festival though, there weren’t any reports or feedback, so it was hit-and-miss. Sadly, the one I chose (above, the Tragicomical ‘istory of ‘arry) was not interesting at all. In fact, it was rather painful to watch and I only felt ok with my waste of time because my donation went to a Ukrainian troupe that was performing elsewhere at the festival.
The day was spent going from show to show, or having a wonderful “pie” for lunch at The Piemaker, or just wandering around to see more amazing architecture. I wanted to go back for more excellent pies, but time did not allow. It was a busy day, with plenty to see. And the evening would keep it going, as we found a proper stage play to go see at the King’s Theatre, near our AirBnB.
The show was “BURN“, …a new creation from the legendary Scottish actor and author Alan Cumming featuring Robert Burns’ own words and the music of Anna Meredith. This brand-new piece of dance-theatre challenges the ‘biscuit tin’ image of Scotland’s National Bard and goes beyond the poetry to focus on the man himself – his poverty, his personal tragedy, his struggles with mental health and his spectacular success. (from the theatre website)
The show was fantastic. The stagecraft was really interesting, and Alan Cumming did a remarkable job in this one-person presentation.
The King’s Theatre had some amazing architecture inside and it was a treat to see it before the show even started.
Ice cream!
I honestly did not notice the “No photos allowed” signs.
The theatre was very dark during the show and afterwards we spoke with the sound and visual effects guy. He told us how he uses infrared cameras to see what is going on during the show so that everything runs smoothly. He did a great job.
And so ended our first full day of the Fringe, with some bonus fireworks at Edinburgh Castle for the Edinburgh Tattoo, which happened to start today as well!
