We're in at Number 28!
THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL CAN BE overwhelming at times. With so much on offer, where on earth do you start?
Let us try to help. Our list of the 50 things you must catch this
August was put together by The Scotsman's unrivalled team of critics.
We're not claiming for a second that it is exhaustive - I can think of
about a dozen shows off the top of my head that I was disappointed to
leave out - but every one of these 50 is a solid, considered tip from
an expert. To narrow things down, we've prioritised new shows - or
established names trying exciting new things - over returning
favourites. This could, of course, mean that some of the shows on our
list will fall flat - who knows, even The Bacchae could be a disaster -
but based on the track records of the people involved we think it's
unlikely.
Most importantly, perhaps, we
disqualified anything that's already sold out. As we went to press on
Tuesday, tickets for everything on this list were still available
(although we can make no promises about the choices from the Film
Festival, which only made its programme public on Wednesday).
This list, of course, is just the start of over a month of the most
comprehensive festival coverage that you will find in any publication,
anywhere. So watch this space for many more recommendations.
• FOR over 30 years The Scotsman has been giving out its Fringe
First awards, in recognition of outstanding new writing premiered on
the Fringe. Over that time they have become as sought-after, and
recognised, as the Perrier.
This year, for the fourth year running, we are teaming up with the
Assembly Rooms to host the Scotsman Fringe Awards, a FREE ceremony on
Friday 24 August to which all our readers are warmly invited. As well
as finding out what the most talked-about shows on the Fringe are,
audiences can watch exclusive performances from some of the best shows,
and mingle with the festival's biggest movers and shakers, who
regularly attend the ceremony.
Reflecting its increasing popularity, this year the Scotsman Fringe
Awards move to an even bigger venue, Assembly Hall on the Mound. To
find out
how to claim your free tickets to the show (first come, first
served, as ever), read The Scotsman's first Festival magazine on
Saturday 4 August.
1 THEATRE
The Bacchae
King's Theatre, 11-18 August
IF THEATRE in Scotland has an "A" team, then here it comes. In a
co-production with the Edinburgh International Festival even more
high-profile than last year's Fringe triumph, Black Watch, the National
Theatre of Scotland stages a new version of Euripides's powerful and
horrifying drama. Dionysus is played by Perthshire-born Broadway and
Hollywood star Alan Cumming; the director is John Tiffany of the NTS,
who promises a production to put even Black Watch in the shade. JM
Tel: 0131-473 2000.
2 VISUAL ART
Bank of Scotland totalART: Warhol
National Gallery of Scotland, 4 August to 7 October
ANDY Warhol gave the 20th century its icons. He had an extraordinary
gift for taking the everyday imagery which surrounds us and making it
memorable. Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Mao Tse Tung, all great
stars, yet however familiar, we know them best as he saw them. He
managed to distil popular imagery into art. This festival exhibition is
the largest collection of his work ever to be shown in Scotland. DM
Tel: 0131-624 6200.
3 MUSIC
Courtney Pine and Tommy Smith Play Coltrane
Queen's Hall, 28 July
THE UK's two top saxophonists get together on the same stage for the
first time ever, united by the timeless music of their mutual idol, the
great John Coltrane. Both players emerged as leaders of the new wave of
British jazz in the mid-1980s, and have remained inspiring presences
ever since, but have taken very different directions. It is a
combination that few could ever have expected to see, and the chance to
hear them together is unmissable. KM
Tel: 0131-473 2000.
4 FILM
Death Proof
Cineworld 7, 18 August
QUENTIN Tarantino's Death Proof was always going to be the star
attraction of his and Robert Rodriquez's exploitation double bill. This
is the beefed-up, 30-minutes-longer cut that debuted at Cannes,
boasting more character build-up, more Tarantino-talk and, ahem, more
lap-dancing. Add that to the authentically retro scratched-up visual
style, the female revenge plot and Kurt Russell's scar-faced,
car-crashing psycho, Stuntman Mike, and it should be a riot. AH
Tel: 0131-228 2688.
5 COMEDY
Reginald D Hunter: F*** You in the Age of Consequence
E4 Udderbelly's Pasture, 2-27 August.
REGINALD D Hunter rejects routines that might be the cornerstones of
lesser comics' shows. One of the Fringe's perennially hottest tickets,
the big Georgian has been range-finding some audacious material this
summer, specifically on what he terms "f*** you movies". JR
Tel: 0870 745 3083.
6 MUSIC
Jane Irwin/Hebrides Ensemble
Queen's Hall, 11 August
LAST year, the Scots-based mezzo soprano Jane Irwin gave a Queen's
Hall Britten recital with the Scottish Ensemble that was an enthralling
landmark in the Festival's daily lunchtime series. Expectations are
high for this year's programme, which is geared to Irwin's personable
style and includes Edward Harper's microcosmic arrangement of Mahler's
subliminal Kindertotenlieder and Luciano Berio's quirky Folksongs. Also
on the Hebrides' billing are Nigel Osborne's Balkan Dances and Laments
and Janacek's Mladi. KW
Tel: 0131-473 2000.
7 THEATRE
Romeo and Juliet
Assembly @ George Street, 7-27 August
IN AQUILA Theatre Company's take on Shakespeare's great love story,
the cast learn all the parts, and are given their roles on the night by
lucky dip, meaning one night you could quite easily get a teenage male
Juliet and a middle-aged female Romeo. Already a hit in the US, it
sounds like a hoot. AE
Tel: 0131-623 3030.
8 DANCE
On Danse
Playhouse, 11-13 August
DANCE and video seem to be inextricably linked these days. In On
Danse French choreographers José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu have
blended the two seamlessly. Inspired by the comic operas of
Jean-Philippe Rameau, On Danse mixes ballet, contemporary, hip hop and
African dance with humorous dialogue and stunning filmic images. KA
Tel: 0131-473 2000.
9 FILM
Manufacturing Dissent: Uncovering Michael Moore
Cineworld 6, 23 August
WITH Michael Moore's new film Sicko just out in America, this new
documentary puts his movies and methods under the spotlight, revealing
the extent to which he manipulates the truth. Don't expect a right-wing
attack: the film-makers describe themselves as "progressive liberals"
and, with Moore apparently refusing all interview requests, it sounds
like a fascinating spin on his own Roger & Me. AH
Tel: 0131-228 2688.
10 OPERA
Stravinsky Double Bill: Orpheus & Oedipus Rex
Usher Hall, 23 August
CLASSICAL tales through the neo-classical mouthpiece of Stravinsky
are the stuff of this gritty double bill - a nod, perhaps, to Canadian
Opera's Stravinsky package several years ago, Symphony of Psalms and
Oedipus Rex. Ilan Volkov and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
combine a concert version of Oedipus with Stravinsky's
Monteverdi-inspired ballet score Orpheus. Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts is the
lead in the opera. Expect understated intensity from all concerned. KW
Tel: 0131-473 2000.
11 VISUAL ART
Jardins Publics
Across Edinburgh, 10 August until 2 September
FOR the first time in many years the Edinburgh International
Festival is presenting a visual art programme, with work across the
city by Richard Wright, Applonija Susteric and Michael Lin. DM
Tel: 0131-473 2000.
12 BOOKS
Norman Mailer with Andrew O'Hagan
Charlotte Square, 12 August
THE grand master of American fiction talks from his home in
Provincetown to one of the finest young Scottish writers on stage in
Edinburgh. DR
Tel: 0845 373 5888.
13 DANCE
Fuerzabruta
The Black Tent, Leith, 2 August to 1 September
THIS Argentinean cult hit has sold out wherever it's played and will
be a major talking point this Fringe. Spectacular music, lights and
dance in one of the world's largest touring venues. KA
Tel: 0870 745 3083.
14 BOOKS
Charles Spencer
Charlotte Square, 15 August
CHARLES Spencer's biography of Prince Rupert shows what it was about
the dashing German that made him such a brilliantly effective cavalry
general for Charles I - and what led to the downfall of "the last
cavalier". DR
Tel: 0845 373 5888.
15 OPERA
Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso
Usher Hall, 12 August
VIVALDI'S opera Orlando Furioso comes from a late batch of the
1720s, and marks one of several which have made it cautiously back into
the repertoire. A concert performance by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra
and Chorus. KW
Tel: 0131-473 2000.
16 THEATRE
The Container
George Square, 3-26 August
NOVELTY venues are a staple of the Fringe, due to lack of venue
space, but this is an idea that potentially has real resonance and
power. The Container is a show about illegal immigrants, performed
inside the kind of freight container used by so many to try to cross
the UK's borders. There are only 20 seats per show, so book early. AE
Tel: 0870 745 3083.
17 BOOKS
Julia Donaldson
Charlotte Square, 18 and 19 August
THE author of The Gruffalo Song is back with two new books on which
she has worked with two different illustrators - Tiddler (with Axel
Scheffler) and Tyrannosaurus Drip (with David Roberts). A true
crowd-pleaser for the discerning juvenile (ages five to eight). DR
Tel: 0845 373 5888.
18 BOOKS
Ben Okri
Charlotte Square, 24 August,
THE Nigerian writer returns to launch his novel Starbook, which
looks deeper than ever into the causes of political turbulance of his
native land. In a year celebrating the anniversary of the abolition of
slavery, Okri reminds us of its lingering afterlife in the collective
unconscious. DR
Tel: 0845 373 5888.
19 MUSIC
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Usher Hall, 28 August
MARISS Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO)
present Debussy's La Mer and Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. Many place
the BRSO on a similar ranking to the Berlin Philharmonic. Expect
nothing short of perfection. KW
Tel: 0131-473 2000.
20 THEATRE
Bigger than Jesus
St George's West Sanctuary, 2-27 August
THIS solo show by Rick Miller, the man behind the hugely
entertaining MacHomer, promises a lightning trip through "2,000 years
of Selling the Big Guy!" Bigger than Jesus has already won rave reviews
in America and promises to be a must-see here. AE
Tel: 0131-623 3030.
21 MUSIC
Yuri Bashmet / Oleg Maisenberg
Queen's Hall, 24 August
UKRAINIAN viola player Yuri Bashmet has been accused of turning up
unprepared, and even not turning up at all, but nothing can detract
from the virile tone he produces. Britten's Lachrymae, Shostakovich's
Viola Sonata and Brahms's E flat Sonata feature in this Queen's Hall
recital. KW
Tel: 0131-473 2000.
22 BOOKS
Yann Martel
Charlotte Square, 26 August
IT'S five years since Martel read at the Book Festival. Within a
couple of months, his novel The Life of Pi had won the Man Booker Prize
and was on its way to selling millions, transforming the fortunes of
Edinburgh publishers Canongate. He's back from Canada to launch a new
edition, illustrated by Croatian artist Tomislav Torjanac, of the novel
of which Man Booker judge Lisa Jardine said "really will make you
believe in God - or ask yourself why you don't". DR
Tel: 0845 373 5888.
23 COMEDY
Simon Amstell: No Self
Pleasance Courtyard, 1-27 August
WHEN Simon Amstell took Mark Lamarr's chair on Never Mind the
Buzzcocks, I realised how Baden-Powell must have felt at the Relief of
Mafeking. Amstell is a hugely talented boy, cruising the high comedy
ground between the user-friendly poofery of Graham Norton and the
screaming velociraptor that is Scott Capurro. KC
Tel: 0131-556 6550.
24 THEATRE
Ravenhill for Breakfast
Traverse, 7-26 August
ONLY in Edinburgh, maybe, would top playwright and cultural
commentator Mark Ravenhill - best known for his huge 1990s hit Shopping
And F***ing - set himself the task of creating a new 30-minute play at
the Traverse, every morning for 17 days. Produced by Paines Plough, the
news-driven plays will feature guest artists from across the Edinburgh
festivals; they'll also borrow titles from grand novels and movies of
the past, in an effort to explore whether the epic experience in still
possible in self-obsessed times. JM
Tel: 0131-228 1404.
25 COMEDY
Martha McBrier: So You Think You're a Good Heckler
Smirnoff Baby Bell, 2-26 August
MARTHA McBrier is, to quote the song, "strictly a female female" who
makes you laugh out loud. The first night I saw her she turned shambles
into a comedic art form. She has made the big move from a Leith
basement to the Underbelly and I really hope her confidence makes the
journey, because McBrier is, I honestly think, a kind of comedy genius.
A very vague, fluffy, slightly mumsy genius. But genius nevertheless.
KC
Tel: 0870 745 3083.
26 MUSIC
Benny Golson Quartet
The Hub, 3 August
HARD bop has been the modern mainstream of jazz since the 1950s, and
alto saxophonist Benny Golson is among the handful of key creators
still going strong from its formative decade. Golson was a key member
of two of the most significant hard bop bands, Art Blakey's Jazz
Messengers and his own Jazztet, co-led with Art Farmer. Jazz history in
the flesh. KM
Tel: 0131-473 2000
27 DANCE
Impressing The Czar
Festival Theatre, 18-20 August
AMERICAN choreographer William Forsythe is a little precious about
his creations. Only dancers deemed talented enough are allowed to
perform them, and Impressing the Czar has never been tackled by anyone
other than Forsythe's own company, Ballet Frankfurt. So it's quite a
coup for the Royal Ballet of Flanders to be handling this witty,
flamboyant and brilliantly choreographed masterpiece. A guaranteed
highlight at this year's International Festival. KA
Tel: 0131-473 2000
28 FILM
Seach'd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle
Cameo 1, 16 August
IF PART of going to a film festival is to experience something
you've never seen before, then this should fulfil that criterion: it's
the first ever Gaelic language feature film. Set and shot in Skye and
drawing from the vast pool of Gaelic myths and folktales, it revolves
around a young man on a quest for the truth about his parents' death -
a quest aided by his dying grandfather, a storyteller who directs his
grandson to the titular Munro mountain peak. AH
Tel: 0131-228 2688
29 THEATRE
The Human Computer
Traverse 3: University of Edinburgh Drill Hall, 1-26 August
FOR most performers, the Perrier - or the if.comedy award as it is
now - is a launchpad towards a TV comedy career. For Will Adamsdale, it
was more like a distraction. A theatre performer at heart, he's where
he belongs this year, at the Traverse, following up last year's
terrific show The Receipt with "a show about computers, by someone who
knows nothing about them". AE
Tel: 0131-228 1404
30 DANCE
Leitmotif Assembly
Aurora Nova, 2-27 August.
IN 2005, Andrew Dawson had audiences reaching for their tissues and
critics dishing out five stars en masse. Dawson's poignant tribute to
his late father, Absence & Presence, will be a hard act to follow,
but he's giving it a go. Solo show Leitmotif finds Dawson collaborating
with eight friends, including a choreographer, filmmaker, Aardman
animator and musician. Together they have produced a series of themed
vignettes which explore facets of Dawson's personality. A captivating
hour awaits us. KA
Tel: 0131-623 3030
31 MUSIC
The Bad Plus/Happy Apple
The Bad Plus play The Hub, 31 July; Happy Apple play Bosco Theatre, 1 August; Bad Apple play Bosco Theatre, 2 August
THE BAD Plus's debut five years ago remains one of the great
occasions in the jazz festival's history, and this project will add a
new dimension to their presence. Drummer Dave King is the link in both
The Bad Plus, with Ethan Iverson and Reid Anderson, and Happy Apple,
another inventively experimental trio with Michael Lewis and Erik
Fratzke. Both trios will play their own gigs, and then collaborate in
the culminating Bad Apple concert for only the second time ever. KM
Tel: 0131-473 2000
32 THEATRE
Bombers' Row
Hill Street Theatre, 3-27 August,
THE 2007 Fringe is full of shows about terrorism and what motivates
it; but none seems set to address it more directly than this dark
comedy about three famous people imprisoned as terrorists, kept in
neighbouring cages, and allowed to talk to one another for an hour each
day. 78th Street Theatre Lab of New York won a Scotsman Fringe First in
2001 for their terrific in-your-face drama, Jesus Hopped the A Train;
this show could match it, for impact and timeliness. JM
Tel: 0131-623 3030
33 FILM
Control
Cineworld 7, 17 August
THE troubled life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis is the subject
of this Cannes-wowing debut film from rock photographer Anton Corbijn.
Plagued by epilepsy and depression, Curtis hanged himself in 1980 at
the age of 23, leaving behind a child, his wife and a legacy of
soulful, doom-laden music. As Curtis, Sam Riley is, we hear,
astounding, as is the stark monochrome visual style Corbijn uses to
evoke the mood of post-punk Manchester. AH
Tel: 0131-228 2688
34 THEATRE
Teenage Kicks
Assembly Universal Arts, 3-27 August
A PLAY based on the life and times of John Peel could go to either
extreme. It might tap into the eclectic, uncategorisable spirit of the
man himself, or it could just be reverential guff. It might even just
be an hour of a man mumbling and playing Teutonic trance metal on
national radio simply because he can. Playwright Paul Hodson's
involvement suggests bright things, however - last year's Meeting Joe
Strummer received four stars in this very paper, and compared his style
to that of Nick Hornby. DP
Tel: 0131-623 3030
35 COMEDY
Shappi Khorsandi: Carry on Shappi
Pleasance Jack Dome, 1-17 August
SEVEN and a half months pregnant at the beginning of August, Shappi
Khorsandi is thought to be the most far-gone performer ever to play the
Fringe. The 32-year-old Anglo-Iranian has bloomed as a stand-up in
recent years, with a delivery that's increasingly assured and
mischievous and lately, requiring a midwife on call. Also appearing at
the festival and in much of her material as the flabbergasted
father-to-be is husband Christian Reilly. JR
Tel: 0131- 556 6550
36 COMEDY
Limmy's Show
The Stand II, 4-26 August
FURTHER proving Web 2.0's capacity for raising the inane from
obscurity is Brian Limond (aka Limmy), Scotland's original net-centric
comedy sensation. His brilliant podcast series World of Glasgow made
the iTunes top 10 in 2005. His website - Limmy.com - is a hilarious and
occasionally disturbing catalogue of surreal videos, photos and
Flash-based playthings (including one very rude xylophone). Following a
sell-out show at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, he at last
leaves his bedroom again to make makes his Fringe debut, promising
"madcap sketches and daft videos". MJ
Tel: 0131-558 7272
37 FILM
Hallam Foe
Cineworld 7, 15 August
KICKING off the Film Festival in fine style, the latest from Young
Adam director David Mackenzie stars Jamie Bell as a feral teenager
traumatised by his mother's suicide. Escaping from his home in the
Scottish Borders, he embarks on a Catcher In the Rye-like adventure in
Edinburgh. Funny, sexy, disturbing and moving, it's a coming-of-age
film with a difference and makes great use of the Edinburgh locales,
especially the city's rooftops. There's a hilarious scene-stealing turn
from Ewen Bremner too. AH
Tel: 0131-228 2688
38 THEATRE
Subway
Traverse 3: University of Edinburgh Drill Hall, 14-26 August
AFTER the international success of 2005 show The Lost Ones,
Scottish-based director Matthew Lenton and his Vanishing Point company
are on a roll. Their new show Subway, starring award-winning actor
Sandy Grierson, is billed as a dystopian musical adventure about small
acts of rebellion; watch out for Vanishing Point's signature
combination of haunting text, state-of-the-art visuals, and outstanding
music, in this case from a wild and brilliant band picked up on a
recent visit to Kosovo. JM
Tel: 0131-228 1404
39 MUSIC
Kaiser Chiefs/The View
Meadowbank Stadium, 24 August
THE Meadowbank outdoor show is now a staple of T on the Fringe. The
sound may be erratic and the stench from the burger vans none too
pleasant but, the terminally contagious Kaiser Chiefs are the kind of
top pop band who can transport you momentarily with a well deployed
"wooooo" and some mandatory stagediving from frontman Ricky Wilson.
Scruffy local heroes The View are a support band worth arriving early
for. FS
www.ticketmaster.co.uk
40 MUSIC
The House Of The Holy Afro
Queen's Hall, 6-27 August
UNSURPRISINGLY, party shows thrive on the Fringe. Last year's
euphoric favourite Havana Rumba returns, but there is also a new
contender for feelgood hit of the summer in the shape of our cover
stars The House Of The Holy Afro, a dynamic celebration of the words,
rhythms and choreography of 21st century Africa from South African
company Third World Bunfight, in collaboration with house DJ Dino Moran
and street poet Odidi Mfenyana. Put on your dancing shoes. FS
Tel: 0131-623 3030
41 COMEDY
Rhona Cameron
Gilded Balloon Teviot, 18-26 August
THE world has two things to thank Musselburgh for: Luca's ice cream
and Rhona Cameron. She is a comic who has been away from the stand-up
mike for too long, but each time she comes back she is better. She is
warm, funny and honest. And now she has come home to the Gilded
Balloon. This promises to be a joyous, personal show from the heart of
a seriously accomplished performer. KC
Tel: 0131-668 1633
42 THEATRE
Orpheus X
Royal Lyceum Theatre, 25-29 August
THE relationship between words and music, the birth of opera, and
the role of ancient myth in shaping all forms of theatre - these are
the basic themes of Jonathan Mills's first Festival, and they're all
present in this dark 21st-century reworking of the Orpheus myth
starring New York-based singer, composer and actor Rinde Eckert. A rock
star is involved in a road accident that kills a beautiful downtown
poet, and becomes obsessed with the idea of rescuing her. "Powerfully
acted and gorgeously sung," said Variety, of last year's US premiere.
JM
Tel: 0131-473 2000
43 COMEDY
Sean Hughes
Gilded Balloon Teviot, 18-26 August
HUGHES reckons he has "the fire back in my belly". And that has to
be one of the most enticing prospects in Edinburgh since the Frozen
Margarita machine in the Assembly Bar. Hughes is an Alpha Irish bad boy
with that Celtic gift of words that means he can just as exquisitely
split your sides as break your heart. KC
Tel: 0131-668 1633
44 MUSIC
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
Usher Hall, 30 August
MAHLER symphonies have a strong connection with recent Edinburgh
Festivals, not least the Seventh, performed so memorably almost a
decade ago by the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. There seems no
shortage of imagination, though, in its programming this year,
alongside the wrought and breathtaking final scene of Richard Strauss's
Salomé. The line-up is mouth-watering - the truly great Straussian
soprano Deborah Voigt, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and the San
Francisco Symphony Orchestra. It's the second of two appearances by
this orchestra, but unquestionably the more appetising. KW
Tel: 0131-473 2000
45 OPERA
Monteverdi's L'Orfeo
Festival Theatre, 11-14 August.
IT'S THE opera everyone's talking about this year, and there are
plenty of productions of it happening around the world to mark its
400th anniversary. But this one - a restaging of Jordi Savall's
original Barcelona collaboration with director Gilbert Deflo five years
ago - promises to be among the most intriguing. For a start, Savall's
musicians - the singers of La Capella Reial de Catalunya and period
instrumentalists of Hespèrion XXI - are dynamic experts in the field of
early music performance. The cast, with Montserrat Figueras as La
Musica, is stellar. KW
Tel: 0131-473 2000
46 FILMA
Mighty Heart
Cineworld 2, 18 August
THE latest from Brit maverick Michael Winterbottom casts Angelina
Jolie as journalist Marianne Pearl, whose husband, Wall Street Journal
reporter Daniel Pearl, was kidnapped and beheaded by jihadi extremists
in 2002. Based on her memoir and shot documentary-style, Winterbottom's
reputation for tough, complex, always-accessible political filmmaking
should prevent this from being just another worthy, star-driven
Oscar-chaser. American reviews, at least, suggest it's raw and
harrowing, with an excellent, understated Jolie disappearing into the
role. AH
Tel: 0131-228 2688
47 THEATRE
Lacrimosa
Assembly Aurora Nova at St Stephen's, 4-27 August
FOR the last half-decade, Aurora Nova has been perhaps the most
exciting venue on the Fringe, bringing a true international atmosphere
to the Festival scene; and three years ago, one of the main sources of
that excitement was the Song Of The Goat company from Poland, with a
stunningly-sung piece of musical and physical theatre about traditions
of mourning in many cultures. Now, the company returns with Lacrimosa,
a show built around Mozart's Requiem, and designed to explore the rage
and violence of totalitarian government. JM
Tel: 0131-623 3030
48 OPERA
Strauss's Capriccio
Festival Theatre, 28 and 30 August, and 1 September
THE one entirely new staged opera production at this year's Festival
- Strauss's Capriccio - comes from Opera Köln and the Gürzenich
Orchestra. It's one of opera's most affectionate works - a kind of
operatic naval-gazing into the question "which comes first - the words
or the music?" The beautiful string sextet; the dynamic concentration
of characters; and a score so rich in its final moments it almost
answers the question in music's favour: Capriccio is one of the 20th
century's most enduring gems in the realm of opera. Markus Stenz
conducts, and Christian von Götz directs the production. KW
Tel: 0131-473 2000
49 BOOKS
James Tait Black Literary Awards
Charlotte Square, 25 August.
THEY'VE been exclusive in the worst sense of the word, all these
literary prizes, so it's good to see them at last where they belong -
fully in the public arena. The James Tait Black awards are Britain's
oldest literary awards, and this year's shortlist (for fiction and
biography) includes such luminaries as Cormac McCarthy, Carmen Callil,
Alice Munro and and Sarah Waters. James Naughtie does the honours at an
event Edinburgh University used to keep to itself but is now sharing
with the rest of us. DR
Tel: 0845 373 5888
50 COMEDY
Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective
Edinburgh Comedy Room, 2-26 August
THE man behind this Dutch comedy night is Brian Hennigan, a promoter
with a strong track record - most notably, he brought Doug Stanhope to
the Fringe. If you're from Holland, Hennigan says, seeing the ten
comedy stars on offer here is the equivalent of catching Ricky Gervais
performing in a tiny bar in Amsterdam. Grab a ticket before the
tourists do, and find out what the fuss is about. AE
Tel: 0131-623 3030
• Words by David Robinson, Joyce McMillan, Duncan Macmillan, Fiona
Shepherd, Kenneth Walton, Alistair Harkness, Kenny Mathieson, Kelly
Apter, Kate Copstick, Andrew Eaton, Jay Richardson, Malcolm Jack and
David Pollock
http://living.scotsman.com/film.cfm?id=1096652007
http://www.seachd.com
