The Edinburgh Fringe Festival program for 2011 lists 2,542 separate shows - an increase of 89 shows since last year. The number of individual performances is also up slightly - 41,689 compared to 40,254 in 2010.
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At 258, the number of venues is about the same as last year. But site specific work has become wilder than ever:
The 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival programme will be published in May and I'll have my recommended highlights shortly after. Meanwhile, this list of 2011 highlights should give you a taste of what to expect.
- Sailing On - is a three-hander set in the ladies loo at New Town Theatre
- Even in Edinburgh/Glasgow - begins under the departure boards in Waverley Station and continues on a train to Glasgow
- and The Tour Guide is a drama that departs twice nightly on a vintage, open-top tour bus.
In the festival's biggest program ever, 1,319 shows are world premiers and a whopping 607 shows are free.
And the point of all these statistics?
Just to warn you in advance how arbitrary my list of Edinburgh Festival highlights (or anyone else's for that matter) is likely to be. This very brief list of 2011 festival highlights should whet your appetite about what to expect when the 2012 program is announced in May:February 4 2012
- Fringe on the Royal Mile - Fringe Sunday with its free previews may be gone but 12 performance spaces on the Royal Mile will be in action from 11a.m for 10 hours daily, with street theatre, festival show previews and daily craft markets.
- The National Theatre of Scotland is back with The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart -("dream-like journey of self-discovery, filled with magical moments, devilish encounters and wild karaoke") and The Wheel, at the Traverse.
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Traverse Theatre Company - Anything going on at the Traverse, Scotland's new writing theatre, is likely to be exciting. As usual, in 2011, they've brought in guests companies from abroad including The National Theatre of Wales as well as companies from Ireland and New York. And there's a feast of new work from Scotland. In all,they are staging 18 productions in five venues, including the University of Edinburgh Medical School Anatomy Department. The Traverse Festival season includes eight world premieres. In addition to the plays mentioned above, look out for:
- Ten Plagues - World premiere joins Marc Almond, playwright Mark Ravenhill, composer Conor Mitchell in a new musical piece based on eye witness accounts of London in the plague of 1665.
- Mission Drift - New York Company TEAM bring Heather Christian's play about a journey across America with a difference.
- Check the Traverse Theatre website for detailed descriptions of their season at Edinburgh
- A Celebration of Harold Pinter - John Malkovich directs Julian Sands in afternoon performances at the Pleasance Courtyard.
- War at Home - from the American High School Theatre Festival, is one of several productions marking the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Based on student and teacher journals, a group of students 100 miles from New York City reflect on the event.
- Tuesday at Tescos - Simon Callow as Pauline - daughter, carer and transvestite. A translation from the French of Le Mardi Monoprix
Belt Up Theatre - Since making a big splash at the festival in 2008, Belt Up Theatre have become the resident company of York Theatre Royal and among the hot tickets of the Edinburgh Fringe.
In 2011, they return to their bespoke space at C soco for three productions, one of their classics and two brand new works:
- The Boy James
- Twenty Minutes to Nine - Sip tea and prepare for the unexpected.
- Outland - Lewis Carroll's characters lead you into "imagine worlds you have forgotten" in this piece by Dominic J. Allen.
- Monologue Slam - The Ultimate Actors Showcase - If you've ever wondered what actors really have to go through to get noticed, take in one of these evenings, where up to 20 actors perform one and three minute monologues plus audience influenced improv in front of a panel of industry judges.
- Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo - Morpurgo's book about a young WWI soldier awaiting execution and reflecting on his life. By the author of the acclaimed War Horse
For more ideas about plunging into the Edinburgh Festival, check out my Festival planning tips.
