Of the thousands of shows, comedy has bumped theatre into first place with 35% of the schedule. Theatre comes next at 28% , followed by music -16% , musicals and opera tied with dance and physical theatre - 5% , childrens shows and events tied at 4% and exhibitions at 3%.
Good News for the Credit Crunched
Expect to see lots that's new - 37% of the shows are world premieres and 11% of are European premieres. Just about the only sign of economic hard times was this year's demise of Festival Sunday, due to lack of sponsorship. But the good news for anyone feeling the pinch is that the number of free shows has leapt up to fill the gap. There are 465 free shows, up by 115 on last year's 350.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 festival highlights 2009 should whet your appetite:- Opening Party, Cavalcade and Festival Sunday
- Edinburgh Fringe Free Festival Hundreds of theatre, comedy, children's, music and art shows and thousands of performances in 14 different venues. They are free for both artists and audience.
- Janeane Garofalo at the Gilded Balloon. This US comedian and Emmy nominated actress is best known in the UK for her role in the Larry Sanders Show. She's also a much acclaimed and hip standup comedienne. She's making her Fringe debut in 2009. August 6-15 at the Gilded Balloon, Teviot. The show ends after 9 p.m. and under 14s are not permitted in this venue that late, so no one 14 or under will be admitted. The Gilded Balloon venues are among the festival's important centres for standup comedy. Check out their website.
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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 2009, they've brought in guests companies from abroad and there's a feast of new work from UK writers. In all, they are staging 21 productions in 3 Fringe venues and one, The Last Witch, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival at the Royal Lyceum. Look out for:
- Midsummer( A Play with Songs), a romantic comedy that is "the story of Bob and Helena and a great lost weekend of bridge burning, car chases, wedding bust-ups, bondage miscalculations, midnight trysts and horrible hungover self-loathing misery." - Sounds like fun.
- Barflies Grid Iron, a group the Scotsman call "one of the best exponents of the site-specific genre in the world", take the audience to their local, The Barony Bar, to explore the alcoholic musings of Charles Bukowski.
- Orphans by Dennis Kelly. A chilling, contemporary suspense story by one of the UK's brightest new playwrights.
- East 10th Street-Self Portrait with Empty House New York writer/performer Edgar Oliver brings his eccentric piece straight from a sell-out Off-Broadway run.
- Stand By Your Van Calling itself a "live competition play" this reality TV spoof from Menagerie, pits 12 determined, half-crazed "competitors" against each other for the price of a £25,000 pick up truck. All the winner has to do is keep a hand on the truck to the finish. Mayhem is promised at the Pleasance/ Escalator East to Edinburgh. August 5-17, 19-24, 26-31.
- Micaela Leon:Kabarett Berlin An homage to Marlene Dietrich, Valeska Gert and Anita Berber. Chosen as the BBC Jazz Album of the Year and termed "riveting" by the New York Times. At C on Chambers Street, August 5-16, 18-31.
- Blondes Actress and presenter Denise Van Outen channels famous blonds from Dolly, to Dusty to Duffy - with a little time for Madonna as well. At Udderbelly's Pasture August 6-31.
- Comedy at The Pleasance The Pleasance, in its 25th year on the Fringe, is running 31 separate venues, plus bars and cafes. Among the comedy acts scheduled for the Pleasance performance spaces are:
