The 70th annual Edinburgh International Festival has announced its program for 2017, which will run August 4-28.
Amongst the highlights of the theatre program, four leading Scottish theatre companies—the Citizens Theatre, Royal Lyceum Theatre, the Traverse Theatre Company, and Vox Motus—will present works that consider the origins of European drama from a contemporary perspective. Each examines, in different ways, the fragility of human relationships, society, and civilization.
The work of Edinburgh-based playwright Zinnie Harris underpins three productions: Oresteia: This Restless House from the Citizens Theatre, a reimagining of Aeschylus’ 2,500-year-old drama; a new adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, which comments on the rise of extremism, from the Royal Lyceum Theatre with DOT Theatre of Turkey; and the world premiere of the new work Meet Me at Dawn from the Traverse Theatre Company, which redefines the Orpheus and Eurydice myth as a modern love story.
Vox Motus presents the world premiere of Flight, an adaptation of the novel Hinterland by Caroline Brothers, which follows two young brothers as they journey across Europe from their home in Afghanistan in search of freedom and safety.
The theatre program will also include the world premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s The Divide, co-produced with London’s Old Vic, where it will transfer afterwards. In addition, Irish actor Barry McGovern will perform Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape in a new production directed by Michael Colgan, outgoing artistic director of Dublin’s Gate Theatre. Also, Sheffield-based company Forced Entertainment will present Real Magic, and Turner Prize-winning artist and performer Martin Creed will present a nightly late-night cabaret, Words & Music. Australian chanteuse Meow Meow returns to the International Festival with Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid, a theatrical retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, featuring original songs from collaborators, including Amanda Palmer.
To book tickets, which go on sale March 25, visit eif.co.uk.
