Theatre Actor and playwright Paul Brightwell introduces MERZSPIEL ahead of his performance that opened the MERZ exhibition ‘Kurt Schwitters has entered the room’. The performance was filmed to be shown throughout the exhibition which is open by arrangement, merzgallery@icloud.com. Paul is … Paul Brightwell : MERZSPIEL
Theatre ‘A striking dream world… one of the most ambitious pieces we have ever presented’ (Anna Woo, The Getty Villa). California’s marijuana country: the still-Wild West. Annie conducts a forensic exploration of ‘the facts’ about her outlaw weed farmer brother as … Annie Saunders : Our Country
Theatre Time: 17.25 Summerhall, Tech Cube O In Finnish tradition, the sauna is a solemn place; a scene of cleansing, contemplation, birth and death. According to myth every sauna had its own spirit, whom visitors should care for and respect. The … Soile Makela : The Sauna
Theatre Ever since he was a kid Nick has loved Michael Barrymore. In this heartfelt and playful tribute, Nick invites you to examine the turbulent relationship between showman and spectator. Nick Cassenbaum : My Kind of Michael
Theatre Duckie is a reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling with a message of tolerance and self acceptance at its core. Family-friendly glamour and glitz takes centre stage as critically acclaimed cabaret star Le Gateau Chocolat breaks out of … Le Gateau Chocolat : Duckie
Theatre ‘Blackouts were the worst. Blackouts made me forget… Thank God for blackouts.’ Meet the woman who finds herself urinating off the top of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh. The man who nearly burns down a stranger’s kitchen. The mother who … Mark Jeary : Blackout
Theatre Big Aftermath explores how lives can turn on a word and the allure of the self-destruct button. Comedy and tragedy collide in a play about what happens when one person wants to go and the other wants them to stay. … Alice Malin and Sam Callis : Big Aftermath of a Small Disclosure
Theatre People Show are the UK’s oldest experimental theatre collective. Defying definition and constantly pushing the boundaries of live performance, the company continues to explore the world around us. Each show has been numbered. This is People Show 130. On at … Fiona Creese and Gareth Brierley : The Last Straw
Theatre Vivid and lyrical, Extinguished Things is a captivating exploration of what it means to spend your life with someone, and the nature of what you leave behind. On at Summerhall from the 1st to the 26th at 19.25 (except the … Molly Taylor and Jade Lewis : Extinguished Things
Festivals Performance Theatre WILLY HUDSON : BOTTOM Join Willy for a queer coming-of-age remix, as he questions if ‘bottom’ in the bedroom means ‘bottom’ in life – and whether Beyoncé can help put his love on top. Cairns Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, 16:25 1st … Willy Hudson : Bottom
Performance Theatre Venue: Main Hall, Summerhall Dates: 8th to the 27th of August This production, directed by Rafat Alzakout, will be the world premiere of the new play by young Syrian author Mudar Alhaggi. It tells the story of a young writer … Rafat Alzakout & Christin Lüttich : Your Love Is Fire
Performance Theatre Venue: The Dissection Room, Summerhall Dates: 15th to the 26th of August ‘A Welcome! To you and to me and our spikey, sticky, shameful bits!’ With a raucous chorus of original music, award-winning theatre maker Rachel Mars and four belting … Rachel Mars : Our Carnal Hearts
Performance Theatre Venue: Red Lecture Theatre Dates: 15th to the 27th of August From what might be a news desk, an office, a bunker under a mountain or a theatre – two people speak up, speak out and blow the whistle on … Rachel Baynton : A Machine They’re Secretly Building
Performance Theatre Dates: 17th to the 27th of August Venue: Upper Church Trigger warning – subjects of rape and sexual assault. The Völvas is an international feminist performance ensemble. The Vagina Dialogues is a cabaret-style theatre and variety piece that includes a … MJ Ashton : Vagina Dialogues
Performance Theatre Venue: Upper Church, Summerhall Dates: 15th to the 27th of August Tibaldus, made up of Timeau De Keyser, Hans Mortelmans and Simon De Winne, is one of Belgium’s most exciting and innovative young companies. Their work is fierce, surprising and … Timeau De Keyser & Hans Mortelmans : Ivona, Princess of Burgundia
Performance Theatre Venue: Upper Church Dates: 4th to the 27th of August ‘Three strangers meet in the middle of nowhere, in a Crossing Place far from the communications network of civilisation. In their meeting, the last untouched space is tarnished forever’. The … Johan Bark & Chris Mawson : The Crossing Place
Performance Theatre Venue: Anatomy Lecture Theatre Dates: 4th to the 27th of August Photos of ex-boyfriends, emails, texts, audio recordings and poetry. Struggling with her love life, Julie Cafmeyer experiences orgasms, despair, rejection and heaven. In an intimate setting, and with you … Julie Cafmeyer : Bombastic Declaration Of Love
Performance Theatre Dates: 11th to the 26th of August Venue: Army Reserve Centre, 89 East Claremont St Let’s spend an hour playing together. As members of The Mayers Ensemble we’ll explore boundaries, personal histories, gender, race. Throughout her life, choreographer Pauline has … Pauline Mayer : What If I Told You
Performance Theatre Dates: 4th to the 27th of August Venue: Upper Church The young performer Suzanne Grotenhuis won a prize for her previous theatre show at a Belgian theatre festival. The money was meant to produce a new show. But she decided … Suzanne Grotenhuis – On Ice:De Nwe Tijd
Performance Theatre Dates: 11th to the 27th of August Venue: Basement FK Alexander returns with her Total Theatre Award-winning sell-out 2016 show. FK sings live against a wall of noise music, to the recording of the last time Judy Garland ever sang … FK Alexander : (I Could Go On Singing) Over The Rainbow
Performance Theatre 4th – 27th august 2017 Venue: Roundabout, Summerhall Lorna and Grace do everything together. They share crisps, cigarettes and crushes. That’s what happens when you’re best friends forever. But when Lorna gets a place at University, and Grace gets pregnant, … Elinor Cook : Out of Love
Performance Theatre Dates: 4th to the 27th of August Venue: Old Lab, Summerhall New contemporary all-female circus from award winning director Ellie Dubois, last seen at Summerhall with Ringside in 2015. What do you expect when you go to the circus? The … Ellie Dubois : No Show
Performance Theatre Dates: 6th to the 27th of August Venue: Old Lab A new play by award-winning Finnish playwright-director Jari Juutinen based loosely on Büchner’s classic Woyzeck. A theatrical kaleidoscope and a mixture of a TV game show, interrogation and a Kafkaesque … Jari Juutine : I Am Faransis W.
Performance Theatre Dates:5th to the 27th of August Venue: Kings Hall, Main Space, Summerhall Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story is a humorously dark folk tale woven together with a high-energy concert. This music-theatre hybrid starring international Klezmer sensation Ben Caplan is … Ben Caplan & Christian Barry : Old Stock A Refugee Love Story
Festivals Performance Theatre Dates: 8th to the 27th of August Venue: Old Lab, Summerhall Having kids is not an easy decision. Now imagine you have a learning disability… Woah! Can they do that? Do they even have sex? Yes, yes ‘they’ do. Fast … Alison Colborne & Joyce Lee : MIA Daughters Of Fortune
Festivals Performance Theatre Dates: 4th to the 27th of August Venue: Demonstration Room, Summerhall Mireille & Mathieu unpack their paraphernalia at a flea-market. Objects and toys they pick up turn out to be bursting with stories. Gentle, poetic, cruel or comical scenes follow … Erik Bassier and Kathleen Wijnen : Arm
Performance Theatre Dates: 17th to the 22nd of August Venue: Army Reserve Centre, 89 East Claremont St One man’s love letters from the front line. Towards the close of WW2, Army signaller Dennis Marshall wrote a series of moving letters to his … Tom Poulson : The Last Post
Festivals Performance Theatre Dates: 2nd to the 26th of August Venue: Old Lab, Summerhall I don’t have to remember being in pain. I’m not sure that’s something we can do anyway. And in my case, it’s irrelevant. You can’t remember something that’s still … Rachel Bagshaw Melanie Wilson & Hannah McPake : The Shape of the Pain
Festivals Performance Theatre Dates: 4th to the 27th of August Venue: Old Lab, Summerhall I saw him looking at me when I danced, I saw the look in his eyes, I knew what he wanted to call me… Slut is a Kathak dance … Amina Khayyam : Slut
Festivals Performance Theatre Dates: 2nd to the 27th of August Venue: The Red Lecture Theatre Summerhall favourites Puppet Beings Theatre combine traditional Taiwanese puppet arts with the use of contemporary everyday objects, allowing adults and children to exert their imaginations. In The Backyard … Chen-Cheih Sun : The Backyard Story
