Nicola Benedetti’s second programme as director of the Edinburgh International Festival has been unveiled. With more than 160 performances in the city this August, we take a look at some of the 2024 highlights.
The Opening Event
Opening Event. Credit Laurence Winram.
The EIF will open with a large-scale outdoor opening event for 10,000 people evoking the mythology and history of Scotland’s rich heritage, in collaboration with single malt Scotch Whisky, The Macallan, with creative producer Pinwheel. But details of what the event will actualy involve, and where it will take place, re expected to remain under wraps until the summer.
The Fifth Step
Jack Lowden. Credit: Charlie Gray
Slow Horses star Jack Lowden makes his EIF debut in August in The Fifth Step, the latest play from Glasgow-based writer David Ireland, who has wowed audiences in the past with Ulster American and Cyprus Avenue. Lowden’s first professional acting role was as the lead in the hit National Theatre of Scotland show Black Watch in 2010.
The Outrun
The stage adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir, The Outrun, brought to life by playwright Stef Smith, director Vicky Featherstone. The story tells of her return home to Orkney after a decade in London, to help her recover from alcoholism. The book has already been adapted into a new feature film starring Saoirse Ronan.
Dance
Songs of the Bulbul.
A stellar dance and theatre offering full of UK, European and World Premieres with leading creatives and companies such as Internaational Theater Amsterdam, Crystal Pite, Kidd Pivot, Grupo Corpo, Aakash Odedra.
Philharmonia Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra.
The London-based orchestra’s programme will include a performance of Verdi’s Requiem, the Richard Strauss opera Capriccio. A multi-media UK premiere of Fire In My Mouth, a new work by American composer Julia Wolfe will feature the National Youth Choir of Scotland.
Ilumina
The São Paulo-based artist collective founded by violinist Jennifer Stumm will make International Festival debut. They will give two concerts with the audience seated on beanbags after last year’s popular festival experiment.
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