Top 10 Edinburgh Fest experiences from Chappell Roan to Ruxy Cantir

The Herald Scotland

6 days ago

Festival Theatre, August 22-24
The Toxic Avenger
Toxic Avenger (Image: unknown)
The Edinburgh International Film Festival's Midnight Madness horror strand is already established as a fan favourite and this year's programme is packed with goodies. Ben Wheatley's new film will generate much noise – and some head-scratching – but it's Macon Blair's re-make of this tasteless 1984 low-budget splatter-fest that's catching my eye. Why? Three reasons. First: it's a world premiere. Second: Blair's previous films Blue Ruin and Green Room have been absolute gems. Third: I rewatched the original this week (though not on grainy VHS, which would have been more appropriate) and it was every bit as dumb, crass and offensive as I remember it. More so, actually. So I'm really keen to see what the American director and his starry cast – Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood and British comedian Julia Davis among them – are bringing to the table in this long-awaited re-boot.
The Cameo, August 19-20
Make space
The capital's established theatres, large and small, go gang-busters during the Fringe. Meanwhile the big production houses like Assembly co-opt other familiar areas such as George Square. But a real pleasure of [[Edinburgh]] in August is visiting the lesser-known venues. The Ukrainian Community Centre on Royal Terrace, for example, where you'll find John Hegley (and some Ukrainian folk dancing, of course). Or the 16th century Magdalen Chapel, tucked away behind an anonymous-looking door in the Cowgate. Blink and you'll miss it. Or just pick a venue number – unlucky 13? There is one: Venue 13, tucked away in the Harry Younger Hall behind the historic Canongate Church, and home in August to a series of plays about the climate emergency.
Linder: Danger Came Smiling
Artist Linder with her EAF commission (Image: unknown)
For me, one of the highlights of last summer's massive National Galleries of Scotland show Women in Revolt! Art And Activism In The UK 1970-1990 was coming across the work of Linder Sterling, once the frontwoman with avant-punk band Lindus but also an acclaimed artist. If you've seen the iconic cover of the Buzzcocks' seminal (sorry) 1977 single Orgasm Addict, you've seen her work and if you've heard The Smiths track Cemetery Gates, then know it's Linder that Morrissey is strolling the graves with and who he later immortalised in song. Linder is back in [[Edinburgh]] this summer with a retrospective show – her first in Scotland – at Inverleith House in the Royal Botanic Garden. It opened in late May and while I have poked my head in briefly I'm looking forward to giving the show my undivided attention at some point during this festival season. The show is part of this year's [[Edinburgh]] [[Art]] Festival (EAF) and includes a special EAF commission. Oh, and it's free admission, so there's no excuse for not visiting.
Inverleith House (until October 19)
The Futures Institute
For my money, the jury's still out on how good a fit the swanky Futures Institute is for the Edinburgh International Book Festival, though admittedly it's a great deal better than the previous home along the road at Edinburgh Art College. No matter. It's still a splendid venue and in common with many Edinburghers it has a special resonance for me because the building once housed the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, which is where I was born. Well, not exactly – that happy event occurred in the 1930s Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion, just behind the extant main building, but it was demolished when the equally swanky Quartermile development was built so I lay claim to the Futures Institute instead. It's open to the public all year round, but the perfect time to visit is with the book festival is in full swing in the main auditoriums and on the expansive green space through the back.
Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan (Image: Victor Boyko, Getty Images for Valentino)
The Champagne Supernova boys roll into Edinburgh for three shows beginning on August 8 but it's the Red Wine Supernova gal I want to see – triple Brit Award winner Chappell Roan, whose Good Luck, Babe single topped many critics' Best Of 2024 lists and also the author of that ear-wormy anthem to queer joy, Pink Pony Club. Not my world in any sense, really, but there's something infectious about Roan's shtick and her ballsy approach to music-making, performance and presentation. On top of that, we've had a pleasing surfeit of US pop queens visiting Scotland recently – Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey both played last month and Lorde lands in November – so it's only appropriate that the Midwest Princess gets a shout out. Not strictly a festival show, Roan is doing two nights as part of a Summer Sessions programme which also includes an appearance by Sam Fender.
August 26-27, Royal Highland Showgrounds
Pickled Republic
I recently started pickling my own vegetables – I'll spare you the whys and wherefores – so how could my eye not be drawn to Pickled Republic, a one woman cabaret show by Moldovan theatre-maker Ruxandra Cantir which features an array of, yup, pickled vegetable characters? There's mention in the publicity of David Lynch (though what purveyor of Surreal theatre doesn't cite him as a reference these days?) but also of the great Franco-Romanian Absurdist Eugène Ionesco, which is a bigger draw for me. The icing on the cake – or maybe the star ingredient in the pickling solution – is that Pickled Republic is presented as part of the 16-strong Made In Scotland showcase, part funded by Creative Scotland and the Scottish Government's Festivals Expo Fund and a great way to see the best current work by Scottish or Scotland-based artists.
Summerhall, July 31-August 25
Midnights
No, not the Taylor Swift album, I mean the witching hour itself. They say New York is the city that never sleeps but what they don't say (but should) is that Edinburgh is the city which generally likes to be sipping cocoa in its pyjamas when the numbers climb towards twelve. That's not true in August, of course, and one of the greatest pleasure of the Fringe is taking in a show around or over midnight. Partly it's because that's often where you'll find the edgy stuff, but more than that it's because everything takes on a different hue in the wee hours. Done right, art lands differently. It sparks associations and ideas it probably wouldn't in a lunchtime slot, say. And for the audience members, rolling out at 1AM and heading for a bar (the Pleasance Courtyard, say, which is open until 3AM) there can be a powerful sense of an intense experience shared. My advice: sleep in, and check out the late, late shows.
RF Kuang
R F Kuang (Image: Mike Styer)
This year's Edinburgh International Book Festival isn't short of heavy-hitters – take your pick from Hanif Kureishi, Robert Macfarlane, Eleanor Catton, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Isabel Allende etc. – but I'm most intrigued to see 29-year-old American-Chinese fantasy sensation RF Kuang. She arrives in Edinburgh dripping awards, accolades and university degrees (Georgetown, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale). New novel Katabasis is out on August 26 and sees a graduate student studying something called analytic magick travel to hell for reasons of academic research. As you do. Kuang's Poppy War trilogy, set in an alternate China, established her as a fantasy favourite before break-out hits Babel (set in an alternative Oxford) and Yellowface (a contemporary satire of the US publishing industry) pushed her into the best-seller lists. Literary super-stardom doesn't seem too far out of her reach now. Catch her while you can.
McEwan Hall, August 24
The political weather
The actual weather in Edinburgh during the festival can be dreadful. There's a bevvy of bus stops I associate with rain storms and thinking about them I realise they're all ones I've hunkered in after leaving festival venues. Equally predictable is the political weather – or it has been for the past few years when the appropriate meteorological term would probably be 'heavy'. We've had the Baillie Gifford saga, of course, and the stushie over Drag Queen Story Hour, plus endless other debates about trans rights, cancel culture and environmentalism. It's a shame when too much noise detracts from the work being presented in the city, but at the same time politics is an inevitable – in fact necessary – part of making art. I expect this year's event to be just as shouty as previous ones, with an increased focus on who's funding who, where their money is coming from – and where it's going. I'll have one eye on the sky and the other on the news feeds and social media chatter.
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