Latest news with #Circa
Scotsman
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Why Edinburgh International Festival is unique, fantastic
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In November 1945, not long after the end of the Second World War, The Scotsman revealed plans were being drawn up for a music and drama festival in Edinburgh. 'Not only will the projected event probably be the first great post-war international art assembly in Europe but it will certainly be the first of its scope and importance to be held in Britain,' we reported. Two years later, the first Edinburgh International Festival was held, with a founding vision to 'reunite people through great art'. As the world's biggest and best arts festival gets underway, we should remember how it all started. Its ethos is just as important now as it was then. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Artists of the Circa and Opera Australia ensembles take part in a dress rehearsal of Orpheus and Eurydice | Keith Saunders However, this is not a time to be maudlin, it is a time to celebrate humanity at its finest. This year will see more than 2,000 artists from 42 nations put on 133 performances, including opera Orpheus and Eurydice, Scottish Ballet's Mary, Queen of Scots, in which the Renaissance meets punk meets haute couture, and Holst's The Planets, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
EIF opera Orpheus and Eurydice to feature 'acrobats doing very dangerous things'
If you think opera staging is mannered and boring, wait until you see this production of Orpheus and Eurydice, writes Ken Walton Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Yaron Lifschitz has serious issues with opera. 'Some of it is excruciating,' he declares, which you'd reckon should worry the pants off the Edinburgh International Festival. After all, the affable founder and director of the Australian contemporary circus group Circa is the mastermind behind this year's flagship opera production of Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice, and here he is, revealing his 'dirty secret – that I've no knowledge of Debussy past 20 minutes of Pelléas et Mélisande because I've never remained awake long enough to hear it. I get bored very easily.' The thing is, it's not so much opera that's the problem as its mannered traditions, Lifschitz argues. 'Opera at its core is a covers band, people doing other people's music, singing in a way they were told to sing, about stuff they were told to do with a great apparatus and significant amount of funding, devoted to essentially keeping the art fairly sclerotic, inured to change. It's not the operas that are boring, but the lack of compelling ways to do them.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Orpheus and Eurydice Received wisdom, he suggests, has stifled instinct. 'I love working on Monteverdi, for instance, and one of the things I used to ask was, how could there be a set way of singing this if it was the first of its kind? Back in the 17th century it would just have been people who sang as they felt inclined, so maybe we should just go back to that rather than everyone sounding like they went to the same academy for stifling joy and creativity. I have to say I was howled down by a bunch of people who'd been to that academy and in some cases ran it.' So yes, Lifschitz is a maverick, an inquisitive free spirit who has nonetheless proved his worth in imaginative cross-genre productions that challenge the norm, including this collaborative Orpheus and Eurydice. Unveiled in Brisbane in 2019, this summer's European premiere production at the Edinburgh Playhouse draws together the original combined resources of Circa and Opera Queensland with Opera Australia, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Scottish Opera Chorus, conducted by period music specialist Laurence Cummings. That Gluck himself was a reforming phenomenon, freeing 18th century opera of its stilted affectations and even adapting his most famous opera to suit opposing Viennese and Parisian tastes, clearly appealed to Lifschitz, and needless to say, he's taken brazen liberties. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The traditional frontline cast of three has been reduced to two, the role of Eurydice (Australian/British soprano Samantha Clarke) now conflated with that of Amor. The first sighting of Orpheus (countertenor Iestyn Davies) is in an asylum. 'My basic interpretation of the piece is that on their wedding night Eurydice dies, possibly at Orpheus's hands,' Lifschitz explains. Orpheus and Eurydice 'I'm not suggesting any ill will. Maybe they took the wrong substances to celebrate their wedding night; he wakes up in a mental institution and has no recollection of what happened. It becomes a process of memory, journeying into the Underworld. Every woman looks like her, every man is an extension of him and it probably doesn't end well. I don't want to give a spoiler, but it's opera: generally she dies, and he might.' What then of Circa's circus performers, whose virtuosic acrobatics – devised jointly by Lifschitz and fellow choreographer Bridie Hooper – provide an aligned counterpoint to the entire piece? They are, says the director, essential to his 'poetic' vision of the opera, part of 'a constant play with foregrounding and backgrounding' that respects both the polished classicism of Gluck's piece and its emotional volatility, 'that mixture of hope and fear that reminds us we're alive'. 'Working with the artists back in Brisbane on the physical embodiment of the production, the thing I keep coming back to is you have to feel a lot and show very little. Sometimes it just oozes out, sometimes the floodgates open and explode into acrobatics, but then it very quickly turns back into its classical form.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Of course, that's just the circus contingent. Is Lifschitz also expecting his singing cast to turn cartwheels? Opera Australia; Orpheus + Eurydice; Dress Rehearsal; JST; January 2024 'We're putting very experienced opera singers in fairly uncomfortable and difficult positions, very close to acrobats doing very complex and dangerous things,' he admits. How does that go down with Iestyn Davies, appearing in his first ever staged Orpheus? 'I've watched a video of the original production and know that late on in the show I have to stand on someone's shoulders,' says the English countertenor, who will eventually join the troupe for a final nine days of rehearsal. 'The biggest challenge for any singer in such a physical show is getting the breathing worked out.' Working with new people is healthy for the production, Lifschitz believes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Every staging is different. They're all based on the same choreography, the same ideas, but when only half the artists have performed this production before – as in Edinburgh – you use that opportunity to freshen things up.' Is there one thing he'd like audiences to take away from this Orpheus? 'That's something I've thought about very carefully,' he says. 'Circa brings a show to the Fringe every year – this year we're bringing Wolf – and we have a specific following. But for an International Festival production like this I feel we have to appeal to two different audiences simultaneously. 'I'd like an opera audience to come along and think 'Wow, this is so alive', where the operatic norms of music meeting dramaturgy exceed and challenge expectations. And I'd love circus audiences to go and sense that this is richer, touches bigger emotions, moves them even more profoundly than straight circus. I want everyone to walk out of the performance at the end of the day and think it would be difficult to figure this opera any other way. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And the litmus test? 'Circus is written with one huge commandment – Thou Shalt Not Bore! When you come out of Orpheus you may love it, you may hate it, but you won't be bored.'
Scotsman
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Fringe shows at the Edinburgh Playhouse including Bill Bailley, Dead Ringers and singer David Gray
Edinburgh Playhouse has revealed its Fringe schedule, with stars including singer David Gray, actress Miriam Margolyes and comedians Bill Bailey and Jason Byrne performing there in August. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The famous Capital theatre kicks off its Fringe programme with three Forth on the Fringe shows on Friday, August 1 and Saturday, August 2. The line-up on Friday at 8pm includes Jason Byrne, Connor Burns, Mark Nelson, Kai Humphries, Kevin Quantum, Jess Robinson, Circa, The Black Blues Brothers, Jonny Woo, Gravity & Other Myths, Grace Mulvey and Laser Kiwi. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On Saturday at 1pm you can see Miriam Margolyes, Hal Cruttenden, Patrick Monahan, Cirque Kalabanté, Ben Hart, Baby Wants Candy, MC Hammersmith, Circus – The Show, Footballers' Wives – The Musical, Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, Mat Ricardo and Lola. And later on that day, at 8pm, Alan Davies, Susie McCabe, Paul Sinha, Craig Hill, Rosco McClelland , Miss Frisky, Gareth Waugh, Tape Face, The Genesis, Chris Turner, Dangerous Goods and Swamplesque will take to the stage at the Playhouse. Tickets for these shows, available from £28, can be found here. Some of the shows on at Edinburgh Playhouse in August for this year's Fringe festival. | ATG Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Marking its 25th anniversary, Dead Ringers will be on at the Playhouse on Sunday, August 17. Starring long-standing cast members Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, and Lewis MacLeod, the show will take you on a trip through a quarter century of classic sketches and unrivalled impressions, alongside the razor-sharp topical humour which has become the series' trademark. Tickets for this special anniversary show can be found here. Nick Mohammed is Mr Swallow: Show Pony, is on at the Playhouse on Friday, August 22. After a sell-out 2023 UK tour and extended run in London's West End, Taskmaster loser and Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed returns as his critically acclaimed alter-ego Mr Swallow with a brand new show. Age guidance 14+, tickets available here. Fellow comedian Bill Bailey brings his Thoughtifier show to the Playhouse on August 23 and 24, with tickets available here. A magical, musical mystery tour of the human mind, along with some other pressing matters about whales, biophilia, unrequited love and other thoughts. Amplified With Music. Welcome to Thoughtifier! Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And chart-topping singer songwriter David Gray will perform at the Playhouse on Monday, August 25, tickets available here. David Gray is back doing what he does better than almost anyone, and fans of complex, serious, lyrical songcraft should rejoice. Dear Life may be the deepest, strangest, loveliest album this pioneering British singer-songwriter has ever delivered. Years in the making, it is an album of emotional crisis and resolution, mortality and faith, reality and illusion, love and heartbreak, magic, science, loss and acceptance.
Scotsman
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Fringe Circus 2025: Here are 11 jaw-dropping circus shows to enjoy this year
1 . Circa: Wolf Underbelly's Circus Hub at the Meadows is where some of the most spectacular shows take place in traditional circus tents - so we make no apology for including several of their shows in this list. First up is the latest show from Aussie performing arts company Circa, real Fringe favourites who have performed in front of more than two million people around the world. 'Wolf' is the latest spectacular from the group. "Known for their innovative and emotionally resonant performances, this troupe redefine the boundaries of modern circus and 'Circa: Wolf' has captivated audiences with its physicality and exploration of primal human instincts." Catch the thrills and spills at The Lafayette at the Circus Hub from August 1-23. | Contributed
New York Times
13-07-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
He Claims He's the ‘Sports Betting King.' What Are the Odds?
Mazi VS — 'Mazi' as in Maserati, 'VS' as in the grade of diamond — pulled up outside my hotel in Las Vegas behind the wheel of a red Lamborghini Aventador and suggested that we go for a drive. A thing no one tells you about traveling via Lamborghini: Getting into your seat is like spelunking into a crevasse, and getting out is like climbing out of a coffin. Lambos also were not put on this earth for lurching through rush-hour traffic, and so every time Mazi tapped the accelerator after a light turned green, the car's 6.5-liter V12 engine (behind us) snarled in my ears like a caged tiger. The Aventador has a top speed that exceeds 210 m.p.h., but it drops to 0.1 m.p.h. for speed bumps, and this car has a Blue Book value of more than $250,000. Imagine what it costs to fix a dent. Mazi seemed untroubled by the risk, though. He was accustomed to having six figures on the line. At that very moment, a Wednesday afternoon in mid-March, the day before the start of the first round of the N.C.A.A. men's basketball tournament, he had a total of $1.1 million riding on a three-leg parlay, a high-risk, high-reward sports wager that most pro gamblers tend to shun, not least because you must win all multiple individual bets to collect, while the house has to win only once. Later on, Mazi showed me the actual betting slips: $600,000 at Caesars Sportsbook and $500,000 at Circa on the same three-way outcome, wins for North Carolina, Purdue and Kentucky. All three were heavy favorites in their games, and all they had to do was win, not cover a point spread. But this was March Madness, when upsets happen all the time, and it would take only one to make Mazi $1.1 million poorer. He also stood to win just under $1.35 million, and Carolina had already done its job during a play-in game the night before. 'I got three teams that should be blowouts,' he said. 'So we lookin' good.' Mazi has 2.5 million followers on Instagram, his social media platform of choice, and a key ingredient in his mystique is that he is always somehow looking good, despite operating in a cutthroat, quasi-legal industry in which fates inevitably turn very bad. All the other suckers out there lose on a regular basis, but not Mazi, and he seems to have the betting slips — and the Lambos, the Maybachs, the private jets to Miami, the limited-edition Chrome Hearts jeans that can go for north of $10,000 and the $180,000 diamond chain by the jeweler to the stars Eliantte — that say so. Mazi has taken to calling himself the 'Sports Betting King,' or 'S.B.K.,' initials that are inked on his left hand. In a 2024 podcast, he claimed to have won $25 million the previous year alone. The most respected pros in this world build complex statistical models, scrutinizing micro-movements in betting lines, grinding out tiny advantages, winning pennies on the dollar, and in an excellent year they might get about 55 percent of their picks correct. Mazi claims his win rate sometimes reaches 70 percent, sometimes even higher. His process? Getting 'locked in' at the desk of his home office, then scanning the lines on his phone and picking the ones that look 'too good to be true.' 'Just literally in February we went on, like, an 18-1 run,' he told me as we inched along Las Vegas Boulevard so low to the ground that all I could see around us were the wheels of other cars. 'Right now we're on an 8-3 run.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
