people: Joseph Biden Jr., Madonna, Avril Lavigne Aug 26, 2008
The Irish comedian David O'Doherty has been presented with the top British comedy award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. O'Doherty received the 2008 Intelligent Finance Comedy Award and a check for 8,000, or about $15,000, nine years after he won the best-newcomer comedy award at the Fringe. (International Herald Tribune)
David O'Doherty wins top award for his delightful Edinburgh show Aug 25, 2008
David O'Doherty took the 8,000 top prize in the Intelligent Finance Comedy Awards for his show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Nica Burns, director of the awards, said: After one of the longest, most animated debates, the panel finally chose from this very strong shortlist a comedian whose work can only be summed up as utterly delightful. (Times Online)
We get more out of our guests than Paxman, say Richard and Judy Aug 24, 2008
Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan mourned the passing of their terrestrial TV career yesterday with a swansong at the Edinburgh Festival. The couple said that their type of talk show had been made redundant by comedy hosts, gladiatorial interviewers and "manipulative" reality television series. (Independent)
Irish comic wins main Fringe award Aug 24, 2008
comedy Award, the main prize at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, for his stand-up show Let's Comedy. His "utterly delightful" routine was packed with "laughter and charm", said awards director Nica Burns. (BBC News -- UK)
Comedian wins award despite no preparation for Edinburgh gig Aug 23, 2008
Aczel took the Malcolm Hardee Award for showing the greatest amount of "comic originality of thought or performance" at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe ... Other nominees were Peter Buckley Hill, Aindreas de Staic, Otto Kuehnle and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe box office. (BBC News -- UK)
In the running Aug 23, 2008
com comedy prize - formerly known as the Perrier Award - will be announced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Four acts are shortlisted - Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler together, plus Rhod Gilbert, Russell Kane and David O'Doherty. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
People: Gwen Stefani, Metallica, Madonna Aug 23, 2008
The Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award, the highest honor at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, has been awarded to "Eight," about characters hitting adulthood in the first decade of the 21st century. The show was written and directed by Ella Hickson and produced by the Edinburgh University Theater Company. (International Herald Tribune)
Mac Tontoh still growing strong Aug 23, 2008
Since returning to Ghana after the group s successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2001, Mac has taken a break from making music and is concentrating on his work with the Ghana National Commission on Culture. The Kete Warriors are now forging ahead in their own right with the blessing of their master. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Fringe festival sounds a somber note Aug 21, 2008
Performers at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2008, where smaller shows are battling to attract audiences ... The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has, since its conception 61 years ago, prided itself on being the more controversial, dynamic and funny younger brother of the highbrow Edinburgh International Festival. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Red leather helps singer make a buck Aug 18, 2008
When she sang in a concert version of Orlando at last year's Edinburgh Festival she won audiences over, with one critic praising the way she "tore into her fearsomely challenging arias with huge gusto and accuracy". That description comes close to describing the singer, who is a stickler for detail. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Fringe chiefs consider legal action in wake of tickets fiasco Aug 18, 2008
NO-ONE can be, 'Blamed for anything' everyone is in a state of being 'Bonkers', thanks to the "Alien Landing'!:DD Anonym, Defense HQ 18/08/2008 07:02:16 With a bit of luck we will discover that the aliens' fatal weakness is that random acts of punctuation on newspaper forums makes their heads explode.So, keep up the 'good work', Charles! GrahamH, Edinburgh 18/08/2008 07:22:21 Chiefs consider legal action.They are ulimately in charge of selecting suppliers, in charge of ensuring tickets can be... (Scotsman)
Double inquiry to prevent more Fringe chaos Aug 17, 2008
More Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Features. (Scotsman)
After 71 years, 'On the Waterfront' shows signs of mellowing Aug 14, 2008
Cristina Cano for The New York Times Steven Berkoff, the British director of "On the Waterfront" at the Edinburgh festival ... Currently playing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the 1954 drama about corruption on the docks in Red Hook, Brooklyn, portrays its hero, Terry Malloy, the boxer from Palookaville made famous by Marlon Brando, getting beaten up for testifying against organized crime before rising to his feet and winning the respect of his fellow longshoremen. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Jay McInerney, John Edwards, Mary-Louise Parker Aug 14, 2008
The conflict in Georgia has disrupted the state ballet's engagement at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, BBC News reported ... The veteran actor Simon Callow , who has toured the world with his acclaimed one-man show "The Mystery of Charles Dickens," is appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to sell-out houses with enactments of two of the novelist's lesser known stories. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Actor Rigby dies aged 71 Aug 13, 2008
An unsightly spat has broken out among managers of some of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe s leading comedy venues. Dance shows such as the world premiere of Matthew Bourne s Dorian Gray have helped this year s Edinburgh. (Stage)
Critics pan Edinburgh Fringe ticket system flop Aug 13, 2008
Performance group Sweet's director Julian Caddy, who is responsible for three Edinburgh festival venues said that he and other operators had warned the Fringe Society about the risks of implementing a new ticketing system in such a short time scale. Another anonymous venue operator complained about the Fringe's "village fete mentality". (Accounting Web, UK)
Giselle at the Edinburgh Playhouse Aug 12, 2008
Giselle at the Edinburgh Playhouse - Times Online. Sign up to our classic game. (Times Online)
Edinburgh festival: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogonny Aug 11, 2008
Usher Hall, Edinburgh. Monday August 11 2008. (guardian.co.uk)
Probe into Fringe ticket problems Aug 11, 2008
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is to launch an independent inquiry into its own box office, it has emerged. It follows weeks of problems which left many shows oversold and some customers without tickets. (BBC News -- UK)
Infotainment Aug 9, 2008
human statueEdinburgh: A human statue dressed as a knight performs during the Edinburgh festival. reuters. (Daily Times, Pakistan)
His saving grace - Gene Robinson interview Aug 9, 2008
Keynote talks at the Edinburgh Festival of Spirituality and Peace (see also ). THE SHARIA SCARE. (Scotsman)
Timon of Athens Aug 8, 2008
Video (5min 19sec): Aug 8 2008: The parents of soldier Cheryl James, who died at Deepcut barracks, talk about what it's like to see yourself on stage at the Edinburgh festival, and how their fight for a public inquiry goes on. . (guardian.co.uk)
Sales up at Edinburgh's festival Aug 8, 2008
" Borders have been redrawn in every direction and these borders are not just political, or geographic, but also cultural, social and even religious Jonathan MillsFestival director The opening concert - The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht - brings together the RSNO, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, the ladies of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and eight soloists. Actress Hannah Gordon is the narrator of the piece. She said: "I just love working... (BBC News -- UK)
Archbishop pressure over gay partnerships beliefs Aug 8, 2008
Gay activist Mr Tatchell, appearing alongside Bishop Robinson at the Edinburgh festival yesterday, said: Since becoming Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams has become a prisoner of the Lambeth Palace mafia. They have jailed his heart and soul. (WalesOnline)
They're Playing Our Song at the Menier Chocolate Factory, SE1 Aug 7, 2008
They're Playing Our Song at the Menier Chocolate Factory, SE1 - Times Online. Win tickets to the Visa London 2012 Party. (Times Online)
Parents inspired by Deepcut play Aug 7, 2008
The parents of soldiers who died at Deepcut army barracks said an Edinburgh festival show on the issue has renewed their fight for a public inquiry. Yvonne and Jim Collinson's son, Pte James Collinson, 17, from Perth, was found with a single gunshot wound to his head in March 2002. (BBC News -- UK)
Big venues 'squeezing out the spirit of Edinburgh Fringe' Aug 5, 2008
William Burdett-Coutts, the artistic director of the Assembly Rooms, defended the new Edinburgh Comedy Festival: "I believe in saying what's on the tin, and we are in comedy and celebrating the festival. Unless we find a title sponsor, we are likely to continue with the name. I think the greatest thing in Edinburgh is the spectrum from first performers to professionals, and we should all call ourselves different strands of simply the Edinburgh Festival." ... edinburgh festival reviews. (Independent)
More performers get in on the 'free Fringe' act Aug 4, 2008
Video (1min 20sec): Aug 21 2007: Professor Richard Demarco, who has attended all 60 Edinburgh festivals, explains his exhibition. Jul 14 2008. (guardian.co.uk)
Fringe to set box office records Aug 2, 2008
Satirical swipes at the political establishment, apocalyptic visions of the future and more jokes than ever before visitors to this years Edinburgh Festival Fringe which opens on Saturday will be treated to a typically cynical view of the world. More than 240 venues in the city will be competing to attract audiences to appreciate ever-more inventive critiques of global capitalism: at the Pleasance Courtyard, The Meeting promises form-busting comedy installation set in an actual... (Financial Times)
Edinburgh Festival: Why the Fringe is rocking Aug 1, 2008
"It always struck me as strange that there wasn't a contemporary music strand during the Edinburgh Festival," Dave Corbett says. It was after he moved north of the border 12 years ago to work for DF Concerts, the Scots music promoters who run T in the Park, that Corbett set about remedying the situation. (Independent)
Arts Council cuts criticised by report Aug 1, 2008
Sign up to our classic Fantasy Football game for just 3. Navigation - link to other main sections from here. (Times Online)
'Daily Show' Correspondent John Oliver Stars in His First-Ever COMEDY CENTRAL(R) Original Stand-Up Special as 'John Oliver: Terrifying Times - Extended & Uncensored' DVD Hits Stores on Tuesday, August 19 Jul 30, 2008
Before coming to New York City, he worked as a stand-up comedian around the UK, entertaining and irritating audiences in equal measure for many years and regularly took shows to the prestigious Edinburgh Festival. When "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" came knocking on his door in 2006, Oliver flung it open and jumped into its arms with a relish which made all parties slightly uncomfortable. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
West Side Story at Sadler's Wells Jul 28, 2008
West Side Story at Sadler's Wells - Times Online. Star musicians and your favourite Times writers at the Albert Hall. (Times Online)
Tram work brings more disruption Jul 28, 2008
Shandwick Place was supposed to reopen before the Edinburgh Festival. Buses, taxis and cyclists will be allowed to use the key artery but other traffic will be kept out until the end of next year. (BBC News -- UK)
Jess Winfield's 'My Name is Will' Jul 26, 2008
In 1987, the group took its reduction production, "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)," to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and from there the show toured the world's stages, delivering the fractured, goosed-up Shakespeare oeuvre at breakneck speed, interlarding their performances with improv and contemporary cultural references. 1. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Fringe addresses ticket backlog Jul 23, 2008
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs from 3 to 25 August. Organisers of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which has been hit by ticketing problems, claim thousands of preview week tickets are now being sent out. (BBC News)
Talk of the Town: Selling your home? Make it picture perfect! Jul 23, 2008
The artists previous collaborative work has been called the great East-West event of the Edinburgh festival by the Sunday Times of London. Mary Lou Prince (piano) began composing at age five and after a formal education on music that included a year with Nadia Boulanger, she immersed herself in the music of Japan, mastering the koto and soaking up indigenous music throughout north and south Asia. (Green Valley News & Sun, AZ)
Russell Brand criticised for sex attack prank Jul 17, 2008
Win tickets to the ultimate village fete with welly wanging and more. Navigation - link to other main sections from here. (Times Online)
Russell T Davies goes for a song Jul 17, 2008
Fans of Doctor Who writer and producer Russell T Davies will get the chance to hear him talk at the Edinburgh festival next month - but those who can hold on until November can see him at the National Theatre in London for a fraction of the cost. Davies, credited with the successful revival of the sci-fi series together with its spin-off, Torchwood, is leaving to pursue other projects, although, after a Christmas edition, he will oversee four more special Doctor Who programmes in 2009. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Evening Standard libel case bankrupts opera composer Keith Burstein Jul 16, 2008
Court of appeal judges in June last year ruled that the Evening Standard, which brought the bankruptcy petition, was entitled to publish a review suggesting a performance at the 2005 Edinburgh festival of Burstein's opera, Manifest Destiny, made suicide bombers appear heroic, as it constituted fair comment. Burstein had earlier won the right to sue the paper for defamation after alleging the review suggested he was sympathetic to suicide bombers. (guardian.co.uk)
London theater: While some dramas travel well, others leave something behind Jul 16, 2008
"Black Watch," at the Barbican Theatre through July 26, has also had a previous British outing, though in this case at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival prior to an international tour that has at last brought to London Gregory Burke's fine play - and John Tiffany's even finer production. (Among the unexpected stops on this play's global route: a 10,000-seat ice hockey arena in Norfolk, Virginia. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Hangover Square at the Finborough, SW10 Jul 15, 2008
Win 25 cases of smoothies for your office this summer. Navigation - link to other main sections from here. (Times Online)
Edinburgh 2008 forward planning: The best classical and opera Jul 15, 2008
Eclairs sur l'au-del Traditionally, the Edinburgh festival doesn't do anniversaries, but Messiaen's centenary is this year being marked with a performance of his final, large-scale orchestral work. The Illuminations of the Hereafter, as it is called in English, has all the spareness and concentration associated with a late work; it calls for an orchestra of 120 players (the BBC Scottish Symphony conducted by Ilan Volkov here), but uses them with enormous economy and refinement. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Got 7,349 to spare? Then go and see Doug Stanhope Jul 14, 2008
Edinburgh festival 2008 ... Edinburgh Festival Theatre, August 15-17 (0131-473 2000) ... Traditionally, the Edinburgh festival doesn't do anniversaries, but Messiaen's centenary is this year being marked with a performance of his final, large-scale orchestral work. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Follow that stilt-walker! Jul 14, 2008
Edinburgh festival 2008 ... Are you an Edinburgh festival first- timer ... I've been coming to the Edinburgh festival for the past 17 years - that's half my life - and so my friends who are Fringe virgins often seek me out for advice before their first visit. (Guardian Unlimited)
Bridging the gap, part two Jul 13, 2008
1973: Makes his opera conducting debut at the Edinburgh Festival. 1988: Marries pianist Elena Bashkirova. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
To expats, laughter can be the best medicine Jul 13, 2008
Top comedians have crashed and burned on stage in Brussels, and not for want of talent: One who tanked appallingly went on two weeks later to win the top comedy award at the Edinburgh festival. People love being in the audience surrounded by the laughter, but it takes practice to respond with the crowd and feel in on the jokes. (International Herald Tribune -- At Home)
The Mighty Boosh Festival at The Hop Farm, Kent Jul 7, 2008
We've made some changes to The Sunday Times. Navigation - link to other main sections from here. (Times Online)
Oh, how we laughed Jul 5, 2008
There have been awards (Time Out's 2004 comedy performer of the year and a Herald Angel Award at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival), as well as gigs with Richard Pryor, Robin Williams and Dame Edna. But by her own admission, it wasn't until she appeared in the talent show It Takes Two earlier this year that she fulfilled her "personal dream" of getting Australia's finest opera singer, David Hobson, to sing Fat Bottomed Girls (You Make The Rocking World Go Round) on live television. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
A future shaped by the past Jul 5, 2008
In 2000, her script for the short film Night Swimmer was awarded the Jacques Tati Prix at the 2000 Vendome International Film Festival in France and her play Three Thousand Troubled Threads, commissioned by the 2005 Edinburgh Festival director, Brian McMaster, for the festival, used film projection, live action, four languages, Chinese calligraphy and English subtitles to tell her story. And it was in Glasgow, amid her experimentation and exploration of different kinds of cultural languages and... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Recording deal: Say do-re-mi-ah. Operatic dentist lands 1m ... Jul 3, 2008
Bain said he always dreamed of a stage career, particularly after appearing at the Edinburgh Festival, aged 11, in a National Youth Music Theatre show. He was educated at Uppingham School in Rutland, famous for its music and drama teaching, where former students include Boris Karloff and Stephen Fry. (guardian.co.uk)
Berlin tells Kosky to go for bold Jul 2, 2008
His thrilling, near-claustrophobic version of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart, featuring the Austrian singer Martin Niedermair and Kosky at the piano, is part of next year's Sydney Festival, and his production of Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea, a hit at last year's Edinburgh Festival, is scheduled for the Opera House. Interestingly, both Kosky and fellow Australian Simone Young, music director and general manager of the Hamburg Staatsoper, were championed by Opera Australia's former... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
National Theater of Scotland comes into its own Jun 30, 2008
With the premiere of "The Bacchae" at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival, the Aberfeldy-born Cumming returned to the stage in his native Scotland after 16 years. That was treated with a degree of ecstasy by the press. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Divas at the Shaftesbury Apollo, W1- the Sunday Times review Jun 29, 2008
Divas at the Shaftesbury Apollo, W1- the Sunday Times review - Times Online. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II only with The Times today. (Times Online)
Reviews roundup Jun 28, 2008
Two years after it opened to rave reviews at the Edinburgh festival, and following an international tour that saw it conquer everywhere from New York to New Zealand, the National Theatre of Scotland's Black Watch - a theatrical examination of Scottish soldiers' experience in Iraq as their ancient regiment is destroyed by bureaucrats as well as bombs - finally had its London premiere. It was a chance for critics to note how this "decorated" "military tattoo" had "marched" into the capital,... (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Black watch, Barbican, London Jun 26, 2008
Gregory Burke's Black Watch took the 2006 Edinburgh Festival by storm. Presenting the Iraq war through the eyes of the eponymous Scottish regiment, this extraordinarily potent combination of docudrama and stylised physical theatre was performed in an old drill hall and offered itself as a pointed alternative to the city's annual military tattoo. (Independent)
Gong Ching Lee: Arts junkie's contagious passion Jun 26, 2008
Goh has managed to establish good international art relations, including with the Edinburgh Festival of the UK, one of most prestigious art festivals in the world that attracted more than one million visitors last year ... It's possible in the next events, Singaporean performances, including Awaking, could be staged at the Edinburgh Festival as promised by its director Jonathan Mills, who watched the show in Singapore. (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Features)
Britons may be jailed if relatives from abroad overstay Jun 26, 2008
The immigration minister also confirmed yesterday that professional and amateur sports people and entertainers who come to Britain to perform at one-off events such as Wimbledon, the Edinburgh festival or the Olympics will be exempted from the new points-based immigration system. They will be able to enter Britain on a special six-month sports visitor or entertainer visa. (guardian.co.uk)
In the name of the mothers Jun 20, 2008
Ten Tiny Toes was born after Wilson's previous script - she was the lead writer on Unprotected, a widely praised verbatim docu-drama based on more than 1,000 interviews with residents, politicians, police, clients and workers in the Liverpool sex industry - won the Amnesty award for Freedom of Speech at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival. Born in the north-west, Wilson, who has spent most of her life in Liverpool and has two grown-up sons, was an actor and university drama teacher before winning a BBC... (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Interview: Joan Rivers lets rip after her Loose Women TV swearing row Jun 19, 2008
"Still, it's all good publicity for her upcoming 75-date UK tour with her autobiographical play, Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress.It hilariously presents the Joan we all know from her TV appearances and live shows, and it also movingly reveals the woman behind the public face.The break-up with Johnny Carson is there, her husband's suicide, the feuds, firings, back-stabbings and full-frontal calamities. Before coming to London's West End, it will debut at the Edinburgh... (Mirror.co.uk)
Broadway actor to direct local ‘Suessical’ production Jun 18, 2008
Also Off-Broadway, Kevin was an original cast memeber of the rock musical Hedwig and The Angry in the title role and went on to open companies in Boston, The Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and an extended 8 month run at The Victoria Theatre in San Fransisco. On Television Kevin portrayed Ross Rothman on ABC s Six Degrees , Kermit Jones on AMC s The Royale and has guest starred on Cantebury s Law , Hope and Faith , Law and Order , and Law and Order:Criminal Intent. (The Citizen - online, TX)
Edward Norton, Paul McCartney, Snoop Dogg Jun 17, 2008
New York theatergoers have become used to hits from the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe coming to New York ... The Edinburgh festival runs Aug. 3 to 25. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
'It's in the blood' Jun 15, 2008
Since taking the Edinburgh festival by storm, Black Watch has been applauded around the world ... A production of the National Theatre of Scotland, it opened to wonderful notices at the Edinburgh festival in 2006. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
S'pore Arts Fest plans more tie-ups with Edinburgh International Fest Jun 14, 2008
Singapore hopes to tap on other festivals such as the Book and Fringe Festivals that run concurrently in Scotland as the Edinburgh festival - so it can promote more Singaporean content. ADVERTISEMENT. (Channel NewsAsia, Singapore)
Connery 'exclusive' headlines Edinburgh festival Jun 13, 2008
Lindesay Irvine and agenciesThursday June 12, 2008. Sir Salman Rushdie will be playing a second fiddle to Sir Sean Connery at this year's Edinburgh International book festival, organisers have announced. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
