Edinburgh Festival Guide

Listings: After 5pm, Theatre

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Sorted by popularity / rating / date.

First Love

Adaptation of an early Beckett novella about a man, cast out from the family home, who hooks up with a woman, with darkly comic consequences.

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Thu 23 May

£6–£15.50 / 0131 228 1404

Fri 24 May

£6–£15.50 / 0131 228 1404

Sat 25 May

£6–£15.50 / 0131 228 1404

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

Wed 28 Aug

£8–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

Thu 29 Aug

£8–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

Fri 30 Aug

£8–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

…and 1 more date

The Colour Ham

Magical comedy sketch group comprising Colin McLeod, Gavin Oattes and Kevin McMahon, making good use of absurdity, magic and mentalism. Member Gavin Oattes allegedly once licked Paul Daniels' face, so anything could happen, really. Over 18s only.

Just the Tonic, Edinburgh

Thu 1 Aug

£5 / 0131 556 5375

Preview

Fri 2 Aug

£8 (£7) / 0131 556 5375

Sat 3 Aug

£8 (£7) / 0131 556 5375

…and 13 more dates

Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience

Basil, Sybil and Manuel open for their sixth Fringe. Always a sell-out, only a third of the show is scripted, so everything stays fresh. ‘Best comedy show I've ever seen' (Sunday Express)

B'est, Edinburgh

Thu 1 Aug

£46.50 / 0131 556 4448

Sun 4 Aug

£46.50 / 0131 556 4448

Mon 5 Aug

£46.50 / 0131 556 4448

…and 16 more dates

L.A. Dance Project

A brilliant programme of modern masterworks from one of the hottest names in dance. Benjamin Millepied brings his new company to the UK for the first time, following his huge success as choreographer and star of Darren Aronofsky’s award-winning film Black Swan. L.A. Dance Project is an artist collective founded by…

The Edinburgh Playhouse

Sat 24 Aug

£10–£30 / 0131 473 2000

Sun 25 Aug

£10–£30 / 0131 473 2000

Mon 26 Aug

£10–£30 / 0131 473 2000

Bothwell's Bride

Nominated for MTM UK Best Composer 2007, Peter D Robinson's new musical is set in 1565, the final months of Mary Queen of Scots’ reign. Carpe Diem’s reputation for powerful drama and singing make this one to see.

Stockbridge Parish Church, Edinburgh

Tue 6 Aug

£10 (£8) / 0131 332 0122

2 for 1

Wed 7 Aug

£10 (£8) / 0131 332 0122

Thu 8 Aug

£10 (£8) / 0131 332 0122

…and 2 more dates back to top

Don Quichotte du Trocadéro

José Montalvo combines farce, burlesque and commedia dell’arte for the 21st century with urban and modern dance, film and slapstick comedy in his brilliant new show. Don Quixote, in his fifties, decides to achieve great things and finds himself in the dance halls, or Trocaderos, of Europe – traditional meeting and…

Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Thu 29 Aug

£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000

Fri 30 Aug

£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000

Sat 31 Aug

£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000

The Rite of Spring

Intense and visceral, Christopher Hampson’s vision of The Rite of Spring, created originally for Atlanta Ballet, is presented 100 years after the original production revolutionised the world of dance and music. Set to Stravinsky’s exhilaratingly influential score, Hampson uses three dancers – two men and a woman – to…

Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Sun 18 Aug

£10–£18 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Dance Odysseys.

According to Oscar

The Mercators celebrate the life of Oscar Wilde and his wife Constance with their dramatised readings.

Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church, Edinburgh

Mon 5 Aug

£8 (£7) / 0131 667 1522

  • 18:00

Tue 6 Aug

£8 (£7) / 0131 667 1522

  • 18:00

Wed 7 Aug

£8 (£7) / 0131 667 1522

  • 18:00
…and 2 more dates

Agnes of God

Multi award-winning EGTG (Edinburgh Evening News Spirit of the Fringe 2012) return with Agnes of God. A miracle or murder? A virgin birth or rape? Innocence or insanity? Even with the strongest faith, nothing guarantees absolution.

The Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh

Mon 5 Aug

£10 / 0131 556 4270

Tue 6 Aug

£10 / 0131 556 4270

Wed 7 Aug

£10 / 0131 556 4270

…and 3 more dates

All That Fall

‘A life of unending misery in a world devoid of God, now that’s funny.’ Maddy Rooney is in her seventies – unsightly, ungainly and unwell – laboriously to-ing and fro-ing between her home and Boghill Station. This is a landscape whose details are drawn from the suburbs of Foxrock and Leopardstown from Beckett’s youth, but…

The Hub, Edinburgh

Sun 25 Aug

£15 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

Mon 26 Aug

£15 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

back to top

As You Like It

Arkle Theatre Company play out the twists and turns of Shakespeare's pastoral comedy.

The Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh

Mon 12 Aug

£12 (£10) / 01786 440077

  • 18:00

Tue 13 Aug

£12 (£10) / 01786 440077

  • 18:00

Wed 14 Aug

£12 (£10) / 01786 440077

  • 18:00
…and 3 more dates

Canticles

For four voices by Peter D Robinson, nominated for MTM UK Best Composer 2007. The Canticles of Zachary, Mary, and Simeon: Benedictus, Magnificat, and Nunc Dimittis, praise God from varying perspectives and have long been integral to Christian worship.

Stockbridge Parish Church, Edinburgh

Sat 10 Aug

£10 (£8) / 0131 332 0122

Ceilidhs in Lauriston Hall

With caller Ken Gourlay and ceilidh bands Flaming Heather, HLI, Scott Leslie, Willie Fraser and piper. All dances walked through and called. Cheap bar. Hall has air-conditioning! Fringe groups welcome. www.edinburghceilidhs.co.uk.

Lauriston Hall, Edinburgh

Fri 2 Aug

£8 (£6)

Sat 3 Aug

£8 (£6)

Mon 5 Aug

£8 (£6)

…and 17 more dates

Circa: Wunderkammer

Seven performers tantalisingly blend of circus, cabaret and vaudeville as Circa come back to the Fringe for the first time in four years.

Underbelly Bristo Square, Edinburgh

Wed 31 Jul

£12 (£11) / 08445 458252

Preview

Thu 1 Aug

£12 (£11) / 08445 458252

Preview

Fri 2 Aug

£12 (£11) / 08445 458252

Preview

…and 21 more dates

Contemporary Classics

Exciting contemporary classics from established choreographers each of whom challenged their own genre of dance. Featuring Christopher Bruce’s 'Shift', an energetic study of 1940s factory workers during the war; Jirí Kylián’s 14´20˝ – a sensual duet of feral beauty and human entanglement taken from the choreographer’s…

Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Fri 16 Aug

£12 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Dance Odysseys.

back to top

Conversations: Meredith Monk

Meredith Monk explores the artist’s relationship with the environment, in conversation with Philip Campbell, editor of Nature magazine.

The Hub, Edinburgh

Thu 15 Aug

£6 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Conversations with Artists.

David Copperfield

SCDA Edinburgh Theatre Arts bring an adaptation of Charles Dickens' tome to the stage, which follows David from infancy through to maturity.

St Ninian's Hall, Edinburgh

Mon 5 Aug

Prices to be confirmed / 01620 8608020

  • 19:30

Tue 6 Aug

Prices to be confirmed / 01620 8608020

  • 19:30

Wed 7 Aug

Prices to be confirmed / 01620 8608020

  • 19:30
…and 8 more dates

Duets

Relationships come into focus in extracts from the canon of Scottish Ballet’s Founding Artistic Director Peter Darrell, and new collaborators James Cousins and Helen Pickett. Darrell’s poignant Five Rückert Songs embodies the feelings in Friedrich Rückert’s poetry on love, loss and loneliness with lingering steps and…

Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Sat 17 Aug

£12 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Dance Odysseys.

Édouard Lock: World Premiere (2013)

Scottish Ballet presents a World Premiere from La La La Human Steps Founder, Artistic Director and Choreographer Édouard Lock. Lock is renowned for his extreme, incandescent style of dance and his precise technique. His boldly challenging style has always attracted international attention. His creations are an arresting…

Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Fri 16 Aug

£10–£18 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Dance Odysseys.

Eh Joe

The whisper in your head … Me whispering at you in your head … Things you can’t catch … On and off … Till you join us … Eh, Joe? An old man in his dressing gown moves around his bedroom, checking behind the door, under the bed, out of the window. Satisfied there are no intruders, he sits on the bed. Then he hears a…

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

Fri 23 Aug

£8–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

Tue 27 Aug

£8–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

Thu 29 Aug

£8–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

…and 1 more date back to top

Embers

‘silence in the house, not a sound, only the fire, no flames now, embers. Embers.’ Henry sits on a beach, remembering and imagining stories and incidents from his life, tormented by his father’s suicide, his own dysfunctional family history and his failure as a writer. Hallucinations and reality merge as he attempts to…

King's Theatre, Edinburgh

Sat 24 Aug

£10–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

Sun 25 Aug

£10–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

God of Carnage

A playground fight snowballs into all-out war between the families involved in Yasmina Reza's award-winning comedy presented by Arkle Theatre Group.

The Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh

Mon 12 Aug

£12 (£10) / 0131 556 4270

  • 20:00

Tue 13 Aug

£12 (£10) / 0131 556 4270

  • 20:00

Wed 14 Aug

£12 (£10) / 0131 556 4270

  • 20:00
…and 3 more dates

Hamlet

In 1964 Richard Burton performed on Broadway in John Gielgud’s acclaimed production of Hamlet. Recorded in live performance from 17 camera angles, the resulting film was shown for only two days in 2,000 cinemas across the United States. The idea of bringing a live theatre experience to thousands of viewers in different…

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

Sat 10 Aug

£10–£30 / 0131 473 2000

Sun 11 Aug

£10–£30 / 0131 473 2000

Mon 12 Aug

£10–£30 / 0131 473 2000

…and 1 more date

Histoire d'amour

European Premiere: An English teacher sees a woman on the underground and decides she will become his wife and the mother of his children. He takes over her life and when she tries to escape, all doors close before her. Once re-captured he abuses her again, over and over. Histoire d’amour explores a world where guilt and…

King's Theatre, Edinburgh

Thu 15 Aug

£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000

Fri 16 Aug

£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000

Sat 17 Aug

£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000

I'll Go On

Based on Beckett’s trilogy of novels – Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable – this one-man show performed by celebrated Beckett interpreter Barry McGovern brings together three monologues that unify the central characters of each novel, revealing successively deepening layers of reflection and emotion. Firstly there is…

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

Sun 25 Aug

£8–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

Mon 26 Aug

£8–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

Wed 28 Aug

£8–£20 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Beckett at the Festival.

…and 1 more date back to top