Will Pickvance: Anatomy of the Piano (for beginners)

Will Pickvance

presents

Anatomy of the Piano (for beginners)

At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016 and part of the Made in Scotland Showcase 2016

VENUE: Scottish Storytelling Centre Venue 30a

DATES: Aug 4 Preview; Aug 5-28 (not 17, 22, 23, 24)

Aug 10 BSL interpreted performance

TIME: 13:00 (55 mins)

Will Pickvance’s acclaimed family show, Anatomy of the Piano (for beginners) returns to the Fringe, taking audiences on an entertaining, musical journey through piano history. The performance combines brilliantly played piano music with a fascinating exploration of the instrument Will loves.

An Edinburgh-based pianist, storyteller and renowned Fringe performer; Will Pickvance has an infectious passion for inspiring audiences of all ages to enjoy and make music.

One Christmas, Will asks Father Christmas for a space rocket. Instead, he gets a piano. Despite his initial disappointment, Will realises that his new gift might even be better – now he can travel wherever and whenever he wants. In Anatomy of the Piano (for beginners) we join Will on a fantastical musical adventure through space and time, finding out where pianos come from, how they evolved; experiencing Beethoven’s bad moods, Bach’s cave piano and jamming with Fats Waller along the way.

‘Highly entertaining maestro for young and old alike’ **** The Stage

Will’s virtuoso musical skills, whirlwind piano playing, witty conversational style and spinning of fabulous yarns, are complemented by quirky, hand-drawn projections by local artist Tim Vincent-Smith.

Anatomy of the Piano (for beginners) is a hugely entertaining celebration of the piano, enthralling audiences of all ages. Will’s inspirational love of music and his impressive self-taught piano skills will encourage and entice the musician within us all.

‘the pace of the show is riveting, adults shaking their shoulders, children banging the floor while their mouths hang open in astonishment’ ArtsHub Australia

Recommended for ages 6 and over, Anatomy of the Piano (for beginners) was the Runner-Up, Best Children’s Show, Fringe World Festival 2015.

Created and performed by Will Pickvance

Direction by Magda Dragan

Dramaturgical development by Robert Alan Evans

Producing support by Alice McGrath / Red Bridge Arts

willpickvance.com

redbridgearts.co.uk

LISTINGS

VENUE: Scottish Storytelling Centre Venue 30a

DATES: Aug 4 Preview; Aug 5-28 (not 17, 22, 23, 24)

Aug 10 BSL interpreted performance

TIME: 13:00 (55 mins)

TICKETS: £9/£7 /£28 Family; (Preview – £7/£5 /£20 Family)

BOX OFFICE: 0131 556 9579 www.scottishstorytellingcente.co.uk

Hess resurrected for Festival Fringe

ON the 75^th anniversary of Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess bailing out over Scotland on a self-appointed peace mission – and the 70^th anniversary of the start of the Nuremberg Trials – Kinbur Productions and the Gilded Balloon are reviving HESS, Michael Burrell’s award-winning, one-man play, for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Continue reading Hess resurrected for Festival Fringe

Police seek man following city centre assault and robbery

Police have released CCTV images of a man they wish to trace in connection with an assault and robbery of a woman in the city centre. During the incident, a 32-year-old woman sustained injuries to her face and her property was stolen.

The incident took place around 8.20 pm on Tuesday 12 July, on the pass between Rutland Square and Festival Square.

Officers believe that the man shown in the image may be able to assist them with their inquiries and would ask that anyone who recognises him or has other information about the incident to contact police.

Detective Constable Alison Wyllie of Police Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit based at Edinburgh’s Gayfield police station said: “This was a violent attack that left the victim shaken and we’re conducting inquiries in order to trace the person responsible.” Continue reading Police seek man following city centre assault and robbery

Being a Dad at Just Festival

Are you looking for a great show to see during the festival? Look no further!

As part of Year of the Dad, ‘Being a Dad’ is being shown as part of Just Festival on the 12, 13, 16, 17, 19 and 20 of August in St Johns Church, Edinburgh.

Written by Edinburgh based playwright Duncan Kidd and performed by Strange Town Theatre Company, ‘Being a Dad’ is a drama reflecting the lived experiences, hopes, fears and challenges faced by many fathers, especially disadvantaged young fathers, in Scotland today. Challenges that can be (and are) overcome with courage, knowledge and support. It celebrates the difference a great dad can make in the lives of their children, family and Scotland. Find out more here

To get your tickets – visit the Just Festival Box Office for tickets, or book online here

Solve a murder at the Edinburgh Dungeon

There’s a thrilling mystery to solve this summer as The Edinburgh Dungeon returns to the festival with its new evening show, Deadly Dungeon Murder Mystery. Continue reading Solve a murder at the Edinburgh Dungeon

Leaf by Niggle: Tolkein at Storytelling Centre

PUPPET STATE THEATRE COMPANY presents

JRR Tolkien’s Leaf by Niggle

At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016 and part of the Made in Scotland Showcase 2016

Scottish Storytelling Centre, Venue 30a

Aug 4 Preview 17:00; Aug 5-28 (not 10, 15, 22, 23) 17:00 (75mins)

Aug 17 17:00 BSL interpreted performance

Performed by Richard Medrington

Soundtrack composed by Karine Polwart and Michael John McCarthy

Directed by Andy Cannon; Lighting by Gerron Stewart; Design Support by Ailie Cohen; Movement support by Janice Parker; Stage Management by Elspeth Murray

Puppet State Theatre Company returns to the Scottish Storytelling Centre for this year’s Festival Fringe, as part of Made in Scotland, with its acclaimed new production of JRR Tolkien’s little-known short story, Leaf by Niggle.

“Exquisite … so beautifully told … completely seductive” ****The Scotsman

This solo storytelling show, created and performed by Richard Medrington, draws on Richard’s personal family history as an introduction to Tolkien’s original story. Surrounded by ladders, bicycles and heirlooms, Richard Medrington (Jean from The Man Who Planted Trees) recounts Tolkien’s miniature masterpiece with a beautiful soundtrack composed by Karine Polwart and Michael John McCarthy.

“Tolkien’s lord of small things…enchanting one-man show” ****The Guardian

Leaf by Niggle is considered by some to be Tolkien’s most autobiographical work, springing from his fear of not finishing The Lord of the Rings. In 1939, as war clouds were darkening, he woke up one morning with the story almost complete in his mind and wrote it down.

Niggle is a struggling artist who is trying to complete his magnum opus, a painting of a curious tree. He isn’t sure when he will need to set out on his journey, but he is worried that he won’t be able to finish the painting before it’s time to leave.

Leaf by Niggle is often seen as an allegory of Tolkien’s own creative process, and, to an extent, of his life. It is a tale of transformation, which examines the relationship between an artist, his creation and his community.

Richard Medrington is the artistic director of Puppet State Theatre Company and for the past nine years the company has been touring the world with its much lauded production of Jean Giono’s The Man Who Planted Trees.

This new adaptation of Leaf by Niggle is a reflection of Richard’s long held ambition to perform a staged version of the story. In 1993, Richard gave an acclaimed one-off storytelling performance of the piece at the Carberry Festival and has nurtured hopes of performing it to a wider audience ever since.

“a salve on the soul” **** The List

“As a result of appearing in the very first Made in Scotland showcase in 2009 with The Man Who Planted Trees, Puppet State’s international touring has included two tours to Australia and New Zealand. In 2013 we took part in the Sydney Opera House’s first live stream of a performance to multiple remote audiences, some over 700 miles away. I am looking forward to performing our new show, Leaf by Niggle, in this year’s Made in Scotland showcase and seeing where this unique opportunity will lead us.” Richard Medrington

“This is my first ever commission to compose for theatre and it’s a challenge and a joy to collaborate with such an accomplished creative posse. Niggle’s journey, and Richard Medrington’s beautifully personal and familial framing of it, feels quite close to the bone for me, and very relevant to our times. There are so many possible ways to receive it and get inside of it, as there are always with deep stories. But to me it’s about the fundamental human impulse to create and find meaning and beauty in life, and how duty, convention and the sheer necessity of toil can cut against this. The gap between the world as we imagine it and the world as it sometimes is – in all its reductive, mechanistic brutality – can be hard to hold in a single heart. But Niggle’s story feels hopeful nonetheless”. Karine Polwart

With thanks to the Tolkien Trust and the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Supported by Creative Scotland | Produced by Alice McGrath & Red Bridge Arts

Suitable for adults and young people aged 10 and over

LISTINGS:

Scottish Storytelling Centre Venue 30a

Aug 4 Preview 17:00 (75 mins) | £6

Aug 5-28 (not 10, 15, 22, 23) 17:00 (75 mins) | £10/£8 conc. /£32 Family (2 adults, 2 children)

Aug 17 17:00 (75 mins) BSL interpreted performance

Box Office: 0131 556 9579 www. scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk

World Premiere: Mermalade

Manhattan Children’s Theatre presents

MERMALADE

World premiere

Based on the children’s book by Clare Cockburn-Martin
Illustrated by Anna Welsh
Directed and adapted for the stage by Laura Stevens

A Little Mermaid she is not.

A fast paced, interactive comedy. A universal quest. A play for all ages

Left with a cryptic note, a pearl, and three annoying oysters for company, MERMALADE is determined to make sense of it all. She’s brave enough to approach the biggest forces in the universe. She’s strong enough to confront those that get in her way. But is she wise enough to find her answer?

Add three life size Oysters as narrators, cameos from the Moon, Sun, Stars, Thor (God of Thunder), a beach setting, a splattering of pop music and one strong-willed 11-year-old girl that never quits and what do you get?

Unlike traditional fairy tales, MERMALADE’s story holds no moral decree. In the Socratic Spirit, the show offers more questions than answers with WHY? being at the top of the list.

Why does everyone tell me what to do and feel?

Why is a pearl so special?

Why do I have to keep asking “WHY?”

“If you’re tired of Once upon a time same old, same old, you should visit Manhattan Children’s Theatre for The Last of the Dragons.” – New York Times

“The idea of a damsel in distress being rescued by a handsome man has been around for so long, we hardly notice it’s there. Which is exactly why it’s so damaging as a stereotype. So hurrah for Manhattan Children’s Theatre for joining a burgeoning list of storytellers re-dressing the balance.”

wow24/7 **** review of The Last of the Dragons

“This is a tale of bravery, intelligence and unexpected NEW traditions. Beautifully set for the stage and directed by Laura Stevens (…) with an all-Edinburgh cast, this show will delight young and old.”

Families Edinburgh on The Last of the Dragons

Manhattan Children’s Theatre offers complimentary tickets for local youth groups for the preview dates of MERMALADE (3-4 August). Also, on non-performance days the show will be visiting local Edinburgh schools.

Laura Stevens, who recently moved to Edinburgh from her native New York, co-founded Manhattan Children’s Theatre in 2002 and directed over 30 plays since, including theatrical productions for very young audiences (Little Tales, based on folk tales from around the world). Between 2002 and 2011, MCT welcomed over 250,000 audience members through its doors. Laura’s production of The Last of the Dragons debuted at Fringe in 2015 to rave reviews and toured to Biggar in Scotland and Warsaw in Poland to sold-out audiences.

Now Scotland-based, the mission of Manhattan Children’s Theatre is one of providing affordable, high quality theatre entertainment to audiences in Scotland, children in particular.

Mermalade

www.mermalade.org

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Greens urge city residents to take part in World Heritage survey

Lothian Green MSP Alison Johnstone is calling on constituents to make their feelings known on the future of Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns before a council survey closes on 25 July.

Council chiefs are seeking people’s views to help create policies to preserve and enhance the World Heritage Site and Johnstone wants guarantees that the city’s large tourism numbers won’t mean that prospective hotel developers are given carte blanche.

Alison Johnstone MSP said: “People from the capital are all too aware of planning issues in the city and now we have an opportunity to give our views on Edinburgh as a place to live, work and visit in this survey before it closes at the end of the month.

“Given our World Heritage status, our growing population and increasing development pressures it’s important that people make clear their opposition to developments that may not be the most optimal or necessary use of precious city centre sites.

“We need to have an honest conversation about how many luxury hotels the city needs and where they should be situated. Tourism is vital to Edinburgh, but we need to ensure that Edinburgh caters for travellers on all budgets, and essentially, for those who live and work in the city.”

Access the consultation below:

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/edinburgh-oldandnewtowns-managementplan-review/consult_view