The Brunton, in association with David Ross and Tommie Travers, is delighted to announce open auditions for an exciting new amateur production of SUNSHINE ON LEITH – one of Scotland’s most popular and successful musicals.
Written by Stephen Greenhorn and with songs by The Proclaimers, SUNSHINE ON LEITH will be overseen by a professional creative team and will be staged at The Brunton from Wednesday 16th – Saturday 19th February 2022, six performances in total.
Auditions take place at The Brunton on Saturday 30th October, between 2pm – 6pm and Sunday 31st October, between 12noon – 4pm.
Applicants will be allocated a 5-minute audition slot on their chosen date, on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants must be aged 18 or over and must also be available to rehearse on Tuesday evenings, from 7pm – 9pm, approx.
With prison visits, cinema screenings, walking tours and communal meals, the Edinburgh International Book Festival engaged a wide audience in different communities this year.
Citizen, the Book Festival’s ongoing programme of long-term partnerships with organisations and residents across the city and Musselburgh, presented a series of events and activities reflecting on Edinburgh, its residents and their sense of place and home, while StoryNation reached out to those further afield who were unable to visit the Book Festival in person.
Citizen is supported by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery through their Postcode Culture Fund and through the PLACE programme.
Noëlle Cobden, Communities Programme Director at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said “This August, through our Citizen programme, we celebrated a diverse range of voices, bringing local people from across the city to the Book Festival, in many cases for the first time. Whether eating together, taking part in events or joining the audience, a sense of community flourished that hasn’t been possible over the last 18months.
“For those who weren’t able to visit our new site at Edinburgh College of Art, as part of our Story Nation, we took authors and streamed events to them. Our prison sessions were extremely popular and have already begun to yield positive results with attendees reading more widely and developing their own writing following our visits.
“Our work in communities in Edinburgh and beyond will continue over the coming year with projects in schools, community venues, hospitals, prisons and care homes, as well as online.”
In partnership with Scran Academy, a social enterprise catering organisation working with vulnerable young people, Stories & Scran brought together 40 participants in the Citizen Collective, the North Edinburgh/Musselburgh Citizen Writers, pupils from the Alternative School @ Spartans and local people from Tollcross for a community meal at the Book Festival’s new home at Edinburgh College of Art followed by performances of their words and music created in writing workshops held online throughout the Covid pandemic.
The work of other Citizen participants, including The Warblers, the Citizen Collective and the Citizen Saheliya Group, was also featured in R Words, a Scotland-wide game of poetry consequences.
As part of StoryNation, Pat Nevin, Chris Brookmyre and Andrew O’Hagan participated in workshops and readings in HMP Edinburgh, Perth and Kilmarnock.
Stellar Quines theatre company along with actors Genna Allan and Chloe Wyper from the Citizens Theatre’s WAC Ensemble – Scotland’s first professionally supported theatre company for performers and theatremakers with care experience – worked closely with novelist Jenni Fagan to create a masterful adaption of Jessie Kesson’s radio play You’ve Never Slept in Mine.
This was performed twice in HMP Edinburgh following its premiere at the Book Festival. The Book Festival donated three copies of the books from the authors who visited to each Prison Library, and HMP Edinburgh advises that there was immediately a waiting list to read Pat Nevin’s The Accidental Footballer.
Andrew O’Hagan also visited the new Streetreads Library in Edinburgh to read from Mayflies. Streetreads is a charity that takes books and stories to people affected by homelessness and the new library received 15 copies of Mayflies donated by the Book Festival.
StoryNation also worked with The Birks Cinema, a community owned social enterprise in Aberfeldy – a rural area that suffers from a lack of reliable broadband – to screen a series of live conversations direct from the Book Festival.
Perthshire audiences enjoyed events with Salman Rushdie and Pat Nevin, the launch of the Golden Treasury of Scottish Verse with the new Scottish Makar Kathleen Jamie who was joined by poets Don Paterson and Peter Mackay, the Summer Crime Wave event featuring Val McDermid, Ambrose Parry, Doug Johnston and Mary Paulson-Ellis and finally a conversation with Ian Rankin as he launched The Dark Remains, his completion of the late William Mcllvanney’s final manuscript.
The Book Festival’s Citizen City Tour, developed by with photographer Alicia Bruce and Citizen Writer in Residence Eleanor Thom in collaboration with residents of Tollcross, is free, self-guided audio tour which encourages participants to explore the gap between Edinburgh’s postcard exterior and its inner heart.
300 maps with QR codes were picked up from the Book Festival and to date some of the stories have already been listened to over 45 times.
Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen programme returns with the Citizen Winter Warmer – a weekend of events and activities at North Edinburgh Arts and Brunton Theatre Musselburgh from 18 to 20 November 2021.
If you are lucky enough to live in Scotland’s capital city, then you are completely spoiled for choice when it comes to eating out. From Michelin starred fine dining and contemporary cuisine through to good old fashioned pub grub, there are many delicious restaurants just waiting to be discovered.
As Scotland’s tourism capital, Edinburgh is a bustling metropolis of different cultures and that’s reflected in its restaurants with every style of food imaginable found on the city’s menus, including a huge array of tempting fish dishes.
As part of its mission to inspire the nation to eat more seafood, Love Seafood has rounded up some of the best Edinburgh restaurants where locals can tuck into tempting white fish which will have you coming back for more:
Spend the day like a tourist and soak up the history and heritage of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and then enjoy a delicious seafood meal at the White Horse Oyster and Seafood Bar which happens to be located in the oldest inn on the Royal Mile.
The restaurant’s small plates are cooked to perfection including the monkfish satay served with sides of seaweed slaw and straw fries which makes for the ultimate combo.
If fish and chips are your thing then you have to try the Fishmarket in Newhaven. With roots dating back to the 18th century, The Fishmarket offers up some of the finest fish and chips on the east coast.
No ordinary chippy, the family run business serves fish and chips with flare and is renowned for a gourmet cooked-to-order experience, using only the freshest local catch. Crispy haddock served in the takeaway’s signature batter has kept this eatery a firm favourite with locals and tourists alike. If eating on the go isn’t your thing, give their adjoining restaurant a try.
In the popular shore area of Leith, Teuchters Landing is renowned for its great food, whisky hoopla and large outdoor terrace. Serving comfort food at its finest, this relaxed pub is known for its welcoming atmosphere and range of excellent seafood dishes.
Alongside standard plates are a range of dishes served in mugs, including two very Scottish options made using delicious smoked haddock – Cullen Skink (creamy smoked haddock soup) and Kedgeree (curried smoked haddock risotto). Can’t decide which to try? Why not have a small mug of each.
Sandwiched between Edinburgh’s two most prominent streets, Princes Street and George Street, The Mussel Inn is a true hidden gem.
An award-winning establishment, this restaurant is the perfect place to experiment with new seafood dishes. Alongside their epic selection of mussels, we’d also recommend the whitebait served with roasted red pepper and garlic dip and seabass served with a chorizo and butter bean cassoulet.
Booking in advance is recommended as this restaurant is only open Thursday – Sunday and we don’t want you to be disappointed.
If far-away flavours are your thing then look no further than Ondine in Edinburgh’s old town. Famed for its strong sea to plate ethos, Ondine is one of the city’s most famous seafood restaurants.
Try the classic fish soup enhanced with North African flavours of pungent saffron and oranges and a Harissa based Rouille or the spiced monkfish with Bhata aubergine which will take your taste sensations to a whole new level.
So if you’re inspired by some of these delicious sounding dishes then why not treat yourself to a fish feast at one of these fabulous restaurants on your doorstep.
The National Trust for Scotland recently played host to a Classic Car and Transport Show – the first of its kind at Newhailes House & Gardens in Musselburgh.
Families and fans of classic cars flocked to the historic house and gardens to admire gleaming automobiles on Sunday 29 August. This is the latest stellar event hosted at Newhailes – from the adorable Doghailes, celebrating our best furry friends, and a concert by the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra.
Claire Grant, Operations Manager Edinburgh, for the National Trust for Scotland, said: “We love Newhailes – it’s a special place for our community. We’ve been delighted to showcase the house and gardens by holding exciting events through the summer.
“From crowning the best dog lookalike, to poignant fiddle music, to the gorgeous vehicles on display at our latest event – Newhailes has played host to diverse events and audiences. We love welcoming visitors to Newhailes – look out for future fun family events!”
Newhailes House & Gardens is a stunning place which played a prominent role in the Scottish Enlightenment.
The estate is complete with a Palladian mansion, woodland walks and the recently renovated Stables Café, as well as Weehailes Adventure Playpark. Newhailes has something for all the family to enjoy.
I was delighted to be part of Edinburgh International Book Festival’s ‘Stories and Scran’ event on Tuesday evening.
The event was a celebration of the book festival’s Citizen programme.
Over the last 12 months, Citizen Writer in Residence Eleanor Thom and poet Leyla Josephine have been working with local groups to discuss and respond creatively to themes such as home, identity and belonging.
The evening – a lively mix of live readings, stories and short films – showcased impressive work by participants from Spartans Alternative School, the Citizen Collective (some brilliant young writers aged 16-18) (above), the Citizen adult writing group, the Saheliya Champions and more. And all in front of a live audience, too!
The event was preceded by a delicious community meal prepared and served up by by a team from North Edinburgh’s very own Scran Academy.
Congratulations to the organisers – coronavirus restrictions must have made this a very difficult event to plan and stage, but it really couldn’t have gone better.
Stories and Scran was live streamed and you can view it here:
A group of home schooled children from Musselburgh recently took part in the groundbreaking South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project to help safeguard the future of Golden Eagles in the UK.
The UK’s fastest growing trampoline park operator, Jump In, opened the doors of its latest £1.5m high-spec, eagerly anticipated arena on the outskirts of Edinburgh this weekend. Hundreds of excited families from across the central belt enjoyed a live demonstration by British Champion Gymnast, Lara Craig (22) from Musselburgh (above).Continue reading New trampoline park opens in Musselburgh
