One of the UK’s leading theatre companies for learning disabled actors, Lung Ha celebrates four decades of brilliant theatre-making
Lung Ha is an Edinburgh-based theatre company for actors and theatre makers with a learning disability and autism which produces award-winning productions and works with a year-round, 25-strong Ensemble to develop their practice and remove barriers to participation into the arts.
April marks the start of 12 months of the Company’s 40th anniversary celebrations which will see it take part in or present a remounting of the Company’s 2021 hit An Unexpected Hiccup at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s biggest stage.
Originally created and performed under strict COVID procedures during the global pandemic, the show is a tale of comic misunderstandings, sinister goings on and dangerous eccentricities.
This will also be the inaugural production of the Lung Ha Touring Company which will provide further opportunities for performers to create and tour new and existing work, with bespoke and specialist actor training.
An Unexpected Hiccup is a co-production with Plutôt La Vie featuring five Lung Ha actors, written by Michael Duke after a devising process with the Company. It will be presented between 2 and 10 August at Zoo Southside.
The Company is also commissioning initial research to develop an Access and Creative Principles Toolkit which will support the launch of Lung Ha Touring Company. The research aims to cover three main areas:
To understand the access support structures required for learning-disabled actors in a professional company.
To apply fair and equitable pay remuneration frameworks for ourselves and other theatre companies working with actors and artists in receipt of varied and complex benefit arrangements.
To create a practical toolkit for working with learning-disabled actors which has a wider culture sector benefit and application.
The first publication of findings is expected in spring 2025. The project is funded by RS Macdonald Charitable Trust.
Lung Ha Theatre Company has been invited as a guest contributor at the Europe In Action Conference, a partnership between Inclusion Europe and Enable in May 2024 in Glasgow during Learning Disability Awareness Week, hosted by Enable who are also marking an anniversary year (70th).
The Company will be hosting the closing session of the conference with the theme of deinstitutionalisation, including a presentation about the Company’s work and a focus on the award-winning production Castle Lennox from 2023.
Also in May, Lung Ha Theatre Company will host the World Premiere of its short film, Love Like Salt, at Traverse Theatre – a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, featuring the Lung Ha Ensemble and co-created by Maria Oller, Susan Worsfold and Stuart Platt. The evening will also feature a short snippet from an anniversary documentary about the Company made and edited by a Lung Ha actor, Emma McCaffrey.
Throughout the year Lung Ha will be spotlighting our Ensemble actors using commissionedportraits from photographer and long-time collaborator Peter Dibden. The photoshoot was a glamourous “Met gala meets night at the theatre” extravaganza.
The actors were given the opportunity to curate their own costumes and threw themselves into model poses and characterful performances which are beautifully captured in this series and in our commemorative 40th anniversary Ensemble group photograph.
Short history of Lung Ha
Lung Ha Theatre Company began its life as Lung Ha’s Theatre Company in October 1984. A sixty strong team of performers, with a learning disability, under the direction of Richard Vallis and Peter Clerke created and performed their own version of the fabled Monkey stories (for a time the Company was called Lung Ha’s Monkey Theatre).
The production was hugely successful and a new company and vitally important new theatrical voice launched onto the Scottish stage, now a vital part of it.
Since then, the Company has worked with over three hundred performers with a learning disability creating over forty original productions. The Company and has also worked with some of the leading artists and creative organisations across the country and toured internationally to England, France, Ireland, Poland, Sweden and Finland.
Some of the Company’s achievements include the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) for Best Ensemble in Huxley’s Lab in 2009 (co-recipient with Grid Iron Theatre Company) and for Castle Lennox, a 2023 co-production with The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh.
Now the company offers a range of creative opportunities for learning disabled actors. Our Pathway for Progression features six strands of work where actors can access training and performing opportunities in an inclusive and welcoming environment and on an established platform.
These are The Lung Ha Ensemble, Lung Ha Touring Company, Lung Ha Across Scotland (an online nationwide actor training workshop series), Creative Development (one to one skills development, mentoring and critical response), Sharing our Expertise (via our Access and Creative Principles Toolkit, and workshop leader training), and Supporting External Opportunities (where the Lung Ha team prepares and supports people with their creative ambitions outwith Lung Ha).
Artistic Director Maria Oller and Executive Director Ruth McEwan said: “Entering our 40th year, we are so proud of our achievements and what has come before now.
“We have shared incredible moments with everyone we work with and our audiences far and wide.
“From here, we are passionate about continuing to create fabulous theatrical experiences and breaking down barriers in our sector and beyond. Our actors are the inspiration and the beating heart of Lung Ha Theatre Company.”
Lung Ha actor Fern Brodie said: “I see Lung Ha and the other actors as my other family.
“I feel safe and happy when I spend time with them.”
Lung Ha actor Gavin Yule said: “Lung Ha is a place where I can perform and practise acting skills and develop new ones.
“It’s also where I can make friends and have a social outlet. It also allows me to experience professional theatre and perform incredible pieces of work.”
Theatre critic Neil Cooper said: “Its first show, Lung Ha’s Monkey, gave the company both its name and an identity that seemed to suggest that monkeying around on stage was a good thing.
“In the forty years since, that sense of liberation through play has remained at the company’s core throughout work by a stream of writers and directors who followed in Vallis and Clerke’s footsteps.
“With current Lung Ha Artistic Director Maria Oller at the helm for the last fifteen years, the company’s radical philosophy has put it at the centre, not just of community-based arts initiatives, but of Scotland’s entire theatre ecology.
Watching the company grow into itself over these years has been a joy. Long may Lung Ha continue to thrive.”
From The Traitors with robots to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon in a planetarium to history of poisons, the Festival has something for all the sci-curious out there as it celebrates its 35th anniversary.
Edinburgh Science Festival 2024 has everyone covered this year with a Shaping the Future programme, showcasing the cutting-edge technology and science to help us create a more sustainable future.
The Festival celebrates 35th anniversary this year.
Family favourite City Art Centre returns with five floors of hands-on science for children: the perfect family day out this Easter break. On sale from Monday 26 February.
Big Ideas, a series of talks aimed at adults, brings some of the world’s most renowned scientists and thinkers to the Scottish capital, including Prof Chris Lintott, presenter of the Sky at Night, Prof Richard Wiseman, psychologist, magician, entertainer, Dr Erica McAlister – fly expert from the Natural History Museum, Rachel Miller, a National Geographic explorer, Laura Foster – BBC Health and Science presenter, Prof Sarah Sharples, Chief Scientific Advisor for the Dept of Transport
Guaranteed sell-out every year, Science Nights Out are back with more creative ways to get everyone hands-on with science in a relaxed environment.
The Festival, renowned for its unique presentations of arts colliding with STEM, creating STEAM, delves deep into the alternative future with Future Proof, a visual arts exhibition.
The Festival takes over Edinburgh with events, talk, workshops and exhibitions taking place at the National Museum of Scotland, Dynamic Earth, The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh Zoo, Summerhall, Bayes Centre and many others, with new additions of Panmure House, Mary’s King Close and The Biscuit Factory.
This year’s Festival shows for children 5+ include Bakineering, exploring the science of baking by Andrew Smyth – of The Great British Bake Off fame!
Tickets are on sale now on edinburghscience.co.uk.
Edinburgh Science Festival is the first and still one of Europe’s biggest science festivals, taking place over the Easter holidays, between 30 March and 14 April.
With the 2024 theme of Shaping the Future, the Festival continues its years-long commitment to Programming for the Planet. It urges everyone to build a more sustainable future as it showcases the cutting-edge technology, including Artificial Intelligence, and science research to help make that ambition a reality.
Edinburgh Science Director and CEO, Dr Simon Gage said: “We have an amazing festival lined up for our 35th anniversary.
“The programme touches the cutting edge of invention from the worlds of AI, robotics, space exploration to the unusual such as giant rooms made of mushrooms.
“And in amongst it, we look at some more familiar things in an unusual way such as disposing of the dead, poisons, the psychology of magic and virus bingo. Whether you want to blast it, build it, bury it or bake it, we have something for you and for little ones too if you have some.”
Edinburgh Science is the world’s expert in producing live science events and the 2024 Festival is the prime example of the power of bringing people together to explore the fascinating world of science, technology, engineering and maths – and arts! – this year celebrating 35 years.
The Festival is pleased to continue the fantastic collaboration with the venue partners around the city, including City Art Centre, sponsored by Cirrus Logic, which every year becomes the Festival’s premier family destination as well as National Museum of Scotlandand Dynamic Earth, each presenting a number of science events for children and adults.
This year’s programme is spread across 30 venues and 40% of the offer is free to access.
As in previous years, the Festival presents a series of BSL-interpreted, audio described and relaxed sessions.
At the City Art Centre, it also offers sensory backpacks available free of charge from the ticketing desk on the ground floor, and, for the first time, a Quiet Space on the fourth floor where visitors can take a break from the excitement. Although particularly designed for those with sensory needs, these resources are available to everyone. Visit the Festival website for more information on accessibility.
2024 HIGHLIGHTS
City Art Centre (30 March – 14 April) – five floors of hands-on science extravaganza for children between 3 and 12 years old. From making your own scab or slime to becoming an animal conservationist, investigating a crime scene or programming your own robot, City Art Centre is the most fun a family can have this Easter break! Allow 4-5 hours for the visit. On sale from Monday 26 February.
Growing Home: A New World of Materials (30 March – 14 April) – highlighting the consequences of overconsumption, this interactive exhibition shines a light on biomaterials and how they can be used in future building, packaging, fashion and more.
Standing three meters high, Growing Room is an impressive architectural structure, devised and created by the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment at Newcastle University, made from biomaterials. Grown from wool and mycelium (the root network of fungus) to give it strength and stability, the piece shows how research into the future of biomaterials could transform the built environment. It is accompanied by Symbio, a display of biomaterial themed garments by inspiring Edinburgh-based artist Emily Raemaekers.
Developed with support from Creative Scotland through the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund. Supported by the Edinburgh Napier University, School of Computing, Engineering & The Built Environment.
Edinburgh Medal (2 April) – a prestigious award founded by the City of Edinburgh Council in 1989, this year’s Medal’s recipient is Italy’s Mario Negri Institute, a pioneer non-profit research institute dedicated to open clinical and biomedical research and renowned for its ‘patient-first’ rather than ‘patent-first’ approach. Director Giuseppe Remuzzi accepts the Medal on behalf of the Institute and is set to share his insights into the benefits of the approach of this exceptional research team that does science for social good during the Medal Address on 2 April.
Creative Informatics, an ambitious research and development programme based in Edinburgh which aims to bring the city’s world-class creative industries and tech sector together, presents a fantastic series of events at this year’s Festival. It includes Unleashing the Power of Data (30 March – 7 April) exhibition highlighting the latest achievements of the creative industries using data and digital technologies; Creative AI for Creative Work (10 April) featuring creatives talking about the use of AI to enhance their creative projects; and Let’s Play (12 April), an evening to explore how creative technologies and on-screen innovation are changing how we play and experience the world around us.
Our Fragile Space: Protecting the Near-Space Environment (8 March – 18 April) – opening a few weeks before the Festival, the free to access photography exhibition on Mound Precint in the city centre of Edinburgh presents the stunning photographs of Max Alexander’s, transporting its audiences to orbital space to explore the increasing issue of space debris and satellite crowding.
FAMILY PROGRAMME
For those who performed a surgery, dug up a dinosaur or built their own wind turbine at the City Art Centre and got hands-on with mycelium in Growing Home at the National Museum of Scotland, the Festival has plenty more in store.
Also at the Museum, The Rocket Show (7 April) is an explosive family-friendly adventure, delving into rocket science as we explore forces, test materials, and prepare for launch – so strap-in, countdown, and blast-off for a show that’s out of this world! Join former Great British Bake Off finalist and creator and judge of Netflix’s Baking Impossible, Andrew Smyth for Bakineering (31 March), an edible exploration of the engineering involved in baking. In Minecraft Disease Detectives (9 April) enter the Minecraft world to become a field scientist and visit different places to collect data on how a virus is spreading. Supported by LEGO® Build the Change, the activity under the same name (8-14 April) is all about learning about biodiversity and how to protect it – using LEGO!® Is the blue whale really the biggest animal ever to have existed? What killed the Megalodon shark? In Mysteries of Animals 3D (5 April), presenter and author Jules Howard outlines the weirdest and most elusive animal questions out there for future generations to discover. Sci-curious aged between 12 and 18 can access £5 tickets for all talks at the Museum and The Bayes Centre using code TEENTALK.
Over at the world-famous Edinburgh Zoo, Career Fayre (3-4 April) puts staff centre-stage – keepers, vets, researchers and many more – to share fascinating insights into their everyday work while at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh the family-favourite Easter Trail (30 March – 14 April) returns, and Build a Better City (11 April) imagines a city that is good for us as well as for the planet by bringing nature into it, consequently reducing pollution, flooding, regulating heat waves and helping keep our minds and bodies healthy.
A science centre and a planetarium, Dynamic Earth invites everyone to Icy Investigations (5 April), a digital workshop looking at our melting ice caps and to become Planet Protectors (4-8 April), learning about ways to protect Earth, including building a mini bug hotel. Ever wondered what lies beneath North Sea wind farm? Thanks to North Sea 3D (12 April) and Scottish Association for Marine Science, you can now see it in virtual reality!
The University of Edinburgh presents the ground-breaking robotic technologies such as Exoskeletons for enhanced mobility, the humanoids Talos and EVA, and robotic arms for handling objects in Bayes Centre Tour: Meet the Robots (12 April). Explore the Science in Your Pocket: Coins (2-6 and 9-13 April) with Museum of the Mound and step back in time to learn about Edinburgh’s rich medical history at Mary King’s Close’s Medical History Tours (30 March, 6 & 14 April). Supported and presented by the Heriot Watt University and the National Robotarium, Robotics Unveiled at the National Robotarium (12 April) is a fascinating tour of the UK’s newest and fanciest cutting-edge centre for all things robotics – including a robot petting zoo!
Out and about, Explore Beach Pebbles (11-14 April) of Edinburgh beaches or go down the Royal Mile on a walk to Discover Edinburgh’s Mathematical History. Further out, the Scottish Seabird Centre encourages everyone to become a budding marine scientist and work on their Seaside Science Skills (10-13 April), including identifying rockpool creatures.
For more family events at the Festival, click here.
ADULT PROGRAMME
Technology
Can you trust a robot? Coming face-to-face with cutting-edge technology, Two Truths and a Lie (8 April) is an interactive, Traitors-style experience exploring deception, truth and robotics at the Panmure House, home of Scottish philosopher, Adam Smith, presented and supported by the Heriot Watt University and the National Robotarium. Carefully balancing conservation and creation, Constructing Tomorrow (10 April) uses Edinburgh and its UNESCO World Heritage sites to explore the work of the innovators at the forefront of future, sustainable construction. Supported by Edinburgh Construction. In the Future of Transport (11 April), Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Transport Prof Sarah Sharples looks at the challenges and opportunities of transport decarbonisation. One of the Festival’s Science Nights Out events, Innovation Late with Lady MacRobert (8 April) highlights the work of the potential winners of the prestigious MacRobert Award celebrating the UK’s most exciting engineering innovators – and includes demonstrations! Supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
From advances in disease diagnosis and treatment to the hidden carbon cost of AI, discover how this revolutionary technology affects global politics and society in TheFuture of AI (3 April) with Director of the AI & Geopolitics Project at the University of Cambridge and former Global Head of Policy for Google DeepMind Verity Harding and AI Editor at the Financial Times Madhumita Murgia. The Promises and Pitfalls of AI (8 April) with Chemical Engineer Prof. Raffaella Ocone, Quantum Scientist Prof. Daniele Faccio, and Medicinal Chemist Prof. Stefano Moro explores how AI is shaping their scientific fields and why it is so much more than just ChatGPT. Supported by Consulate General of Italy Edinburgh and Istituto Italiano di Cultura. AI for Earth (11 April) with Dr Will Cavendish, Global Digital Leader at ARUP and ex-Strategy Lead at Deep Mind, explores what role AI might play in helping us respond to the climate and nature crises. Supported by ARUP.
Join National Geographic Explorer and Founder of Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean Rachael Miller for a discussion around the Science and Solution for a Clean Ocean (1 April) as she guides as through the problem with plastic and the latest solutions to fight it. Supported by the U.S. Embassy. Also looking at the new technology helping us tackle the climate crisis is Carbon Capture and Storage for a Net-Zero Future (8 April) – how much carbon dioxide can be captured and stored? What are the risks of storing carbon dioxide underground? As carbon emissions continue to rise, what are the risks of not doing so?
Audience’s favourite naturalist and author Jules Howard teams up with fly expert Dr Erica McAlister to fill us in on the latest discovering in insect sex life science in their trademark light-hearted style in Indecent Insects (5 April).
What happens to our bodies after we die? From the rising demand for greener funerals, to water cremation, human composting and “body farms”, choices are no longer limited to burial or cremation. Join our panel of experts for Disposing of the Body (2 April) which lifts the shroud on the fascinating and taboo topic of alternative post-mortem care. In Free Agents (9 April), leading neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell makes the evolutionary case for free will. Our Lives with IBD (10 April) presents a short film about inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), the people affected by them, and the new research that aims to improve these conditions. Following the film, comedian Susan Morrison guides an entertaining discussion about IBD with the filmmaker Hugo Hemmati and the film’s stars, including gastroenterologist Dr Gwo-tzer Ho and IBD patient Molly Halligan.
Virus Bingo (11 April) is an interactive activity looking at what it takes for a virus to cross the divide between animals and humans.
Custodians of the Cosmos (3 April)features Prof Andy Lawrence from The Royal Observatory Edinburgh and eminent photographer Max Alexander exploring why studying the skies is of vital cultural and economic importance. In Our Accidental Universe (12 April) BBC presenter of Sky at Night and Gresham Professor of Astronomy Chris Lintott takes us on an astonishing tour of bizarre accidents, big characters, and human error to tell the story of some of the most important astronomical events of the past hundred years.
Award-winning broadcaster and author Marcus Chown breaks down the big physics questions that explain the universe in The One Thing You Need to Know (12 April). For Pink Floyd’s fans out there, Planetarium Late: Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (4-6 April & 11-13 April) is a mesmeric and immersive 360° show with breath-taking views of the Solar System, set to the official 1973 album in spectacular surround sound.
When STEM meets arts, amazing things happen – such as Future Proof (30 March – 26 May) at Summerhall, a series of exhibitions and events from visual artists that explore alternative futures through examination of the past and present and pose existential questions from the blurred boundary of art and science. It includes Morality Calcusus, a bio-art installation by artist Yuning Chen that recounts the endeavour of creating bread fermented with yeast-human cell hybrids in a synthetic biology lab in collaboration with biologist Dr. Elise Cachat.
There is also a theatrical tasting experience (13-14 April) accompanying the installation during which audience sample fictional hybrid organisms analogous to the ones involved in the bread making experiments.
In Post-Industrial Ecologies, Dawn Felicia Knox explores the way plants and fungi work together to undo the toxic residue of industrialisation on an example of one plot of land over 320 million years. The site, a coalmine during the industrial revolution, is a contaminated brownfield yet through the entanglement of plants and fungi it has become a vibrant ecosystem.
The University of Edinburgh’s annual Tam Dalyell Prize for Excellence in Engaging the Public with Science is awarded to Dr James Cook in recognition of his work increasing the public understanding of music in pre-Reformation Scotland.
Dr Cook gives his winning Lecture (14 April) on Linlithgow Palace, once the great pleasure palace of the kings and queens of Scotland. Aiming to recapture its lost glory, Dr Cook present an event bringing together scientific acoustic research, historical archival work, archaeology, and performance to reconstruct the music within Virtual Reality.
The annual Festival Opening Party remains the capital’s hot ticket – adult-only take-over of the flagship family venue, City Art Centre! Join us for a fantastic hands-on science experience on 28 March, getting down digging up a dinosaur or dancing with a robot. The Festival’s main interactive exhibition, Growing Home, has its own late night event, Growing Home After Hours (4 April) which throws open the doors to the iconic National Museum of Scotland after hours; supported by the Festivals Expo Fund. A Night in the Undergrowth (10 April) cap-tivates everyone’s curiosity in a fun-gi evening event at the Biscuit Factory; supported by the Festivals Expo Fund.
Is Back to the Future better than Tenet? Is ET more accurate than Alien? Is The Matrix good enough to let us forgive its sequels? In Sci-Fi Snobbery (3 April) Simon Watt and Jamie Gallagher debate the merits of their favourites to work out which sci-fi movie has the most merit on both a scientific and cinematic basis.
Join mathematicians Katie Steckles and Ben Sparks for Pints and Puzzles (8 April), a mind-boggling evening of puzzles and mathematical thinking. Pit your wits against a series of beautiful, bamboozling maths brain teasers in this sociable night of fun!
And don’t forget to join Creative Informatics for a night of gaming in Let’s Play (12 April) and celebrate the latest in cutting-edge engineering (with demonstrations!) at Innovation Late with Lady MacRobert (8 April); supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
For more Science Nights Out highlights click here.
Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: “We’re proud to support the 2024 Edinburgh Science Festival – another shining example of Scotland’s place as the perfect stage to host major events and the home of world leading festivals.
“The Scottish Government is supporting the Festival with funding of £120,000 from our Expo Fund, as well as £60,000 for the PLaCE programme to support the ongoing engagement programme with schools and community groups.
“This year’s theme, Shaping the Future is relevant and interesting; using technology and AI to help build sustainable solutions for Scotland. We’re certain all the Festival’s attendees will learn and have fun in the process.”
Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Val Walker said: “It’s fantastic to see the city gearing up for the 35th anniversary edition of the Edinburgh Science Festival. The world we live in has arguably never been more innovative or advanced, this year’s theme of ‘Shaping the Future’ pays tribute to this and questions where we go from here.
“With events across the Capital exploring themes such as space, health and medicine, and artificial intelligence to name but a few, there is truly something for everyone.
“The Science Festival is one that’s particularly close to my heart, with many fond memories of taking my son and grandchildren along over the years. I’m really looking forward to the 2024 edition and I’d encourage all our residents and visitors to get involved.”
Granton Youth held its virtual AGM this week for its members and invited guests. Apart from the usual administration process of electing its volunteer board members those present heard about the work that the organisation did over the past year as well as a look ahead.
Mary Q-Burnside, Manager of GY, said in her report: ‘The year 22/23 was the first year following the pandemic when we were free to operate with full complement of staff and put the focus and vision of the GY strategy fully into practice – which is to provide holistic support to work with young people and their families.
‘GY has created a multi-support network and programme that can make a real difference to young people’s lives – by being where they are: in their streets, school, at our base within RWCC and within the family home.’
Mary highlighted there was a growing demand following pandemic and exacerbated by cost of living crisis means services are at capacity.
As part of GY strategy it has been recognised what we do well and ask young people and their families what they need and want.
In order to make this happen we have developed valuable and supportive collaborations through:
Community Mental Health fund partnership – Bwell together
North Edinburgh Youth Work collaborative – supporting youth work apprentices
Single Point Access pilot in North Edinburgh – working with NHS, Social Work and schools to ensure the right targeted support is identified for local families and young people
Despite the challenges in finding funding GY continues to be successful in sustaining its funding in an ever more competitive market.
Currently GY provides:
Open access youth work – a safe space to explore learning, creativity and be heard
Targeted youth work for nuerodivergent/isolated young people
Music – employing professional tutors so young people can learn to play, write their own songs and record and release them as well as being given and opportunity to play live with some of our musicians playing venues such as King Tuts and La Belle Angelle
Families Together – working with families to identify areas where support is required and providing tailored programmes to meet their needs
Volunteering – offering local people an opportunity to volunteer and receive accredited learning and have access to a paid apprenticeship in youth work
Mentoring- delivering 1:1 for young people requiring additional support, targeted at those who may be socially isolated or who are at risk of antisocial behaviour
Streetwork – working to engage young people who are not engaging in mainstream youth work services and or education. Meeting them in the local area and on their terms
Counselling – GY has a centre based counselling service for local young people and adults as well as counselling presence across 6 high schools in North West Edinburgh
Positive Activities programme is part of our open access youth work but also with offers a targeted programme to engage physically inactive/socially isolated or those engaged in risk-taking behaviour
Schools based youth work – supporting young people by providing 1:1 youth work mentoring to sustain attendance and improve attainment
Dave Macnab, Chair of GY, said: “All of this happens because we have developed a dedicated staff team who are experienced, skilled and enthusiastic about the work they do and the difference they make.
“It is heartening to see that 10 of our team of 21 are from the local area and that 6 of the core team started as volunteers at GY.
“In fact, in the last two years GY has employed five young people who are the product of the volunteer apprentice scheme”.
GY reaches around 500 young people and adults per year through its various provisions and demand is ever increasing as our word of mouth reputation and positive profile grow.
The Edinburgh International Festival of Magic is back for a 14th year, with international star Kevin Quantum topping the bill. Known as MagicFest it runs from 20-31 Dec. and will be a dazzling showcase of new and established magical talent.
There are new collaborations with Edinburgh Castle’s “The Castle of Light” and Wonder and Co (the capital’s new magic shop) as well as The Joker and the Thief, plus the welcome return of Future Magicians, and family shows at The Scottish Storytelling Centre.
This year’s programme
Kevin Quantum’s Christmas Special: Straight from sell-out shows in Edinburgh and Australia, Kevin returns with a high-energy, wonder-packed family show at the Church Hill Theatre. Join the Edinburgh-based international star and special guest, the contemporary conjuror Oliver Tabor, for a magical night out, with big laughs, amazement and adventure.
Venue: Church Hill Theatre.
Duration: 1hr 45 min including 15 min intermission
Ages: 5+
Tickets: Standard £20, £18 Concessions, £18 Child
Dates, times: 24 Dec 15:00. 27, 28, 29, 30 Dec 14:00 and 19:00. 31 Dec 14:00
Future Magicians: A welcome return for this very special MagicFest initiative where you get to see tomorrow’s magicians today. We take a group of would-be young magicians and pair them with professional tutors to prepare a special 15-minute magic act – which they then present on stage for you.
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Duration: 60 minutes
Ages: 7+
Tickets: £12 and £10 concessions
Date: 29 and 30 Dec
Time: 14:00
Vincent Gambini: This is not a magic show: What makes magic magic? Is there really a Magic Circle Emergency Hotline for magicians in distress? A critically acclaimed performance of and about sleight-of-hand magic, its invisible mechanics, clichés, and what it tells us about live theatre and make-believe. Vincent Gambini presents astonishing close-up magic that invites us to question how enchantment and wonder are made within a theatrical situation.
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Duration: 70 minutes
Ages: 14+
Tickets: £14, concessions £12
Date: 27, 28, 29, 30 Dec.
Time: 16:00
Cameron Gibson and Friends: Edinburgh magician Cameron Gibson presents a fast-paced magic and variety show that will knock your proverbial socks off. From classic sleight of hand to mind-reading and comedy, it has something for everyone. Every show features special guests from the world of magic and variety – so you never quite know what wonders await…
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Duration: 60 minutes
Ages: 12+
Tickets: £14, concessions £12
Date: 28, 29, 30 Dec.
Time: 19:45
Richard Wiseman: Mind Magic: Enter the strange world of illusion, magic, and mystery. How do magicians produce objects from thin air and defy gravity? Does the paranormal exist? Join psychologist, best-selling author, and member of the Inner Magic Circle Professor Richard Wiseman as he explores the limits of the human mind. A fun hour for all the family.
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Duration: 55 minutes
Ages: 12+
Tickets: £12, concessions £10
Date: 28 Dec.
Time: 14:00
Elliot Bibby: The Best of Bibby: After a complete sell out at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the Insane Magic boys, Elliot is back with a solo hour of magic. Bringing the best he has to offer from 10 years of professional shows in this comedy magic extravaganza.
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Duration: 55 minutes
Ages: 10+
Tickets: £14, concessions £12
Date: 27, 28, 29, 30 Dec.
Time: 18:00
Tricky Ricky: Festive Funtime: After sell-out performances last year, the Trickster returns with more festive fun and lots of his puns in a show starring Jingles the Reindeer and his mischievous rabbit Sonny the Bunny. Prepare to be amused and amazed in this fast paced and chaotic magic show. It’s cabaret for kids and grown-ups.
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Duration: 50 minutes
Ages: 4+
Tickets: £12, concessions £10
Date: 29, 30 Dec.
Times: 10:45 and 12:15
Gary James: Wonderland: A fast-paced family-friendly show with jaw-dropping magic inspired by wide-eyed childhood memories and a career in entertainment. Gary captures the excitement and mystery from his childhood visits to the legendary Lothian Road store called Wonderland. Who’d have thought that family trips to this shop as a child would have inspired a life in entertainment?
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre
Duration: 50 minutes
Ages: 7+
Tickets: £12, concessions £10
Date: 27 Dec.
Times: 10:45 and 12:15
Gary Dunn: Jokes & Tricks: One of Scotland’s favourite family entertainers returns to MagicFest for another show filled with mad magic and silly jokes.
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Duration: 50 minutes
Ages: 5+
Tickets: £12, concessions £10
Date: 28 Dec.
Times: 10:45 and 12:15
Kevin Quantum: Edinburgh Magic: Unlock hidden Edinburgh and enjoy magic that’s fooled the greatest minds associated with the city, from Harry Houdini to King Charles. Amazing moments tied to the secret stories hidden in the cobbles and closes of the capital.Objects float before your eyes, money multiplies, time stands still…
Venue: Waldorf Astoria: The Caledonian.
Duration: 70 minutes
Ages: 12+
Tickets: £30-£35
Date: 20 Dec.
Times: 18:00 and 20:30
Vincent Gambini: Out of Thin Air: Stories about magicians at magic conventions, an attempt at presenting a show in which nothing happens, and magic poems about you, the spectator. Deft sleight of hand, strange poetry, and low-key spectacle.
Venue: Wonder & Co., 14 Haymarket Terrace
Duration: 30 minutes
Ages: 14+
Tickets: £8, concessions £7
Dates: 28, 29, 30 Dec.
Times: 12:00
Richard Wiseman: The World’s Greatest Card Trick and Other Mysteries: The world’s greatest card trick was invented in 1942. It has been performed by many famous magicians, amazed and astounded millions of people, and made Winston Churchill late for Parliament. In this intimate show, a small group of people join magician Professor Richard Wiseman as he reveals the unknown genius behind the trick, demonstrates other jaw dropping mysteries from the mind of this master magician, and celebrates the invention of the impossible.
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Duration: 40 minutes
Ages: 12+
Tickets: £7, concessions £6
Dates and times: 28 Dec 16:00, 29 Dec 13:00 and 16:00
Cameron Gibson: Street Magic Masterclass: Spend a morning with professional magician Cameron Gibson to gain hands-on experience in simple yet mind-blowing magic that you can do. You will master tricks with everyday objects that you can use to entertain and amaze your friends and family.
Venue: Wonder & Co., 14 Haymarket Terrace
Duration: 90 minutes
Ages: Varies depending on session
Tickets: £20
Date: 28 Dec (ages 12-18), 29 Dec (ages 18+), 30 Dec (ages 10+)
Time: 09:30
Close-Up Magic at The Joker & The Thief: Astonishing close-up magic at The Joker & The Thief pub with resident magician Tim Licata, one of Scotland’s most entertaining sleight-of-hand artists.
Venue: The Joker & The Thief, Elm Row
Duration: 120 minutes
Ages: Strictly 18+
Tickets: Free – donations welcome
Date: 28 Dec.
Time: 20:00
Castle of Light: MagicFest is partnering with Castle of Light, which transforms Edinburgh Castle with magical installations and illuminations. Watch out for some of our astounding tricks and illusions. Venue: Edinburgh Castle.
Tickets now on sale – Check out the full line up and times, and book tickets at www.magicfest.co.uk.
First wave of exciting film talent set to visit the city at this year’s EIFF include Shane Meadows, Irvine Welsh, Ella Lily Hyland, Ira Sachs, Paul Higgins,and Fran Rubel Kuzui
Industry professionals and EIFF alumni invited to reconnect at Talent Assemble event
Edinburgh International Film Festival, this year hosted by the Edinburgh International Festival, has announced its first wave of guests appearing at this year’s edition alongside a special Talent Assemble event celebrating the festival’s community of filmmaking talent.
Talent Assemble
Talent Assemble is a special event to celebrate EIFF’s community of filmmakers and give thanks to the wider industry for the goodwill and supportive energy shown to the Festival this year.
In partnership with BBC Film, BBC Scotland and MG ALBA, Talent Assemble will introduce and reconnect alumni of EIFF’s many talent development initiatives and raise a glass to the wealth of emerging and established talent who have made EIFF a vibrant Festival, bursting with creativity year after year.
Filmmakers who have screened work in the Festival in the past, and industry professionals who have taken part in the myriad EIFF talent development schemes, who are interested in attending are encouraged to get in touch with the Festival. More information can be found at https://www.eif.co.uk/edinburgh-international-film-festival/talent-assemble
Guests at EIFF 2023
On 18 August, the Festival opens with the world premiere of Silent Roar, the debut feature from BAFTA-nominated Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington.
Barrington will be in attendance to present the film, alongside the film’s stars Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen Love), Louis McCartney, Mark Lockyer, and Chinenye Ezeudu (Sex Education).
On 19 August, acclaimed director Ira Sachs (Love is Strange, Little Men) will be on hand to present his intimate new feature Passages, the thorniest and horniest film of the year. Sachs will also be taking part in a special Sunday Salon event on 20th August, discussing queer cinema and representations of intimacy with 2020 Booker Prize nominated writer Brandon Taylor (Real Life, The Late Americans).
Filmmaker Ella Glendining will be at the festival to present her smart, honest and beautifully illuminating documentary Is There Anybody Out There? which examines questions of disability on a journey to find herself in others.
Writer/director Karoline Lyngbye joins the Festival to present Superposition, her stylish and chilling existential thriller.
While in the Festival’s weekend of outdoor screenings, Cinema Under the Stars, director Charlotte Regan presents her Sundance award-winning feature film Scrapper.
On the 20 August, feel-good LGBTQ+ romance Chuck Chuck Baby receives its World Premiere, with director Janis Pugh in attendance.
Filmmakers Sam H. Freeman (whose television work includes Industry and This Is Going To Hurt) and Ng Choon Ping attend the Festival to present their tense, stylish thriller about desire and self-loathing, Femme.
Director Bette Gordon joins the Festival for the special 40th anniversary retrospective screening of her neo-noir feminist classic Variety.
Huw Lemmey (host of podcast Bad Gays)presents Ungentle, a thought-provoking study of British espionage and homosexual identity.
At Cinema Under the Stars, artist Julia Parks presents Wool Aliens (and other films), a series of short films, created during a residency in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. The screenings are preceded by a performance from musician Miwa Nagato-Apthorp. –
On 21 August, Director Hope Dickson-Leach (The Levelling) joins cast member David Hayman to present the World Premiere of her atmospheric Edinburgh-set period thriller The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.
David Hayman also joins writer/director Paris Zarcilla to present his chilling debut film Raging Grace, a haunting gothic horror which recently took the Grand Jury Prize at South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival.
Jeanie Finlay arrives in Edinburgh to present her rousing portrait of author, activist and podcaster Aubrey Gordon in Your Fat Friend.
On 22 August, Kill, a nail-biting debut feature from director Rodger Griffiths, assembles an exceptional cast of Scottish talent in a gritty and bloody revenge story. Griffiths will attend the Festival alongside the film’s stars Paul Higgins (The Thick of It), Daniel Portman (Game of Thrones), Callum Ross,Anita Vettesse, and Brian Vernel (Dunkirk).
A forgotten gem of American indie cinema, Tokyo Pop is newly restored to mark the film’s 35th anniversary, and the Festival is thrilled that writer/director Fran Rubel Kuzui (who later went on to direct the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie)and producer Kaz Kuzui will present the film.
Lead actor Thomas Schubert of Afire is in town to present the Festival’s screening of the film: a sharp and funny take on the struggles of creativity.
Dead Man’s Shoes, Shane Meadows’ radical revenge thriller, had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film festival in 2004. Now nearly twenty years on, Shane Meadows joins the Festival alongside producer Mark Herbert for a special retrospective gala to celebrate the film’s extraordinary legacy. –
On closing night 23 August,celebrated author Irvine Welsh will join director Ian Jeffries to present the World Premiere of their collaborative new documentary Choose Irvine Welsh, charting the author’s life and philosophy in his own words and those of his collaborators and admirers.
The 2023 Edinburgh International Film festival closes with stylish deadpan dramedy Fremont, presented by the film’s director Babak Jalali and writer Carolina Cavalli (Amanda).
Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August.
Scotland’s only 5-star concert venue, Edinburgh’s stunning Usher Hall, is proud to announce the 2023-24 programme for its much-loved Sunday Classics season.
The Sunday afternoon season is renowned for bringing the finest orchestras from around the world to the Scottish capital, accompanied by exceptional soloists at the height of their talents.
Starting in September, the mighty Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra kicks off the 2023-24 season with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. Brimming over with drama and emotional intensity, the symphony charts a course from darkness to a final, life-affirming glimmer of optimism.
Two weeks later the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the first orchestra to win the Swiss Music Prize in 2019, makes a triumphant return to Edinburgh. Joining them is pianist Angela Hewitt, a great favorite of the Zurich International Series’ audience, who will direct the orchestra in two concerto masterpieces – Mozart’s lyrical E-flat Piano Concerto and Bach’s pulsating D-minor Piano Concerto.
December sees a visit from the Symphony Orchestra of India, bringing with it all its renowned energy and vigour to one of the great 20th-century masterpieces by Stravinsky, Petrushka.
They are joined by perhaps the greatest musician in the Indian classical tradition, the tabla player Zakir Hussain, in a work commissioned especially for this tour, his exciting Triple Concerto.
The first concert of 2024 welcomes global superstar guitarist Miloš Karadaglić and the Arcangelo Ensemble, who will treat us to a celebration of Baroque masterpieces by Vivaldi, Marcello, Bach, Pachelbel, Rameau, and Couperin.
For lovers of the Baroque repertoire, this will be a very special evening featuring music recently recorded by Miloš and released by Sony later this year.
They will be joined by the brilliant young violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen in two masterworks for orchestra and violin – Chausson’s Poème and Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.
The second half will feature two of Respighi’s monumental tone poems, Fountains of Rome and his ultimate work, Pines of Rome.
To celebrate a new, cordial phase of Anglo-French relations, a group of brilliant, young British and French musicians have been brought together to form the virtuosic Orchestre de l’Entente Cordiale.
They are joined by acclaimed French cellist Gautier Capuҫon who will perform that quintessentially English work, the Elgar Cello Concerto. After the British first half, an all-French second half features popular music by Satie and Debussy, with a grand finale of opulent music from Poulenc’s ballet Les biches.
Russian-born violinst Maria Ioudenitch treats the Usher Hall to one of the most profound violin concertos composed in the 20th century, Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto, with its ravishing central passacaglia.
Joined by the Dresden Philharmonic, the show will also feature one of the most poignant and tragic of all symphonies, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, the ‘Pathétique’.
Acclaimed pianist Mark Bebbington joins the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven’s grand ‘Emperor’ Concerto and two much-loved Czech favourites – Smetana’s Bartered Bride and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, in authentic and inimitable Czech style.
The orchestra’s American music director Steven Mercurio will begin the concert with Copland’s delightful portrait of the Appalachian countryside.
This finale includes one of the greatest of all choral works, Mozart’s farewell to the world, his Requiem. To balance this sombre second half, the first half includes Beethoven’s sparkling Eighth Symphony.
Taking part in this concert will be one of England’s historic choruses, the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, who join the Flanders Symphony Orchestra in a moving end to the Sunday Classics season.
Karl Chapman, Cultural Venues Manager at Usher Hall said: “We are delighted to announce our new Sunday Classics season, packed full of the best orchestras, soloists, and conductors in the world today.
“Sunday Classics has become an integral part of the Scottish classical music scene and the Sunday afternoon concert experience has proved ever popular. It’s fantastic that the Usher Hall can offer such an unrivalled variety of international talent to the music-lovers of Edinburgh and Scotland in a concert hall with some of the very best acoustics around.
“This season we are hosting a diverse selection of ensembles – the Czech National Symphony Orchestra make a triumphant return to the Hall led by American music director Stephen Mercurio.
“We are also incredibly excited to welcome back the likes of the India Symphony and Concerto Budapest Symphony orchestras and we know that the amazing Edinburgh audiences will leave them wanting to come back!
Councillor Val Walker, Culture and Communities Convener said: “I am delighted that the Sunday Classics programme is returning for the 2023-24 season.
“There can be no better location to experience a live classical performance than the world-famous Usher Hall. Designed and built with a view to bring classical music to Scotland’s Capital, our venue has been a key part of our musical culture for over a century. I am proud that the tradition of concert-going at Edinburgh’s most stunning indoor venue continues as strongly as ever.
“It’s a genuine pleasure to sit back in the impressive hall and lose yourself in the music, and this new Sunday Classics series will feature first-class orchestras and classical superstars from around the world. Plus, with lots of options and special rates on tickets, the Usher Hall is helping to make classical music accessible to all.”
SIXTY artists are gearing up to open their studios to the public as Largo Arts Week returns for its fourth year in the Fife village of Lower Largo and surrounding communities.
Running from Saturday, July 15 – Sunday, July 23, the festival will feature an array of arts and crafts by artists, sculptors and makers exhibiting in 37 open studios in the villages of Lower Largo, Upper Largo and Lundin Links.
Famous as the birthplace of Alexander Selkirk, the man who inspired the story of Robinson Crusoe, Lower Largo has in recent years become a creative hub for a range of artists inspired by its coast and countryside.
As well as the open studios, music and food will feature strongly in the Arts Week with free evening gigs at local hotels and food trucks offering gourmet street food.
Community café and venue The Aurrie in Lower Largo is also staging a week-long programme including the return of comedian and broadcaster Fred McAulay and popular children’s musical group, Artie’s Singing Kettle.
One of the prominent local artists opening his studio to the public is sculptor Alan Faulds (above), whose eclectic structures are dotted throughout Lower Largo, including the “Largo Obelisk” atop the village’s former red telephone box.
Largo Arts Week director Dougi McMillan said: “Over the last four years, the festival has gone from strength to strength, and we are delighted that 60 artists will be exhibiting their work this year, demonstrating the depth of creativity in the community.
“With bands playing live every night in local hotels and food trucks overlooking the beach at Largo Bay, we’re looking forward to a real summer celebration and carnival atmosphere.”
Free evening entertainment will be offered by The Upper Largo Hotel and Crusoe Hotel featuring popular Fife bands Passing Sages, Best Dressed Blues Band, Rewind and Astral Suns along with new faces including Sleekit and many more.
The festival closes with a return of the Omar Afif and the Gnawa Trance Fusion band (above) whose blend of Moroccan folk, jazz and blues will sound out in an open-air gig against the backdrop of the historic Largo pier.
Full details of the Largo Arts Week programme can be accessed on the festival’s website – www.largoartsweek.com
