YOUR GUIDE TO EDINBURGH'S FESTIVALS
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ED2019 Preview Edition ED2019 Theatre ED2019 Three To See
Three To See 2019: Folk Tale Themes
By Caro Moses | Published on Thursday 1 August 2019
ThreeWeeks Co-Editor Caro Moses helps you navigate the Festival with her Three To See tips. This time three shows with folk tale themes.
Roots | Church Hill Theatre | 9-25 Aug (pictured)
This is one from the International Festival, and it sounds ever so intriguing to me, not least because I am a bit of a fan of old films and folk tale inspired themes. In ‘Roots’, UK based company 1927 “blends sophisticated stagecraft with the early days of cinema, all brought to life through the company’s signature fusion of handcrafted animation and storytelling, with a live musical score involving donkeys’ jaws, musical saws and Peruvian prayer boxes”. Do I need to say any more? No, I imagine that’s been persuasive enough. Listing here.
Sary | Sweet Novotel | 2-25 Aug
You know how we did a section on feminist stuff and I said that these days there’s always lots of feminist stuff? Well, here’s something else that’s a bit feminist, but also based on a 19th Century tale from Sussex, which is why I’m mentioning it here. Of course, the other reason I am mentioning it is because it sounds amazing. It’s described as a piece of “feminist folk horror”, and it explores themes of female sexuality, ageing and loss as kinds of alchemy. “They call me witch. A teeth-gnasher. A shape-shifter. When a man says a woman turns into a hare, it means she were too quick for him!” And Amen to that, actually. Listing here.
Honeypot | Greenside @ Nicolson Square | 2-10 Aug
I didn’t especially intend woman centred pieces to figure so highly in this section on stuff with a folk tale element, but I suppose, thinking about it, it makes sense. This play is from an all female team, and offers a “brutally honest, comic and uncensored subversion of the famously tragic folklore narratives”, told through the eyes of multicultural, post-pubescent, fairy tale heroines, and reflecting on the daily trials and tribulations of contemporary women. “Be prepared to challenge shallow and subconscious stereotypes with a sisterhood of empowered female characters” warns the blurb. I reckon you are all up to that challenge. Listing here.
Photo: Paul Barritt
