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| The fringe turns angry as shows plan to deliver a political punch | The fringe turns angry as shows plan to deliver a political punch |
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| Shocking, edgy and offensive are all words as familiar to regular visitors to Edinburgh fringe theatre as the bagpipes and bargain woollens shops along the Royal Mile. But some of the controversial work on offer next month in hundreds of impromptu venues is to have an added component. | Shocking, edgy and offensive are all words as familiar to regular visitors to Edinburgh fringe theatre as the bagpipes and bargain woollens shops along the Royal Mile. But some of the controversial work on offer next month in hundreds of impromptu venues is to have an added component. |
| Political shows, designed to provoke and foment discontent, are to feature on a scale not seen since before Tony Blair's premiership. Both amateur and professional performers will be taking a selection of socially engaged, not to say downright angry, work to Edinburgh this year – and much of it is in deadly earnest. | Political shows, designed to provoke and foment discontent, are to feature on a scale not seen since before Tony Blair's premiership. Both amateur and professional performers will be taking a selection of socially engaged, not to say downright angry, work to Edinburgh this year – and much of it is in deadly earnest. |
| Among the fringe productions in rehearsal are shows which will either attack the corporate culture of commercial giants, alert audiences to the plight of political prisoners, rally dormant feminists, or raise the flag for the trade union movement. | Among the fringe productions in rehearsal are shows which will either attack the corporate culture of commercial giants, alert audiences to the plight of political prisoners, rally dormant feminists, or raise the flag for the trade union movement. |
| "It is fantastic to see more of it," said Neil Gore, a writer and performer with Townsend Productions, which is premiering We Will Be Free, his trade union-sponsored play about the Tolpuddle Martyrs. "It has been quite quiet since the Labour years, but now we are actively seeking to put political theatre back in the mix." | "It is fantastic to see more of it," said Neil Gore, a writer and performer with Townsend Productions, which is premiering We Will Be Free, his trade union-sponsored play about the Tolpuddle Martyrs. "It has been quite quiet since the Labour years, but now we are actively seeking to put political theatre back in the mix." |
| Younger theatre groups are also calling for their peers to stand up and be counted. A show called Static, from a Devon theatre company, will use verbatim storytelling to paint a disturbing picture of life in Britain since the 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks. The script will argue that it is time for a fresh generation to switch off their computer screens and get to their feet. The acclaimed Junction 25 youth theatre is back this year with an immersive new work, Anoesis, that looks at the social pressure to conform, while the Unicycle Theatre Company is staging The Exception and the Rule, a piece of political theatre questioning the global value placed on oil over water. | Younger theatre groups are also calling for their peers to stand up and be counted. A show called Static, from a Devon theatre company, will use verbatim storytelling to paint a disturbing picture of life in Britain since the 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks. The script will argue that it is time for a fresh generation to switch off their computer screens and get to their feet. The acclaimed Junction 25 youth theatre is back this year with an immersive new work, Anoesis, that looks at the social pressure to conform, while the Unicycle Theatre Company is staging The Exception and the Rule, a piece of political theatre questioning the global value placed on oil over water. |
| Another work dealing with a contemporary issue is Bedding Out, a piece of performance art to be staged by artist and activist Liz Crow, who will lie in a bed in a roped-off area of a pop-up cafe for 30 hours. Crow aims to highlight the threat of poverty from the current welfare benefits overhaul. | Another work dealing with a contemporary issue is Bedding Out, a piece of performance art to be staged by artist and activist Liz Crow, who will lie in a bed in a roped-off area of a pop-up cafe for 30 hours. Crow aims to highlight the threat of poverty from the current welfare benefits overhaul. |
| Music will be mobilised, too, in the effort to stir audiences. The Bloody Great Border Ballad Project aims to use political cabaret to create a new epic ballad for our era, while the show I'm With the Band will take on issues raised by the struggle for Scottish independence. In this production at the renowned Traverse Theatre, an Englishman, a Northern Irishman, a Scotsman and a Welshman, all members of indie band the Union, will be depicted in a recording studio on the verge of breaking up if their Scottish guitarist, Barry, walks out. | Music will be mobilised, too, in the effort to stir audiences. The Bloody Great Border Ballad Project aims to use political cabaret to create a new epic ballad for our era, while the show I'm With the Band will take on issues raised by the struggle for Scottish independence. In this production at the renowned Traverse Theatre, an Englishman, a Northern Irishman, a Scotsman and a Welshman, all members of indie band the Union, will be depicted in a recording studio on the verge of breaking up if their Scottish guitarist, Barry, walks out. |
| Comedians are taking up the cudgels too. Contemporary satire has always fuelled a strong strand of comedy, but this summer a wider range of stand-up acts will be following the directly political path beaten by crusaders such as Mark Steel and Mark Thomas. | Comedians are taking up the cudgels too. Contemporary satire has always fuelled a strong strand of comedy, but this summer a wider range of stand-up acts will be following the directly political path beaten by crusaders such as Mark Steel and Mark Thomas. |
| Dave Griffiths will recount his legal spat with French Connection in his Edinburgh debut, C U in Court. Audiences will hear how the battle took over his life once the clothing retailer had threatened him with trademark infringement. The international company claimed all profits from his King Cnut line of T-shirts were legally theirs. "All people who fight for a better existence inspire me," Griffiths has said, "from the protesters of the Arab spring to Amnesty International and Greenpeace, to Morgan Spurlock and Mark Thomas." | Dave Griffiths will recount his legal spat with French Connection in his Edinburgh debut, C U in Court. Audiences will hear how the battle took over his life once the clothing retailer had threatened him with trademark infringement. The international company claimed all profits from his King Cnut line of T-shirts were legally theirs. "All people who fight for a better existence inspire me," Griffiths has said, "from the protesters of the Arab spring to Amnesty International and Greenpeace, to Morgan Spurlock and Mark Thomas." |
| His fellow corporate antagonists, the Americans Rob Delaney and Lee Camp, are also performing at Edinburgh this year, while the campaigning feminist comic Bridget Christie will appear at the Stand Comedy Club. Satirist Daniel Bye is to take a broader view in a one-man examination of the worth of various international commodities. In The Price of Everything, running at the Hill Street Theatre, Bye promises a whistle-stop tour of bizarre facts along with a free glass of milk. | His fellow corporate antagonists, the Americans Rob Delaney and Lee Camp, are also performing at Edinburgh this year, while the campaigning feminist comic Bridget Christie will appear at the Stand Comedy Club. Satirist Daniel Bye is to take a broader view in a one-man examination of the worth of various international commodities. In The Price of Everything, running at the Hill Street Theatre, Bye promises a whistle-stop tour of bizarre facts along with a free glass of milk. |
| Gore's Tolpuddle Martyrs play tells the story of the pioneer trade unionists transported to Australia in 1834. Previewing this weekend in Tolpuddle village, Dorset, it will run at Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms next month, accompanied by the music of folk singer John Kirkpatrick. | Gore's Tolpuddle Martyrs play tells the story of the pioneer trade unionists transported to Australia in 1834. Previewing this weekend in Tolpuddle village, Dorset, it will run at Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms next month, accompanied by the music of folk singer John Kirkpatrick. |
| "We set out with our first play, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, to put political theatre back on the circuit, by performing in village halls, arts centres and theatres. This time we want to show the origins of the labour movement, of people standing up for themselves," said Gore, adding that he would, theoretically, welcome rightwing political theatre. "But it just doesn't exist," he said. "The rightwing vision is kind of anti-community, so it never fits very well with theatre, which is about working together." | "We set out with our first play, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, to put political theatre back on the circuit, by performing in village halls, arts centres and theatres. This time we want to show the origins of the labour movement, of people standing up for themselves," said Gore, adding that he would, theoretically, welcome rightwing political theatre. "But it just doesn't exist," he said. "The rightwing vision is kind of anti-community, so it never fits very well with theatre, which is about working together." |
| His show is supported by the Fire Brigades Union. Its general secretary Matt Wrack is delighted to be promoting the work. "There is no getting a way from the fact that trade union membership has declined, so anything that can help explain what we believe without the use of middle-aged, overweight blokes like me is a good thing. I think a lot of the Tolpuddle story will echo with modern audiences," he said. | |
| Campaigning entertainment at this year's fringe is not limited to these shores. The play Who Wants To Kill Yulia Tymoshenko? is to premiere at the Assembly Roxy, with the support of the daughter of the jailed former Ukrainian presidential candidate. In October 2011 a Ukrainian court sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison when she was found guilty of abuse of office over a gas deal with Russia, although the EU and other international organisations saw the conviction as politically motivated. Tymoshenko, who is being held in the city of Kharkiv, has been on two hunger strikes since her imprisonment and has apparently been uplifted by the sight of a poster for the Edinburgh show, brought to her by her daughter. | Campaigning entertainment at this year's fringe is not limited to these shores. The play Who Wants To Kill Yulia Tymoshenko? is to premiere at the Assembly Roxy, with the support of the daughter of the jailed former Ukrainian presidential candidate. In October 2011 a Ukrainian court sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison when she was found guilty of abuse of office over a gas deal with Russia, although the EU and other international organisations saw the conviction as politically motivated. Tymoshenko, who is being held in the city of Kharkiv, has been on two hunger strikes since her imprisonment and has apparently been uplifted by the sight of a poster for the Edinburgh show, brought to her by her daughter. |
| "The director Jakov Sedlar became very close to Yulia and her family when he made a documentary before her imprisonment," actor Ines Wurth, who will play Tymoshenko, told the Observer, speaking from Zagreb. "It is always a good idea to get politics into the theatre, because it gives the issues more humanity, and this is a story that needs to be told. I narrated the documentary and Jakov came to me for the play because I look like Yulia. It is set in a prison cell, where the sophisticated politician has to get on with a prostitute from a poor area which it had been Yulia's mission to bring education to." | "The director Jakov Sedlar became very close to Yulia and her family when he made a documentary before her imprisonment," actor Ines Wurth, who will play Tymoshenko, told the Observer, speaking from Zagreb. "It is always a good idea to get politics into the theatre, because it gives the issues more humanity, and this is a story that needs to be told. I narrated the documentary and Jakov came to me for the play because I look like Yulia. It is set in a prison cell, where the sophisticated politician has to get on with a prostitute from a poor area which it had been Yulia's mission to bring education to." |
| The South African playwright and director Yaël Farber, who had a festival hit with Strindberg's Miss Julie, has now turned to the true story of the rape and murder of a woman in Delhi last year. Her play, Nirbhaya, on at Assembly Hall, will look at attitudes to women in India. The plight of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the subject of Rat's Nest Theatre Company's Chaos By Design. That country, the cast will argue, is the worst place on earth to be a woman. | |
| This weekend comedian Frankie Boyle, scourge of the liberal-minded, astounded some critics when he announced that he, too, is making a moral stand and is now on hunger strike in solidarity with Guantánamo prisoner Shaker Aamer. | This weekend comedian Frankie Boyle, scourge of the liberal-minded, astounded some critics when he announced that he, too, is making a moral stand and is now on hunger strike in solidarity with Guantánamo prisoner Shaker Aamer. |
| There are, however, still performers happy to poke fun at the righteous-minded. A comedy called Revolution Society, by Sarah Power, will parody the naive ideals and aimless rebelliousness of a group of students. The show, at the Pleasance Dome, is being produced by the Yvonne Arnaud Youth Theatre and is advertised with the slogan: "The country's a mess and this lot are going to do something – they're just not sure what." | |
| POLITICS AND THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL | |
| ■ It was the international arts festival, not the fringe, that earned the city a name for political satire in 1960 when Beyond the Fringe was staged at the Royal Lyceum theatre, starring Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Dudley Moore and Jonathan Miller. | |
| ■ A long association with political theatre at the festival began when Steven Berkoff put on his play East at the Traverse in 1975. | |
| ■ While writing The Young Ones in the early 1980s, Ben Elton performed his own political stand-up set at the festival. | |
| ■ Jeremy Hardy, the die-hard lefty of the stand-up scene, won the Perrier comedy award in 1988 at the fringe festival. | |
| ■ Hardy's friend the late Linda Smith was one of a group of political comics, such as Skint Video, who were linked to miners' benefit gigs and the Red Wedge movement, set up in 1985 by Billy Bragg. | |
| ■ Moscow Stations, a Russian prose poem by Venedikt Erofeev, was performed at the Traverse Theatre in English by Tom Courtenay in 1993 to critical acclaim. | |
| ■ Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas's provocative show Jerry Springer: The Opera, satirising contemporary morality, sold out in Edinburgh in 2002. | |
| ■ In August 2006 Black Watch, based on interviews with soldiers serving in Iraq, was staged at a temporary Traverse venue in the university's former drill hall. "A magnificent piece of social and political theatre, a high point not just of the festival but of the theatrical year," said the Observer review. |