Pitlochry Festival Theatre to celebrate the spirit of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in new festival
This August, Pitlochry Festival Theatre is set to launch Edinlochry, an exciting brand-new celebration bringing the spirit of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to the Highlands for the very first time.
From 4-8 August Edinlochry will offer audiences a handpicked taste of the world’s largest arts festival right here at Scotland’s Theatre in the Hills, with an exciting mix of comedy, music, magic and more.
Bursting with creativity, spontaneity, and festival energy, Edinlochry is a chance to discover brilliant new and acclaimed work from artists featured at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in the breathtaking surroundings of Pitlochry.
Exciting drama productions at the festival will feature Chatterbox, a humorous and touching semi-autobiographical one-woman show by Glasgow actress, comedian and writer Lubna Kerr which looks at the impact of the labels we are given as children, and how they persist into adulthood; Lauder a wonderful play celebrating the life of the legendary Scottish entertainer Harry Lauder, whose songs are beloved by audiences worldwide. Known for iconic hits like “I Love a Lassie”, “Roamin’ in the Gloamin’”, and “The End of the Road” Harty Lauder became the highest-paid performer in the world by 1911 and was also the first UK artist to sell over a million recordings.
The drama continues with Groomed, a bold and provocative drama, telling truly gripping stories with a complexity of emotions, rich, revealing and profoundly human; Absent, Betool Khedairi and Penny Black’s acclaimed production based on Khedairi’s a haunting and humorous portrait of life under restrictions in Iraq, Kidnap, a one-woman comedy based on the true story of Samia Rida’s own kidnap to Saudi Arabia as a child. The show is a dark, challenging and defiantly funny exploration of multiculturalism, domestic abuse, having a disabled sibling, and how kidnap can involve a swimming pool.
Other drama’s at the festival include Martin Kydd’s acclaimed Our Martin in the Background which tells the beautiful story of two strangers whose lives are changed forever by a chance meeting at a railway station whilst working as extras on the set of Brief Encounter in 1945; Niki King: Time, a deeply connecting musical experience that explores universal truths of loss, fear and the power of love and connection, while reflecting on the concept of time itself and finally Homo(sapien), Conor O’Dwyer’s darkly comedic monodrama about identity, sex, and the tribulations of growing up queer in a society that’s both hateful and accepting.
As well as an exciting line up of drama, the festival will be showcasing several musical events including two must see events about two iconic female singers. Christine Bovill’s Piaf Revisited is far more than a tribute show, it’s a transporting, emotionally charged journey through the soul of French chanson, refracted through the legend of Édith Piaf and the life of Bovill herself. With her velvet voice, captivating storytelling, and effortless stage presence, Bovill doesn’t merely sing Piaf, she resurrects her spirit while simultaneously making the music deeply personal. The festival will also include Cloudbusting, an evening of iconic songs from across Kate Bush’s hugely successful catalogue of albums, performed with breath-taking vocals from Mandy Watson and superb musicianship from the live band.
Finally, straddling the line between arresting honesty and deft deception, Jason Suran has quickly become one of the most in demand mentalists in America. A skeptic himself, Suran firmly insists that he is not a psychic… all while guessing everything from the word in your head to the name of your first kiss and everything in between.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Alan Cumming said:
“Why go to Edinburgh when Edinburgh will come to you?!
After the success of our inaugural LGBTQ + festival Out in the Hills, and the continued success of our writers’ festival Winter Words, I felt we were ready for another mini-festival at Pitlochry Festival Theatre!
And what better way to celebrate the creativity and fun that is the Edinburgh Fringe than to bring, in the week before it all kicks off, a bunch of past, present and future Fringe performers to Pitlochry and have a week of shows that captures all the fecundity and eclectism you’d expect when combing the fringe!
A slice of the world’s greatest arts shebang right here amidst the beautiful Highlands!”
Edinlochry runs at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 4-8 August. Tickets are now on general sale. For tickets and further information call the Box Office team on 01796 484626 or visit https://www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/out-in-the-hills/