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12 unusual facts about Edinburgh festival


Arctic Boosh

In 1999, after having a residency at The Hen and Chickens Theatre in Islington, London, Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt and Rich Fulcher returned to the Edinburgh Festival with a new show, Arctic Boosh, which sold out every night and was nominated for the Perrier Award.

Box the Pony

It has played at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre, the Sydney Opera House, the 1999 Edinburgh Festival and in 2000 at the Barbican in London.

Edgar Oliver

Notable New York City productions include his roles in Edward II with Cliplight Theater and numerous productions at the Axis Theatre Company including A Glance at New York (which played at the Edinburgh Festival) and his autobiographical one-man show East 10th Street: Self Portrait With Empty House which enjoyed an extended run with Axis.

Felix Slatkin

In 1939 he founded the highly-acclaimed Hollywood String Quartet, which produced over 21 albums for Capitol Records and toured the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, including a special appearance in 1957 for the Edinburgh Festival.

Garfield Kennedy

Festival Times was the first publication to give dedicated and extensive coverage of the Edinburgh Festival (Fringe, International Festival and Film Festival).

Idiots of Ants

In 2009 Idiots of Ants performed at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival and the Edinburgh Festival where their show 'Idiots of Ants: This is War' was nominated for an Eddie (Edinburgh Comedy Awards).

Idiots of Ants formed in November 2006 and went on to perform and sell-out at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007.

Liliane Berton

As well as Paris, she sang frequently in the French provincial houses, as well as at the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Glyndebourne and Holland, and in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos-Aires, Lisbon and London.

Lior

In 2008, Lior toured extensively, both in his home country of Australia and abroad including feature performances at the Edinburgh Festival.

Peter Zadek

This production won the Critics' Prize of the Edinburgh International Festival.

Poi E

Its popularity that same year grew further when it was well received by British listeners as the Patea Māori Club toured the United Kingdom, playing at the London Palladium and the Edinburgh Festival, as well as giving a Royal Command Performance.

Rona Anderson

At the 1950 Edinburgh Festival, Anderson played the role of Venus in a production of The Queen's Comedy.


Abi Roberts

She studied Russian and Italian at Swansea University, attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (and later the Moscow Conservatoire) and gained prominence in a series of comedy sketch shows on the London stage and at the Edinburgh Festival, including the satirical comedy Newsrevue.

Andrew Lynford

Lynford has also written a 1970s musical called Disco Crazee, which was produced by Bruce James in 2005, at the Edinburgh Festival and subsequently toured Britain.

Erik Saedén

Appearances outside Sweden included Bayreuth (Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, Herald in Lohengrin and Donner in Rheingold), the Edinburgh Festival in 1959 and 1974), Savonlinna in 1989 (Henrik in Singoalla by Gunnar de Frumerie), Hamburg, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (1960, 1981), Montreal (1967), Moscow, Munich and Oslo.

Human Rights Defenders and Promoters

Group co-founder Myint Aye, imprisoned on a life sentence in 2008, was selected by Amnesty International in 2012 as their case to promote at the annual Edinburgh Festival.

Jack Emery

He began his career producing and acting at Keele, most notably in his first one-man show taken from the novels and plays of Samuel Beckett, called "A Remnant", which played in the West End, the Edinburgh Festival and toured worldwide.

Jana Jonášová

Her performance credits include appearances at the Berlin State Opera, the National Theatre in Belgrade, the Bolshoi Theatre, the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, the Edinburgh Festival, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Hungarian State Opera House, La Monnaie, De Nederlandse Opera, the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, the Semperoper, the Teatro Massimo, and the Teatro Real among others.

Jodhi May

In August 2005, May appeared in Blackbird by David Harrower alongside Roger Allam at the Edinburgh Festival in a production by German star director Peter Stein.

John Roman Baker

From 1990-1996 the Brighton and Edinburgh Festivals often saw the first performances of his new plays.

Make Mine a Million

After repeating the stunt at Ascot Races, Sid, realising that this is potentially a huge moneymaker, does a deal with an advertising executive and, with Arthur's help, they plug cake mix at the Edinburgh Festival.

National Scout and Guide Symphony Orchestra

In 2008, it performed at the Edinburgh Festival playing 'The Great Adventure', a symphony commissioned for the Scouting 2007 Centenary.

Nick Doody

He has appeared on BBC Radio 2, The Comic Side of 7 Days on BBC Three, and has written for 8 out of 10 Cats, The Late Edition (BBC Four), The Now Show (BBC Radio 4), Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive (BBC Radio 4) and took his second solo show Hypocrite to the Edinburgh Festival in 2007.

Oliver von Dohnányi

During 1986–1991, he was principal conductor of the Slovak National Opera, where he enlarged the Opera's repertoire with the scenic works of Borodin, Puccini, Bellini, Rossini, Smetana and Verdi, as well as conducting the company in an award-winning production of Faust at the Edinburgh Festival (1990).

Pauline Devaney

During the 1980s she wrote a one-woman stage play, To Marie with Love, based on the life of Marie Stopes, which she took to the Edinburgh Festival in 1985.

Rebecca Evans

As a concert singer, she has appeared at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival; at a Gala Concert to celebrate the opening of the Welsh Assembly in the presence of the Queen and the Prince of Wales; and in Bremen with Andrea Bocelli and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Rona Munro

Her new play, "The Last Witch", was performed at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival, directed by Dominic Hill, and in 2011 by Dumbarton People's Theatre.

Some Gorgeous Accident

A stage adaptation of Some Gorgeous Accident was presented at the Assembly Rooms as part of the Edinburgh Festival in August 2010.

Tom Cone

It premiered in Chicago followed by productions in New York at Playwrights Horizons, in London at The King's Head Theatre, at the Edinburgh Festival, at Hartford Stage starring Joel Grey, and in many cities throughout North America.

Tom Stade

He has a distinctive 'drunken Canadian' accent and is known for his appearances at the Edinburgh Festival, as well as appearing on British TV shows such as Live at the Apollo, The Comedy Store, The Live Floor Show, Stand Up for the Week and The World Stands Up.

Totally Tom

2011 saw the duo perform at Underbelly Limited at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, for which they were nominated for the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Newcomer Award.