The Edinburgh International Festival, running from 7-29 August, has announced its 2021 programme which features over 170 classical and contemporary music, theatre, opera, dance and spoken word performances, including 15 new commissions and premieres.
NEWS: Royal & Derngate announces four new musicals for 2021
Royal & Derngate Northampton has announced that it will premiere a season of original musical theatre as part of its upcoming Made in Northampton 2021 season.
‘If it never convinces, it is always intriguing’: ANTHROPOCENE – Touring ★★★
Anthropocene, from Scottish Opera at the King’s, is a work that is constantly shifting its ground both dramatically and musically; while it is absorbing it never entirely solidifies.
NEWS: Arts Council England funds Royal & Derngate’s three-year musicals programme
Arts Council England announced an investment package of nearly £0.7 million to fund Northampton-based Royal & Derngate’s three year programme to create original musical productions for mid-scale theatres.
THE TRIAL – Edinburgh
Dark, brooding and brutal, Scottish Opera’s take on Kafka’s The Trial, catches several areas of resonance and delivers a piece which is as glorious as it it is forbidding.
ARIODANTE – Touring
Joyous yet dark: Death hangs brooding low over Scottish Opera’s fine production of Handel’s Ariodante, at Edinburgh’s Festival theatre for a sadly limited run.
THE DEVIL INSIDE – Touring
All the makings of a Faustian tale of darkness, damnation, intrigue and desperation are present in Scottish Opera’s The Devil Inside, at the King’s for two nights on its premiere tour.
CARMEN – Edinburgh
It may be a slow starter, but there’s no shortage of drama at the Festival Theatre this fortnight with Scottish Opera’s production of Carmen.
Set in 19th Century Seville, Georges Bizet’s opera is one of the most popular in the world. This Scottish Opera production, first performed in 1999, is both absorbing and emotive. And yet, despite compelling performances, it’s difficult to relate or really empathise with the main characters.
IL TROVATORE – Scottish Opera
✭✭✭✭✩ Weighty drama:
Darkness and light are so intertwined, it is impossible to have one without the other. In SO’s Il Trovatore, love, hope and light burn even stronger when through the darker elements of humanity.