THEATRE GALORE IN EDINBURGH

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND -- Among the many international theatre directors bringing work to the 2012 Edinburgh International Festival are Grzegorz Jarzyna, Ariane Mnouchkine, Christoph Marthaler, Tadashi Suzuki and Silviu Purcarete.
    

    
Some of their productions will take place at the Festival's newest venue, Lowland Hall in the Royal Highland Centre. The three-story building will host three vastly different shows difficult to mount in conventional theatres--TR Warszawa's 2008: MACBETH (directed by Jazyna); Theater Basel's MY FAIR LADY--A LANGUAGE LABORATORY (Marthaler); and Theatre du Soleil's THE CASTAWAYS OF THE SUNRISES (Mnouchkine).

The latter work (loosely based on a novel by Jules Verne) is set in a Cape Horn dance hall before WW I and has been described as Darwin meets Cecil B. Demille.

Lowland Hall can be reached by bus from Edinburgh city center, followed by a 10-minute walk. There will be food and bar service, meaning it will be possible to see two shows in a day. Aug. 11 thru Aug. 28. All shows have English subtitles.

On a smaller scale, the Irish actor Barry McGovern (seen recently in L.A. in Waiting For Godot) will perform solo in another Beckett work, WATT. Adapted by McGovern from Beckett's comic novel, WATT tells the story of an itinerant character who struggles to make sense of the confounding world around him. Directed by Tom Creed, WATT comes to Edinburgh from Dublin's Gate Theatre.

August 11-14 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre.

eif.co.uk or 44 (0) 131 473 2000.