If you are holding a festival event related to Russia or her neighbours which you would like us to list on this page please email brief details and an image to info@scotlandrussiaforum.org. The SRF reserves the right to accept, reject or edit material sent in.
Performers and events from Russia and her neighbours at the various Edinburgh arts festivals in the summer will be listed as details become available. Please let us know if we have missed anything!
For information on all Edinburgh's Festivals see www.edinburghfestivalcity.com
Russia-related events at past Festivals are listed here - 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
For information on all Edinburgh's Festivals see www.edinburghfestivalcity.com
Russia-related events at past Festivals are listed here - 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Edinburgh Festivals 2018
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8 August: Viktoria Mullova, Violin, and Katia Labèque, Piano
11am, Queen's Hall Prokofiev, Schumann, Takemitsu, Arvo Pärt and Ravel Reviews: Scotsman 9.10.2018 |
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14 August: Jean-Guihen Queyras, Cello, and Alexander Melnikov, Piano
11am, Queen's Hall Beethoven, Chopin and Rachmaninov |
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CABARET
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Russian Roulette – Shantisha and Ivan (Russia)
4-26 August. 6.35pm Venue 276, Liquid Room Annexe/Warehouse - Warehouse. Age 18+ only. Who will risk their life tonight? A rotating bill of bang-up performers from all over the Fringe, hand-picked by your charming Russian hostess Shantisha, the only belly-dancing compere on the Fringe. High-energy, unique dancing technique, exquisite costumes, tasteful choice of guest acts and an element of danger make Shantisha’s cabaret the perfect Fringe taster experience. Previous guest performers include Semi-Toned, Miriam Wolanski’s Pole and Aerial Fitness, Card Ninja and 100+ other spectacular acts. With a devil-may-care approach to danger, safely bet on a mind-blowing evening full of magic, variety, comedy, circus and more! |
CHILDREN'S SHOWS
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Strings for Kids: Misha's Gang Presents (Russia)
Children's Shows (music, interactive, age 3+) 3-14, 16-25 August. 3pm - Misha's Gang. Venue 53, theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, Grand Theatre 19-25 August. 4.15pm - Misha's Gang: Overdrive. Venue 53, theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, Grand Theatre 9-11, 18, 25 August. 8pm - Russian String Orchestra at Old St Pauls. Venue 267, Old St. Pauls Church Herald Angel winners on their 2017 Fringe debut, Misha Rachlevsky and his 14-strong Gang (Russian String Orchestra) return to Edinburgh with a completely new set of powerful music programmes. Embracing several different themes (such as adversaries and soul mates, fountain of youth, viva recycling!, lands of Pushkin and Burns), yet all performed in a wonderfully intimate setting with the energy and passion that sets the orchestra apart. This is classical music with a twist: vibrant and exciting, emotional and beautiful, traditional yet still surprising. 'Unmissable musical highlight of the Fringe' ***** (Herald). 'An unashamed crowd pleaser!' ***** (ThreeWeeks). Video and other information on the orchestra's home page. Reviews: Scotsman (4*), |
COMEDY
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Olga Koch: Fight
Aug 1-13, 15-26. 7.15pm Venue 33, Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance This Age 14+ In 2014, Olga Koch's father got stopped by authorities on the Russian border, which resulted in the most surreal year of her family's life. This year, the Amused Moose National New Comic Award finalist will try to dissect this real-life spy drama with nothing but a projector and 'a naturally comic mind' (Bruce Dessau). As heard on The Now Show. Times interview 1.8.2018 Review: Skinny (4*), Chortle (3*) |
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Oleg Denisov: Doublethink (Russia)
Aug 2-12, 14-26. 11.40pm Venue 51, Just the Tonic at The Tron. Age 16+ If information is in infinite supply, why are we surprised it has no value? Moscow's top (yeah, only) satirical stand-up, the 'quick-fire funny' (Vin Arthey, Scotsman) Russian returns to Edinburgh from the neo-archaic futureland! A political animal from Putin’s petrified forest, and philosopher by training, Oleg, will third-world-splain propaganda and democracy, dissect Russian political zeitgeist and the test limits of identity and knowledge. 'Preternaturally funny and brutally intelligent!' (Ellyn Daniels, producer/actress). Review: Fest (2*) |
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The Whole of Shakespeare (Russia)
21-25 August. 1.45pm Venue39, theSpace on the Mile - Space 1 Age 16+ Comedy Club St Petersburg Artists of pantomime and clownery Mikhail Kukota and Igor Chekhov are graduates of the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts. They present a completely new vision and new form of William Shakespeare's famous drama plays through ironic consciousness. Sixteenth-century morality, English drama traditions, the author's unrivalled genius and notorious subjects that outlived millions of interpretations and screenings are transformed in the creator's imagination. An unexpected fusion, which would have surprised William Shakespeare, Elizabeth I and all the Elsinore population. The author of the show is the young talented director Ilya Moshchitsky, known for experimental cross-genre productions. |
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Two Free Fringe comedy shows for ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY
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Bad Russian
August 14, 2:30 pm Bar Bados, Room 4, Free Fringe venue 32 You haven't come to Russia this year for the World Cup?! Don't worry! Russia comes to YOU! Denis Nikolin, a professional comedian from Moscow, Russia (@russian_comedian), is gonna knock down all your walls of stereotypes with nearly one hour stand-up show about the country of Vodka, snow and bears. He will make sure you you'll laugh non-stop about him, his life in this Russia-hating world, meeting other nations in his travels and destroy your beliefs in Russians being unfriendly evil… |
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The Russian Comedy Experience
August 17, 6.15pm La Vida Room 1 (Venue 113), 3 Queensferry St Ln Russia, you’ve heard of it, you know it’s run by a shirtless man on a horse, but what’s it really like? Three of Russian TV’s finest comedians (Milo Edwards, Ivan Yavits and Anton Borisov) will tell you for a whole hour, with jokes about the motherland, Britain and the world at large. |
DANCE / PHYSICAL THEATRE / CIRCUS
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Sky Labyrinths (Russia)
3-11, 13-18, 20-15 August. 11:35am Venue 236, Greenside @ Infirmary Street - Forest Theatre Age 18+ Alyona Ageeva Physical Theatre PosleSlov 'I looked up in the skies. The Sky river changed its bed' (Hattori Ransetsu). Once in a lifetime Sky Labyrinths open to everyone, but not everyone risks entering. These labyrinths are home to beauty and terror at the same time. They reveal the eternal secrets of the universe and pages of the books unwritten: there you can find your essence or get lost forever. It's a road with no beginning or ending, a river of time carrying humans' destiny. Those who come through these labyrinths will never be the same again. Reviews: FringeReview (Highly Recc), BroadwayBaby (4*) |
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(Some)Body (Russia)
3-11 August. 3.40pm Venue 124, ZOO Charteris - Sanctuary Age 18+ Alyona Ageeva Physical Theatre PosleSlov Does a body have its own soul? Does a body make us a human being? What is hidden beneath nudity, and what is nudity itself? Nudity is extreme openness and vulnerability and, at the same time, an incomprehensible power connected not only with sexuality. The magic of Eros, compelling power of nudity, way up and way down, transcendence and co-creation, fragility and strength. Life, death, pain and love – all of this complex and unspeakable physical phenomenon is what we are researching in (Some)Body. Reviews: BroadwayBaby (5*), Fest (3*) |
MUSIC
See Misha's Gang, listed under Children's Shows above.
THEATRE
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Pussy Riot: Riot Days
Music (theatre, political) 10-19 August. 7-10pm Venue 26, Summerhall, Dissection Room Age 14+ Group: One Inch Badge Pussy Riot have one of the most important voices of the last 10 years. Gaining global notoriety in 2012, three members, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were imprisoned for 'hooliganism motivated by religious hatred' for their performance inside a Moscow cathedral. Riot Days merges punk, electronica, theatre, documentary footage and protest. Based on Maria Alyokhina's book, Riot Days (Penguin Books). Yury Muravitsky (Director). Alexander Cheparukhin (Producer). Maria Alyokhina (Actor, Singer). Kiryl Masheka (Actor, Singer, Text Editor). Nastya AWOTT (Actor, Singer, Saxophone). Maxim AWOTT (Keyboards, Programming, Drums). Vasily Bogatov (Video Director, VJ) Olga Borisova (Text). Reviews: Skinny (5*), British Theatre Guide (4*), Fest (4*), List (3*) |
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I, Sniper
Aug 10-11, 13-18, 20-25. 2.20pm Venue 36, theSpace on North Bridge Age 16+ Performed by Acting Coach Scotland With her country under attack from the Nazis, a teenage mother joins the Red Army, becomes one of the deadliest snipers and changes the course of history. Discover the story of Lyudmila Pavlichenko – an incredible hero of the Soviet Union. Reviews: Broadwaybaby (5*), EdinburghGuide (3*) |
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OTOSOTR (Kazakhstan)
2-26 August. 6.40pm Venue 61, Underbelly, Cowgate - White Belly. Age 8+ Performed by Anatoliy Ogay, dir. Tatyana Kim The story of one of the 200,000 Koreans who were deported from the Russian-Korean border by the Soviet government in 1937. It is an exploration of the life of a Soviet soldier of Korean descent Anatoliy Ogay. This is the journey of a WWII hero who fought the Nazis in Berlin in 1945, survived the communist regime until 1991 and preserved his Korean identity throughout his life. This powerful, extraordinary story that is told by his grandson, who traces his grandfather's life journey through a witty text, multimedia storytelling and contemporary music. Article about the production in the Astana Times - https://astanatimes.com/2018/06/otosotr-wwii-monodrama-to-be-performed-in-uk-and-us/ Reviews: List (4*) |
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A Hero of Our Time (Belarus / Russia / UK)
19-27 August. 5.45pm Venue 6, C venues – C royale - studio 2. Age 14+ Sex, power, love, alienation and violence. World premiere of a new adaptation of Lermontov’s classic novel. A thrilling Russian dissection of the cruel and complicated games played between the sexes, laying intimate thoughts unflinchingly bare, and featuring the ultimate Byronic hero, a reckless, melancholic romantic. A uniquely immersive experience, blurring the line between spectators and performers, and between the present day and the 19th century. Created by a team of artists from the UK, Russia and Belarus, crossing social and political divides. |
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The Contract (Russia)
20-25 August. 10.30pm Venue 45, theSpace @ Venue45 Age 18+ A staging of the famous play, Mike Bartlett's Contractions, by the St Petersburg A.A. Bryantsev Youth Theatre. This ink-black satire features a series of short interviews between the human resources manager of a multinational company and a young woman working in the sales division. Mike Bartlett, who was thrilled, by his own words, that Contractions was having its premiere production in Russia, said that the message he wanted to translate to the viewers is 'the importance of humanity versus faceless authority, and the necessity of frailty, emotion and above all, play.' |
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Specters (Ukraine)
Aug 9-11, 8pm PASS Theatre (Edinburgh College, Granton Campus, EH5 1QE), Venue 446 (free bus leaves Apex Hotel, Grassmarket, at 7pm) Age 12+ Country: Ukraine Group: Suzirja Theater Spectres is a chamber-piece play in Stanislavsky tradition, initially staged in the interiors of an early 20th-century mansion in Kyiv. Elegant drama, based on Ibsen’s Ghosts, telling the story of a bourgeois family in crisis with themes of maternal deprivation and rejection, set against a backdrop of a contemporary Ukraine, a country reborn. This new version created by Polina Medvedeva for Edinburgh PASS Theatre, is a radical experiment, where intimacy serves as a vehicle for intense psychological chemistry. Performed in Ukrainian with English surtitles. Free bus to PASS Theatre and back leaves from Apex Hotel, 31-35 Grassmarket, Old Town, at 7pm. |
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All That Remains
Aug 21-25. 2pm. Venue 236 Greenside @ Infirmary Street - Olive Studio Age 12+ Molodyi Teatr, London All That Remains is a moving reflection on loss and memory based on true stories from the ongoing war in Ukraine. A woman who has lost her brother to the war and is left with only a few of his belongings tries to make sense of what happened. Into her story, the show weaves the voices of her brother and others affected by the war. Using documentary theatre, music and storytelling the show explores what remains when someone dies in armed conflict. A touching and challenging story about trauma, bereavement and finding the strength to live on. |
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Misha Glenny: McMafia (a talk)
20-26 August. 3.30pm Venue 322 Assembly Checkpoint Age 12+ Journalist and author Misha Glenny has spent years courageously investigating the most dangerous and sophisticated organised crime networks around the world. His international bestseller McMafia, now a hit BBC TV series, is known to millions and in this illuminating talk Glenny will shed further light on the Russian mafia, giant drug cartels, corrupt intelligence agencies and cyber hackers that pose an increasing threat to global security in the 21st century. |
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11-27 August 2018
Tickets go on sale at 8:30am on Tuesday 26 June.
See also: Launch of Moscow Diary at the Amnesty Bookshop on 22 August. Free. SRF event |
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11 August, 3.15pm: Anne Applebaum
Stalin and Genocide Some leaders will go to astonishing lengths to suppress dissent. In Red Famine Anne Applebaum explores the treatment of Ukraine by Stalin in the early years of the Soviet Union. Applebaum’s compelling account of the period, culminating in the famine of 1932-33 that killed 4 million, weighs up the claims that Stalin deliberately allowed Ukrainians to starve. Chaired by Allan Little. |
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11 August, 6.30pm: Jacek Dehnel & Andrei Ivanov
Russia, Revolution, and Real Lives The impact of the Soviet era extended far beyond the Russian borders. Polish writer Jacek Dehnel and Estonian Andrei Ivanov present remarkable novels which document extraordinary episodes in the lives of ordinary people. Lala is based on the life of Dehnel’s own grandmother in Ukraine and Poland, while Hanuman’s Travels is Ivanov’s autobiographical account of his time in a Danish refugee camp. |
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12 August, 3.30pm: Hamid Ismailov & Eugene Vodolazkin
Inside Russia and Uzbekistan Translated fiction doesn’t come much better than this. Hamid Ismailov’s The Devils' Dance, translated by Donald Rayfield, is hugely significant: it’s his first Uzbek-language novel to appear in English, representing a rare opportunity to see the world from an Uzbek perspective. Eugene Vodolazkin’s The Aviator, translated by Lisa Hayden, is an epic story of Russia’s 20th century, described by the Huffington Post as ‘a masterpiece by any standards’. |
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12 August, 7.15pm: Luke Harding
How Russia Helped Trump Win the White House Luke Harding, the Guardian's Moscow bureau chief until he was expelled by the Kremlin in 2011, has kept on digging up more detail on how Russia is shaping the world. Collusion describes one of the most gripping political scandals of our time; an astonishing story of dirty money, sketchy property deals, a Miss Universe Pageant, money laundering, hacking and Kremlin espionage. |
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15 August, 5.30pm: Gerald Seymour
From Russia With Hackers Gerald Seymour has reported on conflicts in Vietnam, Israel and Borneo on TV but with Harry’s Game in 1975 he became ‘the best thriller writer in the world’, so said the Telegraph. Northern Ireland was ripe for novelists then, just as the Russian troubles are now. In A Damned Serious Business he delves into a world of cyber-hackers, dirty bombs and rogue operatives with dodgy definitions of right and wrong. |
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21 August, 12pm: Viv Groskop
Tips from Russian Classics As writer and comedian Viv Groskop knows from personal experience, everything that has ever happened to a person has already happened in the Russian classics: from not being sure what to do with your life to being hopelessly in love with someone who doesn’t love you back. In The Anna Karenina Fix, a sort of literary self-help memoir, Groskop mines the Russian classics and her own experiences as a student of Russian to answer the question ‘How should you live your life?’ Join her today as she talks about her charming and fiercely intelligent book, shares the reasons why she created a love letter to Russian literature and reveals the answers she found to some of life’s big questions. Chaired by Steven Gale. |
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21 August, 5.30pm: Amnesty International Imprisoned Writers Series
Putin’s Power Vladimir Putin has held power in Russia since 1999, presiding over increasing abuses of human rights. Some forms of domestic violence have been decriminalised; refugees are denied rights; LGBT+ people face persecution; and those who speak out can face death. Today's writing comes from journalists and activists exposing Putin's monopoly on power. Authors reading include Ali Smith, Pádraig Kenny and Martin Stewart. |
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21 August, 5.30pm: Rodric Braithwaite & Taylor Downing
Apocalypse Now? While the world awaits the next moves of nations like Russia, North Korea, Iran and the USA, Rodric Braithwaite and Taylor Downing reflect on past times when the planet seemed on the edge of an apocalyptic precipice. Braithwaite’s Armageddon and Paranoia recalls events leading to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis while Downing’s 1983 analyses the Soviet Union’s tense stand-off with Reagan’s America. A relevant discussion in worrying times. |
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26 August, 12.30: Oliver Bullough & Dharshini David
Follow the Money Money definitely makes some parts of the world go round. In Moneyland, investigative journalist Oliver Bullough glues together the Panama Papers, Trumpism and inequality to expose the super-rich. Economist and broadcaster Dharshini David followed the money for The Almighty Dollar, finding that globalisation would buckle without the vast reserves of the stuff circulating, even aside from the enormous numbers of dollars kept in vaults by some countries. Chaired by Phil Harding. |
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26 August, 2pm: Timothy Snyder
Darkness in our Midst Those who thought the end of the Cold War meant victory for liberal democracy may have been wrong. In The Road to Unfreedom, Timothy Snyder shows how Putin’s authoritarianism is spreading, aided by Russian warfare in Ukraine and cyber attacks in Europe and America. He exposes the true nature of the threat to democracy and the pillars of our own political order. Chaired by David Leddy. |