The festival will pay tribute to the legendary Nina Simone, marking the 90th anniversary of her birth, with a musical portrait of her life by Moliere-winner French theatre director David Lescot. In this dazzling and intimate show, the life of the jazz singer, pianist, composer, and civil rights activist is told through music, song, and storytelling by the acclaimed Ludmilla Dabo.
Set in the 1940s, Exile for two violins is a theatrical creation by Compagnie Bacchus inspired by the life of the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, his research and his musical ambitions. Two violinists confront Béla Bartók during his exile in New-York to escape Nazism. Half-fable, half-biography, this show is a musical interlude in the Balkans. The Compagnie Bacchus was created in 1985 by French theatre director and actor Jean Pétrement in Besançon, France.
The Snowapple company will propose an audacious performative experiment, an opera of the future mixing theatre, poetry, music and dance. Cyborg Experiment #1 features a scientist who presents four subjects from a potential future. This show combines dark humor, contemporary melodies and touching characters trying to make sense of our world. Snowapple is a pluridisciplinary and international artists’ collective that values new encounters, collaborations and artistic experiments.
We will shed light on the American poet Emily Dickinson with Bolts of Melody, a musical, funny and moving show by Geneva-based Compagnie La Meute. It is the story of two people entering Possibility, a place populated by Emily Dickinson’s words. It deals with loss, but also joy and humour. It’s about finding internal poetry, and relying on others.
Là-Haut is an audiovisual show by Belgian composer and multi-media artist Sonia Killmann. It immerses the audience in a unique world through the eyes of bird-like aeroplanes. The production is a sensory feast, combining saxophone, synths, and visuals to create a mesmerizing display of the human psyche.
SHOW LISTINGS
David Lescot / Compagnie du Kaïros, A Portrait of Ludmilla as Nina Simone | August 4-14 | 20h | 1h | £14/£11
Compagnie Bacchus, Exile for two violins | August 7-13 | 18h00 | 1h10 | £14/£11
Snowapple Company, Cyborg Experiment #1 | August 14-20 | 20h00, opening show at 18h30 | 30mins | £10/£8
Compagnie La Meute, Bolts of Melody | August 16-20 | 18h | 1h | £10/£8
Sonia Killmann, Là-Haut (Up There) | August 25-28 | 20h | 1h | £12/£10
Venue: Institut français d’Écosse, W Parliament Square, Edinburgh EH1 1RF
Contact
- Julia Bregeron, Communications Officer
julia.bregeron@diplomatie.gouv.fr / 013 1285 6029