The Seagull by Anton Chekhov has Director Peter Stein directing Fiona Shaw as Arkadina, Iain Glen as Trigorin and Jodhi May as Nina. It will be the first time Stein has worked with an English speaking cast. Many will remember his striking direction of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard seen at 1997 EIF season, which filled the vast Edinburgh Festival Theatre stage with action and detail. The Seagull will be at the King's Theatre and will run for two weeks from Monday 11 to 23 August (not Suns) at 7:30pm with Matinees at 2pm on 14, 16 , 20 & 23 August.

A co-production between EIF and the Russian Drama Theatre of Riga, Latvia, this will be the only opportunity to see this production in Britain. Peter Stein will later be taking the production and the set to Latvia to stage the production with a Russian Drama Theatre cast. The last time EIF audiences saw The Seagull at the Kings was 2001 when Luc Bondy directed Vienna's Burgtheatre with Jutta Lampe as Arkadina and Gert Voss as Trigorin - review. The last time Scottish audiences saw an international director's take on The Seagull was in 2001 - 2002 when Lithuanian Rimas Tumenas stunningly directed the acclaimed Dundee Rep production - review.

Also opening on the 11 of August at the Royal Lyceum Theatre is The Last Night of Mankind from El Periférico De Objetos of Buenos Aires in their UK debut, inspired by Karl Kraus's classic The Last Days of Mankind. In the first act naked humans struggle to survive in a ghastly world of mud, in the second act cleaned and locked in a clinical room they seem to be manipulated by an unseen "big brother". From a collaborative theatre who explore political themes in harsh and spectacular ways, it's a chance to see work from a continent full of theatrical energy. Performances 11 - 13 August at 7:30pm also Matinee 13 August at 2pm

Opening on the 15 August the World Premiere of Scottish Playwright, David Grieg's San Diego in a co-production between EIF and Tron Theatre Glasgow. This often fascinating playwright will co-direct with director and choreographer Marisa Zanotti and he will also appear as himself in the production. EIF audiences last saw Grieg's work in 1999 with The Speculator, his Outlying Islands was a hit on the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe and that Traverse production, revived this summer with original cast is going to Canada and to venues in Scotland and one in England - review.

Week Two
Peter Stein's production of The Seagulll continues at the King's theatre until 23 August (not Sun) at 7:30pm with Matinees at 2pm on 20 & 23 August..

At The Royal Lyceum William Shakespeare's Hamlet is directed by sometimes controversial Spanish director Calixto Bieito with The Birmingham Repertory Theatre and staring George Anton as Hamlet. Bietio's direction was acclaimed in the 1998 EIF season for his production of Life is a Dream where he directed Royal Lyceum Theatre Company including George Anton in Playwright John Clifford's translation of Caldèròn's great play. His direction in the 2000 EIF season of The Abbey Theatre, Dublin in Ramon Maria del Valle-Inclan, Barbaric Comedies in a version by Frank McGuinness was less of a success ( review) but he's concentrating on the political themes in Shakespeare's play which has an associated educational programme. EIF audience last saw a production of Hamlet in 2000 from Deutsches Schauspielhaus, under the direction of Peter Zadek - review. Performances 20 - 29 August (not Mon 25) at 7:30pm then Sat 30 August at 7pm and Matinees on 21, 23, 27 and 30 August at 2pm.

Week Three
Calixto Bieito's Hamlet continues at the Royal Lyceum Theatre until 30 August (not Mon 25) evening performances (except 30 August) at 7:30pm, Sat 30 August at 7pm and Matinees on 27 and 30 August at 2pm.

Tamasha Theatre Company bring Strictly Dandia by Kristine Landon-Smith and Sudha Bhuchar for its World Premiere at the King's Theatre, it will go to London's Lyric Hammersmith in January 2004. It's a British Asian West Side Story set in the world of "garba" dance competitions which form part of the Hindu celebration of Navrati. Where young Gujerati Britains meet, make friends and behave like teenagers. This London based Asian theatre company were last up in a Edinburgh Festival August with A Tainted Dawn in 1997 at the Gateway Theatre, a memorable play about the Indian Subcontinent's Partition. Performances 27 & 28 August at 7:30pm, 29 August at 6pm & 9pm and 30 August at 2pm & 7pm.


Official Festival Theatre 2003 - What Thelma thinks

With all but one of the productions texts in English and that one mainly in English with English supertitles for the little in Spanish the theatre programme is linguistically very accessible to English speaking and understanding audiences.

EIF have also devised various ways to encourage potential theatre goers to take the plunge with several low cost schemes. Not that EIF theatre prices are high they compare well with Fringe prices at the main venues ranging from £6/£7 to £20 for most only The Seagull most expensive ticket are more at £26 but even it has ones going down as low as £6:50. The Royal Bank Turn Up and Try it Scheme has a minimum of 50 seats sold for £5 from an hour before each theatre performance. Tickets issued only at the venue on a first come first served basis, limited to 2 per customer. Additional schemes apply to certain groups which can be booked in advance. For selected performances Half Price for children and Students in Full-time education from 12 April and 25% discount for Senior Citizens from 7 July and Half price Standby for Senior Citizens, Unemployed, Young Scot, Equity and MU card holders from 5 August. For Group of 10 or more 10% discount only call +44 (0)131 473 2071. Disabled Customers can buy tickets at the lowest price for performance NB book early for this discount as demand can be high. These are excellent offers which those eligible should take advantage of.

So the EIF have extended their ticket offers but what about what is on offer? The number of plays is down even from last year's 7 to 5 this year. And two of these plays have been seen quite recently at EIF seasons, The Seagull in 2001 and Hamlet in 2000. Sometimes it feels as though the EIF only want to stage certain plays/and or directors. Both Peter Stein and Calixto Bieito having had productions at the EIF in the last six years, they are outstanding directors but should one season contain two such directors directing plays seen so frequently elsewhere and so recently here?

That said it will be very interesting to see how Stein's direction compares to Rimas Tumenas's direction of Dundee Rep's The Seagull which was electrifying. Fiona Shaw, Jodhi May (Platonov at the Almeida Kings Cross 2001, Tipping The Velvet and The Other Boleyn Girl) and Iain Glen are all internationally known actors and may mean that the cast will be drawn from all over and apart from Glen have no or few Scots.

Likewise this year's Hamlet will probably bring us a crop of English actors as it is a Birmingham Rep production but as their Of Mice And Men (review) which toured here this year had many interesting actors I await their production with anticipation. Bieito's Hamlet we know will not have a female Hamlet as did Peter Zadek's production seen at 2000 EIF. Angela Winkler's performance in that production was low key and altered the balance of the play. It will be interesting to see how Bieito and Anton's Hamlet tune this classic. But I would have liked a different Shakespeare, one less frequently tackled and from the more European modern canon another playwright, for example a new version of Durrenmatt's extraordinary The Visit or another Gorky or Mayakovski or Bulgakhov all of which have many contemporary resonances.

I welcome the David Greig's San Diego which had very successful readings staged at the Tron and the Traverse in 2002. It seemed at one point as though this play set in our international modern and confusing world would be first produced abroad rather than in the playwright's home country. As yet we don't know who will be in the cast apart from Grieg but Scotland has a great pool of exciting Scottish actors to draw on.

The Last Night of Mankind looks from its production shots to be the most likely to be the controversial and political play of the selection. Nakedness always gets the Edinburgh audiences wriggling in their seats and sometimes storming up and out of the theatre, but here it seems the settings and theme are going to give us more nourishing theatrical meat beyond the flailing about of bare flesh.

Strictly Dandia the final play from Tamasha Theatre Company with its dance background will be full of colour and interest as it lets us go into a British world many of us don't have the opportunity to experience first hand. It should appeal to the large audiences who enjoyed their East is East and Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings and A Funeral and is the production mostly likely to give any audience member a good, entertaining time as well as an introduction to our Gujerati community.

But there is no getting away from the fact that there are only five plays available in the EIF programme and though each has interest all take place in conventional theatre spaces. Perhaps when the Scottish Parliament moves out of the Assembly Hall in 2003 we'll see that dynamic space used again by the EIF as its thrust stage lends itself to drama on the grand and vibrant scale with no fourth wall to get in the way.
© Thelma Good April 2003
Edinburgh International Festival 2003 Their website Booking opens for all by post, phone,fax counter and new for 2003 online on 12 April 2003.

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