Literatures, Languages & Cultures

LLC at the Edinburgh summer festivals 2019 - part two

Here's what we're up to as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Just Festival (2nd - 26th August 2019).

It’s that time of year again! The Edinburgh Fringe and the Just Festival (2nd – 26th August 2019) are just around the corner. We’ve gathered together a selection of the events that we’re involved with; as students, graduates, academics and as a venue.

The School of Literatures, Languages and Culture (LLC) looks forward to seeing you!

Playwriting voices of the future

Love playwriting? Then our MSc Playwriting students have the show for you! Run in partnership with Playwrights' Studio, Scotland, these rehearsed readings by professional actors wrap up a year’s postgraduate study in which the students have developed new writing for performance under the guidance of Programme Director and Scotland-based playwright, Nicola McCartney.

'Pre-View' takes place over two nights at the Traverse Theatre on the 5th and 12th of August as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as follows:

Monday 5th August 2019, 7:30pm: plays by Ahmad Musta’ain Bin Khamis, Ansley Echols, Davey Goodwin, Francisca da Silveira

Monday 12th August 2019, 7:30pm: plays by Morgan Powell, Amy Rhianne Milton, Joanna Glum, Karolina Oleskiewicz

Book tickets for this year's 'Pre-View' on the Traverse website

You can also catch McCartney's own work, a collaboration with playwright Dritan Kastrati, at the Traverse Theatre on the 30th July - 25th August. How Not to Drown shares Dritan's true story of endurance for an eleven year-old unaccompanied asylum-seeker, who wasn’t safe or welcome anywhere in the world.

Book tickets for How Not to Drown on the Traverse Theatre website

Read our interview with student Karolna Oleskiewicz 

The James Tait Black (JTB) Prize for Drama

The James Tait Black (JTB) Prizes are the only major awards of their kind in Britain to be judged by scholars and students. In the case of the JTB Prize for Drama, the students come from our MSc Playwriting programme. The prize of £10,000 is awarded annually for the best play written in English, Scots or Gaelic and first performed by a professional company in the previous year.

This year's shortlisted plays are:

  • Dance Nation by Clare Barron (Almeida Theatre)
  • Richard III Redux [or] Sara Beer [is/not] Richard III by Kaite O’Reilly with Phillip B Zarrilli (The Llanarth Group)
  • Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris (New York Theatre Workshop)

The winner will be announced during the award ceremony on the 19th August 2019. During the ceremony, extracts from the shortlisted plays will be performed and thought-provoking discussions held with the playwrights about their work before the winner of the esteemed prize is revealed.

Book tickets for the James Tait Black Prize for Drama ceremony 2019 on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe website

From Shanghai with Love - Fashion Show/Exhibition return to Playfair library on 23 & 24 August
From Shanghai with Love fashion show courtesy of the Confucius Institute for Scotland

Shanghai Style fashion from the Republican period and beyond

For the third year in a row, the Confucius Institute for Scotland is thrilled to partner the Donghua Edinburgh Centre for Creative Industries to bring the combined fashion show and exhibition, From Shanghai with Love, to the stunning surrounds of the Playfair Library, Old College, from 23rd– 24th August 2019.

Discover elegant, enduring and electrifying Qipao fashion on a journey along the Silk Road through the ages and into the future. The exhibition features Shanghai style fashion from the Republican period and beyond.

Book tickets for From Shanghai With Love on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe website

Bringing Belgium to Scotland

Based in European Languages and Cultures at LLC, the Centre de Recherches Francophones Belges, is supporting four Fringe events this year, in conjunction with Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI).

Comète

A live rock concert for young moshers aged 5+ by Belgian indie supergroup Comète.

Before the End

Belgian actor and violinist Catherine Graindorge tells the story of her lawyer father Michel and her experience of caring for him in the last months of his life.

FrontX

A groundbreaking mix of dance, hiphop, beatboxing and burlesque from Belgian choreographer Milan Emmanuel.

The Steve Reich Project

Belgian choreographer Isabella Soupart partners with the MP4 Quartet to re-imagine three of Reich’s most famous works in dance.

Find out more about these events and the Centre de Recherches Francophones Belges

The Just Festival: From Syria to Scotland

Scotland has welcomed more than 2,500 refugees from Syria since the start of the devastating conflict in 2011. Now, thanks to the Edinburgh Alwaleed Centre, you can hear first hand accounts of their experiences.  

In this conversation, Scottish Syrians will share their views on their transition to a new and different culture and environment, alongside organisations who support refugees through the process. This event is chaired by Tom Lea, General Manager of the Alwaleed Centre and includes panellist, Nadin Akta. Nadin is the cofounder of an award-winning tutoring scheme for Syrian teenagers at the University of Edinburgh which matches Arabic-speaking students from across the University with Syrian school pupils to help them on their educational journey, raise their confidence and meet new people.

The Alwaleed Centre is based in LLC and linked to the work of colleagues Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. The Centre connects different schools and departments across the University of Edinburgh through its focus on contemporary Islam. 

Book tickets for the Just Festival: From Syria to Scotland on the Just Festival website

The Night With… Turning the Elements 2019 (Joanna Nicholson clarinet and Frances Cooper soprano)
Turning the Elements (Joanna Nicholson clarinet and Frances Cooper soprano) courtesy of The Night With

Turning the Elements: Spirited and lyrical music

Part of the Made in Scotland Showcase, The Night With… Turning the Elements (Joanna Nicholson clarinet and Frances Cooper soprano) includes settings of poetry by Matthew Whiteside, Rebecca Rowe and Stuart Murray Mitchell by Scottish poets Jane McKie (Lecturer in Creative Writing at LLC), Stewart Sanderson and Helene Grøn. 

Turning the Elements performs spirited and lyrical music with “stunningly fluent performances” (The Herald) for voice and clarinet, taking music both new and traditional, and turning the elements of each piece to fit the forces of the duo, putting a unique slant on their performance.

Book tickets for The Night With... Turning the Elelements on The Night With... website

Related links

Look back at our involvement in the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2019

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 

Just Festival