Festivals put students in spotlight
Students are to play a starring role at the Edinburgh Festivals this August.
Graduates in the University’s Masters in Playwriting will have their work performed at the Traverse Theatre as part of the Festival Fringe.
Pre:View takes place on Monday 8 and 15 August. Extracts from plays dealing with grief, American culture and love in wartime will be performed by a cast of professional actors.
Stay up-to-date with news on the University at the festivals:
Creative platform
Students from Edinburgh College of Art will showcase their work at the Masters Degree Show, part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
Running from 13 - 27 August, visitors to the ECA Main Building can view a range of postgraduate work, including vivid illustrations, inventive product designs and intricate architectural models.
Many student societies have produced plays, musicals and comedy sketches part of the Festival Fringe.
The Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group will perform a production of Spring Awakening, a story that follows 11 teenagers struggling to come to terms with adulthood. The show runs from 5-13 August at Paradise in Augustine’s.
Digital showcase
Students and staff are also working together as part of the inaugural Digital Entertainment Festival – a new programme in the Festival Fringe that explores how the arts intersect with cutting-edge technology.
Design Informatics students and researchers will exhibit designs centred on the theme Living with Data. The work will be on show in a specially commissioned structure on George Street from 4 – 28 August.
Visitors can experience technology that allows you to get married for five minutes, have a cup of tea using a bitcoin coffee machine and try out intelligent furniture.
As part of the Digital Entertainment Festival, PhD student Pete Furniss will perform an atmospheric clarinet solo, honouring the work of Pierre Boulez, a contemporary composer who died in 2016.
During the piece, the live clarinet will be interspersed with pre-recorded sounds and visually arresting effects.
Academic insight
Pirates, the slave trade and a misunderstood monarch are just some of the topics explored by historians at a lecture series encouraging audiences to reconsider the past.
The History Brown Bag Lectures take place at 1.30pm on various days from 12 - 19 August at the Teviot Meadows Lecture. All talks are free to attend.
Academics also be sparking debates throughout the Festival Fringe at the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas, held daily in Saint Andrew Square.
Some of the provocative topics include whether we should have zoos, the merits of using plastic and the use of antibiotics.
Light show
The University also partnered with the Edinburgh International Festival for its spectacular opening event.
The show celebrated the findings of Edinburgh alumnus and Enlightenment figure, James Hutton. His theory of deep time shattered conventional thinking that Earth was thousands – rather than millions – of years old.
Researchers from science, arts and humanities have lent their expertise to help tell the story of the earth and the ideas behind Hutton’s world-changing theory.
Deep Time podcast
Listen to top academics explain the history and theories behind Deep Time:
Win tickets
To celebrate the University’s many links with the festivals, a number of competitions have been organised.
Visitors, residents, staff and students are being asked to share pictures of their festival experience using hashtag #heartedfest for the chance to win tickets and other prizes and to access exclusive events.
Visit the festivals website for more information and terms and conditions.