Member Login | FREE TICKETS GALORE - JOIN THE THEATRE CLUB JUST £30
QUICK LINKS
NEWS  |  GOSSIP  |  REVIEWS  |  REVIEW ROUND-UPS  |  INTERVIEWS  |  FEATURES  |  PHOTOS  |  REGIONS

McMasters Bows Out with EIF’s 2006 Programme
McMasters Bows Out with EIF’s 2006 Programme
Date: 22 March 2006

Full programme details for the 60th annual Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), the last under outgoing EIF director Brian McMaster, are announced today. EIF - the parent to the much larger and more chaotic Edinburgh Fringe - runs 13 August to 3 September 2006 this year with its global mix of opera, ballet and music as well as theatre.

Legendary German director Peter Stein - whose acclaimed production of Blackbird at last year’s EIF is now playing at the West End’s Albery Theatre (See News, 2 Dec 2005) - will return to the Edinburgh Festival in 2006 to direct an epic new production of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, which will subsequently visit Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the RSC’s Complete Works festival (See News, 8 Feb 2006). Stein will also direct Tchaikovsky’s opera Mazeppa.

Other theatre highlights at the 2006 EIF include: the world premiere of Realism by Anthony Neilson (whose previous Festival commission The Wonderful World of Dissocia was a hit in 2004), the first co-production between EIF and the National Theatre of Scotland; Long Life, a play without words performed by the New Riga Theatre that follows one day in the lives of retired people living in a communal block in Latvia, directed by Alvis Hermanis, who won the Young Directors Project Award at the Salzburg Festival in 2003; and director Krystian Lupa and American Repertory Theatre’s production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

Ever-controversial Spanish director Calixto Bieito premieres Platform, adapted from Michel Houellebecq’s novel in collaboration with the author. It charts a French civil servant’s voyage of self-discovery as a tourist in Thailand and his ultimate realisation that sex is not necessarily the most consuming nor the most dangerous of human passions. Bieito’s previous EIF productions include Celestina, Hamlet, Life is a Dream and the opera Il Trovatore.

In addition to theatrical productions, 2006 EIF attractions include: Claudio Abbado conducting Mozart’s The Magic Flute; Simon Rattle conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker; Charles Mackerras conducting all of Beethoven’s nine symphonies; large scale ballet with the UK premiere of Balanchine’s Don Quixote; and a host of international orchestras and artists. The Lloyds TSB Scotland Concerts enable audiences to choose from three concerts a night for three nights each week. Each concert is approximately an hour in length and each features the work of one composer.

Commenting on this year’s EIF, McMaster said: “The EIF is one of the most exciting places in the world to experience the performing arts, enabling us to present world-class experiences to the widest possible audience.” He added: “This year is obviously a very special Festival for me. Many artists I admire expressed a wish to be in my final Festival, and many supporters have invested that bit extra this year.”

McMaster will be succeeded by Jonathan Mills, one of Australia’s leading festival directors, who will programme events for the 2007 Festival and beyond. Mills is currently the Vice-Chancellor's (Professorial) Fellow at the University of Melbourne, director of the Alfred Deakin Lectures and an artistic advisor to the new Melbourne Recital Centre and Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, which is scheduled to open in 2009.

More than half a million people plan their August holidays each year around a trip to Edinburgh. The granddaddy of them all, EIF is just one of some seven festivals that overtake the Scottish city in August. The others are the Edinburgh Film Festival, Book Festival, Jazz & Blues Festival, Visual Arts Festival, the Military Tattoo and, of course, its main spin-off, the Edinburgh Fringe which, on its own, qualifies as the world's largest arts festival, with over 1,500 shows presented annually.

EIF tickets for 2006 go on sale to the public Saturday 8 April 2006 and can be booked on 0131 473 2000. To access the full 2006 Edinburgh Fringe programme - as well as online booking - visit the festival website.

- by Caroline Ansdell





Write a Comment
Give us your opinion on this entry
Comment:
Name:
Required, will appear on website
Email:
Required, will not appear on website
Confirm: Please type in
Please enter this number > SEVENTY-EIGHT < Just the two digits only, without any spaces.

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
Q Why join yet another mailing list?
A Because, if you visit the theatre more than once or twice a year, we could save you hundreds of pounds.






Tickets For Tonight


Special Offers

Theatre and Meal Deals

Click here for all meal deals


Friends Email: Your Email: Comment:
© Whatsonstage 1996-2009
SITE MAP COMPANY INFORMATION

Tickets
Buy London Theatre Tickets
Theatre Ticket & Meal Deals
Discount London Theatre Tickets and Promotions
London Theatre Ticket Hotel Breaks

Content
Theatre News
Theatre Reviews
Interviews & Features
Theatre Videos
Opera News & Reviews
Off-West End News & Reviews
Regional Theatre News & Reviewsl
Whatsonstage.com Awards

Meet the Editorial Team

Community
Discussion board
Community calendar
Theatre jobs
Theatre blogs

Whatsonstage.com Theatre Club
Join the Club
Log in
Current Club benefits
How to get free theatre tickets

Group Outings
What's On Stage Magazine

Mailing Lists
Newsletter - weekly theatre news
Special Offers - discount theatre tickets direct to your inbox

Information Services
What's On - national theatre listings database

A-Z of London Theatres
A-Z of London Theatre Shows

London Theatre Show openings & closings
FAQ
Work for us - current vacancies

Whatsonstage.com - Discount London theatre tickets, theatre news and reviews, Theatre videos, Theatre discussion, National Theatre Listings. Covering London's West End, all of Theatreland and all UK theatre. The best for London Theatre Tickets Discounts.

Products
Whatsonstage.com
What's On Stage Magazine
Theatregoers' Choice Awards
Theatre Club

Marketing Services:
Website design
Email marketing & CRM services

Content feeds

Testimonials
Contact us
Advertise with us

Book by Phone:
London Theatre Tickets: 0845 372 1950
For Outings or Club queries: 020 7317 9100