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60th Edinburgh Fringe Programme Launched Today

The 2006 Edinburgh Fringe programme, published today, features plays, musicals and children’s shows on the topic of faith and religion. The 60th annual Festival Fringe, running this year from 6 to 28 August 2006, involves an estimated 16,990 performers presenting 28,014 performances of 1,867 shows in 261 venues.

In the same year that The Da Vinci Code became a Hollywood blockbuster and Jerry Springer the Opera caused chaos on tour at theatres around the UK, the Fringe seems to be exploring faith in all its forms.

Petrol Jesus Nightmare (Traverse Theatre Company) is an apocalyptic thriller about the violent consequences of faith, while Mary and the Stripper (M+E Productions) compares a modern-day girl’s life to that of Mary Magdalene. We Don’t Know Shi’ite (WMD Theatre) investigates how much the British public really know about Islam. In Devil’s Advocate (Mercury Theatre Company/Escalator East to Edinburgh), the Vatican’s Archbishop traps and breaks General Noriega in Panama. The Black Jew Dialogues (StageCoach Productions) is a comical examination of the American Black-Jew experience, while twp shows feature Jesus Christ as a stand-up comedian.

In dance, The Convent (Jo Stromgren Kompani) follows the lives of three nuns in the Alpine valley, while Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell feature in the musical line-up.

Elsewhere in the programme, other theatrical highlights include Jim Henson’s Puppet Improv (adults only version and kids’ version!), Tim Fountain's stage adaptation of the cult classic Midnight Cowboy, Talk Radio, Stewart Lee's first directorial outing since Jerry Springer The Opera, and My Name Is Rachel Corrie straight from the West End directed by Alan Rickman. There will also be plenty of stand-up comedy and other entertainments.

Commenting on the festival programme, Edinburgh Fringe director Paul Gudgin said: “It is always interesting when particular issues come to the fore in the Fringe programme - at the 2002 Fringe we felt a massive response to September 11, while in 2005 the War on Terror was a central point of inspiration for many shows. This year, I’m fascinated to see so many shows addressing faith and religion; clearly it’s a very personal subject that artists and writers currently feel a particular need to explore."

More than half a million people plan their August holidays each year around a trip to Edinburgh. Though commonly seen as one single festival, the event is in reality several different festivals - the main ones being the original Edinburgh International Festival (running this year from 13 August to 3 September 2006), the Edinburgh Fringe, the Military Tattoo, the Jazz Festival, the Film Festival and the Book Festival - of which the Fringe is, by far, the largest.

Last year, for the third year in a row, the Fringe broke the million ticket barrier. Tickets for 2006 go on sale on 12 June 2006 and can be booked on 0131 226 0000. To access the full 2006 Edinburgh Fringe programme - as well as online booking - visit the