”Dogville” stage adaptation, ”The Threepenny Opera” and more announced in Edinburgh International Festival programme

Nicola Benedetti, the new director of the Edinburgh International Festival, has revealed the festival’s programme for 2023.

The festival, which runs from 4 to 27 August, will feature over 295 events, including performances from over 2000 local and international artists across 48 nations.

The central theme, “where do we go from here?” was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr’s literature, and aims to encourage audiences to consider how the transformative power of the arts can have the most impact on society at this moment.

It will feature three major artistic residencies with internationally renowned orchestras as part of ongoing ambitions to increasingly engage with the city of Edinburgh and reduce the amount of travel required for the international artists.

Three UK premieres from international theatre companies are also part of the programme. They are Barrie Kosky’s The Threepenny Opera from the Berliner Ensemble, Brazilian film and theatre director Christiane Jatahy’s Dusk, based on Lars Von Trier’s seminal film Dogville, and Tiago Rodrigues’ As Far As Impossible, recounting the everyday lives of humanitarian workers in war zones.

For the entire length of the festival, the National Theatre of Scotland presents the new work Thrown, while Geoff Sobelle will meditate on how and why we eat in immersive show FOOD. Famed company Cheek By Jowl will also present their show Life is a Dream during the month.

Among the highlights of the programme are powerhouse dance company Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as well as the Budapest Festival Orchestra, led by conductor Iván Fischer, in residence at the International Festival across four concerts, including Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony presented in an informal performance in the round.

There will be a major staging of Pina Bausch’s acclaimed choreography of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, with a cast of over 30 dancers from 14 African countries. The London Symphony Orchestra will also be in residence, and the festival will feature the most substantial programme of Korean artists in the International Festival’s 76-year history, in celebration of 140 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and the UK.