We’ve got a packed midweek edition for you with more developments on the future of the city’s tram network, artists opening their homes and studios by the seaside and your pick of the cultural highlights post-Festivals.
For today’s long read, we return to the subject of the trams. The potential route of the city’s proposed new tram line has been dominating the headlines, but an important development elsewhere means the prospect of the north-south route actually being built is looming larger than ever. More on all that below, but first a catch-up on the main news headlines.
Your Edinburgh Briefing
NHS SHAKE-UP: NHS Lothian is set to be subsumed into one of two “strategic health boards” covering mainland Scotland. The Lothians would be lumped in with Aberdeen, Dundee, Fife and the Borders in a single east of Scotland board. However, John Swinney has confirmed there will be no compulsory redundancies, although jobs will be cut, as part of the merger aimed at making the health service more efficient.
CASTLES BOSS OFF: Chief executive Katerina Brown is to leave Historic Environment Scotland, the Newington-based agency which oversees the care of 300 historical properties including Edinburgh Castle, after two tumultuous years (Racism, toxicity and twerking: What’s going on at Historic Environment Scotland?). The Prospect trade union has welcomed her departure blaming her for low morale among staff.
PUNK RESCUE: Four casualties were helped by lifeboat crews after an emergency call-out to the Cramond Island of Punk festival on Saturday. The crews helped a woman with an ankle injury stuck on a rocky slope before assisting an unconscious reveller, someone with a head injury and someone who had hurt their back falling from a height.
MUSLIM CEMETERY: A dedicated cemetery would be established near Dalkeith to serve Edinburgh and the Lothians growing Muslim community, under plans to be considered by Midlothian Council. The Edinburgh-based WAFA foundation hopes the site, between the King’s Gate and Lothian Bridge at Newbattle will be able to accommodate 2,000 plots over the next 100 years.
KNIFE ANGEL: Scotland’s First Minister paid tribute to “inspirational” Edinburgh mother Lisa Petrie in backing her campaign to roll out bleed-control kits in communities across Scotland, after her 22-year-old son, John Mcnab was stabbed to death in Leith last September. Her campaign aims to ensure people have access to life-saving bleeding control equipment while awaiting emergency medics. Earlier this week, Lisa spoke at the opening ceremony of the anti-knife crime sculpture Knife Angel in Kirkgate, photographed here by Inquirer reader Ross Addy.
Your Pick of the (Cultural) Pops
Greetings, Pop Pickers! Miss me?!
The temporary plywood bars are finally coming down, the flyer-carpeted cobbles have had a jet-wash, and we can once again stroll down the pavement without having to swerve a drama student balancing on a unicycle. August has officially left the building! But if you think the capital goes into cultural hibernation the second the festival circus packs its bags, think again. This week’s chart serves up an eclectic post-Fringe feast for September, featuring a massive choral celebration, a chilling psychological thriller, big-budget Broadway sparkle, and independent cinema.
Alright? Let’s get on…
Honourable Mentions: Artie’s Singing Kettle, Best of the Fringe, Michael Ball & Urzila Carlson
Just outside the main chart, we have some proper local treats! Over at Church Hill Theatre (September 13th), the legendary Artie’s Singing Kettle - Live! rolls into Morningside to celebrate a decade of solo touring; the last Singing Kettler standing must certainly know what he’s about by now, promising all the nostalgic classics from “Tattie Soup” to “Shove Yer Granny Aff a Bus”. If you’re missing the festival buzz already, Best of the Fringe hits Monkey Barrel (September 10th) hosted by the exceptional Liam Withnail - while you won’t know the exact lineup in advance, taking a punt on a mystery bill is half the fun! Over at the Usher Hall (September 13th), West End royal Michael Ball brings his On With the Show tour, serving up unmatched stage warmth and vocals that remain remarkably intact for an artist with so many miles on the clock. Finally, South African-New Zealander powerhouse Urzila Carlson brings her deadpan tour Fatty on a Yacht to the EICC (September 11th), bringing her tried-and-tested arena chops to one of Edinburgh’s largest rooms.
New in at Number 5 is... The Incomer (The Cameo, from tomorrow)
Kicking off our post-Fringe chart with a well-earned trip to the pictures! Independent cinema doesn’t get much more intriguing than this darkly funny, offbeat Scottish folk tale arriving on Home Street. Written and directed by Edinburgh’s own Louis Paxton, the film follows two eccentric siblings (Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke) who have lived in self-sufficient isolation on a remote island for decades, hunting seabirds and fiercely defending their home against “incomers”. Their insular world is upended when an awkward mainland council worker (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives with orders to relocate them. There is something uniquely satisfying about sinking into one of The Cameo’s plush, worn, velvet seats while the September chill begins to creep in outside. Word from trusted sources on the film festival beat has been glowing, singling out its sharp wit, evocative coastal photography, and big-hearted charm.
New in at Number 4 is... NYCOS 30th Anniversary Gala Concert — Carmina Burana (Usher Hall, September 13th)
Taking the fourth spot is a massive choral celebration under the dome! The National Youth Choir of Scotland is marking three whole decades of stage excellence, and they’ve chosen Carl Orff’s thunderous, dramatic Carmina Burana as a fittingly grand, roof-raising score for the occasion. NYCOS has spent thirty years nurturing some of the finest vocal talent in the country and regularly bringing international audiences to their feet. Hearing those iconic opening choral blasts of O Fortuna reverberate through the acoustic bowl of the Usher Hall with a massed choir and full orchestra promises an absolute cracker of an evening.
New in at Number 3 is... The Silence of the Lambs (Festival Theatre, September 8th – 12th).
Grabbing the bronze medal is a brand-new, gripping stage adaptation of Thomas Harris’s infamous psychological thriller. Stepping into the formidable, chilling shoes of Dr Hannibal Lecter is stage and screen star John Partridge (EastEnders, Cabaret), going toe-to-toe with Mollie Gallagher (Coronation Street) as FBI trainee Clarice Starling and Oliver Farnworth as Jack Crawford. Translating that intense, claustrophobic cat-and-mouse dynamic onto a grand proscenium arch is no easy feat, but friends on the review circuit have singled this out as a slick, spine-tingling adaptation backed by a terrific cast. If you fancy edge-of-your-seat tension in the grand surroundings of the Festival Theatre, this is well worth your attention.
New in at Number 2 is... The Tailor of Inverness (Royal Lyceum Theatre, September 7th – 8th).
Taking the silver spot is Dogstar Theatre Company’s acclaimed play about displacement, identity, and survival in war-torn Europe. When an independent piece of new writing finds such enduring longevity across international tours without being a commercial West End behemoth or a Shakespeare revival, it’s always for a reason. As reviewer Zoé Manset wrote in her 4-star review of its London run in The Quinntessential Review, “The play is a poignant tale of half-truths and dressed-up lies which cut the cloth of a brilliant one-man show”. This is storytelling of the highest order.
New in at Number 1 is... High Society (Edinburgh Playhouse, September 8th – 12th)
Seizing the top spot of the Pops is Cole Porter’s timeless musical on its major UK tour, bringing a mammoth 28-strong cast, a sumptuous live orchestra, and direction by Rachel Kavanaugh to deliver pure, vintage showbiz glamour to Greenside Place. Led by Helen George (Call the Midwife) as socialite Tracy Lord alongside Freddie Fox (Slow Horses) and Julian Ovenden (South Pacific), you simply cannot go wrong with an opulent score packed with standards like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Let’s Misbehave, and Well, Did You Evah! Best of all (for me), it features the brilliant Nigel Lindsay as Uncle Willie—who co-led one of my all-time favourite theatrical experiences in The Lehman Trilogy. Expect top-drawer singing, Anthony Van Laast’s dazzling choreography, and wall-to-wall class. Brilliant stuff! Yes, indeed! Not ‘arf!
And that’s your Top 5!
Grab those tickets, support our fantastic resident cultural scene, and let me know in the comments what you’re booking for the autumn run!
Until next week: Stay bright!
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A sneak peek into one of this years Art Walk exhibits in Porty
The city centre festivals may be winding down, but one of Portobello’s many festivals is about to kick off. The decade-old Porty Art Walk will return this weekend, rebranded as Art Walk Weekends to allow for an expanded calendar of events. The September festival will remain as usual, with two weekends of art exhibited in homes, studios, shops and on the street across six walking routes through Portobello, open during the day on 5-6 and 12-13 September.
The theme of this year’s seaside art festival is “Shift and Flow,” alluding to intertidal zones and times. Artists are displaying a huge variety of work from drawings inspired by coastlines to art exploring waves of emotion. I met Polly Thelwall, who is exhibiting at Porty Art Walk for the first time with her installation “Changing Tides.”
As we sit on low-slung sofas, looking up at small sculptures and pictures on the brightly coloured walls of Folks Cafe on Easter Road, Polly Thelwall tells the story of each of her pieces. This was after she had been to Finland and all of her drawings featured trees, those were painted during a sailing trip for artists on the West coast of Scotland- looking back, each era of her art connects with an aspect of nature.
As a classically trained artist, Polly studied in the late 90s when art about nature was “pretty much taboo” - but as time has gone on she has developed an art practice that is closely connected to nature.
Having grown up on the Atlantic coast of Northern Ireland, and now a keen kayaker, Polly’s connection to the sea is long-running. Her installation will include sculptures and sketches accompanied by underwater sounds recorded with her hydrophone (and often from her kayak).
Polly doesn’t like to prescribe a meaning to her work - none of her pictures or sculptures are named, only numbered. Even in the months before the installation, she can describe certain pieces which will be in her Art Walk project- namely an enormous papier mache shell as the centre piece- but even she doesn’t know what the finished product will be yet- “it’s a process of hands, it’s not a thinking process,” she says. “I’ll know next year what the theme of my art was this year.”
Polly’s installation is part of Art Walk 4.
Suddenly, Edinburgh’s £2bn tram extension may not be a pipedream
Swinney opens the door on funding and what that might mean for the Roseburn route
by Euan McGrory
The First Minister made no mention of Edinburgh or trams when he outlined his plans for the coming years to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, as he outlined his Programme for Government at Holyrood, John Swinney offered the clearest sign yet that it might not all be a pipe dream.
The biggest obstacle to extending the city’s single tram line into a genuine network has always been the cost. The proposed next step - the north-south line from Granton to Little France via Princes Street - is estimated to cost anywhere between £1.7bn to £2.9bn, depending how much of it you build and which route you take.
The Scottish Government has stubbornly resisted the city’s proposals on the grounds it thinks the money could be better spent, particularly tackling road congestion and potentially exploring alternatives such as segregated lanes for electric buses.
