Tackling homelessness isn't hopeless - but it will cost £100m in the Capital
Charity leader Ewan Aitken is stepping down with a challenge to the city to get serious about preventing homelessness
Welcome to your midweek Inquirer.
Ewan Aitken, pictured below, knows more than most about the challenges of tackling homelessness.
For nearly 12 years, he has led the charity Cyrenians and its work tackling the causes and consequences of homelessness in the city. Before that, he served both as leader of the city council and a Church of Scotland Minister.
As he prepares to step down from his role as Cyrenians chief executive this summer, David Forsyth caught up with him to hear his challenge to the city.
You can read David’s in-depth interview below, but before that here is your regular midweek news roundup and pick of the city’s cultural highlights.
Your Edinburgh Briefing
CHESS CHAMP: A 15-year-old city schoolboy has upset the odds and beaten seven grandmasters to win the British Rapidplay Chess Championship in Peterborough. Freddy Waldhausen Gordon, a fourth year pupil at George Heriot’s, is the first Scot to win the title since it was established in 1986.
STABBING ‘MURDER BID’: Detectives are appealing for drivers to check dashcam footage following the stabbing of a 20-year-old man in the Sighthill area at around 1.50am on Monday. The victim was seriously injured. Police are treating the attack as attempted murder and trying to establish the circumstances behind it.
HOTEL DEAL: The Lothian Pension Fund, which administers local government pensions for Edinburgh and the Lothians, has bought a New Town hotel. The fund has completed the purchase of the Hanover Buildings at 66-84 Rose Street from Oval Real Estate for £23.4 million. The complex includes a 145-bedroom hotel, let to Hub by Premier Inn, and five retail and leisure units.
BACK TO SQUARE ONE: Hundreds of passengers spent 11 hours in the air only to land back in Edinburgh after their flight to Dubai was turned back over Egypt. The Emirates flight EK24 was forced to return to base after planes were prevented from landing in Dubai following a fire caused by an Iranian drone hitting a fuel tank.
TORY TO SNP: The former leader of the Conservatives on Midlothian Council has confirmed he has joined the SNP in a move that has infuriated his former party colleagues. David Virgo, who represents Bonnyrigg, has refused calls to stand down and seek re-election following his defection to the local authority’s ruling party.
Your Pick of the (Cultural) Pops
Greetings, Pop Pickers!
Welcome back to the chart that matters. As we march firmly towards the back half of the month, the Edinburgh weather remains as indecisive as ever - but fortunately, our city’s cultural landscape is completely resolute. We have a massive changing of the guard at the top of the list this week, writes Will Quinn. The biggest theatrical premiere of the year has finally taken a tumble, making way for a Fringe legend and a comedic mastermind.
Before we kick off the official countdown, let’s start with a cracking addition to the calendar...
Honourable Mention: Death on the Nile (Festival Theatre, March 24th – 28th) I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Bob Barrett recently, who stars as MI5 operative Colonel Race in this mammoth Fiery Angel production of Agatha Christie’s classic. Expect all the bells and whistles, and far more humour than you usually get - as Bob pointed out, the adaptation comes with a healthy dose of self-awareness and a brilliant nod and wink to Christie’s accepted tropes. Look for this to climb the charts next week…
Non-movers at Number 5... Witches Corner (March 22nd) & Saint Joan (until March 21st). Refusing to budge and sharing the Number 5 spot again this week are two pieces of ambitious theatre made right here in Scotland, both tackling history from decidedly modern perspectives.
First up is Witches Corner at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. This new production finds a powerhouse pairing in writer Rona Johnston (of the smash Mary: A Gig Theatre Show) and Eilidh Smith. They are setting their sights on the dark history of the Pittenweem Witches. Note: this is currently sold out, so it’s a case of checking the box office for returns. I did tell you to book last week!
Also holding steady is Saint Joan at the Traverse Theatre. This stylish, avant-garde reimagining of George Bernard Shaw’s classic has actually been reviewed twice over at theQR. I found Stewart Laing’s Orson Welles-esque production “bold but flawed,” while my colleague Sass, on the other hand, hailed the cinematic epilogue as a “brilliant” triumph. You can make up your own mind.
Anchored firmly at Number 4 is... Matilda The Musical (Edinburgh Playhouse, until March 22nd). Another non-mover! I shared my thoughts on the RSC’s touring juggernaut last week, and my stance holds: whilst I have my reservations about whether it’s a fantastic adaptation of the book, it is undeniably a tremendous slice of musical theatre excellence. An outstanding cast and Tim Minchin’s memorable songbook more than justify the ticket price. Even if I’d prefer a genuinely menacing Miss Trunchbull, Richard Hurst is so impressive in drag that the producers of the Rocky Horror Show should be begging him to try on Frank N Furter’s heels next.
Down two places to Number 3 is... One Day (Royal Lyceum Theatre, until April 5th). It finally tumbles from the Number 1 spot now that I have actually sat down to review it. As a piece of engaging “sadcom” drama, David Greig’s adaptation works wonderfully, allowing Dexter and Em to be delightfully flawed and problematic. However, as a musical, it is currently let down by a frustratingly thin and underamplified sound mix. It only keeps this spot above the technically superior Matilda because of its as-yet-unrealised, but significant, potential. It remains the biggest ongoing theatrical event in Scotland, and may yet smash the West End if they can fix the technical issues and prove that the poorly delivered soundtrack has genuine earworm potential.
A massive new entry storming in at Number 2 is... Joz Norris: You Wait. Time Passes. (Monkey Barrel Comedy, March 23rd). You don’t achieve the kind of acclaim and industry respect that Joz has without being a supremely good comedian. I recently interviewed him about this tour, and his new show sounds brilliantly absurd: a devastating piss-take of the “solitary genius” tortured artist trope, complete with a white plinth dragged into sweating comedy basements. Refreshingly avoiding the trendy “trauma dump” hour, this absurdist character piece got absolute rave reviews at the last Edinburgh Fringe. I sadly missed it then, but I certainly won’t be missing it when he brings it back!
And going straight in at Number 1 is... John Robertson’s The Dark Room (The Stand, March 25th). Visiting the city for one night only, this is an utterly majestic Fringe institution that has long since gone global. Powered entirely by John’s blistering charisma, bonkers brand of humour, and his simple yet absolute genius live video game creation, it is pure, unadulterated joy. The only reason I’ve never formally reviewed this show is because I go every single Fringe (usually more than once with my wife and friends), and I simply refuse to take notes. I just want to sit back and enjoy the wonderful, anarchic glory of this gem of a show. That being said, I have reviewed his stand-up outside of The Dark Room for the past couple of Fringes and happily declared his work utterly splendid. Book your tickets and prepare to choose your options wisely. You awake to find yourself in a Dark Room!
And that’s your Top 5! Get out there, book some tickets, and tell them who sent you. As always, I’d love to hear whether we put you onto a good thing, or if you think we sent you out for a night to forget!
Tackling homelessness isn’t hopeless - but it will cost £100m in the Capital
Charity leader Ewan Aitken is stepping down with a challenge to the city to get serious about preventing homelessness
by David Forsyth
Imagine a city where so many children are homeless, you would need to find a home for ten every day for an entire year to solve the crisis.
Ewan Aitken hasn’t had to imagine that city. He lives in it, right here in beautiful, prosperous Edinburgh. And for the past 12 years he has led Edinburgh Cyrenians, one of the city’s most highly-regarded charities, immersed in the issue.
He is stepping down as Chief Executive of Cyrenians this summer. The wonder is how he has managed to sustain the effort for so long. “I love the job,” he says, “and I want to leave the job still loving it.”
We have more than 3640 children without a home to call their own amongst 6271 households living in temporary accommodation, some of it unsuitable. And right now, it is getting worse rather than better, despite a lot of effort by a lot of people.
Yet despite his difficult, exhausting, rewarding, fruitful and frustrating time on the front line of this particular battle, Ewan believes it is one we can eventually win – but to do so we need to accept the need to do things differently, and he’s leading the charge to persuade the council to invest £100 million in a five-year project to prove the value of working to prevent homelessness, rather than dealing with its myriad consequences and costs.
Herculean task
