Edinburgh Showcase 2011

Theater

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Edinburgh Showcase 2011
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EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE

Though it once piggy-backed off the International Festival, the Fringe today is by far the largest of the Edinburgh festivals.

Festival Fever

Each year Edinburgh renews its title as Festival City, with twelve major cultural festivals featuring more than 25,000 artists.

British Performance in Profile

We've got a wealth of company details and contact information for contemporary British performing artists in our online directory.

British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2011

The best in innovative British theater

The British Council’s biennial Edinburgh Showcase springs to life again in August 2011 as the preeminent stage for innovative, contemporary UK performance during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

With razor-sharp new writing, innovative multimedia, live art and explorations of Britain’s multi-cultural heritage, the British Council’s Showcase is a fresh and eclectic look at the diverse theatrical performances produced in the UK today. Performing arts professionals have been invited from more than 50 countries (including nearly 30 American presenters) attend the weeklong event.

The 2011 Showcase highlights digital performance from the UK - check out some examples in Edinburgh and beyond below.


You can explore this year's offerings online and follow us on Twitter at @EdShowcase and @BCArtsUSA (use the hashtag #ES2011 to join the conversation!). For Showcase content on the go, download our app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad from the iTunes App Store.

Tickets to performances by Showcase artists are available to the general public through the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Image from Blast Theory's 2011 show "A Machine to See With." Photo courtesy of the artists. BLAST THEORY | A Machine to See With

Internationally known for their adventurous, interactive work, Blast Theory returns to the Showcase with their new show A Machine To See With. Each audience member is guided through a large public space, experiencing a noir crime story as it unfolds by cell phone and real-time surveillance. The piece is the first "locative cinema" work commissioned by the Sundance Film Festival, ZER01, and the Banff New Media Institute.

UK theare company Imitating The Dog performs their 2011 work "Hotel Methuselah." Image credit: Ed Waring imitating the dog | Hotel Methuselah

Hotel Methusaleh is a contemporary ghost story that audiences watch through a six-metre-wide aperture in the theatre's real 'fourth wall'. Combining live performance with digital video feed, the work creates an illusion of watching a 'live' widescreen film.

Still photo of a participant in Me and the Machine's interactive performance "When We Meet Again (Introduced As Friends)." Image credit: Chloe Ducharne Me and the Machine | When We Meet Again (Introduced As Friends)

Me and the Machine's nine-minute, one-to-one performance uses all five senses to transport audiences to another world. Each participant dons a pair of video goggles showing a film, creating a 'virtual reality.' Live performers interact with the participant to heighten the experience and further blur the lines between digital and live performance.

Interested in more digital art and creative projects using technology from the UK?

Gulf Stage highlights a unique collaboration between the UK's Digital Theatre, the British Council and our partners in Qatar to translate and make six new Arabic plays available for free online.
GloNet builds bridges between five cities around the world for a day-long, ideas-based discussion with real and virtual audiences, in a partnership between FutureEverything, Distance Lab, Lancaster University and the British Council.

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