Assembly Festival 2019 is delighted to announce another exciting year of theatre, from local artists to international superstars, to one-woman shows to energetic ensemble pieces.
Standout solo performances include artist and activist Rose McGowan making her fringe debut with Rose McGowan: Planet 9 from Cloud9 Management, a show featuring memoir, music, storytelling, projections and performance. Eddie Izzard brings his Work in Progress of Eddie Izzard: Expectations of Great Expectations from Mick Perrin Worldwide. Eddie’s career spans both acting and comedy, but few know that it was actually acting that was Eddie’s first love. And the Assembly Roxy Theatre (ART) Award 2019 winner Elfie Picket presents Ane City. Tay attempts to find herself in the City of Dundee, in a theatrical, poetic show, that combines elements of Scots language, storytelling, song and comedy.
After winning a string of awards in 2018, Raw Material and Traverse Theatre Company in association with Regular Music bring Cora Bissett’s rollercoaster journey What Girls Are Made Of to Assembly Hall.
Disruption: the future of new theatre, co-curated by HighTide and Assembly, is exclusively at Assembly Roxy this year featuring: Rust by Kenny Emson; Collapsible by Margaret Perry; Pops by Charlotte Josephine; The Queer House double bill in a co-production with HighTide present Since U Been Gone written and performed by Teddy Lamb and Pink Lemonade written and performed by Mia Johnson; and Suffering From Scottishness written and performed by Kevin P. Gilday.
The ever popular The HandleBards are cycling their way to Edinburgh once again, to present two of their famously raucous takes on Shakespeare with Much Ado About Nothing and The Tempest. There’s more Shakespeare in Romeo & Juliet from Guy Masterson – TTI in association with Maverick Theatre Co. with a fresh, feminist take on Shakespeare’s classic; and Curious Pheasant Theatre present their all male re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet.
For more classic remakes, Lyrical Therapy University + Aztec Economy present a solo-soul journey in (I)sland T(rap): The Epic Remixology of the Odyssey, and Grist to the Mill Productions present Moby Dick. Liz Lochhead’s irreverent cut of Moliere’s Tartuffe is presented by Ed Littlewood Productions in Association with Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh. Americana Absurdum Productions present Brian Parks’ The Professor, a curious comedy about Dickens, shipwrecks, and the perils of original thinking, and Phil & Will present a one-man comedy Western in Gun.
From Korea, Assembly presents Spray from Cho-in Theatre Company, a dark comedic satire and Theatre Hooam return with Black and White Tea Room – Counsellor.
There are plenty of Musicals and Opera productions in Assembly’s jam-packed programme. With a nostalgic, 90s theme; Friendsical: A Parody Musical about Friends joins Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical and Legally Blonde the Musical. The humorous Thrones! The Musical Parody returns to Edinburgh, alongside Voldemort the Teenage Hogwarts Musical Parody.
The National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts present Peking Opera: Farewell My Concubine, and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music present Tang and Four Dreams. David Colvin’s Thunderstruck is the tragic and comic tale of the greatest bagpiper who ever lived.
Assembly Festival is excited to present the return of many popular shows from 2018. Smokescreen Productions return with their sell-out show Mengele, and their new show, Judas. Modern Māori Quartet return with their infectious show Two Worlds, while award-winning Dyad Productions (Orlando) bring Dalloway. A Slightly Isolated Dog (Don Juan) return with Jekyll and Hyde, a bonkers rendition of Stevenson’s classic novella.
Shows included in the British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2019 include the return of New Perspectives Theatre Company’s The Fishermen; Javaad Alipoor’s The Believers Are But Brothers; and Status, from Chris Thorpe, Rachel Chavkin, China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz.
From Guy Masterson – TTI comes Shaving the Dead from Perrier Award nominee Owen O’Neill; The Shark is Broken, in association with Shooting the Breeze; and Guys, Dolls & Pies in association with Maverick Theatre Co, and PALS.
Cahoots Theatre Company present Musik, a stunning performance by Frances Barber as Billie Trix, and My Darling Clemmie, exploring the relationship between Winston and Clementine Churchill.
There are some exciting double-acts in the programme, including mother and daughter duo After You from Hannah Norris, an exploration of female friendship and industrial meat farming in Haste Theatre’s Ex-Batts and Broilers, and Post-Mortem from Ellandar Productions & Jessica Rose McVay Productions.
In powerful one-woman shows, Brian Foster Productions presents Myra’s Story about a middle-aged, homeless Dublin street drinker, Liv Productions present Tales from the Garden, Ashleigh Laurence presents her part stand-up show Tumours, and Grist to the Mill Productions explore the warrior and legend in The Ballad of Mulan.
Other female-led productions include: Judith Thompson’s Watching Glory Die, a riveting portrayal of three women trapped in a broken prison system and Theatre of NOTE bring FEMPIRE: Cleo, Theo & Wu by Kirsten Vangsness and FEMPIRE: Mess by Kirsten Vangsness. Women in war feature in I’ll Tell You This For Nothing from Kate JasonSmith, and Ivory Wings from Coreth Arts.
Masculinity is explored in All The Pigs present In the Shadow of the Black Dog, a raw and moving exploration of identity and masculinity, and Ed Eales-White presents Who is Daniel King, a story of a man who decides to be a dancer.
Responding to contemporary social and political issues, Fionn Foley is Brendan Galileo for Europe, Osman Baig looks at Fake News, Scottee & Friends LTD present Class, a show about pretending to be posher than you are, Quick Duck Theatre present Yours Sincerely, a queer coming of age comedy about the complications of 21st century communication, and Eve and Sea Productions’ blend of spoken word, music and surrealism in Salmon asks why is it so hard to admit you’re not okay?
Dutch Kills Theater Company present explore the psychosocial experience of solitary confinement in Solitary, A Cry Havoc Theatre Company Production with LAByrinth Theater Company NY present Devil of Choice, a dark, sexy and funny take about the temptations we face when we find ourselves in a room with the devil; and Tim Honnef (Jonas Müller) presents The Things I Never Told You, a show about half-truths and white lies.
For something out of this world, Sleeping Giant, in association with Celebration Theatre, spins a series of intimate, darkly comic vignettes in this modern thriller, while A Brilliant Everything present The De Nova Super.
If you’re looking for something different, Frankie Foxstone’s AKA The Profit: Walking Tour will take you on a whirlwind tour of her property plans for Edinburgh. Innovative technology is on display in The Gray Cat and The Flounder from PNME and Civil Disobedience, Russell T Davies will be speaking at Assembly Hall as part of the Edinburgh TV Festival, and Meeting Jim celebrates the captivating man behind the founding of the Traverse Theatre.