Highlights

highlights Theatre Hamlet What's this? One of England's best known plays, performed in English by an English company? It's a more conventional offering than we've come to expect, but here is Shakespeare's great tragedy, performed by Birmingham Rep, with Scottish actor George Anton in the title role. The twist is that it's directed and designed by Catalan experimentalist Calixto Bieito, whose previous Festival shows have created quite a stir. What he'll do with the doomy Dane is anyone's guess.

Royal Lyceum, August 20-30 (not August 25); 2pm, 7.30pm; running time to be confirmed, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 20 The Last Night Of Mankind El Periferico De Objetos is an Argentinian company specialising in puppetry, making its UK debut. This grim but colourful piece has two halves: the first is a post-apocalyptic mudbath in which the now-extinct human race is marooned; the second may be a flashback, in which five survivors are confined to a clinical white cell, subjected to Big Brother-style surveillance.

Royal Lyceum, August 11-13; 2pm, 7.30pm; running time approx 2hrs, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 20 San Diego Scottish writer David Greig's new play is described as a surreal comedy about the American Dream. Inspired during his first-ever trip to America to see one of his plays performed, San Diego was written in a month in 2001. According to Greig it's a departure from his existing work, and requires a different approach - not least because he has included himself as a character. Greig co-directs with Scottish choreographer Marisa Zanotti. An 11-strong, multi-cultural cast is led by Billy Boyd, now famous as Pippin in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, who plays David Greig.

Royal Lyceum, August 15-17; 2.30pm, 7.30pm; running time approx 2hrs, 15mins, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 20 The Seagull More than any of Chekhov's other plays, The Seagull tackles art and creativity. But as its two writers and two actresses engage in various quadrangles of lust and longing, other themes emerge too - not least love and death. This production marks the English-speaking theatre debut of the revered German director Peter Stein, with a cast that includes Fiona Shaw (see page 20), Iain Glen and Cillian Murphy.

King's Theatre, August 11-23 (not August 17); 2pm, 7.30pm; Running time to be confirmed, (pounds) 6.50-(pounds) 26 Strictly Dandia Described as "an Asian West Side Story meets Strictly Ballroom meets Saturday Night Fever", this musical is a co-production between London's Tamasha Theatre Company and Lyric Hammersmith. The setting is a Garba dance competition - a central part of the nine-day Hindu festival Navrati, which falls in October. This being the UK, the Gujerati participants have to steel themselves against the autumnal chill, but that doesn't prevent heated rivalries and sexual excitements from surfacing.

King's Theatre, August 27-30; 6pm, 7pm, 9pm; running time approx 2hrs 15mins, (pounds) 6-(pounds) 20 Andrew Burnet Traditional Music Sanjo One highlight of the International Festival's Connecting Cultures strand promises to be this performance featuring Korea's main instrumental folk form. Sanjo translates as scattered melodies, and sets a lead-melody instrument against drumming rhythms.

Usher Hall, 13 August, 10.30pm, running time approx 1 hour, (pounds) 10 Tomiyama Seikin The traditions of the Japanese shamisen (three-stringed lute) and koto (long zither) stretch back over hundreds of years - as evinced by their emblematic appearance in classic Japanese pen-and-ink drawings. This rich culture is brought to life by Seikin, a singer and master instrumentalist, in an intimate chamber performance.

Usher Hall, 17 August, 10.30pm, running time approx 1hr, (pounds) 10 Sue Wilson Dance

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET, CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON PROGRAMME Anointed by many as the saviour of modern ballet, 30-year-old Christopher Wheeldon is the undoubted star of this year's dance programme. The resident choreographer at New York City Ballet astonished Festival audiences in 2001 with his angular neo-classical leotard ballet Polyphonia, set to the music of Gyorgi Ligeti - and has been hailed as heir apparent to NYCB founder-choreographer George Balanchine.

This year we are to be indulged with an entire Wheeldon programme of one-act ballets, Polyphonia's sister ballet Continuum, also set to Ligeti, plus a new work specially commissioned for the Festival. But this time the dancers are from another major US company with which the English-born choreographer has forged a relationship, San Francisco Ballet.

Christopher Wheeldon triple-bill, San Francisco Ballet, Edinburgh Playhouse, August 28-29, 7.30pm; August 30, 2pm and 7pm, running time to be confirmed, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 37

CULLBERG BALLET, HOME AND HOME; FLUKE Like so many of today's leading modern dance outfits, Cullberg's dramatic, versatile performers practise a style that is a melting pot of all from classical ballet to contemporary dance and avant-garde theatre - with a garnish of influences from film, music and trash TV.

The company brings two works with a similarly quirky, inventive flavour: Home And Home, by Cullberg's new AD Johan Inger (known to festival audiences as a former dancer and choreographer with Nederlands Dans Theater) and Fluke, by one of this century's boldest ballet mavericks, Mats Ek.

Culberg Ballet, Edinburgh Playhouse, August 11-14, 7.30pm, running time approx 2 hours, (pounds) 6-(pounds) 25;

CHANTIER-MUSIL COMPANY, FRANCOIS VERRET This year's wild card (EIF director McMaster always slips one into the pack) is Chantier-Musil, by Frenchman Francois Verret. Known for collaborations with writers, actors, musicians, visual artists and circus performers, his work is uncategorisable. Verret's multi-dimensional performance inspired by Robert Musil's impressionistic novel The Man Without Qualities will either fly or flop. But of one thing you can be sure - Verret is a tutu-free zone.

Chantier-Musil, Compagnie Francois Verret, Edinburgh Playhouse, August 17-18, 8pm, running time approx 60 mins, (pounds) 6-(pounds) 15 Ellie Carr Classical Music

THE OPENING CONCERT In an evening of split responsibilities Garry Walker conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Kurtag's Stele before Sir Charles Mackerras takes over for Janacek's Glagolitic Mass, a work whose originality is undimmed in 80 years. Soloists include mezzo sopranist Jane Irwin - in the first of three festival appearances - and soprano Susan Chilcott, with Thomas Trotter taking the limelight in the vibrant organ solo.

Usher Hall, August 10, 8pm, running time approx 1hr 15mins, (pounds) 7.50-(pounds) 40 thomas trotter Thomas Trotter also appears towards the end of the festival in a solo recital of Messaien's La Nativite du Seigneur, a radiant piece that should benefit from some of the restored organ's more exuberant sonorities.

Usher Hall, August 29, 9pm, running time approx 1hr, (pounds) 12 Connecting Cultures No McMaster festival is complete without the inclusion of a new theme. This year there are six late-night concerts, under the title Connecting Cultures, devoted to the new classical music of China, Korea, India, and Japan. With the exception of Toru Takemitsu and Param Vir, most of the composers here are unknown in the West.

Usher Hall, August 12-18, 10.30pm, running time approx 1hr, (pounds) 10 Beethoven quartets/Elliot Carter quartets/Brahms symphonies Typically thorough, is the inclusion of all the Beethoven quartets in a single weekend, all the Elliot Carter quartets in a single evening, and all the Brahms symphonies in two concerts with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Beethoven'sComplete String Quartets: Stockbridge Parish Church, August 22-24, times vary, (pounds) 12, complete series ticket (pounds) 90; Brahms: The Symphonies: Usher Hall, August 16 & 18, 7pm, running time approx 3hrs, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 33; Elliott Carter's Complete String Quartets, The Hub, August 26, 7pm, running time approx 3hrs, (pounds) 12 morning chamber music concerts Here relative newcomers such as pianist Llyr Williams and the Kopelmann Quartet rub shoulders with established favourites such as tenor Jonas Kaufmann and violinist Christian Tetzlaff. Alice Coote returns with more Mahler songs. Pianist Paul Lewis brings a recital that combines his expertise in Schubert with Haydn, Janacek, and Liszt. Jane Irwin is accompanied by Steven Osborne in Wagner's Wesendonk Lieder, shortly before the same songs are performed by Christine Brewer in their orchestral form.

The Queen's Hall, August 11-16, 11am, running times vary between 1hr 20mins and 1hr 45mins, (pounds) 6-(pounds) 21 Usher Hall evening programme While the Usher Hall's evening programme is on a larger scale, this is also where the big stars, such as Alfred Brendel, Thomas Quasthoff and Andras Schiff get solo recitals in the gaps between a rich diet of visiting orchestras. Residents this year include the Los Angeles Philharmonic with three French-themed concerts, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Murray Perahia as soloist and conductor. Somehow there's also room for three big Mahler symphonies.

Alfred Brendel, Usher Hall, August 19, 8pm, running time approx 2hrs, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 25; Thomas Quasthoff & Andras Shiff, Usher Hall, August 26, 8pm, running time approx 2hrs, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 25; Mahler's Fifth Symphony, Mahler's Second Symphony, Mahler's Sixth Symphony, all at Usher Hall, August 20, 22 and 23, 7.30pm, 6pm & 8pm running times vary, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 33; Los Angeles Philharmonic Usher Hall, August 12-14, 7.30pm, running times vary between 1hr 40mins and 2 hrs, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 33; Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Usher Hall, August 24, 7pm, running time approx 2hrs, (pounds) 6- (pounds) 25; Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Usher Hall, August 29, 6pm, approx 2hrs 10mins, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 33 Opera

MACBETH The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is behind what promises to be a spectacular performance of Verdi's Macbeth, with Mark Delavan in the title role, the 2001 Cardiff Singer of the World, Marius Brenciu as Macduff and Violeta Urmana in the pivotal role of Lady Macbeth. But the real selling point of this Macbeth will be the inspirational direction of Sir Charles Mackerras. Last year he transformed Donizetti's frothy Maria Stuarda into a compelling musical drama.

Usher Hall, August 27, 7.30pm, running time approx 3hrs 15mins, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 33 Lohengrin Even if you can't do the Ring Cycle, you can keep up the Wagner intake with a performance of Lohengrin by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Donald Runnicles. The cast includes Petra Lang, Hillevi Martinpelto, and Torsten Kerl in the title role.

Usher Hall, August 15, 5pm, running time approx 4hrs 30mins, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 33 Zelmira Rossini's Zelmira slots unobtrusively into the last night of the festival, a tacit acknowledgement that unlike the London Proms, the Edinburgh Festival does not build up to a barnstorming conclusion but dances gracefully away on a wave of bel cantou Usher Hall, August 30, 7pm, running time approx 2hrs 30mins, (pounds) 7-(pounds) 33 Christopher Lambton Tickets available on 0131 473 2000; www.eif.co.uk

Copyright 2003 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.