 The Full StoryOur pick of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
We've scanned the Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme for shows with ecological themes. Overall this year, among the usual shows on sex and coming of age and the 'outrageously funny comedies' and revivals of The Canterbury Tales, the themes of war, dementia and capitalism appear often. Of the ecologically themed, there are strands on how to live after the environmental catastrophe, on consumerism, austerity and value, on activism and on human relations with landscapes. There is comedy and celebration, but the mood, as far as we can read it in the programme, is more somber than previous years. Daniel Bye has two shows, The Price of Everything and How to Occupy and Oil Rig. Scottish Opera produce a children's show, SensoryO. Hunt and Darton return with their cafe, and dance & physical theatre continues to be a strong genre, with productions on greed, the Fens and gardening.
www.edfringe.com
theatre | dance & physical theatre | musicals & opera | children's shows
theatre
The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer 
genre: puppetry
group: Perth Theatre Company and Weeping Spoon
venue: Underbelly, Bristo Square Seas have risen, billions have died. Alvin Sputnik is our only hope. He must venture to the bottom of the ocean to find his wife's lost soul and save humanity. Direct from sell-out seasons in New York, Sydney and Auckland, this multi award-winning piece of heart-warming ‘theatrical magic' (Sunday Mail) is a one-man micro epic about enduring love and the end of the world.
All Roads Lead to Rome 
contemporary, devised
Chris Dobrowski / Escalator East to Edinburgh
Pleasance Hunt and Darton Cafe
Chris has lovingly repaired his family Triumph Herald Estate so that he can drive it from his home in Colchester to Rome. Part investigation into his father's account of his time as a Polish soldier in the Italian Campaign and part muse on consumerism, this show brings together car mechanics, classical civilisation and the fetishisation of possessions in a solo performance using old photos, new film and surprising mechanical objects. A feast of razor-sharp observations and bizarre confessions extending beyond the immediate subject matter to grasp at universal truths. Total Theatre, Poland 3, Iran 2.
Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches
contemporary, drama
Mermaids Theatre
C venues - C aquila
The first part of a work of epic proportions, Millennium Approaches spans the years 1985-1986 at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in New York City. As his characters struggle to cope with the changing world around them, Kushner artfully conveys the evolving psychological state of America in the years leading up to the dawn of the millennium. With a cast of eight actors playing multiple characters, Kushner toys with our perceptions of life, death, dreams, reality, spirituality, hope, faith, love, and loyalty in this Gay Fantasia on National Themes.
Angus: Weaver of Grass 
multimedia, puppetry
Horse and Bamboo Theatre
Scottish Storytelling Centre
Angus MacPhee's life is a tale of illness, lost traditions and magical hats of grass, stunning like sunbursts. Raised on South Uist, and traumatised by WWII, Angus spent 50 years in a psychiatric hospital. He did not speak; instead he wove remarkable costumes from grass which feature in the Collection de l'Art Brut, Switzerland. Featuring beautiful Gaelic singing and grass replicas by Joanne B Kaar. Using sounds, songs and images of the Outer Hebrides, this is his tale.
The Ants 
physical theatre, spoken word
American High School Theatre Festival
Pilrig Studio
Earth's seven billion people are outnumbered a hundred million to one. Funny, beautiful, intriguing, perplexing; bodies and language evoke the warlike, reproductive, political lives of ants. Foremost entomologists E.O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler have created some of literatures most beautiful science writing. Their diligent, passionate expertise fuels this original work, a performance of spoken word and physical theatre. Using the stage as a laboratory, one of the two most socially complex life forms on earth takes an artistic and scientific look at the other.
The Cherry Orchard 
contemporary, drama
Kronos Productions
C venues - C aquila
A wealthy family returns to face the impending sale of their country estate, as mounting debts challenge their traditional lifestyle. Four distinct snapshots over a single summer profile their denial, inertia, and the eventual demise of their family roots. Kronos Productions returns to Edinburgh with the premiere of a thought-provoking new reworking of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. More relevant than ever in a time of austerity, this powerful reworking explores identity, property and class against the backdrop of tempestuous 1980s Britain.
Dinner is Swerved 
interactive, tasting
Food For Thought
C venues - C nova
The multisensory dining adventure! On tonight's menu: Trompe l'oeil dishes. The British public. Edible shrubs. Tactile illusion. Double entendre. Synesthesia. Audible courses. Pan-fried reverie. Top-quality original cuisine wonderfully complemented by live music, theatre and comedy. Come and join us in our secret top-floor setting at the heart of Edinburgh's old town. Together we will embark on a culinary journey, exploring the nature of sensory perception and eating ritual. All welcome, no matter the quality of your suit. Book now to be part of the food revolution. Only 16 covers per service.
Economy of Thought 
drama, new writing
Odd Rituals
Assembly George Square
The City, London. When the actions of four bankers during a public protest provokes an incident, events quickly spiral out of control, a riot erupts and a protester is critically injured. Economy of Thought is a searing, thought-provoking, darkly comic tale of money, morality, loyalty and responsibility. The most divisive issue of our times becomes the most explosive play of the summer.
The Emperor Wolf
drama, folk
American High School Theatre Festival
Church Hill Theatre
In this post-apocalyptic fairy tale, Madeline and her blind mother Ebony live in a broken landscape of fantasy and urban destruction. They encounter Shasta, who joins them, although Madeline objects to his inclusion. Together they encounter of world of sphinxes, griffins, a mystic wandering woman, all shadowed by the presence of the Emperor Wolf, the great force that has infected their land. What they learn about the broken, yet magical world around them makes for a compelling story populated by fascinating characters.
The Exception and the Rule .jpg)
political, theatre
Unicycle Theatre Company
theSpace on the Mile
Oil or water, which is worth more? Unicycle Theatre Company brings to life the despairing, deserted, musical world of The Exception and the Rule. Where speed is necessary in the pursuit of fortune, what lengths will a merchant go to to get his hands on the prize? Foregoing rest, provisions and sanity, and replacing it with paranoia and murder, it all starts to fall apart. But how does the law view its judgement of the rich at the hands of the poor? This play asks the familiar question: are we really all in this together?
Feral 
multimedia, puppetry
Tortoise in a Nutshell
Summerhall
A suitcase-trailing family rolls into new beginnings. Foreign, distorted and bright, the world resembles a haven of comfort. A miniature Utopia. But as the walls and lives are peeled back the community’s murky environment is revealed. Feral is an innovative piece of visual, mixed-media theatre which combines puppetry, film and live sound to create and destroy a world in front of its audience’s eyes.
For Their Own Good 
devised
Untied Artists
Summerhall
Can the way we kill animals tell us anything about how we deal with our own demise? In a former veterinary demonstration room, two knackermen investigate the pitfalls of being high up the evolutionary chain. Combining puppetry, new writing and documentary material this show tells a moving and darkly comic tale about the only certainty in life: death and how it’s become removed from us as a process.
FOX
children's, physical theatre
Scratchworks Theatre Collective
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall
Charlie Chaplin meets classic children’s literature in this anthropomorphic comedy. Featuring slapstick and Lecoq style physical theatre alongside a lively jazz underscore, prepare for a world of energetic, non-verbal hilarity. Set in the pastoral English countryside. FOX follows the story of Mr Monty Fox and his farcical friends as they live happily in the woods, outsmarting the local farms for the best steal of food. However before long the Hunters grow tired of this woodland pest, and so begins a dangerous chase and battle for survival as the Fox family are forced underground into a dark and exciting adventure.
Gardening: For the Unfulfilled and Alienated 
new writing, site-specific
Undeb Theatre
Pleasance Courtyard
A man struggling under the weight of the modern world finds a self-help book that inspires him into gardening. And he's good at it. Really good. But there's a dark and violent secret to his success. Step inside Owain's very own shed to hear about one man and the lengths he'll go to for a beautiful garden. From fast-rising writer Brad Birch (Soho Theatre, Royal Court Supergroup) comes the world premiere of a bittersweet play about obsession, death and horticulture. Undeb Theatre present an intimate storytelling experience, two audience members at a time.
Goodbye Sun and Bear
family, storytelling
Bare Project
C venues - C nova
A tale of looking for things in the snow; a circus bear, a boy, and some warmth. Luka is a one-child search party, navigating blizzards to recapture an animal he had hoped was free. His parents race after him into an ever-expanding winter, fearing for his life. In the snowstorm Luka chances upon a troop of pseudo-doctors bellowing their most cherished memories into the snow, and delighting in their resultant lack of hypothermia. With live original score and puppetry.
The Gypsybird Speaks 
drama, satire
Max Bell Theatre Company (Vancouver & Edinburgh)
C venues - C
Dark times have befallen the forest clearing where a journalist, a director, a painter, and a witch lament the lost Philena. Devoured by the gypsy moths, the forest crumbles slowly as the mysterious prophet Asphodel draws near. Entwined in the forest mythology the characters delve deep into one another's psyche, a magnetism they are powerless to avoid. Fresh new writing in the spirit of the Brothers Grimm, for grown-ups.
Hope Light and Nowhere 
new writing
Suba Das Company
Underbelly, Cowgate
A boy waits in a room at the end of the world. World premiere of the second play by Bruntwood Prize-winner Andrew Sheridan. Directed by Suba Das and designed by Linbury Prize-winner Jean Chan.
How to Occupy an Oil Rig
contemporary, political
Daniel Bye
Northern Stage at St Stephen’s
There are all sorts of lessons to be learned in life. How to get served at the bar. How to crash a boardroom meeting. How to avoid becoming romantically attached to an undercover police officer. That sort of thing. In this playful and provocative show about protest, you'll learn how to do all of this and more. Funny, surprising, and not a little sad, How to Occupy an Oil Rig is for everyone who ever wanted to change anything. And that's everyone. You get to play with plasticine, too. Produced by ARC Stockton.
Hunt & Darton Cafe 
installation, visual art
Hunt & Darton / Escalator East To Edinburgh
Pleasance Hunt and Darton Cafe
The award-winning interactive performance/installation and fully-functioning cafe returns! Expect a playful exploration into customer expectation, where food, service and business are the art. Festival staples, includes the sensational signature dish, the roast dinner sandwich which can be found on the menu alongside Coco-Pops, Battenberg and beans on toast. With guest waiters, themed days and activities such as their much loved Not Great Bake-off. We are here to serve. Prepare for appetites to be satisfied in more ways than one.
Island State 
comedy, new writing
Quirk Productions
C venues - C nova
2046. Great Britain is underwater, except for one tiny island with a population of two: Marilyn (28, ruthless survivalist) and Josie (17, childlike). They don't get on. A new darkly comic play about national identity, friendship and tennis, Island State is the story of two women's struggle to keep going in the face of environmental catastrophe.
Mammoth 
adaptation, new writing
Kuopio City Theatre Co-ordinated by Ace-Production
Pleasance Dome
Mammoth returns Homo sapiens back to nature, people grow tails and are proud of their fur. Jessica has rented a theatre space at the Pleasance. She is not content with how her son was raised. So through fiction and a webcam she tries to explain to her son why their family got lost from the path so common to all. Mammoth is simultaneously hilarious and melancholic; it deals with our human relationship with nature and fellow creatures, but also with technology. The play shows that development and progression are not always synonymous.
The Medicine Showdown 
comedy, new writing
American High School Theatre Festival
Church Hill Theatre
Set in small-town Georgia during the 1918 global influenza pandemic, public health is placed at odds with the town's economic interests, as a concerned doctor urges the mayor to shut down all public gatherings, including the popular and lucrative local medicine show. Interwoven with the realistic play (inspired by Henrik Ibsen's classic 'An Enemy of the People') are scenes from a period medicine show, complete with tap dance, old time melodrama, country music, and vaudevillian comedy.
Newton 
science
Jack Klaff
Summerhall
Sir Isaac Newton. Supreme genius. Unique personality. He invented the cat-flap, refused to use spoons, insisted on crimson décor and his old apple tree now forms the shape of a question mark. He overcame a mother’s rejection, childhood bullying and early humiliation to become a giant of science, finance and society. With characteristic theatricality and masterful storytelling, Klaff’s funny, touching show gives us a warts-and-all portrait of a superhuman thinker, an alchemical wizard and a vindictive, though loved, public figure.
Novemberunderground 
drama, new writing
Burning Oak Theatre
Underbelly, Cowgate
An inventive and unnerving play. By turns dark and disturbing, Novemberunderground (Bruntwood Prize Finalist) tells the story of eight very different people in a not too distant dystopian future. iPods have gone the way of the cassette tape, candles flicker in perfectly timed electronic bursts, cheesecake is just as fantastic as it is now. Developed as part of The Royal Court's Invitation Only Studio Group, shot through with a cutting wit, Novemberunderground captures the zeitgeist of the destructive power of modern technology and how it inhibits the possibility of genuine communication, while eroding the basic emotional needs of humankind.
Pigmalion Zoo
absurdist, new writing, physical theatre, puppetry
OLTA
C venues - C nova
In a decrepit and bankrupt city, God's body was found dead in a Sainsbury's car park. Since then, the annual Holy PG Tips competition has been held allowing citizens to audition to become the new God. Pigmalion is training his daughter to seduce God, believing He will come back from the dead and marry her. The play descends into the distorted perversion of building a family when all external structures have failed. Harrowing, dauntless, and deeply moving - Pigmalion Zoo doesn’t hesitate to expose the dangerous side of desire as it slowly corrupts nature itself.
Popaganda 
absurdist, comedy
Richard DeDomenici / Escalator East To Edinburgh
Pleasance Hunt and Darton Cafe
Relax to the dulcet tones of Richard's fake songs, topical pranks, silly games, and satirical mashups in his hit show about changing the world. A jetlagged litterpicker of the world's cultural landfill, watch DeDomenici throw civilisation at the wall, caution to the wind, and see what sticks. Like a can of tomato soup Popaganda is condensed, easily digestible, and likely to stain.
The Price of Everything
satire, storytelling
Daniel Bye in association with ARC, Stockton
Hill Street Theatre
How much is beauty worth? What will people pay for an air guitar on eBay? Can I have a glass of milk? These urgent questions and others are answered in this performance lecture about value. Daniel Bye's whistle-stop tour of bizarre facts and impassioned arguments is occasionally shambolic and often misleading but always a joy to watch. Comic, provocative and possibly a tiny bit sad, this show is a must if you've ever wondered about the difference between the price of an object and its value. And you get a free glass of milk.
She Was Probably Not a Robot
comedy, music
Stuart Bowden
Underbelly, Cowgate
Multi-award winning theatre maker (The Beast and The World Holds Everyone Apart, Apart From Us) returns with his prototype invention, a lo-fi, DIY, off-beat, sci-fi, storytelling experience. Surreal, soulful comedy about a decomposing world and a cosmic visitor.
Slapdash Galaxy: 3D 
comedy, puppetry
Bunk Puppets & Scamp Theatre
Underbelly, Bristo Square
This is the tale of Sam and Junior. Two brothers who must flee their barren planet and embark on an epic journey across the galaxy. Using bits of rubbish and junk, award-winning performer Jeff Achtem creates a shadow puppet universe full of hilarious DIY effects and lo-fi sci-fi visual wizardry. Totally remastered for 2013, Slapdash Galaxy returns to Edinburgh with a new, eye-popping 3D finale.
Small Steps in Random Directions
comedy, new writing
Small Steps in Random Directions
Just the Tonic at The Caves
A dildo salesman, a ukulele player, a whale thief and Janet all suffer from the same problem. Set in a town on the verge of a nuclear meltdown, Small Steps in Random Directions is a new comedy exploring a world in which everyone is living for themselves and no one is particularly happy.
The Smallest Light 
devised, interactive
Gramophones Theatre Company
Zoo Southside
What makes something worth standing up for? Can I change the world from my living room? What if I’m protesting, my costume rips and a picture of me naked ends up going viral? Inspired by courageous protesters who risk everything for what they believe in, four women find quirky ways to effect change in the world around them. Charting the performers attempts to stand up for what they believe in, The Smallest Light uses exciting visual storytelling to tell four explosive stories about what it is that makes us act.
Tobacco Merchant's Lawyer 
drama, satire
Iain Heggie / The Assembly Rooms
The Assembly Rooms
Boomtown Glasgow. 1790. With the American War looming and the city's tobacco trade under threat, poor lawyer Enoch Dalmellington struggles to marry off his 'driech, pious, humourless' daughter Euphemia, while rubbishing fortune teller Mistress Zapata's predictions about life in the 21st century.
Where the White Stops
theatre
ANTLER Theatre
Underbelly, Cowgate
Winner- IdeasTap Underbelly Award. No-one's been into the White before. Except Crab. Battling against icy blizzards, mythical beasts and her own imagination, Crab leaves the safety of her village to journey across a vast and desolate frozen landscape. She's searching for something else. Where the White stops. Using polyphonic song and playful physical storytelling, ANTLER tells the great adventure of Crab, and her tragic obsession with the unknown.
Who Wants to Kill Yulia Tymoshenko?
drama, political
Ines Wurth Presents
Assembly Roxy
Yulia, the Ukrainian former prime minister is serving seven years in prison in Kharkiv. Tymoshenko has been on two hunger strikes since her imprisonment. Her sentence is abuse of office with gas deals to Russia. She has also been a prime suspect for a murder of a former businessman and lawmaker Yevhen Shcherban back in 1996 and may be given a life sentence. She shares a prison cell with a young woman framed for a murder, who becomes her saviour as well as the enemy.
The Wolf and the North Wind: A Contest in the Sky
drama
Beaten Gold
Paradise in The Vault
Breaking news! A dangerous dictator in a rising balloon. A shaman of the North Wind must show him the mirror ... and save the planet. A dramatic contest of wills. Nail biting story of today.
You Should Ask Wallace
family, science
Theatr na nÓg
Venue 13
In his centenary year 2013, we celebrate this often overlooked Welsh Victorian scientist, who’s curiosity as to why there are so many different varieties of species, was ignited during his formative years in Usk and Neath, and would later find the answer to the mystery of all mysteries. His findings would compel Darwin to publish his seminal work On the Origin of Species. The play takes us through his life as a young boy growing up in Wales to embarking on epic adventures in the Amazon and Malay Archipelago, where he discovers the theory of evolution.
dance & physical theatre
Blue Lotus: Summer 
genre: dance, music
group: Dance Ihayami
venue: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Combining contemporary and classical Indian dance, classical music composed by Ash Madni and elements of audience participation, Blue Lotus: Summer explores the connection between Indian dance and the natural environment, reflecting the changing seasons. As human beings, we interact with our environment in every moment and with every movement - dance explores the resonance of our body landscapes in tune with the natural surroundings. Dance Ihayami is celebrating its 10th anniversary with this outdoor dance and music production experimenting with movement and traditional context of classical Indian dance.
Death and Gardening 
absurdist, clown
Wet Picnic
Assembly RoxyInternationally acclaimed, Wet Picnic throw you into a world caught between life and death. A world where strangers in yellow macs are keen to dispatch you to your final resting place and gardening becomes a metaphor for the cycle of life. Death and Gardening delves into the unconventional demise of David Fanshaw who struggles to come to terms with what he will leave behind. A contagious blend of physical comedy and the grotesque, which shines a light on our inevitable mortality. An unflinching and darkly humorous piece that pulls apart the human condition.
Greed 
dance
Tavaziva Dance
Zoo SouthsideHard-hitting, gut-busting, powerful. Featuring a company of exhilarating dancers and Bawren Tavaziva’s trademark ability to create work that resonates with his Zimbabwean upbringing and his life in the UK. Greed faces up to the allure of the seven deadly sins.
Last Land and Il gioco del gregge di capre 
dance, theatre
Maria Nilsson Waller and Fabrizio Favale
Dance Base - National Centre for DanceLast Land is inspired by frozen plains and dusty desert majesty. Maria Nilsson Waller reconstructs the vast scale and unpredictability of these contrasting landscapes in a highly physical, poetic work that invites us to consider the urgency of tectonic movement and the accelerating rhythms of nature and climate change. In award-winning Fabrizio Favale's solo, Il gioco del gregge di capre, the dynamics of goats flocking are seen and re-imagined with the clashing of horns and the crashing of hooves.
Ours was the Fen Country 
devised, physical theatre
Dan Canham / Still House / MAYK / Bristol Ferment / Escalator East to Edinburgh
Dance Base - National Centre for DanceFor the past two years Dan Canham (DV8 / Kneehigh / Punchdrunk) has been capturing conversations with people of the Fens, East Anglia. Eel-catchers, farmers, parish councillors, conservationists have all been interviewed. In this ethereal piece of documentary dance/theatre, Dan and his ensemble fuse movement and sound with words and memories from their native collaborators to get to the heart of this mysterious expanse of flat land, celebrating universal stories of rural communities fading from view. Exhilarating, poetic look at the inevitability of change from the voices of those who still know the old words.
Sacred Earth 
dance, music
Ragamala Dance
Just Festival at St John'sRagamala's Artistic Directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy create visceral, universal experiences that use Indian dance (Bharatanatyam) to express their contemporary point of view. Sacred Earth explores the interconnectedness between human emotions and the environments that shape them. Inspired by the philosophies behind the ephemeral arts of Kolam and Warli and the Tamil Sangam literature of India, Sacred Earth is Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy's singular vision of the beautiful, fragile relationship between nature and man. Performed with live music; featuring guest Warli artist Anil Vangad.
SeKret 
contemporary, dance
Tai Gu Tales Dance Theatre (Taiwan)
C venues - CWu Tsai-Lin: solo dancer. Five aspects and multiple presentations. Decipher the Meta of Mother Earth as we step into the centre of the universe. To confine resurrection and destruction, to love and hate, of human nature. Wu Tsai-Lin was born in Taiwan and grew up in a performance art family. Her father was a Peking Opera actor and founder of Contemporary Legend Theatre Company. Her mother was founder of the Tai Gu Tales Dance Theatre Company. Her parents influenced her interest in dance and as a second generation new-born dancer, this is Tsai-Lin's solo dance.
This Side of Paradise 
devised, site-specific
Dudendance
SummerhallA glorious wasteland, an Eden of ash. War-torn mutants play a de-humanised war game. Menace penetrates the void as each action brings them closer to violence. The piece explores our obsessive visions of apocalypse.
musicals & opera
1,000 Suns 
new writing, rock
Gaffball Productions
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall For a teenager what’s worse? Growing up in America? Or growing up after America? Five young people face the struggles of their post-nuclear lives, in a wasteland that was once America, after the Cold War turned hot. They strive to overcome the oppressive authority of their parents and teachers, the hopelessness of the crater that they call home, and a dark sickness that threatens everything they hold dear.
Faustus 
genre: adaptation, musical theatre
group: Six Lips Theatre
venue: Sweet GrassmarketEven the best and wisest amongst us do things we later regret... Under the bleak skyline of the industrial revolution, a company assembles to pass judgement on the greatest of a generation. In this gritty, steampunk-inspired retelling of the classic, an ensemble of actor-musicians and puppets bring to life the fall of John Faustus. In the bowels of the industrial revolution, change is brewing. A particular kind of hunger is bubbling inside one of the world’s most powerful minds, and when an offer is made that promises to satisfy that hunger, he makes a choice. A bargain. With the devil.
The Garden 
music, opera
Pauline Knowles, Alan McHugh, directed by Zinnie Harris
Paterson’s LandThe Garden tells the tale of a couple living on the 10th floor of a high rise block, at a time when humanity has run out of resources, who discover hope in the form of a strange tree that grows through the floor of their kitchen. 'Compelling performances ... astonishingly expressive vocal lines' **** (Scotsman). 'An astonishingly moving portrait of a loving couple at the end of their tether' (Joyce McMillan, Scotsman, for the original play). Cast: Pauline Knowles, Alan McHugh, Libretto/Direction: Zinnie Harris, Composer: John Harris. Commissioned by Sound Festival.
children's shows
Many children's shows feature animals. We're listing only those with apparent environmental themes.
Breakdance Evolution 
genre: dance, family
group: Step It Up Dance
venue: Sweet Grassmarket Explore the story of evolution through the medium of breakdance! This energetic workshop will get the whole family spinning, popping, lockin', bustin' funky moves and pulling off super cool tricks in no time. Discover the joy of dancing with your kids and watch their self-esteem grow before your very eyes as they learn cool new moves with loads of praise, fun and laughs along the way. Dancers of all levels, young and old, will enjoy this imaginative and active workshop hosted by B-Boy Taz from Step It Up Dance.
Bugs, Beasts and Bairns 
music
Music Bugs
Pilrig Studio Music Bugs return to the Fringe, after enjoying sell-out success in 2011 and 2012, with another action packed show for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Join us on an interactive musical journey through the natural world, packed full of fun and colourful puppets and props. You bring the bairns, and we'll supply the bugs and the beasts! A guaranteed toe-tapping, sing-a-long shindig for young and old alike. Please note that adults do not require a ticket. All children must be accompanied by an adult - Maximum two adults per child.
Crying Out Loud presents l'Après-midi d'un Foehn - Version 1 
contemporary
By Company Non Nova
Summerhall This is the moment that the real life of the plastic bag begins its own life without us. An ethereal and magical performance art piece, accompanied by the classic Debussy music. A ballet mistress has created a piece of choreography performed by plastic dancers, propelled by currents of air on the lyrical music. The piece transports the viewers, sitting on the stage, to a world where the laws of gravity no longer exist and boundless adventures await. A beautiful journey that ignites the imagination.
The Enormous Turnip 
interactive, theatre
Spotlites Theatre Productions
Spotlites @ The Merchants' Hall Help Grandad plant the tiny seed! Slide in the snail slime! Heave up the enormous turnip! Professional interactive theatre for kids who don't just want to sit still and watch! Little'uns come onstage throughout! Join Boy and Grandad as they tend the seeds! The family is hungry, what will grow? Will the birds steal the seeds? Will the slugs and snails munch the leaves? Will there be enough for tea? Will the turnip ever stop growing?
The Man Who Planted Trees 
comedy, puppetry
Puppet State Theatre Company
Scottish Storytelling Centre'Laughs, heartbreak, war, regeneration, scented breezes, sparkling wit and the best dog puppet ever. Perfect for children and grown-ups. Terrific' (Guardian). Back by popular demand, this multi award-winning adaptation of Jean Giono's classic environmental tale by Edinburgh-based Puppet State Theatre Company has been touring internationally for the past five years, with appearances off-Broadway and at the Sydney Opera House. A unique blend of comedy, puppetry and inspiring storytelling.
SensoryO 
music, opera
Scottish Opera
Paterson’s Land Set in a magical, night-time world where anything is possible, SensoryO takes you on a train ride through the jungle to meet a friendly lion who sleeps under the stars. Rich in sound, rhythm and music, the show introduces toddlers aged between 18 months and 3 years to live performance in a fun, engaging environment. The set is inviting and tactile, with its unique audience in mind, and the show features a mix of live and recorded vocals and exciting percussive sounds to inspire the imagination and bring the adventure to life.
War of the Worms 
children's, comedy
Richard Digance
New Town TheatreThe best-selling children’s author and singer Richard Digance takes to the stage. This is a story that needs lots of noises from everyone. It’s a grimy, slimy, mucky, yucky story so we need mucky, yucky noise, lots of ooo’s while you all hold your noses’. The Slime Age took place on earth many years before the arrival of bad-tempered dinosaurs. A time when only helpless, little worms lived on our planet. Find out what happens in this interactive children’s musical full of gooey, gungy fun telling the story of the War of the Worms.
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Headlines
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New productions:
In This Place - Wed's & Sat's in Sept
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'Spirit in the Air' measures the climate impacts of Edinburgh Festivals - exhibition, events, talks
2 - 22 August
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Southbanquet at the South Bank, 31 August and 1 September
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People Profit Planet at World Stage Design 2013
5 - 15 September
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Our pick of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
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Edinburgh International Festival - 'Leaving Planet Earth'
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Environmental Art Festival Scotland - 30 Aug - 2 Sept
headline acts: Cinema Sark, The Rise and Fall of the Grey Mare’s Tail, Gimme Shelter, Glimpse
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14 ways to look at Scotland: 14 arts projects for Year of Natural Scotland
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Mayor's Thames Festival - 6 - 15 September
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Exhibitions:
Aquatopia - 20 July-22 Sept
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Conferences
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Events
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Seminars and talks
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Workshops
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TippingPoint starts crowd-sourced database of climate art
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'Actipedia' - crowd-sourced database of activist art - goes online
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CCANW moves to Innovation Centre at University of Exeter
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'Oceans': Tania Kovats and Fruitmarket Gallery ask for bottles of sea water for 2014 exhibition
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'On Ecology' edition of Performance Research published online
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'Environmentalism' edition of Research in Drama Education published online
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Kieran Lynn wins Nick Darke Award
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Greening theatre news
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The Man Who Planted Trees receives 2012 Award for Sustainable Production at the Edinburgh Fringe
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New books:
The Oil Road
Dark Mountain 3
The Book of Barely Imagined Beings
Readings in Performance and Ecology
Beautiful Trouble. A Toolbox for Revolution
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New Green Canterbury Tales: call for storytellers to make a pilgrimage
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Creu Cymru partners with Julies' Bicycle to support sustainability of 42 Welsh venues
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Julie's Bicycle and The Theatres Trust publish 'Energising Culture'
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'Culture and Climate Change: Recordings' available as a book, as an online pdf and as podcasts
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Arts Council England embeds environmental sustainability into funding agreements
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$750,000 (£470,000) funding for US musical about climate change - reviews are in
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Canadian Theatre Review focuses on 'Theatre in an Age of Eco-Crisis'
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Sustainable theatres:
Julie's Bicycle's theatre plan
Sustainable Abilities online
toolkit from Mo'olelo
EMERGENCE: creative practices and sustainable futures
new builds: Small World, Green Light Trust, Arcola
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Listen, watch, read: podcasts, videos and essays
Latest additions:
> TJ Demos: on dOCUMENTA (13), gardens, biotech & on Art After Nature
> TippingPoint Newcastle
> Wendell Berry: 'It All Turns on Affection'
> David Abram at Sensory Worlds
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Library:
'Survival of the Beautiful'
Mojisola Adebayo's collected plays
'Metaphors for Environmental Sustainabliity'
'Mediating Climate Change'
'Theatre Materials'
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E-script online: 'The Last Cuckoo'
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CSPA 2011 Fringe Awards for Sustainable Production:
2011- 'Allotment'
2010 - 'The Pantry Shelf'
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Recent news and still interesting
Sideways through Belgium
Not Waving but Drowning (LIFT event)
Ackroyd & Harvey in conversation
Choreographing Capital (Isaac Julien & David Harvey)
PSi#18 - a lot of ecology
and more ...
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Recent productions, including:
My Last Car, As the World Tipped, SEVEN ANGLES, Fissure, The Heretic, Greenland, Earthquakes in London, 3rd Ring Out, PROTOZOA, Grasses of a Thousand Colours, The Contingency Plan, Zameen, Moj of the Antarctic ...
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Exhibitions archive
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