Assembly Festival's 2021 Programme Kicks Off This Week

On Tuesday 3 August Assembly Festival kicks off its summer Fringe programme at the much-loved and greatly missed Palais du Variété spiegeltent in George Square Gardens.

Among the first shows to be back on stage are 2019 hit show Bromance (3 - 29 Aug) - a cutting edge show that wittily explores male companionship and its limits, from experimental acrobatic circus company Barely Methodical Troupe, and Nonsense Room Productions' interactive musical show You Choose (3 - 22 Aug) based on Pippa Goodhard and Nick Sharratt's picture book.

William Burdett-Coutts OBE, Artistic Director of Assembly Festival said:

"I can't begin to describe how wonderful it feels to have live performance back in Edinburgh. After over 40 years on the Edinburgh Fringe, last year was extremely difficult for everyone involved in the arts and Assembly was no exception. However, we did embrace digital entertainment and our new platform Assembly Showcatcher is proving to be an excellent way for international Fringe-performers to still take part and for the public who are unable to make it to Edinburgh this year, to enjoy our rich programme of online shows. At the same time nothing beats being here in person. At lightning speed we have created a terrific programme and we look forward to welcoming a real audience to real show starting this week."

Barely Methodical Troupe performing Bromance this year said:

"It all started for us in Edinburgh with Bromance and we've gone on to tour the world to sell-out theatres and develop the company from strength to strength. It was devastating for the Fringe not to happen last year and we're thrilled to be back, performing to live audiences in a city we love and being part of one of the best arts festivals in the world."

This year, Assembly Festival will be operating two sites and three venues at the Fringe including a new Outdoor Stage in George Square Gardens which will host a live programme of music each evening, kicking off on Thursday (5 August) with Edinburgh blues and groove band Heavy Pockets (Toby Mottershead (vocals/guitar), Ewan Gibson (bass), Vid Gobac (drums) serving up the spirt of 1950s Chicago.

Assembly Festival has been awarded £162,962 from the Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council to help fund outdoor events and support the safe return of live events at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

Programme highlights throughout August include Best of the Fest - Assembly's late-night selection of the best acts on this year's Fringe; Best of Burlesque; Brian Foster's sell-out success in 2019 - Myra's Story; Guy Masterson's Under Milk Wood: Semi Skimmed; David Calvitto returns with his 2009 hit The Event; and comedy from Police Cops, Simon Evans, Jody Kamali, Joanne McNally professional silly man John Luke Roberts, Isabelle Farah, and Nina Conti, who will be joined by one half of the Pajama Men for Podcast Stars, Richard & Greta (AKA Comedians Nina Conti and Shenoah Allen) Record Their Podcast Live.

Assembly Roxy's programme sees new work from Scotland-based Penny Chivas whose new work Burnt Out (16 - 22 Aug) weaves spoken word with movement to take us through Australia's fiery history impacted by climate change. Other new work includes Black Bat Productions' Fear of Roses (4 - 24 Aug); tragicomedy Mediocre White Male (4 - 15 Aug); It All (25 - 29 Aug) from Fringe debut performer Cameron Cook; Styx (9 - 15 Aug) about living with Alzheimer's disease and the extraordinary power music has to reignite fading memories; Vest-igios, an intimate performance from world renowned Colombian circus company Circolombia; and Boorish Trumpson in an interactive, music and clowning-filled show to Make Music Great Again (24 - 29 Aug) interrogating power and those who wield it.

Finally, to keep the kids busy for the rest of the holidays we have Captain Breadbeard, Comedy Club 4 Kids, magic from Elliot Bibby: Left Over Lunch; and Drag Queen Story Hour showing the world's young people that it's no bad thing to be different.

Plus, Agent November will be running two outdoor spy-themed escape games daily in Princes Street Gardens - the Museum of Secrets has been robbed in Robyn Yew (Tue, Thur & Sat), and Major X. Ploe-Shun (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun).

All Assembly venues have been designed from the ground-up and carry the We're Good to Go and See It Safely mark meaning they all operate in-line with current Government guidelines for COVID-19. Capacity has been reduced, contactless payments are accepted at all box office, food outlets and bars to avoid unnecessary cash handling; there is additional cleaning between shows as well as hand sanitiser freely available. The wearing of face coverings will be implemented in line with Government guidance and are currently mandatory indoors. Customers will be contacted in advance should there be any guideline changes that may affect how we operate. Ticket exchanges/refunds are available to customers who are self-isolating.

And, for those who are unable to travel to Edinburgh, including the huge number of international performers who won't make it this year, there is Assembly Showcatcher our online season of shows which opens 6 August.

For further guidance, tickets, and to keep up-to-date with the full programme at Assembly Festival this summer, visit www.assemblyfestival.com

To post a comment, you must register and login.