Cast of Edinburgh Fringe Festival's EDITH IN THE DARK Celebrate Edith Nesbit's 157th Birthday

The cast of the Edinburgh Fringe production of Edith in the Dark will be celebrating today the 157th anniversary of the birth of Edith Nesbit, the author of much cherished children's books The Railway Children and Five Children and It.

Edith Nesbit was born on 15th August 1858, the youngest daughter of an agricultural chemist and teacher. Her childhood was touched with tragedy - her father died suddenly when Edith was just four years old - and it is thought these experiences gave her inspiration for her later work.

Fringe First Award-winner, River City and Emmerdale writer Philip Meeks has now written a deliciously sinister new play Edith in the Dark which looks at the darker side of the much-loved celebrated children's author.

Think Edith Nesbit and no doubt The Railway Children or Five Children And It immediately spring to mind. Yet, despite her renown as an author of children's stories, Edith Nesbit was also a mistress of Victorian Gothic horror, penning chilling stories of the paranormal with a genteel elegance that underlies their flesh-creeping nature. First published in magazines in the 1880s, then collated in 1893 anthology Grim Tales, they have since, for the most, been forgotten...until now.

Edith in the Dark is on at 4.25 pm until the 30th August at Venue 166, Monument Playhouse at the St Stephens Centre. For tickets call 0131 5162880 or visit www.edfringe.com/whats-on/edith-in-the-dark

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