Made in Scotland goes from strength to strength for the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a seventeen strong programme of Scotland’s finest new work.
Today, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, announced this year’s programme of world-class theatre and dance showcasing Scotland’s talent at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Of the Made In Scotland work in 2010, six Scottish companies claimed top festival awards and all received critical acclaim. To date, Made In Scotland has enabled 15 Scotland-based companies to present their work around the globe from Dusseldorf to Denmark and Sydney to New York.
Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop said:
“The Made In Scotland programme has already created internationally acclaimed productions from Scottish based companies that reflect and present our rich heritage and our creative talent on the world stage.
“The Edinburgh Festivals also contribute hugely to the Scottish economy. Research published earlier this week showed they generated over a quarter of a billion pounds’ worth of additional tourism revenue for Scotland last year.”
Kath M Mainland Chief Executive of the Festival Fringe Society said:
“The Scottish Government’s continued support for the Made In Scotland programme continues to be invaluable as a means for Scottish based artists and practitioners to present their work to world audiences at the Fringe. The Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival, a magnet for producers and directors from all over the world looking to discover work, and provides an international platform for all artists from all disciplines and styles from Scotland, the UK and overseas. The Made In Scotland programme ensures that Scottish talent is well placed to take full advantage of this international platform, and enables them to go on to perform throughout the UK and internationally after delighting, challenging and amazing audiences here in Edinburgh.”
Jon Morgan, Director of the Federation of Scottish Theatre said:
“We are delighted to be continuing the successful partnership with Festival Fringe Society and Creative Scotland on Made In Scotland. We would also like to thank the Scottish Government for their ongoing support of Made In Scotland through the Expo Fund. As the success of the shows in last year’s programme demonstrates Scotland has a vibrant performing arts scene with a wide range of exciting, established and emerging theatre and dance artists.”
Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland added:
“Culture is Scotland’s calling card internationally and the quality of productions from Scotland are recognised and welcomed across the world. Made in Scotland is an excellent showcase for the strength of work created here and I’d urge anyone coming to Edinburgh in August to make sure they’ve booked their Made In Scotland tickets early!”
£1.2 million was allocated from the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund across 3 years to create ‘Made in Scotland’ – a partnership between the Festival Fringe Society, the Federation of Scottish Theatre and Creative Scotland. All Scottish-based artists and arts organisations are eligible to apply for Made In Scotland which promotes Scottish dance and theatre artists to international promoters at the Fringe, the world’s biggest arts festival.
This year’s showcase will support 17 Scottish-based theatre and dance companies at Fringe 2011 who have been chosen by a panel of experts from the international performing arts community. The programme represents a mix of established companies and vibrant emerging artists producing theatre, dance and children’s shows in Scotland today.
The programme features Fish and Game’s iPad aided journey in Alma Mater alongside Adrian Howells’ tender one-on-one The Pleasure of Being: Washing, Feeding, Holding, Ros Philips’ remarkable theatre installation on George Street showcases One Million Tiny Plays about Britain while Grid Iron and David Paul Jones create a soundtrack to the terrors that lie between the dusk and the dark in What Remains. Mark Almond makes his Fringe Debut with the Traverse Theatre Company for Mark Ravenhill’s Ten Plagues and David Leddy’s Fire Exit Ltd leads us through nocturnal Venice in Untitled Love Story. Barrowland Ballet present A Conversation with Carmel, Poorboy bring audio feast Blood and Roses, Cloud Man will delight 4-7 year olds and their families alongside One Thousand Paper Cranes which is a play for everyone aged 8 over. Lung Ha’s bring their work with Swedish theatre company Unga Klara, Medea’s Children. Young people feature as subject matter and performer in Tumult in the Clouds’ Fleeto and Wee Andy and Junction 25’s I Hope My Heart Go First respectively, alongside the Citizen’s TAG production of David Greig’s The Monster in the Hall. Dance and physical theatre is represented by David Hughes Dance’s Last Orders, Matters of the Heart by Scottish Dance Theatre and Ramesh Meyyappan’s Snails and Ketchup in association with Iron Oxide.
In 2010 six of the Made In Scotland companies walked away with Herald Angel Awards. Fringe First awards went to Catherine Wheels for White and Ankur/Pachamama for Roadkill which won a remarkable clean sweep of awards including; Stage Best Actress Award for Mercy Ojelade, the Holden Street Theatre Award, the Amnesty International Award for Freedom of Expression, the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Prize and the Total Theatre Award for Theatre Innovation. As well as six award-winning companies, seven shows have been supported by the Made in Scotland Onward Touring Fund bringing world class theatre and dance from Scotland to an international audience.
