EIF Postpones Launch
Changed date now postponed, due to Covid-19
The Edinburgh International Festival has postponed the launch of the 2020 Festival, which had already been changed to an online-only event planned for Wednesday 18 March.
The organisers emphasise they are still planning to deliver a festival in August, but as the executive team is “flat out” at present, it is not doing interviews and will wait “a few weeks” before the rearranged launch.
Adura Onashile in the title role of the previously announced NTS production of Medea, due to play at EIF 2020. Pic Peter Dibdin
Francesca Hegyi, the EIF’s executive director said in a statement: “In the light of the rapidly changing Coronavirus situation, we will postpone the launch of the 2020 programme including the planned media briefing tomorrow and the digital launch of the Edinburgh International Festival programme on Wednesday.
“It is important to emphasise that we are still planning to deliver a festival this August but we think it best to wait a number of weeks before launching our programme.
certainty
“We are working as quickly as we can to provide certainty to everyone. Our focus remains on presenting the festival and getting artists back on our stages and audiences back into concert halls and theatres as soon as it is safe to do so.
“Please bear with us whilst we navigate staging this international festival at a particularly unusual time.”
Some productions and performances of EIF 2020 have already been announced, including the National Theatre of Scotland’s production of Medea, which will see Former Scots Makar Liz Lochhead make her EIF debut with her modern adaptation into contemporary Scots of Euripides play.
The title role is to be played by Adura Onashile with the production directed by Michael Boyd, former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and, before that, of the Tron Theatre, Glasgow. It is due to play The Hub.
ENDS
