News – On Screen On Stage
Short Filmhouse season preps audiences for EIF
By Thom Dibdin
It's Bliss, Opera Australia's production
The Edinburgh International Festival are linking up with the Filmhouse next week for On Screen, On Stage, a short season of four films which tie in with productions in this year’s EIF.
The innovative season, running from Sunday 18 through to Sunday 25 July, is described by Filmhouse as “a short season of films to whet your appetite for the upcoming Edinburgh International Festival’s 2010 programme”.
On Screen, On Stage includes two Scottish premieres. Susanna Boehm’s 2009 documentary Porgy and Me follows the cast of the New York Harlem Theatre on their European tour of Porgy and Bess. Following the company from city to city – where they attract stares from startled Austrians – the film draws out the parallels between the opera and the real life experiences of individual singers in a series of deeply personal conversations.
Babeth M VanLoo’s Meredith Monk: Inner Voice, another documentary from 2009, follows Monk during the process of making her latest piece, Songs of Ascension, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and at Ann Hamilton’s Tower in California. It also follows her on tour in Italy, with with her Vocal Ensemble, we also follow her on a concert tour of Italy.
Both Porgy and Bess, performed by the Opera do Lyon, and Songs of Ascension are part of this year’s EIF.
Slightly more tenuous – if no less welcome – is the screening of the 1951, oscar-winning A Streetcar Named Desire, staring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. In this case, the link is another Tennessee Williams play, Vieux Carré, which the Wooster Group are performing at this year’s EIF.
The final screening is Ray Lawrence’s quirky Australian comedy from 1985, Bliss, based on the the Peter Carey novel and adapted by Carey himself. Brett Dean and Amanda Holden’s opera version of the novel, performed by Opera Australia, is part of the EIF
The screening on Wednesday 21 will be introduced by Jonathan Mills, Director and Chief Executive of the Edinburgh International Festival.
Jonathan Mills commented: “We’re thrilled be working in partnership with the Filmhouse, Edinburgh to bring together this short season of films inspired by our 2010 Festival programme.
This new collaboration provides audiences with the opportunity to take an exciting journey in which they can fully explore these films and shows both on screen and on stage.”
Listings:
Porgy & Me (15)
Sunday 18 July: 3.30pm
Filmhouse, Edinburgh: Link to Filmhouse website
Porgy and Bess (Opéra de Lyon)
Saturday 14, Monday 16 & Tuesday 17 August 7.15pm
Festival Theatre, Edinburgh Link to EIF website
Sponsored by Lloyds TSB Scotland
A Streetcar Named Desire (15)
Monday 19 July: 3.00pm and 8.15pm
Filmhouse, Edinburgh Link to Filmhouse website
Vieux Carré (The Wooster Group)
Saturday 21 – Tuesday 24 August 7.30pm
Royal Lyceum Theatre Link to EIF website
Sponsored by United States Embassy London
Meredith Monk: Inner Voice (15)
Tuesday 20 July: 8.15pm
Filmhouse, Edinburgh Link to Filmhouse website
Songs of Ascension (Meredith Monk Company, The Elysian Quartet, Edinburgh University Singers)
Saturday 28 – Monday 30 August: 8.00pm
Royal Lyceum Theatre Link to EIF website
Supported by the American Friends of the Edinburgh International Festival
With additional support from United States Embassy London
Bliss (15)
Wednesday 21 July: 8.40pm; Sunday 25 July: 1.30pm
Filmhouse, Edinburgh Link to Filmhouse website
With thanks to the Australian High Commission and Screen New South Wales
Bliss (Opera Australia and BBC Symphony Orchestra)
Thu 2, Sat 4 September: 7.15pm
Festival Theatre, Edinburgh Link to EIF website
Supported by Edinburgh International Festival Friends and Patrons
Supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria
ENDS
