🪩 Edinburgh Culture Minute: 2 - 8 April 2025
1,200 new Fringe shows, Jupiter Rising line-up, RSD preview, new Printmakers exhibitions + Björk on the big screen
Welcome to the 83rd weekly edition of the Culture Minute: a round-up of Edinburgh’s local creative news, events, jobs and opportunities.
If I’ve missed anything please get in touch.
👀 The most-viewed links from the last Edinburgh Culture Minute:
- 🎭 Jodie Comer to bring Prima Facie to the Lyceum.
- 🎭 First shows revealed for Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025.
- 🎨 New Contemporaries opens at RSA on The Mound (until 16 April).
News:
🎭 A new batch of 1,236 Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows will be published later today. The Culture Minute got a heads-up of the list, which includes Swamplesque returning to Assembly, comedy from Shamik Chakrabarti, Alex Kitson and Mhairi Black, plus Footballers' Wives: The Musical. - Tickets for all shows will be available on edfringe.com from 12.30pm today.
⮑ For those keeping count: These join the 556 shows already revealed, resulting in a total of 1792 shows so far. More shows are due to be announced on Wednesday 7 May, while the official programme launch is on Tuesday 3 June.
🎤 A further 129 new shows at the Pleasance Courtyard were announced yesterday and are on sale now. They include Edinburgh Comedy Award Winners Adam Riches and John Kearns, Emmanuel Sonubi and a debut for Thanyia Moore. - Full details via Theatre Weekly here and tickets are here.
🎉 Back in its third year in August for one-night-only, the JUPITER RISING x Edinburgh Art Festival line-up has been announced. Opening the evening on on 16 August, artist Jonathan Baldock will be in-conversation with writer Sacha Coward, while TAAHLIAH will headline the one-night festival. - Full details and early tickets are here.
“EAF25 is a celebration of feminist and queer performance, events, and exhibitions across the city, and we are buzzing to partner with Jupiter Artland for JUPITER RISING x EAF in the second weekend of the festival. Audiences should expect the usual art-drenched chaos, late night dancing, and stunning performance in the woodlands of Jupiter.” - Kim McAleese, Director, EAF25.
🖼️ Two new exhibitions open on Friday at Edinburgh Printmakers in Fountainbridge. ‘Impressions: Selected Works from Jerwood Collection’ runs from 4 April to 29 June. It will run concurrently with a partner exhibition: ‘Story: Selected Works from Edinburgh Printmakers’ Collection’. Together the exhibitions give the opportunity to see lesser known works from some of Scotland and Britain's most talented artists including: Bridget Riley, David Hockney, Tracey Emin, John Byrne, Victoria Crowe, Eduardo Paolozzi, Lucian Freud, Paula Rego, Barbara Rae, David Shrigley and Rachel Maclean among others. - Some incredible work in there. Full details are here.
🔊 Turns out this wasn’t an April Fool: The O2 Academy Edinburgh has changed its name back to the Edinburgh Corn Exchange after four years. It’s still run by the Academy Music Group according to its website.
🎸 Record Store Day is next week on Saturday 12 April. The usual spots are planning their usual excellent live music and in-store goodies, including VoxBox gigs at St Vincent’s Chapel and a Lost Map Records special at Good Vibes in Leith. - More details in Tallah Brash’s preview for The Skinny.
⮑ Crime writer and music lover Ian Rankin will be spinning tunes at Cockburn Street’s Underground Solution record shop alongside a packed day of DJ sets. - Full details here and their list of 240 special RSD releases is here.
⮑ The Record Store Day party will continue into the wee small hours at Leith Cricket Club with DJ sets from Arusa Qureshi and Jonathan Hamilton and live music from Health and Beauty. The night is a collaboration between Supper Club and Good Vibes Record Store. - More details and tickets on Eventbrite.
🎵 Described as ‘one of the most incredible displays of lights and sounds ever to grace a stage’ by New York Magazine, Björk’s ‘Cornucopia’ concert will be shown on 7 May at The Cameo and Everyman cinemas. - Limited tickets are here.
🎨 Academy Late is back at the Royal Scottish Academy on The Mound on Friday 11 April. - More details here.
📆 This weekend at the Paper Factory, Hidden Door hosts ‘TOLL’ by Scottish artist Andrew J Brooks. It’s an exhibition marking the toll of Covid-19 in a single long column marking 5 years since the outbreak’s first death, stretching out across the length of the huge venue space. - More details here.
🎭 What's on Edinburgh's stages this week?
Here’s All Edinburgh Theatre’s Thom Dibdin:
A piece of big theatre amidst the musicals is this week's first tip: the new production of Anne-Marie Casey's adaptation of Little Women at the Festival Theatre (ends Sat: tickets).
Casey's script is rightly lauded and faithful to the original. It's too early in its tour for any reviews of note, but with Honeysuckle Weeks and Belinda Lang leading the cast it has much to look forward to.
Second tip is at the Brunton (at Loretto School) which has a rare production of Alan Bissett's complete Moira Trilogy (Sat: tickets). There is good availability and Bissett's hilariously observed comedy is worth catching the 26 bus for.
Local amateurs EMT are staging Disney's Beauty and the Beast up at the Church Hill Theatre (ends Sat: tickets). An impressively costumed and strong cast do the humour well - while getting to the emotion of the piece.
Student G&S company Eusog have updated the script for their version of Princess Ida at the Pleasance theatre (Thurs - Sat: tickets) to make it reflect 21st century gender politics. But the music is all the same.
New Scottish kids musical Nessie makes its debut at the Studio (ends Sat: tickets). Press night is tonight, but the first look images of the puppets are endearing. Wild Rose continues at the Lyceum (ends Sat 19: tickets) and is much recommended, whether you are a fan of country music or not.
There are a few tickets left for Dancing Shoes, this week's lunchtime theatre at the Traverse (ends Sat: tickets). A heartwarming piece with fantastical elements, it depicts vulnerable people with a sympathetic realism.
It's another full week next week. See Æ's various listings pages, all linked here for details.