stage
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The emotional toll of stage actingActors often take their characters’ painful experiences away with them off stage. Kate Fleetwood, Michelle Terry and Ben Miles explain how playing murderers, heroin addicts and monarchs marked them deep inside
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Tank review – scientific satire straight from the dolphin's mouthA Nasa-funded experiment to teach dolphins English is cleverly dissected in this multi-layered show by Breach Theatre -
Alan Dossor obituaryTheatre and TV director who oversaw a brilliant five-year period at the Liverpool Everyman in the 70s -
The shows we recommendPlan your Edinburgh schedule with this digest of our tips and reviews. Shows are listed by start time
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What Harry Potter and fringe audiences have in commonThe Edinburgh festival provides many with their first theatre experience and the same goes for the West End’s Potter spectacular. There are no rules for enjoying a show – all you need is your imagination
talking points
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Is there an American style of standup?Edinburgh is hosting heaps of US comics including Bill Burr, Ari Shaffir and Mary Lynn Rajskub, star of TV’s 24. Do they have much in common?
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Edinburgh shows gambling on repeat successIt takes time to create a buzz around a festival show, and soon the run is over. Bringing a hit back can give companies a publicity head start – and a cash boost to their next venture. But there’s no guarantee of glory second time around
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Bad-taste merchant Mike Ward cheapens the fight for free speechThe Canadian comic is at the Edinburgh fringe with his protest show about a joke that saw him ordered to pay $42,000. It’s not a well-argued defence
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Trumpageddon at the Edinburgh fringeSimon Jay’s show aims to highlight the ridiculousness of the US presidential candidate through the power of satire
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Damian Lewis as Antony: 'Friends, Romans, countrymen'Damian Lewis performs Antony’s funeral oration for Julius Caesar from act III, scene 2 of Shakespeare’s tragedy
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Riz Ahmed as Edmund: 'Now, gods, stand up for bastards'Riz Ahmed speaks Edmund’s soliloquy from King Lear, in which Edmund reflects upon being an illegitimate son and plots against his half-brother, Edgar
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Laura Carmichael as Portia: 'The quality of mercy'Laura Carmichael speaks Portia’s lines from the courtroom scene in The Merchant of Venice, in which she tells the moneylender Shylock to be merciful
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David Morrissey as Richard III: ‘Now is the winter of our discontent’David Morrissey speaks the opening lines from Richard III in which the scheming Richard lays out his plan to turn his brothers, Clarence and the newly enthroned King Edward IV, against each other
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Eileen Atkins as Emilia: ‘If wives do fall’Eileen Atkins speaks Emilia’s lines from Othello, act IV scene 3. Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s maid, counsels Desdemona on marital fidelity
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Samuel West as Henry V: 'Upon the king'Samuel West speaks Henry V’s soliloquy on the night before battle, in which he reflects upon the public’s expectations of the king
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A year of solos capturing dancers' fears and freedomThe choreographed portraits in a video series featuring Zenaida Yanowsky, Robert Cohan and Jonzi D create an impressionistic portrait of the profession
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How I made an impression on Alistair McGowan and Rory BremnerAnt and Dec? Perpetual laughter. Boris Johnson? Strangle the vowels. Andy Murray? Just growl. Alistair McGowan and Rory Bremner try and make a mimic of Stephen Moss
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Comedians begin recital of Chilcot reportComedians kick off Iraq Out and Loud, the reading of all 6,000 pages of the Iraq war report in a small shed at the fringe
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James Acaster review – blissful gags about modern life's minutiaeThe Kettering standup delivers his unique brand of micro-observational comedy in an exquisitely written show
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Zoë Coombs Marr review – thrillingly silly meta comedyThe Australian standup’s sexist creation, Dave, is back in a multi-layered show that spoofs both chauvinism and clowning
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Festival in a flash: theatre companies keep Edinburgh visits short and sweetMany fringe productions have shorter runs this year, in a bid to save money and stress. But is it really the best option?
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – a dazzling duel of dark and lightIt’s convoluted, but the latest expansion of the Potter universe is thrillingly staged, with time travel and age-old quests given a dash of post-Freudian guilt
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From a funeral parlour to the fringe: spooky thriller Ada/AvaManual Cinema mix Shakespeare with Hitchcock and use more than 400 puppets to create a gothic show that’s soaked in melancholia
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'It's like a Clark Gable movie': Fiona Buffini on The Two Gentlemen of VeronaOne of the hardest things about doing Shakespeare? Making sure the comedy is actually funny, says the director who transported his early play to the jazz age
pictures & video
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Isy Suttie's six tips for meeting The Actual OneHow should you act when you come face-to-face with a potential partner? Make sure you’re brutally honest. Isy Suttie and Stephen Wight demonstrate six ways to check your compatibility
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Edinburgh's Deep Time spectacularThe Edinburgh international festival will be officially launched on Sunday night with a staggering outdoor artwork that delves into the city’s birth from volcanic eruptions
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'I will deny thee nothing': love and chaos in the RSC's OthelloHugh Quarshie stars as Othello and Joanna Vanderham is Desdemona in Iqbal Khan’s gripping production at Stratford in 2015
you may have missed
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Read a new play by James GrahamIn a new play written for the Guardian, the award-winning writer of political smashes This House and The Vote, goes inside the Brexit bunker as its sweaty-palmed task force prepares to trigger Article 50
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Bridget Christie review – an electrifying Brexit tirade