12 years on from its inception, the British Council’s biennial Edinburgh Showcase has staged more than 30 productions across the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year. They ranged from young unknowns to established artists and encompassed new writing, physical and visual theatre, live art, and mixed-media installations. From 24 - 29 August up to 250 international programmers, venue and festival directors from more than 50 countries attended this year’s Showcase in the middle of the world’s biggest festival of performing arts. Companies taking part in the Showcase were deliberately chosen to represent the more unusual and cutting edge British work that might never otherwise have the chance to be seen by this group of prestigious programmers.

Among the more eclectic choices in this year’s programme are Bootworks Theatre Collective who brought their Black Box, a five minute show staged within a portable, fully functioning miniature theatre for an audience of one, and Power Plant who transformed the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh into a captivating nocturnal world, taking the audience on a journey through a strangely beautiful landscape and exploring the relationship between sound, light and the garden environment.

Other offerings at this year’s showcase included Inua Ellams, one of the most exciting young talents to emerge from the UK’s poetry scene who will be performing his first full-length theatre show and Michael Pinchbeck’s Post Show party in which the artist takes his parents on tour to recreate the event where they met in 1970 after an amateur dramatic production of The Sound of Music.

View the full Edinburgh Showcase 2009 programme.

Impact of Edinburgh Showcase

Sally Cowling Director of Drama and Dance at the British Council, said: ‘Over the last 12 years the Edinburgh Showcase has provided a unique platform for a huge variety of artists, many of whom were included at the very beginning of their careers. The Showcase gives them the opportunity to experience the fantastic madness of Edinburgh at festival time and, crucially, to connect with influential international promoters in a supported environment.

'The Showcase is an important marketplace for British theatre makers looking to build an international profile for their work, but, as well as the immediate commercial opportunities they also get a chance to build creative relationships that bring benefits over a much longer period of time. For example, Adrian Howells who travelled to Israel and Singapore following the 2007 Showcase returns this year with a new piece inspired by his tour.’

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Chief Executive, Kath Mainland said: ‘The British Council’s Edinburgh Showcase remains a true benchmark of quality that inspires international promoters and ensures that performers continue to return to the Fringe.

'Everyone in the industry is aware of the extraordinary benefits the Showcase brings to the artists involved, what is less widely articulated is the bravery of the programming choices that are made by the British Council. The Edinburgh Showcase highlights the best of the UK’s theatre and alongside Made in Scotland is a brilliant opportunity to profile our leading performers and productions.’

The Edinburgh Showcase brings an estimated £1m to the UK theatre industry annually. It has been made possible by the generous support of the Scottish Arts Council, Arts Council England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Wales Arts International. This year the Showcase is collaborating with Made in Scotland, an initiative funded by the Scottish Government’s Expo Fund.

Showcase selection process

The British Council works with an advisory group of leading performing arts professionals from across the UK who are advising on the company selection for Edinburgh Showcase 2009. This is to ensure that the selection process is transparent and broadly based.

The advisory group is made up of:

			Ben Twist – Freelance Theatre Director and Producer
			David Fry – Head of Theatres Programming, The Lowry
			Gregory Nash – Director, The Point Eastleigh
			Matt Burman – Executive Producer, Norfolk and Norwich Festival
			Kerry Michael – Artistic Director, Theatre Royal Stratford East
			David Micklem – Co-Artistic Director, Battersea Arts Centre.

For further information or images please contact Simon Raeside on +44 (0)131 524 5745 or email simon.raeside@britishcouncil.org.