When it comes to contemporary UK theater, the sky’s the limit at the biennial British Council Edinburgh Showcase. This August we welcomed 200 international performing arts professionals (including a record 26 American presenters) to the city of Edinburgh and took them shopping for the best in new British theater. In its 10th anniversary year, the Showcase is an opportunity for invited delegates to view an exclusive, curated selection of some of the most cutting-edge drama anywhere.

This fall we featured a breathtaking array of innovative new productions by performers both emerging and established. From razor-sharp new writing to site-responsive performance art to explorations of Britain’s multi-cultural heritage, the Showcase is a fresh and eclectic window on contemporary UK creativity.

LIVE ART / MIXED-MEDIA

Richard DeDomenici, SuperJumbo

A self-styled 'one-man subversive think-tank', Richard DeDomenici is renowned for his street interventions, documentaries and performances which challenge notions of democracy, bureaucracy and the public realm. His latest one-man show SuperJumbo is presented in a private apartment where the artist recreates the ambitious, lo-fi audiovisual spectacle of a jumbo jet, indoors.

MULTI-CULTURAL / PHYSICAL-VISUAL THEATER

Mem Morrison Company, Leftovers

In a searingly (literally) personal narrative, Mem Morrison remembers growing up in his Turkish Cypriot family’s ‘greasy spoon’ café in north London. With storytelling and childhood games, video projection and the sounds of sizzling frying pans – plus 60 loaves of sliced bread – he evokes an English working-class café culture that has been assimilated and imperceptibly changed by generations of migrating families.

NEW WRITING / TEXT-BASED

Third Angel, Presumption

Individual experience and the beauty of the everyday – Third Angel creates funny, intelligent and moving theater that highlights the personal battles and idiocies of daily life. In Presumption a young couple muscles with domestic detritus (physical, visual and emotional) in an attempt to examine the limitations of their relationship.

PHYSICAL / VISUAL THEATER

Hoipolloi Theatre, Floating

A Welsh island goes missing in Floating, an engrossing exploration of belonging and national identity. Are we defined by where we come from?  Hoipolloi Theatre prods this question and others through their lively, visually dynamic and hilarious work.