Scotland
Friday 15 August – Sunday 17 August, Festival Theatre Edinburgh
This summer, Edinburgh International Festival 2025 turns its focus to the theme The Truth We See, inviting audiences to explore the muddy waters of honesty throughout history and in contemporary society. Through some top notch international collaborations spanning ballet, opera, classical, and electronic music, the festival drops fact and fiction in a world grappling with uncertainty.
Now in her third year as EIF festival director, Nicola Benedetti continues to champion Scottish stories, creatives, and companies, reinforcing the festival’s role in supporting artists and showcasing homegrown talent on an international scale. “To be alive is to know the elusive nature of truth. Within our homes or workplaces, amongst loved ones or colleagues, we all experience trying to piece together indignantly expressed, absolutely believed, yet utterly contradictory truths. How often are we able to rise above our own bubble?” she says.
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Charlotta Öfverholm and Roseanna Leney Mary, Queen of Scots.© Mihaela Bodlovic
Among the standout promising performances, Scottish Ballet presents the world premiere of Mary, Queen of Scots, the first full-length narrative ballet from Scottish Ballet’s resident choreographer Sophie Laplane. Told through the eyes of Queen Elizabeth I (played in her later years by Swedish dance star, Charlotta Öfverholm), and based on her perceived and imagined relationship with Mary, the ballet blends history with legend, in this textured performance of the true stories, fiction and fireside tales that make up Mary’s life and legacy.
Elegant period-inspired costumes are designed by Soutra Gilmour, with an intergenerational company performing to a score by Mikael Karlsson and Michael P Atkinson.
More info and booking here
