Drama at the Edinburgh International Festival: history and repertoire, 1947–1956

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Drama was an important part of the Edinburgh International Festival from its earliest days, with performances taking place at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, the Assembly Hall, the Gateway Theatre and occasionally in other venues.

Contents

The first company to appear was The Old Vic Theatre Company who returned many times later, together with a series of visiting companies from Britain and abroad.

List

DateCompanyDramaVenueDirectorPrincipal actorsNotes and sources
1947 The Old Vic Theatre Company The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[1]
1947 The Old Vic Theatre Company King Richard II (Shakespeare) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[1]
1947Le compagnie Jouvet de Théâtre de l'Athénée L'école des femmes (Molière) Royal Lyceum Theatre [1]
1947Le compagnie Jouvet de Théâtre de l'Athénée Ondine (Jean Giraudoux) Royal Lyceum Theatre [1]
1948La Compagnie Madeleine Renaud Jean-Louis Barrault Hamlet (Shakespeare) Royal Lyceum Theatre [2]
1948La Compagnie Madeleine Renaud Jean-Louis Barrault Les Fausses Confidences (Marivaux) and Baptiste (Jacques Prévert) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[2]
1948 Tennent Productions Medea (Euripides, adapted by Robinson Jeffers) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[2]
1948The Scottish Theatre Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites (Sir David Lindsay) The Assembly Hall
[2]
1949 Sherek Players The Cocktail Party (T. S. Eliot) World premiere Royal Lyceum Theatre
[3]
1949 Sherek Players The Man in the Raincoat (Peter Ustinov) World premiere Royal Lyceum Theatre
[3]
1949 Düsseldorf Theatre Company Faust (Goethe) Part One Royal Lyceum Theatre
[3]
1949The Scottish Theatre Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites (Sir David Lindsay) The Assembly Hall
[3]
1949The Scottish Theatre The Gentle Shepherd (Allan Ramsay) The Royal High School
[3]
1950 Glasgow Citizens' Theatre The Queen's Comedy (James Bridie) World premiere Royal Lyceum Theatre
[4]
1950 Glasgow Citizens' Theatre The Atom Doctor (Eric Linklater) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[4]
1950 Glasgow Citizens' Theatre Douglas (Rev John Home) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[4]
1950 The Old Vic Theatre Company Bartholomew Fair (Ben Jonson) The Assembly Hall
[4]
1951 Henry Sherek Pygmalion (Bernard Shaw) Royal Lyceum Theatre
  • Peter Potter
 [5]
1951 Tennent Productions The Winter's Tale (Shakespeare) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[5]
1951Le Théâtre de l'Atelier, ParisL'enterrement (Henry Monnier) and Le Bal des voleurs (Jean Anouilh) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[5]
1951Le Théâtre de l'Atelier, ParisLe Rendez-vous de Senlis (Jean Anouilh) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[5]
1951 Glasgow Citizens' Theatre Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites (Sir David Lindsay) The Assembly Hall
[5]
1952 Henry Sherek The Player King (Christopher Hassall) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[6]
1952The Edinburgh Festival Society Bleak House, an adaptation (Dickens) Royal Lyceum Theatre
[6]
1952 The Old Vic Trust and Glasgow Citizen's Theatre The Highland Fair (Joseph Mitchell) The Assembly Hall
[6]
1952 The Old Vic Trust Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare) The Assembly Hall
  • Hugh Hunt
 [6]
1953 Henry Sherek The Confidential Clerk (T.S. Eliot) World premiere Royal Lyceum Theatre
E. Martin Browne
    		[7]
    1953 Le Théâtre National Populaire, Paris L'Avare (Molière) Royal Lyceum Theatre
    		[7]
    1953 Le Théâtre National Populaire, Paris Richard II (William Shakespeare) Royal Lyceum Theatre
    		[7]
    1953Le compagnie de mime Marcel Marceau, ParisA programme of Pantomimes and Mimodrames Royal Lyceum Theatre [7]
    1953 The Old Vic Trust Hamlet (Shakespeare) The Assembly Hall
    		[7]
    1953 Glasgow Citizen's Theatre The Highland Fair (Joseph Mitchell) The Assembly Hall
    		[7]
    1954 Tennent Productions The Matchmaker (Thornton Wilder) Royal Lyceum Theatre
    		[8]
    1954 Le Comédie Française Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (Molière) Royal Lyceum Theatre
    • Jean Meyer
    		 [8]
    1954 The Old Vic Trust Macbeth (Shakespeare) The Assembly Hall
    		[8]
    1954 The Old Vic Trust A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare) Empire Theatre
    		[8]
    1954The Edinburgh Gateway CompanyThe Other Dear Charmer (Robert Kemp) Gateway Theatre
    • Peter Potter
    		 [8]
    1955 The Old Vic Trust Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) Royal Lyceum Theatre
    		[9]
    1955 Edwige Feuillère and her company La Dame aux Camélias (Dumas) Royal Lyceum Theatre
    		[9]
    1955 Tennent ProductionsA Life in the Sun (Thornton Wilder) The Assembly Hall
    		[9]
    1956 Tennent Productions with Henry Sherek Under Milk Wood (Dylan Thomas) Royal Lyceum Theatre
    		[10]
    1956 Piccolo Teatro, Milan Arlecchino, The Servant of Two Masters (Carlo Goldoni) and Questa sera si recita a soggetto (Luigi Pirandello) Royal Lyceum Theatre
    		[10]
    1956 Henry Sherek Fanny's First Play and Village Wooing (George Bernard Shaw) Royal Lyceum Theatre
    		[10]
    1956 The Stratford Ontario Festival Company Henry V (William Shakespeare) The Assembly Hall
    		[10]
    1956 The Stratford Ontario Festival Company Oedipus Rex (Sophocles) in the translation by W. B. Yeats The Assembly Hall
    		[10]
    1956The Edinburgh Gateway CompanyThe Anatomist (James Bridie) Gateway Theatre
    • James Gibson
    		 [10]

    See also

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 The International Festival of Music & Drama Edinburgh 1947 Souvenir Programme. 1947.
    2. 1 2 3 4 The International Festival of Music & Drama Edinburgh 1948 Souvenir Programme. 1948.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 The International Festival of Music & Drama Edinburgh 1949 Programme. 1949.
    4. 1 2 3 4 The International Festival of Music & Drama Edinburgh Programme 1950. 1950.
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 The International Festival of Music & Drama Edinburgh Programme 1951. 1951.
    6. 1 2 3 4 International Festival of Music & Drama Edinburgh 1952 Programme. 1952.
    7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The International Festival of Music & Drama Edinburgh Programme 1953. 1953.
    8. 1 2 3 4 5 Edinburgh International Festival 1954 Souvenir Programme. 1954.
    9. 1 2 3 Edinburgh International Festival 1955 Souvenir Programme. 1955.
    10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Edinburgh International Festival 1956 Souvenir Programme. 1956.
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