SATURDAY 5 AUGUST 2017 THREEWEEKSEDINBURGH.COM
QUICK QUIZ WITH BARRY CRYER AND RONNIE GOLDEN
This August the Edinburgh Festival celebrates its 70th anniversary. To mark the occasion, we have asked a plethora of performers about their personal Fringe experiences. Today Barrie Cryer and Ronnie Golden, Fringe legends who are in town for just two performances this year.

CLICK HERE to read Barrie and Ronnie's answers to the Quick Quiz.

Barry Cryer and Ronnie Golden perform 'Just The Two At Six' at Gilded Balloon Teviot on 15 and 16 Aug.
TW:TALKS WITH ROSIE WILBY
With Edinburgh Festival 2017 up and running, we TW:TALK with Rosie Wilby about her new show 'The Conscious Uncoupling', which completes a trilogy of shows about relationships. Wilby explains how her music career led to comedy, talks us through her Edinburgh Fringe experiences to date, and tells us all about her new book.

CLICK HERE to tune in and sign up for the TW:TALKS podcast.

Rosie Wilby performs 'The Conscious Uncoupling' at Edinburgh Festival 2017 at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House until 27 Aug, plus 'The Breakup Monologues' also at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House from 4-12 Aug.
ThreeWeeks Co-Editor Caro Moses helps you navigate the festival with her Three To See tips. In today's final batch, some comedy, some musicals, and two sets of Threes To See for the Edinburgh International Book Festival that kicks off next weekend.
 


THREE UNUSUAL MUSICALS >>

Sasquatch The Opera | Summerhall | 2-27 Aug
When I began this section on unusual musicals, I did start to wonder if other people will actually find the themes of these shows as unusual as I do. But surely this counts: it's about a hillbilly family who make a living selling the story of Sasquatch to willing tourists, and what happens when they discover the real thing. What's more, it's "weird and provocative and totally twisted kid friendly". Which is great.

A Waste Land | Laughing Horse @ Moriarty's | 3-20 Aug
TS Eliot's poem 'The Wasteland' is one of my favourite things ever, but I didn't ever imagine a day when it would turn up as a part rave, part multimedia installation in the Musicals And Opera section of the Fringe programme. So I am rather intrigued by this, and its threat of a dark, dystopian journey with genderqueer Tiresias, created by Brooklyn-based playwright and performance artist Eri Borlaug.

Heartwood | Venue 13 | 5-26 Aug (pictured)
I suppose this is only unusual because it's got puppets in it, and while there are puppets all over the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, they are more often involved in theatre than in musicals. It sounds like this has an interesting story as well, though: a small girl wakes within a dark and mysterious forest and must make her way through the wood, on the run from from a persistent, haunting spirit. Promises to be quite eerie and spine-chilling.


THREE HELPINGS OF MUSICAL COMEDY >>

Harriet Braine - Total Eclipse Of The Art | Laughing Horse @ The Golf Tavern | 4-27 Aug (pictured)
This comedy performer is definitely on the up and up, and has proof, given that in 2016 she reached the final of the So You Think You're Funny contest, and in the same year won the 2016 Funny Women Stage Award. This, her debut solo hour, touches on current politics and philosophy as well as taking you on an educational journey via the medium of her (admittedly rather niche) art history songs, which, she's convinced, can be "a remedy for the broken hearts and minds of a broken world".

Imaginary Radio | Just The Tonic At The Mash House | 3-27 Aug
Hosted by the talented and acclaimed Drennon Davis, 'Imaginary Radio' is what you might call a cult hit, and is a dark parody of US radio offering a satirical take on American consumer culture. You can expect live music, musical impressions, one man sketches and beatboxing, plus a rotating line up of high calibre guests.

Flo & Joan: The Kindness Of Stranglers | Just The Tonic at The Tron | 3-26 Aug
You might have come across these two because a song they did about the horrors of 2016 went a bit viral a wee while back, but honestly, I wanted to recommend them because they chose to call their show 'The Kindness Of Stranglers', because I am a big fan of word play. There are, of course, lots of other reasons to recommend them - their wealth of experience and degree of critical acclaim, for example - but they are also sisters and play nice together, which is lovely.


THREE BOOK FESTIVAL SESSIONS FOR KIDS >>

Busting Book Myths with Vivian French | Edinburgh International Book Festival | 13 Aug
"Expect stories, fun and plenty of participation as leading children's author Vivian French leads you on a cover to cover journey through her hilarious, myth-busting picture book about books and reading, 'The Covers Of My Book Are Too Far Apart!'" I think this might possibly be the perfect Book Fest activity for those children who are struggling with reading, or just don't like to read, and might just have the power to help them approach it anew.

Good vs Evil - The Great Debate | Edinburgh International Book Festival | 24 Aug
One for your older children, this, aged from ten to fourteen, and tackling the rather interesting subject of the neverending battle between good and evil. Expect lively debate from authors Dave Rudden, Maz Evans, Shane Hegarty and Rupert Wallis, and enjoy their insights into the world of the fantasy genre.

Elizabeth Laird and Gill Lewis - Migration Stories | Edinburgh International Book Festival | 26 Aug (pictured) 
Another one for the 10-14 age group, focusing on the currently very pertinent topic of migration, and featuring two award winning writers who will discuss themes they address in their own work: Elizabeth Laird's 'Welcome to Nowhere' sees central character Omar forced to flee his home in Syria because of the civil war, while in Gill Lewis' 'A Story Like the Wind', refugees crowded onto a boat in the middle of the sea share their stories with each other.


THREE BOOK FESTIVAL SESSIONS FOR GROWN-UPS >>

Abubakar Adam Ibrahim & Dorit Rabinyan | Edinburgh International Book Festival | 14 Aug
Two different writers speak about two different books, united by the theme of love. Nigeria Prize For Literature winner Abubakar Adam Ibrahim is the author of 'Season Of Crimson Blossoms', a novel about the connection between a young gang leader and a 55 year old widow. Dorit Rabinyan's best selling work 'All The Rivers', which was banned in Israeli schools, tells the story of the taboo relationship between a Palestinian painter and an Israeli translator.

A Piece Of You | Edinburgh International Book Festival | 14-18 Aug
If you think that the Book Festival only involves people talking about books, then here's one of the events that will prove that your assumption is a bit sweeping. This is an intimate chamber concert, intended for no more than three people at a time, held by performance artist, cellist and composer Greg Sinclair, who will use your innermost thoughts to create for you your very own score. Sounds amazing.

Alex Renton | Edinburgh International Book Festival | 27 Aug (pictured)
This looks like it will be enormously interesting. Alex Renton talks about his book 'Stiff Upper Lip', in which he investigates the tradition of schooling among Britain's 'elites'. The author takes a look at the unhappiness his own boarding school education caused, questioning the impact that this system has on those who go through it, especially bearing in mind that many of those who do go through it end up running our country. Yikes.
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