:00:10. > :00:13.# Cos If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it.
:00:13. > :00:16.# If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it.
:00:16. > :00:19.# Don't be mad once you see that he want it.
:00:19. > :00:22.# If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it. #
:00:22. > :00:25.Welcome to The Culture Show at the Edinburgh Festival, where we are
:00:25. > :00:28.brimful of comedy, art, theatre, music and dance. This week we are
:00:28. > :00:31.going to be picturing the Queen, musing on the misery of modern
:00:31. > :00:34.cinema, wondering whether comedy awards really do matter, and then
:00:34. > :00:37.looking at the extreme genius of Philip Glass.
:00:37. > :00:47.# All the single ladies. You should see where he's written
:00:47. > :00:47.
:00:47. > :00:51.the credits! Coming up, capturing the Queen. Not
:00:51. > :00:54.literally, that's treasonous. Think canvas or camera. Multiplexes. Have
:00:54. > :00:57.they wrecked the modern movie experience? Mark Kermode muses. And
:00:57. > :00:59.One Thousand And One Nights, how epic Arabian tales became an epic
:00:59. > :01:09.Edinburgh show. Also tonight, Michael Smith seeks out Edinburgh's
:01:09. > :01:09.
:01:09. > :01:11.more unusual venues. Mark Thomas on the artists embracing the freedom
:01:12. > :01:14.of expression that the festival offers. Clemency Burton-Hill meets
:01:14. > :01:24.acclaimed Chinese choreographer Shen Wei. And I invite two of this
:01:24. > :01:28.
:01:28. > :01:32.year's hottest comics into Room With A Sue. First tonight we're
:01:32. > :01:35.Lizzing it up, by which I mean we are discussing Her Royal Highness
:01:35. > :01:37.Queen Elizabeth II. Those of you who think the Queen is no oil
:01:37. > :01:40.painting, think again, because the Scottish National Gallery is
:01:40. > :01:43.mounting an exhibition entitled The Queen: Art and Image, featuring a
:01:43. > :01:46.selection of artists, ranging from the royally plugged in to the more
:01:46. > :01:49.anti-establishment. Alastair Sooke went with him to find out more and
:01:49. > :01:57.took with him a couple of commoners who aren't afraid of the odd
:01:57. > :02:01.beheading or two. It will probably be just the one. That's enough to
:02:01. > :02:04.do it usually. On 7th February 1952 young Queen
:02:04. > :02:07.Elizabeth II landed at London Airport following the death of her
:02:07. > :02:12.father. The world's press were there to meet her. This would be
:02:12. > :02:17.the first of many portraits of Elizabeth as Queen. She would go on
:02:17. > :02:21.to become the most depicted person in human history. Of course,
:02:21. > :02:23.representing monarchs is nothing new. Royal portraits have been used
:02:23. > :02:30.for centuries to create and underpin and disseminate the
:02:30. > :02:33.authority of ruling Kings and Queens. But what is new is just the
:02:33. > :02:35.sheer proliferation of images of the Queen in recent decades, and
:02:35. > :02:44.the way that artists and photo journalists have challenged our
:02:44. > :02:47.ideas about what royalty should look like. This exhibition spans
:02:47. > :02:50.more than half a century, during which Britain has seen significant
:02:50. > :03:00.social change. It also documents a seismic shift in the way that we
:03:00. > :03:01.
:03:01. > :03:03.perceive and represent the monarchy. With me to discuss some of the
:03:03. > :03:09.highlights are royal biographer Gyles Brandreth and social
:03:09. > :03:12.commentator Kate Copstick. I thought we should begin by talking
:03:12. > :03:22.about this portrait by Cecil Beaton of the Queen, the famous Coronation
:03:22. > :03:23.
:03:23. > :03:26.portrait he did in 1953. Here is the Queen aged 27 looking like you
:03:26. > :03:29.would expect a Queen to look. That's exactly the thing. That kind
:03:29. > :03:32.of monarchy, even a Scottish working class girl, can I go, "Yeah,
:03:32. > :03:35.alright, you can give my taxes to that, because she looks proper,
:03:35. > :03:37.like a Queen." Growing up in Paisley we always knew posh people,
:03:38. > :03:45.aristocrats, especially the Royals, were different from us. Not
:03:45. > :03:55.necessarily better, just different. When you see a photograph like this
:03:55. > :03:58.
:03:58. > :04:01.you go, "Yeah, they are different. That's a ruling class." Either the
:04:01. > :04:04.monarchy is the monarchy and they look like that, or you don't have
:04:04. > :04:07.one. You have fairy-tale, you have history. You have monarchy. You
:04:07. > :04:10.have icon. It can go on any magazine around the world. It
:04:10. > :04:17.delivers. She, thanks to Cecil, God bless him, looks like a star.
:04:17. > :04:19.takes a Queen to understand a Queen. But times were changing. During the
:04:19. > :04:22.Swinging Sixties, this stiff formality seemed increasingly out
:04:22. > :04:32.of date and royal portraitists began to explore more personal
:04:32. > :04:34.takes on the Queen. The 1970s. A decade defined by political unrest.
:04:34. > :04:42.Jammy Reid's image captured the mood, launching a visual assault on
:04:42. > :04:50.the Queen and everything she represented. This new irreverent
:04:50. > :04:53.attitude was exploited by Andy Warhol in the '80s. This is
:04:53. > :04:56.something very different. A series of portraits of the Queen by Andy
:04:56. > :05:00.Warhol. On the surface of things this is the opposite of Cecil
:05:00. > :05:07.Beaton style, don't you think? is one of the first pictorial
:05:07. > :05:12.bricks out of the wall. It is just the brand. It is just a commercial
:05:12. > :05:15.commodity. It is a tin of Campbell's soup with a crown on. I
:05:15. > :05:21.prefer my monarchy in an era when doing that would have resulted in a
:05:21. > :05:31.quick trip to the Tower and decapitation. What does that say
:05:31. > :05:32.
:05:32. > :05:36.about the era in which it was made? It does certainly mark, as far as
:05:36. > :05:39.I'm concerned, a loss of respect. Do you think it is satirical? Is
:05:39. > :05:42.Warhol saying there is no reality to the monarchy? I don't think it
:05:42. > :05:45.is either reductive or satirical. I think it exemplifies what the
:05:46. > :05:51.monarchy is all about. The genius of the monarchy has been to adapt
:05:51. > :05:55.to each era. That's why it has survived so long. The Queen can
:05:55. > :05:58.survive a biscuit tin, a mug and Andy Warhol. On she goes. Do you
:05:58. > :06:00.not think he is trying to say something about the superficiality,
:06:00. > :06:10.the perception of the monarchy? Andy Warhol complaining about
:06:10. > :06:13.superficiality? Pot, kettle. may have a point. This says, any
:06:13. > :06:23.country in the world, two things they think - Andy Warhol and the
:06:23. > :06:26.Queen, so for both of them it's worked. For me, I think this is
:06:26. > :06:30.quite a satirical image. I hope it is, otherwise it is incredibly
:06:30. > :06:33.vapid, because Warhol is really saying that monarchy is a mask. It
:06:33. > :06:39.is something which is very artificial, which is given to the
:06:39. > :06:42.masses and which in certain cases they respond to. 60 years on and
:06:42. > :06:49.Britain has evolved from a formal society with imperial pretension to
:06:49. > :06:52.a less deferential downsized nation. So perhaps it is fitting that when
:06:52. > :06:55.Lucian Freud was called upon to represent the Queen for the 21st
:06:55. > :06:58.century he produced something a little, well, different. Kate, if
:06:58. > :07:04.the Cecil Beaton was your cup of tea, I imagine you detest this
:07:04. > :07:07.Lucian Freud. Well, the problem with Lucian Freud is that everyone
:07:07. > :07:16.looks the same, and it is ugly. That doesn't look like the Queen.
:07:16. > :07:19.It looks like a bag lady. I suppose she did get off quite lightly given
:07:19. > :07:26.His history and his oeuvre. She could have been whale-like and
:07:26. > :07:30.naked with pendulous, ghastly breasts on a chaise longue.
:07:30. > :07:33.story of the monarchy is that there they are, and the great artists of
:07:33. > :07:36.the time will paint pictures of them, or in our age take
:07:36. > :07:42.photographs of them, and the result is rather more a reflection on the
:07:42. > :07:45.artist in this case than on the Sovereign. But you're right, it is
:07:45. > :07:50.in fact Elizabeth II meets Edna, the inebriate woman. Not a total
:07:50. > :07:57.success. And I think leaving it out overnight before delivering it did
:07:57. > :08:02.not help, did it? It really didn't help. It is notable that he's
:08:02. > :08:06.presented her as quite an irascible ill-tempered old lady. She almost
:08:06. > :08:10.looks like she's got 5 o'clock shadow. The crown is lopsided. It
:08:10. > :08:15.is as far away from flattery as you can get. Gyles, do you know what
:08:15. > :08:18.the Queen made of it? No. A beer mat hopefully. One of the things
:08:19. > :08:26.about the Queen is she's not really interested in herself at all. She
:08:26. > :08:30.would have looked at it and walked on. Maybe this belongs to our
:08:30. > :08:39.celebrity-infatuated age. This is Heat magazine trying to catch
:08:39. > :08:42.celebrities in an off moment. if it was Heat magazine she would
:08:42. > :08:47.have been showing her teeth, showing a smile. If it was Heat
:08:47. > :08:54.magazine she would have been showing her breasts! LAUGHTER
:08:54. > :08:59.you think this shows a change in perception of the monarchy we the
:08:59. > :09:06.British people. I think it shows a mess. I think we've trashed the
:09:06. > :09:11.monarchy. If art is a mirror of the times what does Lucian Freud say
:09:11. > :09:17.about our times? We should get a new myrrh over. The fairy-tale spun
:09:17. > :09:24.by Cecil Beaton, so redolent of flattery and flummery, has no place
:09:24. > :09:29.in contemporary recent. It looks and feel as bit archaic and
:09:29. > :09:31.appropriate. I take heart from that. The Queen: Art and Image will be on
:09:31. > :09:38.at the Edinburgh Art Festival until 18th September.
:09:38. > :09:46.The Culture Show very own's Mark Kermode, upon whom this coiffure is
:09:46. > :09:50.based, will be talking film on Saturday. My tin us has gone very
:09:50. > :10:00.woodland. He will be pondering the malaise in modern film making and
:10:00. > :10:05.
:10:05. > :10:14.whether the multiplex experience is If you don't speak Wookey, press
:10:14. > :10:19.the Red Button now. Here are two things you won't be
:10:19. > :10:25.seeing much more of in the future, at least not in your local
:10:25. > :10:34.multiplex. This is a 35mm projector, for the best part of a century the
:10:34. > :10:40.heart of the experience. It takes celluloid images and turns it into
:10:40. > :10:46.a system. This is a projectionist, a highly trained operative who
:10:46. > :10:50.makes this possible. It is his job to make sure the film passs through
:10:50. > :10:54.correctly, to add up to the perfect experience for the viewer. But
:10:55. > :11:00.sadly Bank of England of these are in danger of becoming redundant
:11:00. > :11:04.thanks to the digital projector, which in theory can cause a perfect
:11:04. > :11:09.image to be projected simply at the click of a switch. There is nothing
:11:09. > :11:17.wrong with digital per se. It is clean, efficient, Coe friendly and
:11:17. > :11:20.it does away with the need for celluloid prints, which are bulky
:11:20. > :11:24.and expense every. These new machines pretty much work
:11:24. > :11:28.themselves, right? Wrong. If you've been to a mumenty plex recently you
:11:28. > :11:33.may be familiar with the syndrome of the missing projectionist. You
:11:33. > :11:37.know how it goes. You are in screen three watching a film and the image
:11:37. > :11:42.is out of focus or spilling out of the top of the screen, or up side
:11:42. > :11:49.down. But there is no-one there to fix it, because thanks to the rise
:11:49. > :11:54.in digital there is no need for a projectionist. Neither is there a
:11:54. > :11:57.need for ushers to stop people texting or talking. No, in the
:11:57. > :12:02.modern mumenty plex world you buy your ticket from a machine, make
:12:02. > :12:07.your own way to the screen and discover that the only person
:12:07. > :12:15.watching the film is you. Excuse me. Multiplexs are like supermarkets.
:12:15. > :12:25.They don't specialise in organically grown local fare but
:12:25. > :12:27.
:12:27. > :12:37.Hodge only theseed local brands. This is -- homogenised local brands.
:12:37. > :12:37.
:12:37. > :12:40.Ever since Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor became a massive hit in 2001,
:12:40. > :12:45.despite being described as one of the worst films ever made, it is
:12:45. > :12:55.clear that if you spend enough money and blow up enough stuff, it
:12:55. > :12:57.
:12:57. > :13:03.will make its money at the mumenty plexs. -- multi- plexs. What about
:13:03. > :13:08.Pirates Of The Caribbean? Despite opening to universally poor reviews
:13:08. > :13:14.it has made nearly $1 billion worldwide, meaning that Pirates Of
:13:14. > :13:18.The Caribbean 5 is almost certainly on its way. How did we get to this
:13:19. > :13:25.point? After years of industry apathy the
:13:26. > :13:30.recent rapid rise of digital projection has been driven by 3D, a
:13:30. > :13:35.format that has failed at least three times the previous century we
:13:35. > :13:42.are being told it is the future of sin match. 3D has always been
:13:42. > :13:47.pushed by the industry. In the 1950s it was pushed for television
:13:47. > :13:54.and in the noughties a weapon against piracy. But every time the
:13:54. > :14:02.audience response has been the same. A brief increase in novelty value,
:14:02. > :14:07.House Of Wax, Friday The 13th, Avatar followed by something better.
:14:07. > :14:10.Once again despite the best efforts of Hollywood producers to ram 3D
:14:10. > :14:20.down our throats the tide has turned.
:14:20. > :14:20.
:14:21. > :14:29.Earlier this year Mars Needs Moms 3D was the first bona fide flop of
:14:29. > :14:33.the century, largely because audiences rebelled against
:14:33. > :14:39.overpriced stereoscopy. More people chose to watch Pirates 4 and Kung
:14:39. > :14:44.Fu Panda 2 in 2D, causing industry pundits to conclude that the 3D
:14:44. > :14:50.format is dying. Hooray.
:14:50. > :14:54.Where does that leave us? The multiplexs have become supermarkets,
:14:54. > :15:04.where sub-standard Hollywood fodder is screened by robots. If you want
:15:04. > :15:11.
:15:11. > :15:16.You will see brilliant atmospheric ones like Let The Right One In. As
:15:17. > :15:21.opposed to the English language remake Let Me In, which was rubbish,
:15:21. > :15:26.but played at the Multiplexs because all the actors spoke
:15:26. > :15:31.American. It's here that you'll get to see
:15:31. > :15:34.the best of home grown fair like The Arbor, which saw actors lip
:15:34. > :15:44.synch to documentary audio interviews to surprising and
:15:44. > :15:50.haunting effect. Been in the house, mum out in the pub, our mum
:15:50. > :15:54.comatosed in -- comatosed in bed and set fire to the bedroom. These
:15:54. > :15:58.are the film that's represent the true diversity of British cinema,
:15:58. > :16:03.not just the stuff that attracts Oscar ascension like The King's
:16:03. > :16:07.Speech and the Queen, here you'll find celluloid and digital co-
:16:07. > :16:11.existing nrt watchful eye of a trained projectionist working their
:16:11. > :16:15.hardest to give you the best viewing experience possible. We
:16:15. > :16:21.hear loads of whingeing about how hard it is to finance movies in the
:16:21. > :16:27.UK. What's the point of making them if there's nowhere to show them? I
:16:27. > :16:32.think we should shift the focus of public funding into the upkeep of
:16:32. > :16:35.cinemas like this, where they show the kind of movies which Multiplexs
:16:36. > :16:41.have no interest. Cinemas which speak an international language of
:16:41. > :16:51.fear, has no fear of subtitles and which values movies beyond spread
:16:51. > :16:55.
:16:55. > :17:00.sheet success and box office clout. You can hear more from Mark at the
:17:00. > :17:05.Books Festival this Saturday. Now it's my final week at the Festival.
:17:05. > :17:10.Can I say my highlight has been meeting a musical hero of mine,
:17:10. > :17:14.Philip Glass. He was here last week, with the Philip Glass Ensemble,
:17:14. > :17:19.performing the scores he wrote for the extraordinary films by Godrey
:17:19. > :17:29.Reggio. During the interview I held him, I cried, I told him I loved
:17:29. > :17:32.him, I loved him, I loved him, but here are the bits they could use.
:17:32. > :17:42.The collaboration between one of the world's most influential
:17:42. > :17:45.
:17:45. > :17:53.composers and one of the most visionary producers gave us three
:17:53. > :17:58.exquisite pieces. Godfrey spent a lot of time with the Hopis and
:17:58. > :18:06.talked to the elders of the community and these ideas kind of
:18:06. > :18:10.matured around these words in a certain way. Catcy means life.
:18:10. > :18:14.the first is life was transformation and the third is
:18:14. > :18:19.life is cannibalism. It's mostly about, it's about the
:18:19. > :18:29.transformation of skwiet through technology. That's really the
:18:29. > :18:42.
:18:42. > :18:49.Reggio's films are ground breaking, packed full of provocative images
:18:49. > :18:52.and time lapsed images. The close working relationship between
:18:53. > :18:56.composer and director is unique. The way we chose to work is
:18:56. > :19:00.sometimes the music came first, sometimes the pictures came first.
:19:00. > :19:04.We didn't work in the traditional film way. You're presentsed with
:19:04. > :19:09.the images as a composer and you have to... Dress them up. We didn't
:19:09. > :19:18.do that at all. Neither of us had maed a movie before. That helped.
:19:18. > :19:22.It was very helpful. We can re- invent how the form could work.
:19:22. > :19:26.Collaborations have always been important to Glass. He's teamed up
:19:26. > :19:31.with artists like Ravi Shankar, David Bowie, Woody Allen and Allen
:19:31. > :19:35.Ginsberg. His musical style is often
:19:35. > :19:39.associated with John Adams, Steve Reich and Terry Riley, composers of
:19:39. > :19:45.the minimalist school. It's a term he's in the a fan of. The tag
:19:45. > :19:49.you've been given, like kryptonite I imagine now to you, the term
:19:49. > :19:53."minimalism", how do you respond to that? It was perfectly fine until
:19:53. > :19:57.about 1976. The only real difficulty with using that word is
:19:57. > :20:01.that if you tell somebody what it is, they'll look at it and say well,
:20:01. > :20:05.is that minimalism. Then you're in trouble because it doesn't, you
:20:05. > :20:09.know it's a shorthand that's mostly invented by media. The difficulty
:20:09. > :20:13.is that instead of preparing people for what they're going to see they
:20:13. > :20:23.prepare people to be disappointed, because they don't understand what
:20:23. > :20:33.
:20:33. > :20:38.the word has to do with what What it meant for me was putting
:20:38. > :20:42.together the idea of form and content. In other words the
:20:42. > :20:47.structure became the content of the music. If you look at it that way,
:20:47. > :20:52.you can see that by minimalism, there was no place for skrainious
:20:52. > :21:01.idea like putting a story in. Despite being described as
:21:01. > :21:09.America's greatest living composer, Philip Glass still divides critics.
:21:09. > :21:13.His signature repetitive ar Beth yoz and at times impassive delivery
:21:13. > :21:18.can (arpeggios) at times impassive delivery. It's like saying that
:21:18. > :21:21.breathing is meical -- mechanical. Of course it is. But every breath
:21:21. > :21:31.is a little bit different. Your breath gives you life. When you
:21:31. > :21:35.
:21:35. > :21:41.look at it this way, your pulse is I began working with Ravi Shankar
:21:41. > :21:48.in the 1960s. I was a young fellow. And through him I was introduced to
:21:48. > :21:54.the structure of classical ifpbdian music. The ridge make structure of
:21:54. > :21:59.Indian muse sick made up of twos and threes, it's binary. Digital
:21:59. > :22:04.struck skhur ones and Zeroes. It's the same thing.
:22:04. > :22:08.The way I write music is the way people are sending messages and
:22:08. > :22:13.it's the way language is constructed now. So it was kind of
:22:13. > :22:16.accidental, because I was actually entered it through the world of
:22:16. > :22:20.global music. That's a very important idea. Because my
:22:20. > :22:24.generation of people were the one that's went out and began going to
:22:24. > :22:27.Africa and Asia and Australia and South America and learning about
:22:28. > :22:37.how music was made this those places. I put it right into the
:22:38. > :22:45.
:22:45. > :22:47.Some people might think this is your Edinburgh debut, you'd be
:22:47. > :22:52.leading the whole thing. But Michael Riesman is conducting and
:22:52. > :22:56.you are in the thick of it, playing. If you want to see me by myself, I
:22:56. > :23:00.do a lot of solo concerts, 20 or 30 a year. That's where you get to see
:23:00. > :23:04.me do that. The reason I don't do the other thing is it's just too
:23:04. > :23:09.much work. The amount of preparation that Michael has to do
:23:09. > :23:19.auditioning players and actually leading the rehearsals, it would
:23:19. > :23:39.
:23:40. > :23:43.very, it would leave very little You know, I don't have any problem
:23:43. > :23:48.being the third key board player. It means I don't have to practise
:23:48. > :23:52.as much as the others, playing with a group of people whether I
:23:52. > :23:58.practiced that morning or not will not make any difference to you as a
:23:58. > :24:05.listener. It's very, my name's all over the thing, the Glass ensemble,
:24:05. > :24:10.what do I care. If people think Michael, he's a handsome fellow.
:24:10. > :24:14.You've got it all worked out. think I do. I think you have.
:24:14. > :24:18.other words, generally when I work in collaboration with people, I let
:24:18. > :24:24.them do what they do best and I leave them alone.
:24:24. > :24:30.He was amazing. He was amazing. He was amazing. He was amazing. So in
:24:30. > :24:40.the last of the assignments for our festival virgin Michael Smith, we
:24:40. > :24:43.
:24:43. > :24:52.packed him off to find out about Every August Edinburgh floats free
:24:52. > :24:59.in the bubble of unreality. A temporary make-believe world. A can
:24:59. > :25:05.Valesque suspension of the everyday. But unlike other festivals, this
:25:05. > :25:10.other reality isn't played out in muddy fields. It overruns and
:25:10. > :25:14.cannibalises a beautiful capital city. It seems like every nook and
:25:14. > :25:20.cranny is utilised for all kinds of performances. I want to explore
:25:20. > :25:25.some of the stranger places and see how they influence the work.
:25:25. > :25:30.The play you once said yes, involved a series of one on one
:25:30. > :25:35.encounters with 13 actors across the city. You never know what to
:25:35. > :25:39.expect. Let's go. Time is of the essence. Shut your door. What are
:25:39. > :25:45.we doing? You having a laugh? We're doing the bank, mate of course.
:25:45. > :25:50.You've been fully prepped. I know you have, mate. No time like the
:25:50. > :25:56.present. Kev told me you got the clothes. Who's kev? You telling me
:25:56. > :26:03.kev hasn't given you the clothes? The bossman? What are you talking
:26:03. > :26:08.about? You ain't got the clothes? Are you having a laugh, mate. Who
:26:08. > :26:13.agrees to join a sting that you know nothing about. You're a
:26:13. > :26:23.lunatic. Get out of my car. Don't you tell no-one or I will find,
:26:23. > :26:31.
:26:31. > :26:37.Michael. Every pedestrian is a potential performer. Even a stroll
:26:37. > :26:42.in the park can lead to an impromptu show. This year by
:26:42. > :26:49.conceptual comic Simon Munnery. will see if I can find that waiter
:26:49. > :26:53.for you. Alfopbs? Alfonso, he's in the difference. If you could hold
:26:53. > :26:59.that and bring it close to yourself, that will complete the illusion.
:26:59. > :27:09.Look at him there with his pencil moustache. Look at him there. Yes,
:27:09. > :27:10.
:27:10. > :27:20.I am here, I am write your orders down using my pencil moustache. For
:27:20. > :27:21.
:27:21. > :27:27.you, Sir... The plait bel gique. Why not. There we are. It's a man
:27:27. > :27:32.standing in the middle of Belgium. It's a small country. There's the
:27:32. > :27:40.tallest building. There's Belgium currency, some pebbles. And great
:27:40. > :27:50.Belgians from history, blank. It's a treat today, we have three, four
:27:50. > :27:55.
:27:55. > :27:59.dead flies. OK we go with the bubbles. Viola. Welcome to the
:27:59. > :28:04.Fringe. You can't even find peace and quiet on a bus. Kenny is sick
:28:04. > :28:09.of the sight of Edinburgh. A great big church... After 19 years in the
:28:09. > :28:13.job, he's had enough. And for his last tour, he goes slightly left
:28:13. > :28:17.field. Particularly around the docks, famously has been
:28:17. > :28:22.regenerated. Invested in. Lots of swanky new flats and restaurants
:28:22. > :28:30.and the like. I don't know, some people say the character's gone.
:28:30. > :28:38.Certainly the prostitutes have. Unlike Kenny. I've fallen for
:28:38. > :28:48.Edinburgh's quirky charm. It's even got lovely toilets.
:28:48. > :28:49.
:28:49. > :28:52.Sailing on is staged in a ladies' loo. Me hosts are two drowned
:28:52. > :29:01.literary heroins. Let's just say I'm Virginia Woolf. You've probably
:29:01. > :29:07.heard of me. Let's just say that I'm Ephelia, just for now.
:29:07. > :29:15.The two women become fixated with a regular visitor, Momola, who hides
:29:15. > :29:21.a dark and tragic past. I went to the pier with my mum. It had been
:29:21. > :29:25.raining, so she was wearing this big raincoat, the one with the red
:29:25. > :29:35.rose in the button hole. She was wearing her favourite leather
:29:35. > :29:43.
:29:43. > :29:49.They really use the confined space to get frequent in this play. Every
:29:49. > :29:54.bit of the toilet is used, like the sinks and the hand driers. You
:29:54. > :30:01.often find yourself getting out of the way of the performers as they
:30:01. > :30:07.use them. It really heightens the show as emotional impact.
:30:07. > :30:14.The next play is a much bigger stage set. The well-proportioned
:30:14. > :30:23.elegant streets of Edinburgh itself. Blood And Roses unfolds through a
:30:23. > :30:27.set of headphones. Welcome to my city. The home of so many stories.
:30:27. > :30:33.So many people, so many lives, so much history. It is a tale of love
:30:33. > :30:39.and loyalty spanning 400 years. It interweaves the lives of two
:30:39. > :30:44.families, from war-torn Russia and contemporary Scotland. I promise to
:30:44. > :30:53.love, honour and cherish you. promise to love, honour and cherish
:30:53. > :30:59.you. It has a nice dynamic, this play, because while you get to
:30:59. > :31:03.wander round the physical fabric of the city, with the headphones on
:31:03. > :31:09.you explore the memories and forgotten lives of generations who
:31:09. > :31:15.lived hire. The two complement each other well. It is also the only
:31:15. > :31:20.play that's ever given me a stitch. Edinburgh's drama and character
:31:20. > :31:25.make it the perfect city for sight- specific shows. The city is like
:31:26. > :31:35.one big stage set itself and like a magnificent or grande dame
:31:36. > :31:37.
:31:37. > :31:43.Edinburgh is the star of the show. One someone a witty, brutal and
:31:43. > :31:50.erotic cornerstone of Arabic literature. It's been turned into
:31:50. > :31:53.epic theatre, with a cast from Africa and the Middle East.
:31:53. > :32:03.Journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown went the meet Tim and the leading
:32:03. > :32:05.
:32:05. > :32:15.actress. We think we know One Thousand And
:32:15. > :32:20.One Nights. The exciting exploits of Aladdin and Ali Baba. But that's
:32:20. > :32:24.just the anodyne children's version. The original is a complex
:32:24. > :32:34.collection of stories about the Arab world that emerged at the same
:32:34. > :32:34.
:32:34. > :32:40.time as the Arab empire itself was being forged. One Thousand And One
:32:40. > :32:45.Nights is an adult fairy-tale, an X rated fairy-tale, but at the heart
:32:45. > :32:51.of is it the power of storytelling. During the flashpoints and turning
:32:52. > :32:55.points of history, the ability to listen and tell becomes vital. When
:32:55. > :33:04.people have important things to say and describe, that's where they
:33:04. > :33:14.turn. Like the tale itself this, new protection came into being
:33:14. > :33:14.
:33:14. > :33:18.against a backdrop of political upheaval and change. Involving a
:33:18. > :33:25.cast drawn from across the Arab nations, the rehearse arls were
:33:25. > :33:35.infused by if -- rehearsals were infused by the heat of the Arab
:33:35. > :33:36.
:33:36. > :33:43.Spring. Do you feel and do your actors feeling that with all that's
:33:43. > :33:47.happening, the political upheavals, that this little thing of you is
:33:47. > :33:52.self indulgent, disloi loyal to the missions that people are dying from
:33:52. > :33:56.in those countries? That's such a powerful question. There was a
:33:56. > :33:59.choice for some of the performers. The Egyptian performers had to
:34:00. > :34:03.decide do they stay in their country and be part of the changes
:34:03. > :34:08.taking place or do they come and do a play. At the same time this is
:34:08. > :34:13.not a play. This is an attempt to make an honest portrayal of a
:34:13. > :34:19.fundamental work of culture from the culture that is in struggle. To
:34:19. > :34:23.me and to the actors we know that what are we fighting for in any
:34:23. > :34:33.struggle of freedom if it is not the struggle of culture? What
:34:33. > :34:45.
:34:45. > :34:50.revolution is worth a penny without The stories are risque, sexy. In
:34:50. > :34:55.some ways quite unacceptable in the cultures which you are now
:34:55. > :34:58.describing. What reactions did you expect? The relation between men
:34:58. > :35:04.and women is the central subject of One Thousand And One Nights.
:35:04. > :35:07.Through that prism you get all other relationships explored,
:35:07. > :35:11.including the despots, including political power, including the law
:35:11. > :35:20.and religion. But it is all the great ne'ertives of One Thousand
:35:20. > :35:28.And One Nights -- narratives of One Thousand And One Nights. It is a
:35:28. > :35:36.metaphor isn't it? Power is at the heart of that narrative. To his
:35:36. > :35:42.horror he found her lying in the awares of one of the kitchen boys.
:35:42. > :35:47.The story unfolds in the Palace where the King, having witnessed
:35:47. > :35:55.his wife's infidelity, vows to sleep with and slaughter a
:35:55. > :36:02.different Virgin every night. In a gesture of self sacrifice
:36:02. > :36:05.Scheherazade must spin a tale every evening to prevent her impending
:36:05. > :36:14.doom. Scheherazade always has to find a new way of interesting him.
:36:14. > :36:24.It is One Thousand And One Nights. She had children and she kept going.
:36:24. > :36:28.It is the power of the story that saved her. Did that to me really
:36:28. > :36:34.stood out, that here in this extraordinary text you get every
:36:34. > :36:37.trick under the sun. Yes. And some you haven't even thought of. And in
:36:37. > :36:42.a sense, so much more effective than the more obvious things that
:36:42. > :36:48.we now do in modern times to attract and keep our men. It is not
:36:48. > :36:52.just about the one man, women have sexual needs and one man is not
:36:52. > :36:56.enough sometimes. There are stories of women who are married to Princes
:36:56. > :37:01.but want to sleep with slaves and have orangies with slaves. I think
:37:01. > :37:06.we are more exposed to men's needs. You do realise you said something
:37:06. > :37:10.which is pretty revolutionary in the 21st century, in terms of where,
:37:10. > :37:14.especially in Muslim communities and societies are at the moment?
:37:14. > :37:18.Well, Muslim women who are in places like Saudi Arabia, where it
:37:18. > :37:23.is not easy to express yourself, not easy to show your sexuality and
:37:23. > :37:30.to own your sexuality as a woman. But these stories happen. I'm a
:37:30. > :37:35.Muslim woman so I do not say this as as an outsider. And I think
:37:35. > :37:39.there's a kind of knowledge about sex amongst women in the Arab
:37:39. > :37:44.countries which is so sophisticated. People really don't get that image
:37:44. > :37:49.in the media and elsewhere. because they don't have access to
:37:50. > :37:54.it. But I find that sex is discussed in such frankness and
:37:54. > :38:00.honesty between Muslim Arab women while they are with each other,
:38:00. > :38:07.more so than in the West. So in a way this is an eternal story then?
:38:07. > :38:13.Yes. For our times and theirs? and it continues. I would fall in
:38:13. > :38:18.love with you. Edinburgh can be tough for comics.
:38:18. > :38:28.It can go one of two ways. You could be feted by audiences and
:38:28. > :38:33.critics, bathed in champagne, or slumped in a gutter eating sub-
:38:33. > :38:39.standard chips sobbing, "Why?" But enough of my Edinburgh experience.
:38:39. > :38:44.Swing a ball everybody. One name on everybody's lip this is year is
:38:44. > :38:52.Adam Riches. One critics declared him the funniest man on the Fringe.
:38:52. > :38:57.Nick Helm has hit the comedy sweet spot this year His show he's either
:38:57. > :39:03.ritually humiliating his audience or singing to them. There seems to
:39:03. > :39:11.be a theme this year, it is prevalent in your shows, of
:39:11. > :39:18.audience participation. I use the word lightly. It verging on kidnap.
:39:18. > :39:24.Good. So it is like revenge? well, to be pretentious... Oh, do!
:39:24. > :39:27.You are in the right place for it. I am on The Culture Show. I guess
:39:27. > :39:31.what I do and what do you is develop from people coming out
:39:32. > :39:36.there and people not being apathetic. You've got to pull them
:39:36. > :39:42.into the show to do it. The quickest way to start the show is
:39:42. > :39:46.not giving them an option. You have to say you have got to participate
:39:46. > :39:52.otherwise there is no show. I haven't got time. It is going to
:39:52. > :39:57.happen with or without you. It is to you if it is a good one or not.
:39:57. > :40:02.Move over... There's a lot of inTim asy. Some would almost say erotic.
:40:02. > :40:10.There's a bed scene? I think that's been misread. I think it was fairly
:40:10. > :40:15.explicit. It is father and son. It was meant to be paternal. But it
:40:15. > :40:18.didn't feel paternal but you put your leg over him. Don't ever leave
:40:18. > :40:24.me, Kev. You can be anything you want to be, Kev. You can be
:40:24. > :40:28.anything you want to be. Anything. You don't need help, nuclear the
:40:28. > :40:33.safest place in the world right now. Don't blame me for the position
:40:33. > :40:36.you've put yourself in. LAUGHTER Sometimes you feel comedy is being
:40:36. > :40:44.performed at you and you are separate from it. That's been I
:40:44. > :40:49.think a trend that's carried on until recently. That was from doing
:40:49. > :40:53.the same thing every month. That would and has been boring to do. To
:40:53. > :41:01.push yourself and keep the show fresh and keep me on the toes to
:41:01. > :41:07.last a month. It was good to involve the audiences, a frisson, a
:41:07. > :41:12.different torpedo potentially to ruin it. What if they wouldn't play
:41:12. > :41:15.ball? If they don't get up... They are getting up. If you let one
:41:16. > :41:21.person by and through, that filters through to the rest of the room.
:41:21. > :41:25.breaks your authority. You have to stay in complete command. Even if
:41:25. > :41:30.if remaining 40 minutes is yelling at one guy... I want tow look out
:41:30. > :41:37.at this sea of beautiful people and pick me out the most beautiful and
:41:37. > :41:41.attractive female in your opinion. I beg your pardon young man! How
:41:41. > :41:45.old are you to be using that language. Where else do you get the
:41:45. > :41:50.pick a woman. Pick one. She's not looking at you at off. They are
:41:50. > :41:55.always the people I picked. When I grabbed you, you were looking at
:41:55. > :42:00.the floor! LAUGHTER Who would you like? Who is the most attractive
:42:00. > :42:06.woman in here? The fine young lady there. Just here? What's wrong with
:42:06. > :42:11.the one here in red? LAUGHTER kidding. I know exactly what's
:42:11. > :42:16.wrong with her. LAUGHTER Come up here for me my darling. You've got
:42:16. > :42:25.it very easy today. You just have to stand there to the side and look
:42:25. > :42:32.radiant for me. That's good. You've got a girlfriend? No. Oh, right!
:42:32. > :42:40.You got a boyfriend? Is he here tonight? Ooh! Come on! I feel I can
:42:40. > :42:45.get more out of people if I celebrate them more. They do get
:42:45. > :42:52.berated but if there's a sense that they are going to be the hero and
:42:52. > :42:55.get applause at the end, their ego will kick in and they'll do that.
:42:55. > :43:02.would be interested to see what happens next year. I imagine
:43:02. > :43:08.there'll be a slew of people doing more participation because of you.
:43:08. > :43:13.We should combine a show next year. It would be too sweaty and too
:43:13. > :43:23.sexual. Too much for any person to stand. They would have to add
:43:23. > :43:25.
:43:25. > :43:32.another star. Six stars. Can I just say the smell of the Vic's you
:43:32. > :43:42.applied med show will stay with me forever. I do sweat a lot. It hid
:43:42. > :43:53.
:43:53. > :43:57.the smell of my crotch. You didn't I was going to do that! Anything
:43:57. > :44:02.goes in Edinburgh. Freedom of expression is not just tolerated
:44:02. > :44:08.but positively embraced. Artists of all kind around the world can face
:44:08. > :44:18.imprisonment or worse for acts of self expression. Comedian and
:44:18. > :44:23.activist Mark Thomas went to meet A festival turns everything upside
:44:23. > :44:32.down, so the grey of Edinburgh become as live with performers and
:44:32. > :44:36.drunkenness and lewdness and freedom of expression.
:44:36. > :44:40.Yes there are problems with this festival. It's too bourgeoise,
:44:40. > :44:44.there are too many comics, street performers, people with face paint
:44:44. > :44:47.and too many drama students handing out leaflets for substandard plays.
:44:47. > :44:51.But there are spaces at this festival where international
:44:51. > :45:01.performers get a chance to use the freedom of expression here that is
:45:01. > :45:05.
:45:06. > :45:10.not available to them back in their Nassim Soleimanpour is a 29-year-
:45:10. > :45:13.old Iranian playwright who has been refuse aid passport bit authorities
:45:13. > :45:16.because he didn't do military service, so he can't leave Iran and
:45:16. > :45:21.he's used that to his advantage, creating one of the most original
:45:21. > :45:25.and exciting works on the Fringe. There is no set, no director and
:45:25. > :45:31.the actor, well, they get a different actor to perform the show
:45:31. > :45:34.each day. Neither the audience nor the actor
:45:34. > :45:39.know what's going to happen until the actor is given a sealed
:45:39. > :45:43.envelope with the script inside. OK. So I have just opened the
:45:43. > :45:49.envelope. I've begun to read and I have no idea what's going to happen.
:45:49. > :45:52.It's not really a play. The playwright himself describe it's as
:45:52. > :45:57.an experiment. It's an experiment without plot or narrative but it
:45:57. > :46:00.encourages the actor and audience to kind of get together in an
:46:00. > :46:06.imagined world. My name is Nassim Soleimanpour. Because this might be
:46:06. > :46:10.the first time you've heard such a name, Nassim is usually a girl's
:46:10. > :46:14.name in Iran, nonetheless I am a boy. I don't know the name or
:46:14. > :46:20.gender of the person saying these lines. Dear actor, what is your
:46:20. > :46:23.name? Tom. I've always have a dream of writing something which makes me
:46:23. > :46:27.free. I'm 29 as I write this, full of hopes and energy. But I'm not
:46:27. > :46:30.free. Not enough to travel. We've had very different audience
:46:30. > :46:33.reactions. Some of them quite extreme actually. It changes the
:46:33. > :46:36.direction of the end of the play. It's fascinating to see the build
:46:37. > :46:39.up of the tension right at the end that leads to the audience making a
:46:40. > :46:44.decision on how they wish to continue and finish the play.
:46:44. > :46:50.me explain, we have a play which has gathered us here. At the end of
:46:50. > :46:56.it, the actor who's speaking right now might very well commit suicide.
:46:56. > :47:02.This is a part of the play. And, he will not know this might happen
:47:02. > :47:07.until this very moment of this very reading.
:47:07. > :47:10.I think the piece is an incredible peace actually because the actor
:47:11. > :47:13.doesn't know watt script is, there's a real sense of danger.
:47:13. > :47:17.What's remarkable about it is you feel the writer's presence there.
:47:17. > :47:27.You feel it throughout the piece. The yearning to actually be there
:47:27. > :47:29.
:47:29. > :47:35.There are many performers who will talk about risk taking or believe
:47:35. > :47:40.they take them. There are students stechtruepz who think being risque
:47:40. > :47:43.is about doing songs about bestiality. There are those who
:47:43. > :47:50.think taking risks is about political comedy. But there are
:47:50. > :47:56.real risk takers like the Belarus Free Theatre.
:47:57. > :48:02.We are banned in our country. We are illegal in our country. We are
:48:02. > :48:08.prohibited theatre. We are the only independent company in Belarus. The
:48:08. > :48:17.rest are state-run theatres, controlled by the government. In
:48:17. > :48:21.order to survive, you just need to go underground. We've been allowed
:48:21. > :48:25.into the rehearsal for the Belarus Free Theatre here. It has to be
:48:25. > :48:29.said that the fact the vast majority of the company do not
:48:29. > :48:39.speak English probably adds to the sense of chaos that Edinburgh
:48:39. > :48:40.
:48:40. > :48:45.naturally brings in during the When you said your performances are
:48:45. > :48:49.underground, could you describe a typical performance. First of all,
:48:49. > :48:55.you need to find the place where to perform. When we start, it was in
:48:55. > :49:02.the clubs and bars. But then, it came to the moment when few
:49:02. > :49:06.business people who help us to perform, they lost their license.
:49:06. > :49:16.We started to perform even in the woods, when it's summertime, so
:49:16. > :49:17.
:49:17. > :49:22.more people could see it. Welcome to Minsk! Vaclav Havel who
:49:22. > :49:27.is the patron of our theatre, he told us that if you want to change
:49:27. > :49:33.your life, can you not whisper, you need to say very openly and loudly
:49:33. > :49:43.whatever you think. Otherwise if you whisper, you would continue
:49:43. > :49:47.
:49:47. > :49:51.In Belarus it's not just the performers who have to be brave.
:49:51. > :49:56.Just being in the audience requires courage. Police arrive and they
:49:56. > :50:00.film faces of spectators, then they go into schools, universities, jobs
:50:00. > :50:07.and they just threaten people, they would lose education, jobs and this
:50:07. > :50:11.is what's happening. We say that we love our audience all over the
:50:11. > :50:15.world, but our audience in Belarus the most bravest audience in the
:50:15. > :50:20.world. The first play they are performing is about sex in the city.
:50:20. > :50:28.But the city in question is Minsk, so even the most simple questions
:50:28. > :50:33.become hugely political. We do not care how people call us, if you
:50:33. > :50:39.want us to become political theatre, call us political theatre. You want
:50:39. > :50:44.to say that it's another kind of theatre, we're happy about it. We
:50:44. > :50:48.just want to say whatever we want, whenever we want, wherever we want
:50:48. > :50:58.to whom we want by means of the theatre. So freedom of expression?
:50:58. > :50:59.
:50:59. > :51:01.Absolutely. Absolutely. And Belarus Free Theatre and White
:51:01. > :51:05.Rabbit Red Rabbit run until the 29th August.
:51:05. > :51:10.Now the fringe finishes on Monday. The international festival powers
:51:10. > :51:14.through until the 4th September. And next week sees the opening of
:51:14. > :51:19.acclaimed Chinese choreographer Shen Wei's Re-Triptych which takes
:51:19. > :51:21.home coming as its theme. Born in rural China, Shen Wei now lives in
:51:21. > :51:31.New York, where Clemency Burton- Hill went to catch up with him
:51:31. > :51:39.
:51:39. > :51:46.Artist and choreographer Shen Wei has been a presence on the New York
:51:46. > :51:49.dance scene since he moved here from China in 1995. Known for his
:51:49. > :51:53.completely original movement and spectacular vishuals his work is
:51:53. > :52:00.influenced by his background in traditional Chinese opera, which he
:52:00. > :52:06.studied from the age of nine. He also works as a painter and
:52:06. > :52:10.designer, which is evident in his dance work. His success abroad was
:52:10. > :52:13.rewarded at home, when in 2008, he was invited to create a work for
:52:13. > :52:19.the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
:52:19. > :52:24.His company Shen Wei Dance Arts made its debut here in 2000. Their
:52:24. > :52:30.work, which fuses eastern and western philosophy and aesthetics
:52:30. > :52:36.it's led to him -- his being recognised as one of the world's
:52:36. > :52:40.contemporary choreographers. I can feel that you are enjoying
:52:40. > :52:47.your own world. That moment is real nice. I caught up with the company
:52:47. > :52:51.at one of their final rehearsals before they left for Edinburgh.
:52:51. > :52:55.Shen Wei the man, is really specific. Though there's a lot of
:52:55. > :53:03.freedom to put your own creativity, he demands you communicate it
:53:03. > :53:06.clearly. Don't worry about anything in the room. Only focus your
:53:06. > :53:11.situation. I've been working with him for three years. So it's great.
:53:12. > :53:19.It's a big challenge to be able to push your body's limits. There's a
:53:19. > :53:25.kind of really nice sense of his intuition about how it push us to
:53:25. > :53:34.work harder. Here, once you guys go on the legs here, you go so reach
:53:34. > :53:41.up. It's like a reach up. My dancers have been trained in my
:53:41. > :53:51.own technique called natural body development. I have been here 11
:53:51. > :53:54.
:53:54. > :53:57.years to develop this technique by In many ways your work is being
:53:57. > :54:03.seen through the eyes of a painter, which of course, you are. What
:54:03. > :54:08.comes first - the image or the movement? For me, personly, always
:54:08. > :54:14.the passion come first. Without passion I cannot even start it. Of
:54:14. > :54:19.course, each production may have each different process. The work
:54:19. > :54:23.the company are bringing to Edinburgh, the Re-Triptych was
:54:23. > :54:33.inspired by Shen Wei's travels throughout the Asian continent.
:54:33. > :54:34.
:54:34. > :54:44.first part of the is in Tibet, the traditional chanting, tempo, by a
:54:44. > :55:11.
:55:11. > :55:16.Two is about my journey in Cambodia, because all amazing, humungous
:55:16. > :55:20.temples that integrate with the nature of the trees, then you will
:55:20. > :55:30.see human power and the power of nature, of the trees, combined
:55:30. > :55:38.
:55:38. > :55:43.In common with Shen Wei's other work Re-Triptych explores the
:55:43. > :55:48.differences between the distinct actualures of the East and West.
:55:48. > :55:54.the East, especially in China, they are really focus on the power of
:55:54. > :56:01.unity or collective. You look at the Western culture, New York, they
:56:01. > :56:11.are really focused on individual power, over creativities. Those
:56:11. > :56:16.
:56:16. > :56:19.cultures are so different. I find Some people find the language of
:56:19. > :56:23.contemporary dance quite alienating, quite different. What would you say
:56:23. > :56:32.to someone who hasn't ever seen your work, what's it really about?
:56:32. > :56:36.You know, art is all about inspiration and how I can give you
:56:36. > :56:43.something you feel, but you may not complete understand. I think that's
:56:43. > :56:47.the purpose of art. Really enjoy the freedom of closing eyes, like
:56:47. > :56:57.you're in a disco, you really don't care, you just play around with
:56:57. > :56:57.
:56:57. > :57:02.whatever you want. And Re-Triptych is on from the first to the third
:57:02. > :57:06.of September. That's is all we've time for at Edinburgh. If you want
:57:06. > :57:09.more festival fix tune into the review show tomorrow night at 11pm
:57:09. > :57:16.on BBC two. We're back on your screens on 29th September. It's
:57:16. > :57:24.time for me to leave. I'm due at a clown orgy. I will leave you in the