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New season launches at The Brunton



The Brunton has launched its new season, which is full to the brim with an exciting range of productions, and tickets are on sale now.

Highlights include an afternoon piano recital with Llyr Williams, a star of the music world and a regular performer at the Edinburgh International Festival and London’s Wigmore Hall. A treat is in store as he performs Beethoven’s extraordinary and witty Diabellivariations, a challenge for every pianist. The Brunton also welcomes back Ryedale Festival Opera with Handel’s Alcina, one of his greatest masterpieces, as part of the Lammermuir Festival.

The Brunton is delighted to welcome back Scotland’s national symphony orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, with a thrilling programme of classical music including the colourful Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony and Ravel’s exquisite Le Tombeau de CouperinScottish EnsembleRoyal Northern Sinfonia and Scottish Opera also return.

The popular series of lunchtime and afternoon classical concerts continues, where audiences can enjoy lunch in the upstairs lounge followed by an hour of classical music in the informal and intimate surroundings of venue 2, or enjoy High Tea and an afternoon recital. Performers this season include pianist Martin James Bartlett, winner of BBC Young Musician of the Year 2014; pianist Richard Uttleywith Mark Simpson, clarinet, another previous winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year; violinist Benjamin Baker; and tenorNicholas Mulroy and pianist Alisdair Hogarth return after their sensational performance of Winterreise in April.

Now in its fifth year, The Brunton presents Hogmanay in the Honest Toun, part of Scotland’s Winter Festivals 2016-2017. A packed day full of lantern making, drumming workshops, performances and family ceilidhs culminates in a parade led by Edinburgh Samba Band and illuminated walkabout characters, with a spectacular free fireworks display on Fisherrow Links.

The Saltire Festival is also back for 2016, celebrating St Andrew’s Day and East Lothian as the Home of the Flag, with events at The Brunton including a screening of Trainspotting, performances by Trecherous Orchestra and Simple Minded, and historical re-enactors telling the tale of Scotland’s history in Scotland Through The Ages.

The Brunton continues to present the best of the West End with its National Theatre Live and Royal Opera House Live screenings. Audiences can enjoy Terence Rattigan’s devastating masterpiece The Deep Blue Sea and a vivid and darkly comic new adaptation of The Threepenny Opera; with The Royal Ballet’s Anastasia, and The Royal Opera’s Les Contes d’Hoffman and Il Trovatore, all live from the Royal Opera House. There are also plenty of midweek movies planned, opening with Love and Friendship, in which Kate Beckinsale inhabits the irresistibly devious lead role in this adaptation of Jane Austen’s novella Lady Susan.

Loved all over the world for their hits including When Will I See You AgainThe Three Degrees - well known for their soulful voices, beautiful gowns and fabulous stage shows – return to Musselburgh with another sensational stage show; while The Rubettes, on their first solo tour since the ‘70s, play all their hits including Sugar Baby LoveTonight and Juke Box Jive.  Music lovers will also enjoy fantastic tributes to Roy Orbison, Neil Diamond, Eagles and Phil Collins, to name only a few; while David Alacey is joined by Anita Harris in Frank – Ol’ Blue Eyes is Back, a lavish production that captures the music and personality of the legend Frank Sinatra.

Fresh from runs at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe are Theatre Alba with Shepherd Beguiled, a magical modern Scots classic; andDogstar Theatre Company with Mungo Park, Travels in the Interior of Africa, rip roaring entertainment and a salutary story. There’s a fresh take on the classics with Blackeyed Theatre’s Frankenstein, a brand new adaptation fusing ensemble storytelling, live music and stunning theatricality; and Richard Darbourne’s Pride and Prejudice, in which the world of Austen is brought to life by just two actors.

Commemorating the centenary of the Great War are Immersion Theatre and Journey’s End, a compelling and harrowing insight into life in the trenches; and for younger audiences, Wee Stories and Fife Cultural Trust present The Man Who Followed His Legs (and kept on walking), a funny, entertaining and moving production using video images, puppetry, music and performance to bring alive the enormity of this first global conflict for a new generation of young people. Sleeping Warrior Theatre CompanyFire Exit and Kathryn Barker Productions are also on the bill.

Company Chordelia’s Lady Macbeth: unsex me here is an exciting and unique piece of dance theatre by Kally Lloyd-Jones; Rosie Kay Dance Company makes their Brunton debut with a double bill; and it’s time to put some funk in your trunk when Breakin’ Rules returns with a day of hot hip hop dance theatre, hosted by resident dance company Room 2 Manoeuvre’s Tony Thrills.

There is a wealth of entertainment for younger audiences too, with two productions from The Brunton’s resident theatre companyCatherine Wheels Theatre Company, as well as fun filled musical productions from The People’s Theatre Company and Funbox.

Comedy comes from Craig Hill, Scotland’s kilted comedy treasure; Jenny Eclair extends her hit tour into the autumn, and Daniel Sloss, Scotland’s internationally acclaimed and award winning comedian, brings his latest show So?. There are inspiring events too, with Hugh McIlvanney in conversation with Graham Spiers, offering a fascinating insight into his remarkable career; and Steve Leonard, TV vet and wildlife presenter, shares his close encounters with spectacular and exotic species in an illustrated talk, in association with East Lothian Library Service.


All tickets are available from The Brunton on 0131 665 2240 or www.thebrunton.co.uk

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