ABERDEEN Performing Arts today announced details of their inaugural International Season, a ground-breaking initiative designed to showcase artists from across the globe travelling to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Performances across comedy, circus and family events aim to offer Aberdeen audiences access to new and innovative work while supporting more sustainable touring schedules.
For the first season, confirmed artists from New Zealand, Australia and Berlin will perform at His Majesty’s Theatre and Lemon Tree in July and September as a preview and encore to their visit to Edinburgh in August.
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With performances scheduled at Aberdeen’s iconic venue His Majesty’s Theatre and Lemon Tree, the international season marks a significant new milestone in Aberdeen’s cultural calendar. Highlighting the leading arts organisation’s commitment to bringing world-class entertainment to the region and offering our audiences unparalleled artistic experiences.
Sharon Burgess, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Performing Arts, expressed her excitement about the launch: “This is a momentous occasion for Aberdeen Performing Arts and the broader Scottish arts scene. By hosting these incredible artists this summer, we are reinforcing Aberdeen’s position as a leading cultural destination. We are deeply committed to enriching our community’s cultural landscape, and this international season is a testament to that vision.”
For the first time ever, audiences in Aberdeen will have the unique opportunity to experience the awe-inspiring artistry of two of the world’s most acclaimed contemporary circus companies, Gravity and Other Myths and Circa, direct from Australia.
Humans 2.0 visits His Majesty’s Theatre on Thursday 5 to Saturday 9 September and is a symphony of acrobatics, sound and light from Circa. The Brisbane based organisation are one of the world’s leading performance companies and have played in front of nearly 2 million people in 45 countries. They are renowned for pioneering extreme physicality and creating powerful and moving shows. This next chapter of Circa’s internationally acclaimed Humans is a tightly woven choreography of bodies, pulsing with music by composer Ori Lichtik and revealed in Paul Jackson’s dramatic lighting. Created by circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz, Humans 2.0 is intimate, primal and deeply engaged with the challenge of being human.
Ten Thousand Hours from Gravity and Other Myths visits His Majesty’s Theatre on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 July. A circus and physical theatre performance sees eight elite acrobats investigate physical skill, how we obtain it and how it can transform our lives. Described as jaw-dropping, the acrobatic performance is a love letter to our bodies and the amazing things they let us do every day and includes visual storytelling, movement and contemporary dance.
The Bookbinder comes to the Lemon Tree on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 June for four performances. An inventive one-man performance for adults and children 8+, from award-winning company Trick of the Light Theatre comes a story of mystery, magic and mayhem. The Bookbinder weaves shadowplay, paper art, puppetry, and music into an original dark fairytale in the vein of Neil Gaiman.
A Bee Story visits the Lemon Tree on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 July. A unique physical theatre show for children and families, the performance incorporates circus, acrobatics, dance and live music. Telling the story of a Queen Bee and a Worker, they must work together to rebuild their hive after being destroyed by a fire.
New Zealand comedian Trygve Wakenshaw comes to the Lemon Tree on Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 July with his performance Silly Little Things. His unique style of mime, physical theatre and cheeky idiocy has been described as universally enchanting. The show is an autobiographical, introspective look at all the silly little things that can make or break a friendship. Having been nominated for Best Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2015, the award winning comedy performer has been a consistent sell-out at festivals around the world.
Lucy Peach is an Australian comedian, singer and author and visits the Lemon Tree for two nights on Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 July with her show My Greatest Period Ever. With a heart of gold, a silver tongue and a steel-trap wit, Lucy combines her experience as a folk singer, Human Biology teacher and Sexual Health Educator to ‘edutain’ one and all about the four hormonal phases of the menstrual cycle. Hilarious, heartfelt and always informative, the exultant folk-pop wunderkind is joined by her husband Richard who creates live illustrations to bring her menstrual messages to life.
The Aberdeen Performing Arts International Season is envisioned as a celebration of artistic excellence and innovation offering a platform for prestigious international companies to further connect with Scottish audiences.
Tickets for all shows go on sale to Friends of Aberdeen Performing Arts on Wednesday, April 10, and on general sale on Thursday, April 11, available from aberdeenperformingarts.com, phone (01224) 641122 or visit the box office at His Majesty’s Theatre or the Music Hall. Further details of the international season can be found at aberdeenperformingarts.com/international-season.
