Edinburgh International Festival back to full programme

Alan Cumming, Herbie Hancock and Nicola Benedetti are among 2,000 artists who are to appear at this year's Edinburgh International Festival.

It is the first full programme since 2019, with 87 events in 14 venues, including a free opening show at Murrayfield called Macro.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Edinburgh International Festival.

It was set up by a refugee, Rudolph Bing, to give hope in the aftermath of World War Two.

Festival director Fergus Linehan said it was great to be back after two years of restrictions.

He said: "2022 is a special year for the festival. We hope that it will mark a turning point in the pandemic that has changed all our lives over the past two years.

"It is our 75th Anniversary and an opportunity to pay tribute to our first artistic director, Rudolph Bing, a refugee of war in Europe."

It is also Mr Linehan's final year as festival director. Violinist, Nicola Benedetti, who will take over as director of the festival in October.

Alan Cumming will play Robert Burns in a solo show.

Marco, at Murrayfield stadium, will feature contemporary circus Gravity and Other Myths as well as first nations dance company Djuki Mala, and the National Youth Choir of Scotland and Scottish musicians.

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock will be making his festival debut, while Akram Khan's Jungle Book Reimagined will reinvent the journey of Mowgli though the eyes of a climate refugee, and there will be the world premiere of Scottish Ballet's Coppelia.

Refuge, a season of contemporary theatre, dance, visual art, film and conversation created in collaboration with the Scottish Refugee Council, will look at themes of refugeehood, migration, identity and inclusion.

Meanwhile, it has been announced veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen will star as Hamlet in a performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year.

The 82-year-old returned to the role last year, 50 years after first playing the doomed Danish prince.

Sir Ian will perform the speeches and soliloquies and will share the role with lead dancer Johan Christiansen, performing alongside the Edinburgh Festival Ballet company.

Hamlet was adapted by founder of the English National Ballet School Peter Schaufuss, and will also feature his son Luke Schaufuss.

Sir Ian said: "At a crucial moment in Hamlet, Shakespeare describes in detail a dance performed by the actors touring through Elsinore.

"Hamlet says 'What a piece of work is a man... how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action'.

"The same could be said of Peter Schaufuss and his company of wonderful dancers. It's inspiring to watch them and work with them."

In 1971, Sir Ian took on the role of Hamlet in London's West End before revisiting the role last year in an age, colour and gender-blind production at the Theatre Royal in Windsor.