Six Culture Ireland supported productions will feature at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. 

This year, support by Culture Ireland is being provided to artists appearing at the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival of Books and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. All three festivals take place every August in Scotland’s capital city and present a key opportunity for Irish artists to build their international profile and generate further touring opportunities for their work.

In 2015 there are six Culture Ireland supported productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. Traverse, Edinburgh’s key venue for new writing, with which Culture Ireland has a long term partnership will host two shows—Eimear McBride’s award winning A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing , brought to life onstage by Corn Exchange Theatre Company and actress Aoife Duffin and Rough Magic’s production of How to Keep an Alien by Sonya Kelly.

At Dance Base, Pat Kinevane continues his extraordinary gallery of one-man performances with Underneath produced by Fishamble: The New Play Company and ponydance returns to Edinburgh for an evening of riotous comedy dance with Ponies Don’t Play Football.

Donal O’Kelly’s comic thriller Little Thing, Big Thing, also produced by Fishamble, appears at Assembly George Square Studios and performer and scientist Dr. Niamh Shaw combines both skills with To Space, a unique multimedia performance at Summerhall.

As part of the Edinburgh International Festival on 8 August, the world premiere of a new chamber opera The Last Hotel opens at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh. Composed by Donnacha Dennehy and written by Enda Walsh, the opera which is produced by Wide Open Opera and Landmark Productions has already secured international opportunities at the Royal Opera House in London and St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn.

Also featuring in the Edinburgh International Festival programme, fiddle legend Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill will perform with viola da gamba virtuoso Jordi Savall in Celtic Dialogues at the Usher Hall, a musical exploration of the shared roots of early and Celtic music.

Culture Ireland also continues its relationship with the Edinburgh International Book Festival with an extensive programme of readings and appearances featuring Irish award-winning authors from many genres over a two week period.

Announcing support, Arts Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said: “This year’s programme of Irish artists is strong and diverse and their presentations will undoubtedly attract global interest and build on the success of Irish artists at Edinburgh in previous years.”