SO, farewell, then, to Fergus Linehan, who takes his leave as director of the Edinburgh International Festival (handing the baton to Nicola Benedetti), following seven years at the helm of the prestigious programme.
In that time, the Irishman has guided the Festival through the treacherous waters of the pandemic with an impressive assuredness (last year’s hybrid programme of in-person and online work – which included many Covid-safe productions in excellent, bespoke outdoor auditoriums – was a notable success).
Linehan also ushered the EIF into this year’s 75th anniversary with a programme that was – like the programming throughout his tenure – concerned both to maintain the Festival’s high artistic standards and broaden its audience.
The opening show, MACRO – a free event at the national rugby stadium at Murrayfield, which combined the poetic prose of the fine Scottish writer Hannah Lavery with choral song, traditional Scottish music and the breathtaking performance of Australian circus artists Gravity & Other Myths – epitomised the Dubliner’s directorship.
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Over the course of his seven years leading the EIF, Linehan has widened the programme to include popular artistic forms, ranging from rock music to new circus. In the traditional categories – such as theatre, dance and opera – he has also sought to embrace a diversity of work.
This year’s offering – which included the remarkable theatre piece You Know We Belong Together (in which Australian artist Julia Hales, who has Down syndrome, brings together her love of the soap opera Home and Away with a powerful plea for disability rights) and a memorable staging of Dvorak’s great opera Rusalka – exemplified the director’s programming.
Linehan bequeaths Benedetti a festival that is emerging from the pandemic in encouragingly rude health. The goodwill towards his successor is palpable, as is the gratitude towards an outgoing director who has been both a great custodian and an admirable innovator.
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