# Drama at the Edinburgh International Festival: history and repertoire, 1967–1976

Drama was an increasingly important part of the Edinburgh International Festival during its third decade. There were a total of 85 productions that were put on stage.
There were a total of 42 theatrical companies that appeared during the decade, of which the most prolific were the Prospect Theatre Company formerly Prospect Productions, Royal Lyceum Theatre Company based in Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre, and the Actors Company, founded by Edward Petherbridge and others in 1972. Other important companies included Glasgow Citizens Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse Company, The National Theatre of Great Britain and La MaMa Company of New York.
Visiting companies came from the US, Ireland, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria.
Many performances were at the same venues used in earlier years, notably the Royal Lyceum Theatre, The Assembly Hall, and the former Gateway Theatre, but new venues came into use such as Church Hill Theatre, Haymarket Ice Rink and the Moray House College.

## List

| Date | Company | Drama | Venue | Director | Principal actors |
| 1967 | Haizlip-Stoiber Productions New York | The Emperor Jones (Eugene O'Neill) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Gene Frankel | James Earl Jones |
| 1967 | Prospect Productions | The Cherry Orchard (Anton Chekhov) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Richard Cottrell | Lila Kedrova, Stephanie Bidmead, James Cairncross, Patrick Wymark, Terry Scully |
| 1967 | Prospect Productions | A Room with a View (Lance Sieveking and Richard Cottrell after the novel by E. M. Forster) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Toby Robertson | Fiona Walker, Lawrence Carter, Timothy West, Jean Anderson |
| 1967 | Pop Theatre | A Midsummer Night's Dream (William Shakespeare) | The Assembly Hall | Frank Dunlop | Robin Bailey, Cleo Laine, Hywel Bennett, Edward Jewesbury, Denise Coffey, Peter Gilmore, Bernard Bresslaw |
| 1967 | Pop Theatre | The Tricks of Scapin (Molière) | The Assembly Hall | Frank Dunlop | Peter Gilmore, Bernard Bresslaw, Edward Jewesbury, Jim Dale |
| 1967 | Close Theatre Club in association with Citizens Theatre Glasgow | Lunchtime Concert, The Inhabitants and Coda (Olwen Wymark) | Gateway Theatre | Michael Meacham | Zoe Hicks, Arthur Cox, Bernard Hopkins |
| 1967 | Marionetteatern, Stockholm | The Wizard of Oz (adapted by Michael Meschke, from the story by L. Frank Baum) | Gateway Theatre | Michael Meschke | |
| 1967 | Marionetteatern, Stockholm | Ubu Roi (Alfred Jarry) | Gateway Theatre | Michael Meschke | |
| 1967 | Hampstead Theatre Club | Nathan and Tabileth and Oldenberg (Barry Bermange) | Church Hill Theatre | James Roose-Evans | |
| 1967 | Traverse Theatre Club | Tom Paine (Paul Foster) | Church Hill Theatre | Tom O'Horgan | |
| 1967 | Voyage Theatre | Macbeth in Camera (Harold Lang) | Church Hill Theatre | Harold Lang | Harold Lang |
| 1967 | Voyage Theatre | Man Speaking (Harold Lang) | Church Hill Theatre | Harold Lang | Harold Lang |
| 1968 | 69 Theatre Company | Hamlet (William Shakespeare) | The Assembly Hall | Caspar Wrede | Glyn Owen, Dilys Hamlet, Tom Courtenay, Anna Calder-Marshall |
| 1968 | 69 Theatre Company | When We Dead Awaken (Henrik Ibsen) | The Assembly Hall | Michael Elliott | Alexander Knox, Irene Hamilton, Brian Cox, Wendy Hiller |
| 1968 | Prospect Productions | The Beggar's Opera (John Gay) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Toby Robertson | Peter Gilmore, James Cossins, Jan Waters, Frances Cuka |
| 1968 | Glasgow Citizens' Theatre | The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui (Bertolt Brecht) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Michael Blakemore | Leonard Rossiter, Steven Berkoff, Harold Innocent, Del Henney |
| 1968 | Abbey Theatre Dublin | The Playboy of the Western World (J M Synge) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Thomas MacAnna | Vincent Dowling, Aideen O'Kelly |
| 1968 | Trinity Square Repertory Company | Years of the Locust (Norman Holland) | Church Hill Theatre | Adrian Hall | Richard Kneeland |
| 1968 | Traverse Theatre Club | Mourning Becomes Electra (Eugene O'Neill) | Traverse Theatre | Gordon McDougall | Judy Campbell, John Fraser, Valerie Saruff |
| 1968 | Laboratory Theatre '13 Rows' Wroclaw | Acropolis (adapted by Jerzy Grotowski from the play by Stanisław Wyspiański)) | 11 Cambridge Street (former festival office) | Jerzy Grotowski | |
| 1969 | Prospect Theatre Company | Edward II (Christopher Marlowe) | The Assembly Hall | Toby Robertson | Ian McKellen, Timothy West, Diane Fletcher, James Laurenson |
| 1969 | Prospect Theatre Company | King Richard the Second (William Shakespeare) | The Assembly Hall | Richard Cottrell | Ian McKellen, Timothy West, Paul Hardwick, Robert Eddison, Stephen Greif |
| 1969 | Scottish Actors' Company | The Wild Duck (Henrik Ibsen) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Fulton MacKay | Robin Bailey, Brian Cox, Leonard Maguire, Una McLean, Anna Calder-Marshall |
| 1969 | Bridge Productions Limited | ZOO ZOO Widdershins ZOO (Kevin Laffan) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Frank Dunlop | Lynn Redgrave |
| 1969 | The Nottingham Playhouse Company | The Hero Rises Up (John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Bill Hays | |
| 1969 | The Nottingham Playhouse Company | Widowers' Houses (George Bernard Shaw) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Michael Blakemore | Robin Ellis, Nicola Pagett |
| 1969 | Theatre on the Balustrade Prague | The Button and The Fools (Ladislav Fialka) | Church Hill Theatre | Ladislav Fialka | |
| 1969 | Stables Theatre Company | Would you look at them smashing all the windows (David Wright) | Church Hill Theatre | Barry Davis | John Fraser, André van Gyseghem |
| 1969 | The Central Puppet Theatre Sofia | Prince Marko (Ivan Theofilov) | Church Hill Theatre | Ivan Theofilov, Ivan Tsonev | |
| 1969 | The Central Puppet Theatre Sofia | Pinocchio | Church Hill Theatre | Liliana Docheva | |
| 1969 | The Central Puppet Theatre Sofia | The Misanthrope (after Molière) | Church Hill Theatre | Liuben Grois | |
| 1970 | Prospect Theatre Company | Much Ado About Nothing (William Shakespeare) | The Assembly Hall | Toby Robertson | Timothy West, Julian Glover, John Castle, John Neville, Barbara Ewing, Sylvia Syms |
| 1970 | Prospect Theatre Company | Boswell's Life of Johnson (Bill Dutton, Toby Robertson and Ian Thorne) | The Assembly Hall | Toby Robertson | Timothy West, Julian Glover, John Neville, Barbara Ewing, Sylvia Syms |
| 1970 | Deutsches Theater und Kammerspiele (Staatstheater der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) | Peace Die Frieden (Aristophanes) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Benno Besson | Klaus Piontek, Fred Düren, Elsa Grube-Deister |
| 1970 | Royal Lyceum Theatre Company | Random Happenings in the Hebrides (John McGrath) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Richard Eyre | John Thaw, John Cairney |
| 1970 | Royal Lyceum Theatre Company | The Changeling (Thomas Middleton and William Rowley) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Richard Eyre | Anna Calder-Marshall, David Burke, Arthur Cox, Bryan Stanyon |
| 1970 | Teatro Libero Rome | Orlando Furioso (adapted from Ariosto by Edoardo Sanguineti) | Haymarket Ice Rink | Luca Ronconi | |
| 1970 | Leeds Playhouse Company | Henry IV (Luigi Pirandello translated by John Wardle) | Church Hill Theatre | Bill Hays | |
| 1970 | Royal Shakespeare Company | Pleasure and Repentance (Terry Hands) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Terry Hands | Janet Suzman, Martin Best, Barrie Ingham, Brewster Mason, Richard Pasco |
| 1971 | Prospect Theatre Company | King Lear (William Shakespeare) | The Assembly Hall | Toby Robertson | Timothy West, Fiona Walker |
| 1971 | National Theatre of Great Britain | The Comedy of Errors (William Shakespeare) | Haymarket Ice Rink | Frank Dunlop | Edward Jewesbury, Sam Kelly, Andrew Robertson, Gavin Reed, Joan Heal |
| 1971 | Royal Lyceum Theatre Company | Confessions of a Justified Sinner (James Hogg adapted by Jack Ronder) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Richard Eyre | Russell Hunter |
| 1971 | Bulandra Theatre Company, Bucharest, Romania | Carnival Scenes (I L Caragiale) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Lucian Pintilie | |
| 1971 | Bulandra Theatre Company, Bucharest, Romania | Leonce and Lena (Georg Büchner) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Liviu Ciulei | Ion Caramitru, Irina Petrescu |
| 1971 | Long Wharf Theatre Company | You can't take it with you (Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Arvin Brown | Martha Schlamme, Joyce Ebert |
| 1971 | Long Wharf Theatre Company | Solitaire and Double Solitaire (Robert Anderson) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Arvin Brown | Martha Schlamme, Joyce Ebert, Richard Venture, William Swetland |
| 1971 | The Manhattan Project | Alice in Wonderland based on (Lewis Carroll) | 11 Cambridge Street | André Gregory | |
| 1972 | The National Theatre of Great Britain present the Young Vic Productions | The Comedy of Errors (William Shakespeare) | Haymarket Ice Rink | Frank Dunlop | Andrew Robertson, Gary Bond, Denise Coffey, Joan Heal |
| 1972 | The National Theatre of Great Britain present the Young Vic Productions | Bible One (Tim Rice with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber) | Haymarket Ice Rink | Frank Dunlop | Andrew Robertson, Gary Bond, Denise Coffey, Joan Heal |
| 1972 | Citizens' Theatre Glasgow | Tamburlaine the Great (Christopher Marlowe) | The Assembly Hall | Keith Hack | Jeffery Kissoon, Mike Gwilym, Murray Salem, Paola Dionisotti |
| 1972 | Citizens' Theatre Glasgow | Twelfth Night (William Shakespeare) | The Assembly Hall | Giles Havergal | Mike Gwilym, Ian McDiarmid, James Aubrey, Jonathan Kent |
| 1972 | Hosho Noh Theatre | Sumidagawa, Kakiyamabushi, Hagoromo | Royal Lyceum Theatre | | |
| 1972 | Hosho Noh Theatre | Kiyotsune, Boshibari, Ayanotsuzumi | Royal Lyceum Theatre | | |
| 1972 | Cambridge Theatre Company with The Actors Company | Ruling the Roost (Georges Feydeau translated by Richard Cottrell) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Richard Cottrell | Moira Redmond, Tenniel Evans, Ronnie Stevens, Robin Ellis, Caroline Blakiston |
| 1972 | Cambridge Theatre Company with The Actors Company | 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (John Ford) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | David Giles | Ian McKellen, Felicity Kendall, Ronnie Stevens, Edward Petherbridge |
| 1972 | Gruppo Sperimentazione Teatrale, Rome | Moby Dick (Mario Ricci after Herman Melville) | Church Hill Theatre | Mario Ricci | |
| 1972 | Théâtre Laboratoire Vicinal, Brussels | Tramp (Arthur Spilliaert) | The Gateway | Frédéric Flamand | |
| 1972 | Théâtre Laboratoire Vicinal, Brussels | Luna Park | The Gateway | Frédéric Flamand | |
| 1973 | The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company of Edinburgh | The Thrie Estaites (Sir David Lindsay) | The Assembly Hall | Bill Bryden | Roddy McMillan, Tom Fleming |
| 1973 | The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company | The Knife (Ian Brown) | Lyceum Studio | John David | |
| 1973 | The Young Lyceum Company | Woyzeck (Georg Büchner) | The Assembly Hall | Radu Penciulescu | |
| 1973 | Prospect Theatre Company | Pericles (William Shakespeare) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Toby Robertson | Derek Jacobi, Marilyn Taylorson, Ronnie Stevens |
| 1973 | The Actors Company | Flow (Gabriel Josipovici) and Knots (from the book by R. D. Laing) | Lyceum Studio | Edward Petherbridge | |
| 1973 | The Actors Company | The Wood Demon (Anton Chekhov translated by Ronald Hingley) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | David Giles | Robert Eddison, Tenniel Evans, Ian McKellen |
| 1973 | The Actors Company | The Way of the World (William Congreve) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | David William | Edward Petherbridge, Tenniel Evans, Ian McKellen, Robert Eddison, Caroline Blakiston |
| 1973 | Prospect Theatre Company | Don Juan in Love (devised by Kenny McBain) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Kenny McBain | |
| 1974 | The Actors Company | The Bacchae (Euripides) | The Assembly Hall | Edward Petherbridge | Mark McManus, Edward Petherbridge, Robert Eddison, Robin Ellis |
| 1974 | The Actors Company | Tartuffe (Molière) | The Assembly Hall | Peter James | Windsor Davies, Edward Petherbridge, Charles Kay, Robert Eddison, Sheila Reid |
| 1974 | Gothenburg City Theatre | Gustav III (August Strindberg) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Lennart Hjulström | Sven Wollter, Sten Ljunggren |
| 1974 | Abbey Theatre Dublin | King Oedipus (Sophocles) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Michael Cacoyannis | Desmond Cave, Eamon Kelly, Gabrielle Reidy |
| 1974 | The Mummenschanz Company | | Church Hill Theatre | | Andres Bossard, Bernie Schurch, Floriana Frasetto |
| 1974 | The Performance Group | The Tooth of Crime (Sam Shepard) | Cambridge Street Studio | Richard Schechner | Spalding Gray |
| 1975 | Prospect Theatre Company | Pilgrim (Jane McCulloch, adaptation and lyrics based on John Bunyan) | The Assembly Hall | Toby Robertson | Paul Jones |
| 1975 | The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company of Edinburgh | How Mad Tulloch Was Taken Away (John Morris) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Bill Bryden | Roddy McMillan |
| 1975 | Nottingham Playhouse Company | As you like it (William Shakespeare) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Peter Gill | John Price, Jane Lapotaire |
| 1975 | Cooperativo Tiuscolano | Utopia (Aristophanes, adapted by Luca Ronconi) | Haymarket Ice Rink | Luca Ronconi | |
| 1976 | La Mama Company, New York | The Good Woman of Setzuan (Bertolt Brecht) | Moray House College | Andrei Serban | Priscilla Smith |
| 1976 | La Mama Company, New York | Electra (Sophocles) | Moray House College | Andrei Serban | Priscilla Smith |
| 1976 | La Mama Company, New York | Trojan Women (Euripides) | Moray House College | Andrei Serban | Priscilla Smith, Natalie Gray, Valois Mickens, Onni Johnson |
| 1976 | Birmingham Repertory Company | Measure for Measure (William Shakespeare) | The Assembly Hall | Stuart Burge | Anna Calder-Marshall, David Burke, Bernard Lloyd, Peter Vaughan, Russell Hunter |
| 1976 | Birmingham Repertory Company | The Devil is an Ass (Ben Jonson adapted by Peter Barnes) | The Assembly Hall | Stuart Burge | Anna Calder-Marshall, David Burke, Bernard Lloyd, Peter Vaughan, Russell Hunter |
| 1976 | Oxford Playhouse Company | Pal Joey (music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart after the book by John O'Hara) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Philip Hedley | Bob Sherman, Pat Kirkwood |
| 1976 | Bunraku, The National Puppet Theatre of Japan | Heike Nyogo no Shima (The Priest in Exile) and Sonezaki Shinju (The Double Suicide at Sonezaki) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Nanba Haruo | |
| 1976 | Bunraku, The National Puppet Theatre of Japan | Ehon Taikoki (The Exploits of the Tycoon) and Shimpan Utazaimon (The Triangular Love) | Royal Lyceum Theatre | Nanba Haruo | |
| 1976 | Gruppo Teatro Libero Rome | Masaniello (Elvio Porta and Armando Pugliese) | Moray House College | Armando Pugliese | |