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Sunday 17 August
8:00am
Continental Airlines flight 16 arrives at Glasgow Airport. Welcome by RODNEY WEST , Director of London Arts Discovery.
Transfer to The Balmoral Hotel , Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2EQ [Tel: (131) 556 2414; Fax: (131) 557 3747]. Check in , in the Waverley Suite at the hotel. Tea, coffee and shortbread will be served.
AFTERNOON FREE
5:00pm
Welcome Cocktail Party and Buffet . In the Annan Suite at the hotel.
7:00pm
Optional Performance of AMADIGI . One of Handel's less well-known operas featuring some of his most ravishing music, with one glorious aria after another. The standard 18th century operatic fare is made remarkable by the brilliance of the music. Rinaldo Alessandrini conducts the Northern Sinfonia and Sarah Connolly as Amadigi, Catherine Naglestad as Melissa, Elizabeth Donovan as Oriana, Anna Burford as Dardano. At the *Usher Hall, Lothian Road.
OR
7:30pm
Optional performance of SAN DIEGO . David Greig weaves together a series of connecting and diverging stories and merges them into a single compelling narrative; stories of illegal immigrants, of pilots and of film stars and of the making of Band on the Run . Inspired by a trip to San Diego and influenced by Spalding Gray and Thornton Wilder's Our Town . At the *Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street. Monday 18 August
BREAKFAST WILL BE SERVED IN THE DON SUITE DAILY FROM 7:30AM TO 10:00AM
9:00am
Briefing on all aspects of the tour included in the Itinerary, plus recommended additional performances, extra activities and restaurants. Please bring this itinerary and your information pack with you . In the Don Suite at the hotel.
10:00am
Critical Preview . JOYCE McMILLAN , chief theatre critic and columnist for The Scotsman , introduces Edinburgh's Five Festivals which are running concurrently: The Edinburgh International Festival, the Festival Fringe, the Military Tattoo, the International Book Festival and the International Film Festival. A wonderful opportunity to get the hottest tips on what to see and what to avoid during your time in Edinburgh. In the Don Suite in the hotel. Ends at 11:00am.
11:45am
Meet in the foyer to walk to the Assembly Rooms, 54 George Street.
12:30pm
12 ANGRY MEN . Guy Masterson directs an all-star cast in Reginald Rose's Pulitzer winning courthouse drama.
2:10pm
Return to the hotel on foot.
6:45pm
Coach departs for the King's Theatre, Leven Street.
7:30pm
THE SEAGULL . Peter Stein directs this version of Chekhov's evocative tale of art and ambition, desire and unrequited love. Fiona Shaw stars as Arkadina.
11:00pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
Tuesday 19 August
9:30am
Breakfast Round-up . A discussion about yesterday's performances and today's Fringe recommendations.
10:30am
Coach departs for our visit to Hopetoun House on the shores of the Firth of Forth. Designed by Scottish architect Sir William Bruce and built between 1699 and 1702, it was enlarged by William Adam from 1721 to 1748, and completed and decorated by his more famous sons, John and Robert between 1752 and 1767. The COUNTESS OF HOPETOUN conducts us on a Private Tour of this unique gem of Europe's architectural heritage, which is the home of her father-in-law, the Marquess of Linlithgow.
1:00pm
Lunch at Philpstoun House, the Dower House to Hopetoun House and home of THE EARL and COUNTESS OF HOPETOUN .
3:00pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
EVENING FREE
Wednesday 20 August
10:00am
Breakfast Round-up.
11:00am
Discussion with FIONA SHAW , who plays Arkadina in The Seagull . Ends at 12pm.
2:00pm
Coach departs for the Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street.
2:45pm
PEOPLE NEXT DOOR . If the events of 9/11changed everybody's life forever, somebody forgot to tell Nigel. This multi-cultural farce by Henry Adam explores what happens when someone else's global problem becomes your local one.
4:15pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
7:00pm
Coach departs for the *Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street.
7:30pm
PORO . Concert performance of Handel's opera sung in Italian. Set during Alexander the Great's campaign to conquer India and boasting a richly inventive score. With Ian Bostridge, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm.
10:30pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
Thursday 21 August
9:00am
Breakfast Round-up.
9:30am
Discussion with JAMES WATERS , Associate Director of the Edinburgh International Festival, about its past, present and future.
10:30am
Coach departs for the *Queen's Hall, Clerk Street.
11:00am
SOILE ISOKOSKI AND MARITA VITASALO . The great Finnish soprano, Soile Isokoski presents a recital that includes Debussy's Ariettes Oubliées and songs by Brahms and Sibelius. Accompanied on the piano by Marita Vitasalo.
12:45pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
AFTERNOON FREE
EVENING FREE or
7:30pm
Optional performance of PICASSO AND DANCE . Bordeaux Opera Ballet celebrates the creativity and radical thought of Serge Diaghilev and Les Ballets Russes in the 1920s and 30s. At the Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place. Ends at 10:45pm.
Friday 22 August
9:30am
Breakfast Round-up .
ALL DAY Performance of DARK EARTH . City and country, past and present collide in David Harrower's intriguing new comedy of manners. At the Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street. Ends at 5:45pm.
9:00pm
Optional performance of THE EDINBURGH MILITARY TATTOO . A spectacular open-air display of massed bands and highland dancing. On the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. NB: Wrap up warmly and be prepared for rain. Ends at 10:30pmFREE or
3:15pm
Optional
Saturday 23 August
9:00am
Breakfast Round-up .
MORNING FREE or
9:45am
Meet in the foyer to depart by public bus for an Optional Visit to The Glasshouse at Edinburgh Crystal , where you can try your hand at blowing and cutting glass, and return with a sample of your work, engraved with your name. Ends at approximately 12:30pm.
2:45pm
Meet in the foyer to walk to the Assembly Rooms, 54 George Street.
3:15pm
THEBANS . Dramatist Liz Lochhead and Theatre Babel collaborate again after their 2002 sell-out success Medea . An epic love and war story based on the Oedipus and Antigone myths.
5:15pm
Return to the hotel on foot.
7:30pm
Coach departs for the *Usher Hall, Lothian Road.
8:00pm
MAHLER'S SIXTH SYMPHONY . Conductor Bernard Haitink leads the European Union Youth Orchestra in a performance of Mahler's vast work.
9:30pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
Sunday 24 August
9:30am
Final Breakfast Round-up .
MORNING FREE
AFTERNOON FREE or
2:00pm
Optional performance of HAMLET . Spanish director Calixto Bieito's innovative production of Shakespeare's tragedy. Starring George Anton in the title role. At the *Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street.
7:30pm
Depart for La Garrigue , 31 Jeffrey Street.
8:00pm
Farewell dinner at one of Edinburgh's most respected French restaurants. Jean-Michel Gauffre (always on hand for a chat) has established an enviable and outstanding reputation for his truly memorable cooking.
10:00pm
Depart for the hotel.
Monday 25 August
AN EARLY BREAKFAST WILL BE SERVED IN THE DON SUITE FROM 7:00AM TO 8:00AM 7:00am
Latest time for luggage outside the rooms for group departure.
8:00am
Check bags on to the coach and depart for Glasgow Airport.
11:30am
Continental Airlines flight 17 departs for the US
* Note for the hard of hearing: asterisked theatres provide headphones or operate a loop induction system.
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