Nicola Benedetti and Brian Cox
The banking crisis of 2008 forms a centrepiece of the Edinburgh International Festival’s theme of ‘seeking truth’, writes JULENA DRUMI
A gripping new drama about former banker Fred Goodwin and the financial crash of 2008 is a centrepiece of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. The world premier of Make It Happen (1–9 August, Festival Theatre) by James Graham, stars Scottish actor Brian Cox as Adam Smith and Sandy Grierson as Fred Goodwin.
This co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep reframes the collapse of global markets through a distinctly Scottish lens.
It was Brian Cox’s idea to include the ghost of Adam Smith in Make It Happen which chronicles the rise and catastrophic fall of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which culminated in it being rescued by the taxpayer.
English playwright Graham told Bloomberg he did not take Cox, the 79-year-old Succession star seriously when he said the 18th century philosopher and economist should be included. “I thought he meant Smith’s ideas around capitalism and free markets and deregulation. But he said, ‘No. Adam Smith should be a character, and I should play him.’ ”
Cox was eager to return to the stage in his native Scotland and the Dundonian actor known for his role as fearsome media tycoon Logan Roy plays Smith as a ghost haunting the failing banker.
The actor is no fan of the former RBS leader. “Fred Goodwin was unbelievably self-serving with his singularity of purpose. He certainly wasn’t serving his community,” he said in an interview last month.
“This guy said he was a follower of Adam Smith, but he got it all wrong. “When people think about Adam Smith now, they often think it was all about economics. But it was also about moral welfare.
“The reason Goodwin got it all wrong was because he only followed only the second book. He didn’t see the books in relation to one another. And the degree of selfishness that Goodwin pursued almost destroyed the RBS.”
He adds: “James Graham’s script is pure satire. It’s brilliant. Adam Smith has been summoned as a spirit because Goodwin has made such a mess of things.
“It shows the folly of human nature, how we simply don’t progress, and how greed is such a curse of who we are. Always wanting more.”
More than 2,000 artists from 42 countries are taking part in the EIF for the third year under the direction of Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti.
Audiences are invited to explore opera, music, theatre and dance through the lens of the theme The Truth We Seek, a journey into the elusive nature of truth in our personal and public lives.
The opening weekend features large-scale participatory events The Big Singalong and The Ceilidh Sessions in Princes Street Gardens, set against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.
Elsewhere, the historic Old College Quad becomes the stage for the world premiere of Dance People, an outdoor dance performance, and a classic opera is reimagined with a twist in Orpheus and Eurydice, bringing together world-class musicians and performers with acrobatics from Australia’s Circa.
To increase accessibility, more than 50,000 tickets are priced at £30 or less, £10 Affordable Tickets have been made available to all performances, and wide-reaching initiatives offer free tickets to NHS workers, young people and community groups to a range of Festival performances.
Festival director Ms Benedetti said: “This year’s International Festival is a bold invitation to question the world around us – to seek, challenge and reflect on truth through the extraordinary lens of live performance.
“We’re honoured to welcome artists and audiences from across the globe to Edinburgh, and we remain deeply committed to making that experience more accessible than ever.
“Whether you’re here for an intimate recital, a powerful play, a mass singalong or an eight-hour choral epic, you’ll encounter connection, curiosity, and the power of great art to shift perspectives. This year’s Festival offers the possibility of truly transformational encounters and I look forward to sharing this with you.”
Other stand-out performances across the International Festival include:
Opening Concert: The Veil of the Temple (2 August, Usher Hall)
A spiritual epic: over 250 singers from the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Monteverdi Choir and National Youth Choir of Scotland perform John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple in its complete eight-hour form with the audience seated on beanbags. This year also marks the first performance in the Festival Chorus’s 60th anniversary year.
Dance People (7–10 August, Old College Quad)
Lebanese choreographer Omar Rajeh and Maqamat company present an open-air activation of dance, movement and activism. Performed outdoors in the heart of the city, it dissolves the lines between performance and real life.
Orpheus and Eurydice (13-16 August, Edinburgh Playhouse)
A highlight of the 2025 Festival’s opera programme, a fully staged Australian reimagining of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice fuses together circus, acrobatics and world-class opera, in its European premiere.
Figures in Extinction (22-24 August, Festival Theatre)
Nederlands Dans Theater present the Scottish Premiere of Figures in Extinction in collaboration with Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney, confronting the hard truths about humanity’s impact on the world and art’s meaning in the face of mass destruction.
The Hub, the International Festival’s headquarters on the Royal Mile, brings together a hand-picked variety of global musical styles and traditions, experienced up close in an intimate and informal performance space, including Up Late gigs from Alabaster DePlume (8 August) and Kathryn Joseph (9 August), and an interactive concert from Hanni Liang (7 August) inviting audience members to share their dreams, with a live response created on the piano.
Events for families include Art of Listening for Families interactive workshops (4-9 August, Church Hill Theatre Studio), The Ceilidh Sessions (4 August, Ross Bandstand) and NYO2’s Family Concert (4 August, Usher Hall).
Residencies bring London Symphony Orchestra, Poland’s NFM Leopoldinum and Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2 to Edinburgh for an extended, more sustainable stay that features multiple performances and community engagement. Highlight performances include NYO2’s Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, NFM with Bizet’s Carmen Suite and Beethoven and Shostakovich from the LSO, presented with insight from Sir Antonio Pappano and Festival Director Nicola Benedetti.
Intimate morning recitals at The Queen’s Hall return with artists including María Dueñas, Mark Simpson and Richard Uttley and Bomsori Kim and Thomas Hoppe and spectacular evening orchestral concerts at Usher Hall with NCPA Orchestra from Beijing and pianist Bruce Liu, the Monteverdi Choir and the Budapest Festival Orchestra.
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