This summer the 2023 Made in Scotland Showcase will feature 18 shows across a range of venues throughout Edinburgh. Audiences can experience a full spectrum of performance styles from an excellent selection of world-class Scottish work across artforms and genres, all ready to benefit from the Fringe as a springboard to reach new international audiences.
Established in 2009, this essential programme of work has supported 259 shows, and has nurtured and encouraged international creative dialogue and been the catalyst for many exciting international collaborations.
The onward touring fund component has supported over 100 productions in visiting over forty countries, providing an unparalleled opportunity to showcase Scottish work around the world. This level of engagement would not have been possible without ongoing support from the Scottish Government’s Festivals EXPO Fund. Through this support, the vibrancy and vitality of Scotland’s cultural landscape will be proudly on display during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August. From established, and award-winning companies, to new work from world class performers, audiences will be captivated by this year’s Made in Scotland programme.
The selected works will be performed across nine venues, including the Traverse Theatre, Summerhall, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Other spaces include Edinburgh’s Central Library, the National Museum of Scotland, St Vincent’s and the Gillie Dhu bar. Fringe-specific venues also include Greenside, ZOO and theSpace.
The programme will see a variety of new work take flight on home ground, but ready to travel as Made in Scotland helps steer international audiences and programmers towards world-class Scottish work. Audiences will be encouraged to explore the different genres and performance styles, with themes exploring serious topics such as life and death, loss, violence and addiction; as well as everyday life through emerging parenthood and family. Other performances will explore how Scottish traditions embody our culture, whilst also questioning, what makes a country?
The Made in Scotland showcase is made possible through funding from the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund and is a partnership between the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, Creative Scotland, the Federation of Scottish Theatre and the Scottish Music Centre.
Christina McKelvie, Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development said: “This incredible programme – supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund – celebrates the excellence of homegrown theatre, dance and music, giving Scottish talent a well-earned opportunity to perform on the international stage. On top of being a world-class celebration of arts and culture, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is one of the most important arts marketplaces on the planet, with industry members attending from around the globe; as such, performing at the Edinburgh Fringe can result in further opportunities for our artists and their work, including onward touring overseas. And of course, that spreads awareness of Scotland’s vibrant cultural heritage even wider. Together, the Fringe and Made in Scotland help nurture and encourage the exceptional creative talent that flourishes in Scotland, showcasing the creativity and innovation that’s right on our doorstep.”
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said: ‘The Expo-funded, Made in Scotland showcase, is the main mechanism through which Scottish government supports local artists at the Edinburgh Fringe. It has been a vital platform for artists from Scotland to have their work seen, promoted, and presented alongside their international peers. The works are chosen for the showcase by an international panel of experts, and then presented at the Fringe to international arts industry with a view to onward touring and a lifespan way beyond the Fringe. Every year I’m blown away by the passion, ingenuity and creativity that make up the Made in Scotland showcase, it has become a model of national showcasing that other countries have replicated. Above all it is a chance for the rest of the world to see our finest performing talent, and Scotland continually punches well above its weight artistically.’
Laura Mackenzie-Stuart, Head of Theatre, Creative Scotland said: “The 2023 Made in Scotland Showcase is a fabulous celebration of imagination and creative ambition drawn from a pool of incredible theatre, dance and music talent. We are rightly proud of the work currently being produced in Scotland and this Showcase offers a tasting menu of some of our best works which, collectively, have been selected for their readiness to head out across the world. Over the month of August we hope this eclectic mix of productions, with something for every age range, will continue a fine tradition of high quality work from Scotland catching the eye of national and international programmers.”
Fiona Sturgeon Shea, CEO of Federation of Scottish Theatre said: “Here at FST, we hope that our partnership within Made in Scotland continues to enable the work of Scotland’s dance, theatre and opera companies and artists to be showcased to international colleagues and to audiences from all over the world visiting Edinburgh in August, and also through new and renewed international partnerships. Openness to international collaboration and exchange has always characterised the performing arts in Scotland. Made in Scotland is important in ensuring that this continues, particularly during these challenging times.”
Gill Maxwell, Executive Director, Scottish Music Centre said: “Made in Scotland presents a series of music shows highlighting the quality, ambition and diversity of Scotland’s composers, songwriters, musicians and artists.
This year’s world class music programme showcases new Scottish music from across all genres, from a truly unique collection of songs inspired by Scottish novels to an electro-acoustic debut album performance, from a vibrant music and dance fusion with Scottish/Indian influences to a haunting, atmospheric soundscape, via uplifiting Scottish traditional sounds and the thundering sound of Scotland’s most exciting informal youth orchestra.”
