Â鶹Éç

The Edinburgh Festival was established in the aftermath of World War Two with the aim of providing a platform for the flowering of the human spirit through the power of the arts.  This year’s event, staged 100 years after the outbreak of World War One, features a wide range of artistic responses to conflict – from the Trojan War to WW1 and right up to recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Kirsty explores why artists are continually drawn to war as an inspiration, talking to Flemish theatre maker Valentijn Dhaenens about his multimedia production Small War, which is inspired by testimonies of nurses working in World War One, and to the lead actor in the award-winning play Britannia Waves the Rules, which follows the effects of a tour in Afghanistan on a young English soldier.

She also meets American soldier-turned-poet Brian Turner whose work lent its name to the Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker, and art collaborators kennardphillipps whose work comments on the West’s invasion of Iraq.   

Image copyright Jeremy Abrahams.

If you’ve missed out on the global phenomenon that is Game of Thrones, where on earth have you been? The creator of the hugely popular fantasy series (HBO’s most successful ever) - and the author of the books that inspired it (which have sold 15 million copies worldwide) - is American novelist and screenwriter George RR Martin, , surrounded by legions of fans.   

Thrones aficionado Grace Dent jumped at the chance to meet Martin, and to speak to some of those involved in Thrones-related shows on this year’s Fringe.   

It’s often said that the old jokes are the best, but perhaps that’s truer than you might think.  Next week in Edinburgh Professor Mary Beard is giving a talk about the jokes that tickled the Ancient Romans.  But could it be that we’re still cracking up at the same old gags today?  Has our sense of humour changed all that much over the centuries?  

Ably assisted by actor Simon Callow, whose Edinburgh Fringe show draws on the writings of the Roman satirist Juvenal, Mary travelled through time to find out.  And extracts from contemporary stand-up shows appear to show how little has changed since Roman times.   

Each year at the Edinburgh Festival performers attempt to shatter stereotypes of gender and sexuality, often through burlesque and cabaret.  This year though, gender’s even higher on the agenda, with performers offering a bit more than just the usual titillating fun, and examining the blurred lines of our gender identities in greater detail.  

Psychotherapist Philippa Perry went to probe the writers and artists who are pushing the envelope – meeting the director of an all-male production of Wuthering Heights, transgender playwright Jo Clifford, and sisters Amy and Rosana Cade whose theatre productions Sister explores female sexuality.

Strictly Come Dancing’s most effervescent judge, Bruno Tonioli hotfoots it around Edinburgh’s most dazzling dance productions, learning some Samoan dance moves from the choreographer of the stunning Black Grace, talking to the creative team from Le Patin Libre, a Canadian company who are hoping to transform the traditional image of figure skating, and meeting the Scottish company who are tackling family dysfunction through dance.  

Think of a Ming vase and you’re likely to conjure up an object of great rarity, beauty and value.   But there’s far more to the Ming Era than just exquisite porcelain.  A new exhibition traces a period of social, economic and artistic transformation and explores China’s place in the wider world, through calligraphy, furniture, maps and of course iconic blue and white porcelain.  

Lars Tharp – an expert in Chinese ceramics - guides Kirsty around. 

Image copyright Nanjing Museum / Nomad Exhibitions.

Flamenco guitar legend Paco Peňa comes to the Edinburgh International Festival later this month with Patrias, his production which commemorates the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War and the life and death of writer Federico Garcia Lorca.  

Tonight, a special preview as Peňa performs especially for us.