Edinburgh Festivals Diary: John Grisham's struggle with Ian Rankin's accent and happy ending for Afronauts
The Afronauts show was six years in the making
What a happy end to the story. Afronauts, which tells of the 1964 Zambian space race attempt through a fantastic performance which is a blend of circus and drama, had a bit of a setback earlier this year. As their show prepared to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe following years of planning and money saving, a London theatre decided to put on a show with the same name - and story.
Just days after the Afronauts finalised plans to travel to Edinburgh, the Royal Court Theatre in London announced a play of the same remarkable tale, also called Afronauts, to be performed as part of its autumn season.
To make things worse, the African theatre group’s previous attempt to attend the Fringe with the show in 2020 had been scrapped due to Covid, meaning their show had been six years in the planning.
Yesterday, I visited the Afronauts at Underbelly’s Violet venue, where I was invited to join them on stage in the role of the Queen. More about that - and full video evidence - at scotsman.com soon.
I discovered that after a bit of an initial stooshie with the Royal Court, the two productions are now the best of friends, with Royal Court artistic director David Byrne even travelling to Edinburgh to spend a day flyering with the Afronauts team during the Fringe. He has also invited them all to see his version of the play in November.
Meanwhile, congratulations to Afronauts cast member John Mputu, who has been accepted to the National Centre of Circus Arts in London to complete a BA (Hons) in circus arts. Due to visa and financial restrictions, John has had to defer his place until next year - with a potential 50 per cent scholarship still pending.
The gang have launched a fundraising drive to support John. The initial target is £10,000, but John’s team believe the full cost of him studying in London for three years could be closer to £80,000. His fundraising page is here.
‘You’re looking at me like I’m crazy, or you can’t understand my accent?’
Last night saw John Grisham, one of the world’s bestselling authors, take to the stage at the McEwan Hall for his first ever appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
The event was chaired by Sir Ian Rankin, who dragged a giant backpack of books onto the stage with some effort. Not a surprise, considering Grisham has published more than 50 of the things.
“You’re not going to read all of those, are you?” Grisham asked.
“I’ve read them and a few more besides,” Sir Ian retorted.
It was only Grisham’s second visit to Scotland, the first time being more than 30 years ago, which was evident when he looked blank in response to a couple of Sir Ian’s questions.
“You’re looking at me like I’m crazy, or you can’t understand my accent?” Sir Ian asked in a discussion about writing methods, in which Grisham revealed he plots out every book meticulously, while Sir Ian admitted he “grips on for dear life” and “lets the story go”.
“I’m barely getting by with the accent,” Grisham confirmed.
He did, however, reveal that he and his wife are watching the new TV series of Sir Ian’s Rebus books, albeit with “slow motion subtitles”.
New role for Hegyi
The UK Government is in town today to announce its new Creative Trade Forum, which is to be co-chaired by Edinburgh International Festival executive director, Francesca Hegyi.
The forum will aim to bring government and industry together to help more UK creative businesses convert ideas, talent and IP into exports, investment and commercial growth.
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