IN HIS introduction to the “official” festival, artistic director Jonathan Mills focuses on the centenary of the outbreak of the first world war. 

His programme’s perspective is on warfare through history with the “immense influence exerted by a powerful few on issues of national identity, the forging of our cultures and the lives of people throughout the world.”

Thus there are operas by Hector Berlioz and Benjamin Britten, concerts from Dmitri Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony to Britten’s War Requiem and dance companies from Spain, South Africa and New Zealand.

Eye-catching theatre productions include the intriguingly titled Ganesh Versus The Third Reich and  Front (below left), a Flemish treatment Of All Quiet On the Western Front, both responses to the impact of conflict on culture.

Although there is no mention of the upcoming independence referendum in Scotland, the theatre section significantly highlights the combined productions of the national theatres of Scotland and Great Britain of The James Plays, Rona Munro’s trilogy mapping the reigns of Scotland’s 15th-century three Stewart kings. 

While there’s an international feast of high culture in Mill’s exceptionally rich programme, to find the more anarchic and youthful face of performance arts of every kind the ever-burgeoning fringe is the place to look. Its chief executive Kath Mainland warns the thousands of adventurous and intrepid visitors to “expect the unexpected.” 

Although comedy, with over 1,200 shows, dominates the huge fringe programme, theatre — with nearly 900 productions — along with music, dance, cabaret, children’s shows and circus support her claim that the Fringe is “the greatest cultural event on the planet.”

As I prepare for my annual reviewer’s dip into this ocean of shows filling every available space I sympathise with the first time festival-goer. How can the novice punter choose from over 3,000 shows? 

Brief descriptions in the programme may help but titles such as My Uncle’s Shoes — Brazilian clowning — or The Eradication Of Schizophrenia In Western Lapland, “psychoses-audible but unseen” — leave the show-hunter little the wiser.

There are, of course, many self-explanatory productions, with lots of Shakespeare, often not as we know it. There are war plays (Strange Resting Place) and  biography plays (The Time Of Our Lies — Howard Zinn), shows about modern scourges like Alzheimer’s (Six Billion Suns) and plenty of farces, some with cutting-edge contemporary relevance.

I’m particularly looking forward to God On Trial (Jewish concentration camp victims question the essence of their faith), Hayani (South Africa’s experience since the transition from apartheid) and The Pitiless Storm (a left-wing take on the Scottish referendum). 

The Traverse, Edinburgh’s own permanent showcase for contemporary drama, is always a safe bet. From this year’s programme two premiere productions — Small War (left) from Belgium and Men In The Cities continue the theatre’s tradition of international and home-grown plays engaging with contemporary issues, political and personal. 

While the larger, multi-show venues like Assembly, C Venues, The Pleasance and Underbelly can happily occupy the day, the true festival adventurer will be wise to ignore the critics, listen to others in the queues and take a dip into the unknown which is often tucked away in hidden corners of this beautiful city. 

GORDON PARSONS