As the EIF blows out those 70 candles, it lavishes us with fresh takes on Scandi fairytales, Spanish heroines, Greek tragedies and one-Irishman plays

PJ Harvey

Polly Jean Harvey MBE brings a nine-piece band along with her for this EIF debut. Inspired by her travels to Kosovo, Washington and Afghanistan, The Hope Six Demolition Project earned the Dorset-born act a Grammy nomination.
PJ Harvey, Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place, 7 & 8 Aug, 8pm, £30–£48.

Rain

Soundtracked by Steve Reich's minimalist epic 'Music for 18 Musicians', Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's 2001 work creates a dream space of capers, curtains and kinetic energy.
Rain, Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place, 25–27 Aug, 8pm, £11–£35.

This Restless House

Amid a busy International Fest for Zinnie Harris, her unflinching adaptation on Aeschylus' Oresteia under the direction of Dominic Hill will prove to be a highlight across the entire festival month.
This Restless House, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street, 23–27 Aug, 6pm, £10–£32. Preview 22 Aug, £10–£26.

Mitsuko Uchida

Mozart, Schumann and Widmann are on the menu for this recital by the pianist who, earlier this year, won her second Grammy Award.
Mitsuko Uchida, Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 21 Aug, 8pm, £12–£39.

Krapp's Last Tape

The go-to actor for anything Beckett-shaped is Barry McGovern, and here he brings to vivid life this classic play of loneliness, memory, desire and the daily consumption of bananas.
Krapp's Last Tape, Church Hill Theatre, Morningside Road, 6–27 Aug (not 10–13, 16, 22), 8pm; 19 & 20, 24, 26 & 27 Aug, 3pm, £25. Previews 4 & 5 Aug, 8pm, £20.

Yo, Carmen

The acclaimed flamenco dancer and choreographer Maria Pagés presents her own take on Georges Bizet's operatic heroine, dismantling the notion of her as simply a flawed femme fatale.
Yo, Carmen, Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place, 12 & 13 Aug, 8pm, £11–£35.

Bryn Terfel

Two major appearances from the great Welsh baritone: he's Wotan in Wagner's Die Walküre before being accompanied by Edinburgh-born pianist Malcolm Martineau to tackle the likes of Schubert and Schumann.
Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 6 Aug (Die Walküre), 5pm, £20–£60; 9 Aug (with Malcolm Martineau), 8pm, £20–£55.

Meow Meow's Little Mermaid

This Australian post-modern cabaret queen and charismatic performance artist also known as Melissa Madden Gray settles in for a residency at EIF HQ to offer her own idiosyncratic perspective on Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale.
Meow Meow's Little Mermaid, The Hub, Castlehill, 5–27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 10.30pm; 12, 19, 26 Aug, 7.30pm, £15–£32. Previews 3 & 4 Aug, 10.30pm, £12–£26.

The Magnetic Fields

To celebrate a half century on this planet, Stephin Merritt created a 50 Song Memoir which gets an airing over two nights, covering subjects as varied as cockroaches, cats, Judy Garland and jetpacks.
Night 1, Night 2, King's Theatre, Leven Street, 25 & 26 Aug, 8pm, £20–£32.

Virgin Money Fireworks Concert

This traditional finale of the Edinburgh Festival season is never less than an explosive climax and the 2017 version will be no different as the sky is filled with both colour and the diverse sounds of Peter Maxwell Davies, Tchaikovsky and James MacMillan.
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert, Ross Theatre, Princes Street Gardens, 28 Aug, 9pm, £15–£32.