With its marching bands, billowing flags and precision drills, the Tattoo has never exactly been cutting edge. But now an experimental theatre-maker has been let loose on it \u2026 <\/p>\n\n
Dusk has settled on Edinburgh Castle and now a laser beam is scribbling a route across its ramparts and high into the sky. The voice of actor Richard Rankin is talking solemnly about lonely soldiers answering a call, while a ferocious light rises in the gatehouse. Out of it emerge scores of drummers and pipers, their sound both melodic and awe-inspiring. They crisscross the esplanade to the stirring lament of The Skye Boat Song.<\/p>\n
This is the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, an event often overlooked amid the festival cacophony \u2013 and yet its popularity eclipses any other event in the city. Last year, it played to 230,000 and raised \u00a31.5m for charity. Like an outsize variety show, it is a formidable spectacle: fireworks, projections, flags dragged over the audience and a soundtrack that ranges from Carmen to Star Wars.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/215c4b3a500e167a1d84831da28f418c019b9177\/1050_511_6191_4953\/master\/6191.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=a91c0cff0da61a2132000f5bdfc86de0\" "\\"Yeehaw!")
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