An acclaimed theatre director who took the reins of the International Festival from 1984-1991, broadening the Festival's appeal and using culture to cross borders.

An emblematic figure of mid 20th-century British theatre, Frank Dunlop pioneered London’s Young Vic before beginning his work with the International Festival, where he placed global stars of music, dance, stage and screen on Edinburgh’s stages.  

His passion for theatre shone through in his programmes, as he inaugurated an annual ‘World Theatre Season’ in 1986, which would welcome companies from across Europe, Japan, the USA and Johannesburg's famous Market Theatre.  

Conscious of a vague criticism of an ‘elitist’ Festival and keen to introduce a more popular touch, Dunlop put on the Chinese Magical Circus at the Edinburgh Playhouse, the Flying Karamazov Brothers at Leith Theatre, an all-star Usher Hall event in association with the Jazz Festival, and a circus tent in Leith Links. 

His remarkable network and innovative spirit brought a renewed perspective to the International Festival, welcoming leading performers from around the world. Highlights included:

• New York’s avant-garde Wooster Group with their 1986 production of The Road to Immortality (Part 2), with future stars Willem Dafoe and Steve Buscemi as part of the ensemble.
• In 1988, Scottish dancer/choreographer Michael Clark presented his absurdist work I Am Curious, Orange, which touched on themes of sectarianism and queerness, boosted by Leigh Bowery’s wild costumes and live music by Mark E Smith and the Fall.
• That same year also saw the UK premiere of composer and conductor John Adams’s landmark political opera Nixon in China, whose presentation was made possible after an appeal by The Scotsman newspaper raised £90,000 for the Festival’s opera fund.

Throughout, he was an advocate for culture as a bridge to cross political divides and his skills helped avert potential disaster for the Bolshoi Opera at the 1991 International Festival. An attempted coup against Gorbachev, which saw tanks roll through Moscow and the airport shut down, placed the Bolshoi’s travel to Edinburgh in jeopardy. However, following direct approval from the Russian ambassador in England, who authorised the departure in recognition of Dunlop’s earlier help in supporting his diplomatic relationship with Gorbachev, the Bolshoi became the only people allowed to fly out of Moscow, travelling safely to perform in Edinburgh.