Edinburgh Science Festival unveils 2017 programme

One of the most eye-catching events on this year's programme sees Public Service Broadcasting perform their 2015 album The Race For Space in full at the Usher Hall with backing from the National Youth Choir of Scotland and string quintet Mr McFall's Chamber (12 Apr). The show is preceded by a chat about the stories behind the album between PSB's J Willgoose and science-loving comedian Helen Keen.

Elsewhere on the programme, Parlour Sounds is a live multimedia event "using innovative electronics to transform and invent instruments in an imaginative exploration of women's relationship to technology" from Red Note Ensemble (13 Apr, Summerhall), and The Biophilia Education Project is a series of science and music workshops inspired by Bjork's 2011 album of the same name (8-10 Apr, National Museum of Scotland).

This year's Science Festival also features a string of new theatrical works, including dystopian tech tale Girl in the Machine at Traverse, directed by the theatre's artistic director Orla O’Loughlin (3-22 Apr). At Summerhall, Jenna Watt reprises her 2016 Fringe First-winning show Faslane, the culmination of years of research into the highly controversial naval base and nuclear weaponry site just north of Glasgow (10 & 11 Apr). A Number, Caryl Churchill's critically acclaimed scientific two-hander, gets its Scottish premiere as part of the Festival's new partnership with the Lyceum Theatre; the production, directed by Zinnie Harris, will be staged in the round at the Lyceum's studio space (6-15 Apr).

Other programme highlights include The Burger Evolution (7 Apr, Summerhall) charting the history and science behind the humble hamburger, Party On – a late night takeover of the National Museum of Scotland's Play On exhibition with live music from the Dennis & Debbie Club's Pause Menu Band on 7 Apr – and The Ethical Carnivore, author Louise Gray's exploration of the year in which she only ate animals which she personally killed (9 Apr, Summerhall).

Read the full Edinburgh Science Festival 2017 programme here; this year's Edinburgh Science Festival takes place at venues across Edinburgh 1-16 April.