A ROCK AND ROLL take on one of Robert Burns' most famous poems, and concerts under an epic depiction of the moon are to be among the highlights of a very different celebration of the Bard in Scotland's capital this week.

Neu! Reekie! are to stage a "sex and drugs and rock'n'roll" take on Tam O'Shanter in the most haunted graveyard in Scotland, while a series of gigs are to staged in St Giles Cathedral under high-defination NASA imagery of the moon in a new festival which hopes to provide something unconventional to the nation's annual celebration of the national bard.

Burns & Beyond is running from tomorrow (Tuesday 22 January) to Sunday this week, and aims to provide an alternative series of events to the traditional Burns Night celebrations.

One of these, as part of a series of events on 26 January, will be a new and edgy take on the supernatural tale of Tam O'Shanter, which will be staged by the Edinburgh arts collective Neu! Reekie!, led by Kevin Williamson, at the Greyfriars Kirk and its graveyard, described as one of the most haunted in Scotland.

Willliamson, who founded the seminal publishers Rebel Inc, will recite the famous poem of witchcraft, drink and devilry accompanied by dancers and music, and said the edginess of Burns' poem should not be forgotten.

Audiences will be able to move in and out of the performance, one of several which are being performed around the city as part of the Burns & Beyond Culture Trail.

He said: "It is quite a theatrical and dark take on Tam O'Shanter, we are not going to play it for laughs, we think it will be quite special, spectacular and visual.

"Burns walked a thin line with the poem, but it is quite clear that [when he sees the witches in Alloway Kirk] he is all ready to join in with the witches, until he is spotted.

"It is a tale of sex, and drugs, with the drink, and rock'n'roll, with the music playing, in its own way. It's an amazing poem, and I thoroughly enjoy performing it."

Williamson added: "I hope Burns & Beyond finds the audiences, it is something different, and not everyone wants the traditional Burns Supper."

As part of Burns & Beyond, an artwork by the artist Luke Jerram, seven metres in diameter and showing NASA imagery of the moon, will be installed in St Giles Cathedral, and in the evening from 22 January to 26 January it will form the backdrop to a series of events and live music concerts.

At an approximate scale of 1:500,000, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 5km of the moon’s surface.

The high resolution image was created by the Astrogeology Science Centre in the USA.

One of the concerts will be by acclaimed folk artist Rachel Sermanni who will perform several Burns songs as well as her own material.

She said that Burns' songs, such as Ae Fond Kiss and Sweet Afton, still have great relevance.

"Of all of them, Sweet Afton is so special to me. Ae Fond Kiss and A Red, Red Rose are typical love songs, and they are exquisite," she said.

"When I started I knew Burns through my mother and Eddi Reader, who had that album of Burns song, which we adored, I knew it word for word.

"But Sweet Afton is about a lady that he loves, but it describes a river in a forest, asking it to be quiet and not wake her, it is so beautiful: it speaks to me of my upbringing [in Carrbridge], it is almost nostalgic. It is my happy place, and it obviously was his in some way."

She added: "Burns words and the music that's put to them are entirely relevant today, but not only to Scottish folk.

"He is so inspiring, in terms of how evocative he is as a writer: I would put him there with Keats, in that there is something of the space, a rural upbringing, a farm upbringing, it connects me with Scotland, with Ireland and any rural area.

"He honours and talks about the landscape - it is beyond Scottish folk music."

Ms Sermanni added: "Burns is a massive commercial thing, everybody knowns Burns, and everybody buys into him.

"But that's because he is amazing: I wonder if he would be dismayed or pleased with how far-flung he is and how many different versions of Burns you can hear sung and played.

"The relevance is still there, if you delve into the words.

"They are love songs, and they never lose that relevance, but deeper still, his working with language and his observations are a brilliant thing to absorb as an artist and a writer."

Other performers on 26 January will include Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross, Kathryn Joseph and Callum Easter as part of a "culture trail" through the city.

Aidan O’Rourke Presents: Lucky Middlemass’s Tavern which will "transport audiences back to a raucous 18th century tavern" with live music and spoken word performances from Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross, winner of the 2016 Radio 2 Young Folk Award Brighde Chaimbeul and River City actress Nicola Roy.

Ricky Ross said: “I’m excited to be involved because it sounds like a great mix of people, poetry and ideas in a great location. I’ll be as happy listening as playing.”

Audiences will be allocated a starting venue and a map to navigate, with the aim of seeing eight venues within four hours.