” ‘The smoking legislation aims to protect the public from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke,’ runs its official line. ‘This applies equally to actors, performers and theatrical audiences as it does to other workers and members of the public.’ In a country where 13,000 people die every year from smoking-related illnesses, this might seem sensible. And local support for the ban has risen from 56% to 78% since the Smoking, Health and Social Care Act came into force in March. But Scotland had reckoned without the Edinburgh festival, where the appetite for controversy is insatiable, and where artistic freedom is as sacred as the right to a pint at 5am.”