THE Edinburgh Festival was last night dealt a savage blow when it was

announced that one of its major venues had been put out of commission by

a suspected fire-raising attack.

Official Festival productions by the Canadian Opera Company, Welsh

National Opera, and the Mark Morris Dance Company, which were due to

have been staged at Edinburgh's Playhouse Theatre have been cancelled.

Edinburgh University last night offered to step into the breach by

offering its McEwan Hall as a possible Festival venue.

Also hit as a result of yesterday's early morning fire is a special

VIP Gala performance on Saturday night. Starring singer Michael Ball, it

was to have marked the official reopening of the Greenside Place

building after a #2.2m facelift.

The owners of the theatre, Oxford-based Apollo Leisure UK Ltd, last

night described it as a tragic incident and said because of the fire,

which began around 5.20am, it would be impossible to go ahead with the

reopening.

Announcing also the cancellation of the Festival events and a new

reopening date of September 16, the owners said that the damage caused

by the blaze had affected the back-stage dressing rooms and scene dock,

and resulted in considerable smoke damage to the auditorium.

A senior officer with Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade said: ''We are

treating it as wilful fire-raising.''

Contractors, who had been expecting to finish work this week, have now

been called back to work on an emergency programme to ensure the

building -- undergoing a restoration programme totalling #4m -- is

completed for the first preview performance of the musical Les

Miserables on September 16.

Festival organisers are expected to make an announcement shortly, but

said last night they were still hoping to rescue the events they had

scheduled for the Playhouse.

The university's McEwan Hall can seat 2000, but other commitments

would rule out its use during the early days of the Festival.