What a difference a spell of good weather makes to the vibe of a city, particularly when the city is Edinburgh during the Festival.
There is a down-side to balminess, though – when I attended a performance by two musicians from Mike Oldfield’s seminal album, it was more Tubular Smells than Tubular Bells. Fortunately the jaw-dropping virtuosity and ingenuity of the musicians made me block out le Pong d’Homme, but it was touch and go for a while. Oi, blokes – lard on the deodorant before you set off on your round of Fringe shows, please.
And here’s another tip, for men of a certain age, or simply those who’ve had a pre-show drink. If you think you may have to slip out to answer a call of nature, do as I did when I was heavily pregnant and went to the theatre – SIT IN AN AISLE SEAT! I was at a performance of Scottish playwright, David Harrower’s, brilliant new play, Ciara, at the Traverse. This multi-layered piece explores many themes – Scottish crime, sleaze, dysfunctional families and art. It’s all the more remarkable because it’s a one-woman play performed by the phenomenal Blythe Duff.
Like the rest of the audience, I sat, riveted by Harrower’s writing and Blythe’s compelling performance, when a man who was sitting in the middle of a row, near the front, stood up to leave, forcing everyone else in his row to stand up while he shuffled his way to the side aisle, clambered up the stairs and exited through a door, which, when opened, let a shaft of bright light fall on the stage and the lone actress. Blythe continued elegantly, and Mr Pee was not allowed to return to his seat, but it was a major disturbance for everyone.
I’ve witnessed men doing this a few times already at this Festival. So – sit at the aisle, or go before the show – it’s so much easier for men to do so, anyway – the queues are always much shorter than the ones for the women’s lavs.
Away from the frantic Festival in the East, there’s an oasis of calm in the west, and a splash of colour to enjoy, in the wonderful exhibition that’s taken over all the available wall space at Clydebank Town Hall Museum & Gallery. A Passion for Colour: Jolomo the Retrospective, is on there until September 21, and is well worth a visit.
Exhibitions that wheech you back to the artist’s earliest days are always moving, and this one is no exception, with drawings done when he was a boy in Maryhill, starting off a visual journey through different styles and experiments (even including fashion designs in the 1960s) right up to the current, vibrant still lifes and landscapes. It was this show which drew me to the refurbished building – I’m ashamed to say, for the first time. But I’ll be back – the £3.65million revamp is superb – lots of glass and white walls, providing great light and space for major exhibitions like this.
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