There's probably an eclipse behind these clouds.  I was on my way to Shinjuku (the play not the place) when the eclipse was due so I closed my eyes, raised my phone to the skies and snapped.  But as I said to one of the gathered crowd as I entered the venue I saw an eclipse when I was at primary school and don't really need to see another one.

I caught a final couple of Jazz Festival gigs and had an outing to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens with Andrew and enjoyed some Marilyn Monroe films in the Filmhouse's commemoration of her centenary before the International Festival and its relatives burst upon us. 

I missed the first couple of shows thanks to an upset stomach (the finger of suspicion points to a sandwich and salad consumed at that selfsame Filmhouse) but started off with Wynton Marsalis's tribute to Ellington and carried on from there.  A tribute to the trumpeter John Wallace, a young Edinburgh guitarist and the most amazing The Death of Gesualdo were the musical highlights of the first week for me.  The Guardian called the latter "creepy and compelling" which is absolutely right.  This series of dimly lit tableaux vivants telling the grisly tale of murder and mayhem that was Gesualdo's life deserves a full viewing which this Youtube trailer only hints at. What a treat it was. 

For films You have to hand it to the Film Festival opener, The Incomer.   Directed by Louis Paxton, once a teenage usher in Edinburgh cinemas, this is a glorious comedy about the collision between the forces of Highland local government and the frankly weird brother and sister living alone on a bleak gull infested island.  Due for release in September it's a must see.

The Grads excelled themselves with three super productions at the Royal Scots which earned them two four star and one five star reviews.  Sweet was a nicely crafted albeit polemical look at Edinburgh's slavery backed wealth.  Their production of The Bear took Chekov's classic by the scruff of the neck and squeezed it into forty minutes of action packed brilliance.  As for Plano, trying to pin down what that was all about is tricky for even the subtlest reviewer but my goodness it was an exhilarating watch.

I had some light relief with a couple of films, Sheep in the Box and Sexy Beast before exposing myself to a Dutch remake of Tony Kushner's  Angels in America.  I saw this about forty years ago at the height of the AIDS epidemic which of course is what it is all about.  I confess to remembering nothing and for all I know this retelling is miles better or miles worse.  It's certainly long and its unsympathetic protagonists rabbit on and on.  Its director ignored several jolly good spots in which he could have drawn the affair to a conclusion but persisted in giving us one more slap around the chops.  I was glad when it finished.  I did not join in the standing ovation which in all probability provided those who did some relief from the numb bum syndrome that had been induced by this interminable masterpiece.