Although I didn't much care for Dance Nights, I do like the venue it took place in and was reminded of enjoying shows there in previous years so I had a squint at what else they had on. 

One show that I particularly enjoyed a year or two ago was Are We Not Drawn Onward to New ErA and I found that Belgian theatre company Ontroerend Goed who did that show were here again with two shows.  So I booked a seat for one of them, Every Word Was Once An Animal.  It was odd but as often is the case Mark Fisher put his finger on it and has reviewed it in the same style as it was played.  I'd give four stars to his review but perhaps not to the show, or at least to my enjoyment of it.

One neat trick was that at one point the audience were asked to look below their seats for a letter.  I did and lo and behold there was an envelope lying on top of the jacket and bag I'd put there.  The envelope contained a card with a picture of a cut onion on one side (the picture above) and a letter on the other side (the picture below).  It relates to a scene in the show in which a letter is received from "Emma" who asks amongst other things what the show is about.  Answers on a postcard please.  Well here's the postcard.

After the puzzlement of that show came the puzzlement as to why Mary Queen of Scots insisted on seeking safety in England against the advice of all and sundry.  That act together with marrying Bothwell was the answer given by one of three writers to the question "What do you wish Mary hadn't done?"   Rosemary Goring's Homecoming is a biography that focusses on Mary's period of rule and places associated with her from Holyrood to Loch Leven.  Sue Lawrence's novel The Green Lady is about the women around the queen particularly Mary Seaton.  Andrew Greig's novel Rose Nicolson which I have read is a historical romance set in the turbulent years following Mary's departure to England.  As well as being a cracking story it is beautifully written as Greig's reading of an extract reminded me.  They had a lively and interesting discussion.

Hard on the heels of that event came Philippe Sands talking about his book The Last Colony.  This is about Britain's expulsion of the inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago to give the USA a strategic base in the Indian Ocean on Diego Garcia and the numerous lawsuits and appeals to the UN that have ensued.  Britain has in essence been ordered by the international community to expedite the return of the Chagossians to their homeland but has consistently failed to do so.  Sands is an articulate and persuasive speaker as befits a prominent QC and is a powerful advocate of the islanders' cause which he has championed both inside and outside courts of law.  In response to a question from the audience about comparisons with the Falklands he suggested that had the Chagossians been white the story would have been very different.

My final Festival event was once again a booky one.  Brian Cox being interviewed by Nicola Sturgeon about his autobiography Putting the Rabbit in the Hat and about his current successes. The session was lively, entertaining and peppered generously with anecdotes.  Nicola's good humoured chiding of his previous allegiance as a "New Labour Luvvie" became something of an SNP lovefest as he professed his support for the cause of Scottish independence. The ovation at the end was undoubtedly a genuine expression of admiration for the man and his work and formed a triumphant fall of the curtain on what has been a wonderful three weeks.  Roll on the 2023 festavals.