Toddler Time: exclusive short screenings for pre-school children and their parents and carers (no adult will be admitted unaccompanied by a toddler). This week: Rastamouse Programme 16: Dis Mouse Got Style (U). Michael De Souza’s skateboarding, reggae-playing Rastamouse and his crime-fighting crew return in their vibrant, fun and engaging programmes. ‘Through understanding, love an’ respect, Rastamouse will always make a bad thing good.’ 11am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets cost £3 for members of Toddler Time: membership is free, please ask at the Box Office.
The Japan Foundation, Indigo Rose Project and Asia Studies, University of Edinburgh Present Kabuku: Behind the Curtain of Contemporary Kabuki Theatre. A fascinating documentary offering a behind-the-scenes view of the unique theatrical genre of Japanese kabuki, showing the many backstage preparations involved in the production of the play Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, a version of which was also performed at Sadler’s Wells in London in 2010. The film also follows the preparations by the play’s well-known and respected actor Kamejiro Ichikawa II, now inheritor of the prestigious stage name Ennosuke Ichikawa IV. 6-8pm, Screening Room G.04, School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, University of Edinburgh, 50 George Square. Free but please book your place via eventbrite here.
The Incredible Power of Light: light is essential to our life, it’s the way we see the world and we take it for granted – but can you imagine a world without light, or a world seen through a different light? Professor Daniele Faccio (Heriot-Watt University) will explain how new developments in modern technology allow us to capture light in a detail that has never been achieved before; one day – not far in the future – we will see objects hidden round corners or walls. For ages 15+. 6-7pm, Scottish Parliament, Holyrood. Booking is required: please call 0131 348 5200 or email sp.bookings@scottish.parliament.uk. The Incredible Power of Light Exhibition is at the Scottish Parliament until 30th April 2015 and forms part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.
For Crying Out Loud: screenings for carers and their babies under 12 months accompanied by a maximum of two adults. Baby-changing, bottle-warming and buggy-parking facilities are available. Today’s film is A Little Chaos (12A): renowned landscape architect Andre Le Notre is hired by King Louis XIV to design gardens of unparalleled splendour for the Palace of Versailles. When Le Notre interviews Sabine de Barra for a job assisting him, it’s an immediate clash of opposites. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50 (babies free).
Open Eye Gallery: New Exhibitions. (1) Mick Manning Beasts of Scotland: unique pochoir prints individually made by hand using hand-cut stencils, stipple application and block printing, and featuring a variation of animal forms printed onto assorted papers (2) Sarah Carrington Islands: landscapes demonstrating the artist’s signature style and method – the incorporation of gold leaf within painting (3) Brita Granstrom Sea Salt and Sour Dough: paintings that capture intimate, everyday moments, revealing domestic interiors and seascapes inspired by the artist’s home life and the landscapes of the Scottish Borders. 10am-6pm Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm Saturdays, Open Eye Gallery, 34 Abercromby Place. Beasts of Scotland and Sea Salt and Sour Dough end on 11th May; Islands continues until 13th May 2015.
Lunchtime Concert: SINK. Danii Doumnov (accordion), Tim Vincent-Smith (violin) and Matt Wright (soprano sax) form this Edinburgh-based trio who explore the tactile air by means of vibrations. Influences include, among others, Beethoven, Cage, Zorn and Matt’s dog Daisy. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.
A Piano Concert by Pawel Wakarecy: Chopin Nocturne Op 55 No 2, 4 Mazurkas Op 24, Prelude in C Sharp Minor Op 28 No 10, Polonaise in F Sharp Minor Op 44 and Schumann Carnaval Op 9. Pawel was awarded a Distinction in the 16th International F Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2010, together will a special award for the ‘most highly assessed Polish participant’. This concert has been arranged in conjunction with the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh. 6pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free: all welcome.
The Edinburgh Philosophy & Psychology Group: discussions are non-academic and group members come from a wide range of backgrounds, ages and nationalities. Attendance is usually around 20: non-members are welcome to attend meetings – and meetings are free, with free sandwiches! The topic for each month is chosen by members voting in advance. 8-9.30pm, The Links Hotel & Bar, 4 Alvanley Terrace. Please RSVP via the group’s website here if you would like to come along.
Broughton History Society: Patricia Wigston speaks on Gladstone’s Land. The Society is a friendly group, holding a wide-ranging programme of monthly lectures and organising a number of visits throughout the year to places of interest. 7pm (refreshments), 7.30pm (talk), Drummond Community High School, Bellevue Place. Visitors welcome at meetings; membership is £10 per year, renewable each September. For more information please contact Richard Love at wordsandwalls@blueyonder.co.uk or call 0131 556 1488.
LGBT: Mind, Body & Sexual Outercourse. A chance to get information about the different ways in which people express themselves sexually: find out about different options. Co-facilitated with a specialist psychologist. 6.30-7.30pm, (within weekly Drop In, which runs 5.30-8pm), LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact George Burrows on 0131 652 3281 or email george@lgbthealth.org.uk.
Leith Links Community Council: 7pm, Persevere Room, Leith Community Centre, 12a Newkirkgate. All local residents welcome!
In Focus: Robert Colquhoun Figures in a Farmyard (1953). Bill Hare (University of Edinburgh) will talk about Colquhoun’s important work in the context of post-war British art and society. 12.45-1.15pm, Scottish Gallery of Modern Art TWO, Belford Road. Free with admission to The Two Roberts exhibition, which costs £8/£6 (free for Friends of NGS).
The Cramond Association: a presentation by Dr David Forfar on the life of Edinburgh physicist James Clerk Maxwell, discoverer of electromagnetism. 7.30pm, Kirk Hall, Cramond Kirk, Cramond Glebe Road. All welcome. This is the last talk for the 2014/15 winter season.
An Evening of Tartan Noir: author and academic Len Wanner, writer and literary agent AL Guthrie and Freight Books publisher Adrian Searle discuss Scottish crime fiction to celebrate the launch of Tartan Noir, Len Wanner’s definitive guide. ‘A ground-breaking book’ (William McIlvaney). 6.30pm, Looking Glass Books, 36 Simpson Loan, Quartermile. Free but booking is required and may be made by emailing hello@lookingglassbooks.com or via eventbrite here.
Help for Heroes: a concert featuring a selection of music performed by Fionne McQue (soprano), Ernie Reynolds (tenor), Nicola Macrae (organist) and Mike Baillie (singer/songwriter) with the Edinburgh Post Office Pipe Band and Trinity Pipers Drums. Master of Ceremonies: Jim Napier. Production and musical direction by P/M David Black MBE BEM. 7.30pm, North Leith Parish Church, Madeira Street. Entry by donation.
