Leo du Feu and Susan Smith: watercolours, oils and prints of Scottish landscapes and wildlife by artists Susan Smith and Leo du Feu. The mother and son duo are both graduates of Edinburgh College of Art, and come from a family of three generations of painters; this show will for the first time include paintings by Susan’s mother Molly. (All images (c) the artists). 10am-6pm daily, Royal Over-Seas League, 100 Princes Street. Free. Ends 18th September 2015.
Grassmarket Community Cinema: The Station Agent (15). A multiple award-winning comedy, telling the story of lonely dwarf Finbar MacBride. When Finbar’s only friend dies he moves to an abandoned train depot, where he meets and eventually befriends two other lonely people. 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome; free – donations to the Project also very welcome. The cafe will be open – please use it!
Polar Explorers Holiday Club: games, lunch, drama, Bible stories, crafts and lots of fun! All children who have finished P1-P7 are welcome. 10am-2.30pm, The Old Kirk and Muirhouse Church, Pennywell Gardens. Advance booking may be made by calling 0131 332 4354 but you can also just turn up at 9.45am on the day to register – please note children must be accompanied by an adult for the registration process. Free – this project is funded by The Old Kirk and Muirhouse Church. Also at same times on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th August.
Mairi Campbell: the award winning Edinburgh musician draws on her deep well of Celtic ancestry in a stunningly beautiful solo show. ‘Campbell’s fearless, fluent and masterful musicianship is second to none…she continues to push the boundaries of the Scottish traditional music scene with her ethereal soundings and improvisation’. For ages 12+. 1-2pm, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £10/£7; tickets are available in advance from the Fringe Box Office in person or online here, or on the door (sta). Please note this venue is cash only; if you wish to pay on the door please arrive at least 30 minutes before the start of the performance. Also at same time on Tuesday 11th August 2015.
Making Well: Pace: Walking By Design. A series of walks and exhibitions offering new routes linking Edinburgh’s green spaces and creative initiatives. The Pace Exhibition opens today: it explores the making and mapping of the Gayfield locality and more widely of Edinburgh’s green spaces and creative initiatives. The exhibition will be open 10am-6pm daily until 31st August. Short Garden Walks in Gayfield Square start tomorrow, Tuesday 11th, and will run on several dates throughout August; longer Walks By Design in and around central Edinburgh will begin on Sunday 16th August, and there will be a talk, Mapping and Marking in Edinburgh, on Tuesday 11th August (see separate listings for these events), Gayfield Creative Spaces, 11 Gayfield Square. Free. For more information see Gayfield’s website here.
Inside the Scorpion’s Nest: the Praetorian Guard was an elite Roman military force, in existence for over 300 years. Adapted from a republican institution by the first emperor Augustus, it was in essence the personal army of the man in power – but is the reputation that the guard has in the modern imagination (making and breaking emperors, for example) justified? Dr Sandra Bingham, Senior Teaching Fellow in Classics, reveals her views. 1-2pm, Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Doorway 3, Medical School, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place. Free and open to all, but please register via eventbrite here. This talk is part of a series of public lectures which aim to challenge popular beliefs and reassess intriguing events. For more information click here.
Blind Poetics: Big Night of Spoken Word 4. The 4th annual night of spoken word marathonity and open mic longnessness. 40 x 5 minute open mic slots, arranged into 5 x 1 hour segments, starting at 8, finishing at 1am (probably) and featuring the best in contemporary spoken word plus the cream of the Fringe shows. To book a slot please email blindpoetics@gmail.com – all welcome! 8pm-1am, The Blind Poet, West Nicolson Street. Free.
St John’s Portobello Charity Coffee Morning: in aid of the children who live in the hostel of St Joseph’s School, Gitdubling, West Bengal. St John’s RC Church, 35 Brighton Place, Portobello.
An Enthusiasm For Looking: the art of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham. Helen Scott, Curator of Fine Art for Edinburgh Museums and Galleries, discusses the life and work of the Scottish artist, whose career spanned 60 years. Born in St Andrews, Barns-Graham relocated to Cornwall in 1940 and became closely associated with the St Ives School, but she was also a bold and innovative artist in her own right. Helen Scott will trace Barns-Graham’s career, from her early student days at Edinburgh College of Art to the colourful abstract images she produced in her mid-eighties. 10.30am, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. Tickets cost £8 per person and must be booked in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here.
POUT Fest Tour: POUT started life four years ago as an LGBT film festival from independent distributor Peccadillo Pictures, created as a response to audience demands for more queer-oriented cinema on the big screen. After the overwhelming success of the London POUT Fests, Peccadillo have decided to take POUT on the road via an ongoing touring festival of selected films. Today’s film is Dressed As A Girl: made over five years, this self-styled ‘frockumentary’ follows a sextet of stars of the East End drag scene, recounting how they became involved in London’s alternative drag phenomenon and watching how their lives change during the filming. ‘A raucous, riotous spectacular with a killer soundtrack, and an ultimately joyous celebration of a group who have left their glittery mark on the face of East London for all time’. Scotland’s premier Queer Party Dive, Filmhouse and Edinburgh ‘Queen of Cabaret’ Miss Annabel Sings have joined forces to present a cabaret in the Cafe Bar just before the film – ‘expect half an hour of high speed, high-energy, high-kicking fun’. 9pm (cabaret), 9.30pm (film), Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 6382 or online: prices vary. The next POUT film will be A Girl at My Door, showing on 20th August.
Sofi’s Cult Movie Mondays: popular classics on the silver screen in Sofi’s cosy darkened back room. Free popcorn! Tonight’s film is The Boat That Rocked (15): it is 1966 and Bill Nighy is Quentin, the commander of a pirate radio station in the North Sea, overseeing a host of seedy, lusty, dope-smoking DJs and facing the wrath of the British government. 8pm, Sofi’s, Henderson Street.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom: branch meeting, with an opportunity to view the Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness Exhibition. 6.15pm, The Kiosk, Gayfield Creative Spaces, 11 Gayfield Square.
Alexander McCall Smith: The Revolving Door of Life. The renowned Edinburgh author signs copies of his latest book, the tenth in the Scotland Street series. 3pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street.
Picturehouses Culture Shock: bringing you the best in cult and genre films. Today’s film is the groundbreaking Willow (PG), featuring stunning special effects, dazzling action and a classic battle between good and evil. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online; prices vary.
