2025 Scotland: Edinburgh Museums

Edinburgh is home to several large and comprehensive National museums and art galleries which are sponsored by the Scottish government, making access free to the public (other than for entry to special exhibits).  While we watched Fringe shows in the late afternoon and evening, during the mornings we visited museums.  Our first visit was to the Scottish National Gallery, which is Edinburgh’s major art gallery, known for its world-class collection of European masterpieces and Scottish works from the late 14th century through to 1945.

To prepare for this visit, we watched videos on the museum’s website about some of their most iconic works. It was therefore quite thrilling to finally see them in person. Robert Burn’s stunning oil on canvas painting titled “The Hunt” (1926) depicts three female figures running through an exotic jungle with gold and black jaguars at their sides while birds and even a monkey peek out from the foliage. The Art Nouveau-styled panel was used as decoration for Crawford’s Tea Rooms on Princes St.  "The Vision of the Sermon" (1888) is probably Paul Gauguin’s most famous painting that is not based on life in the South Pacific. It depicts Breton women, dressed in regional garb, listening to a sermon by a priest who has Gauguin’s features. In the top left corner is the vision of Jacob wrestling with an angel, a biblical story reflecting the struggle between the flesh and the spirit. Most interesting is the perspective as the women are mostly shown from the back and sides. Henry Raeburn’s “The Skating Minister” (circa 1795) is considered a highlight of the collection. It was used on the gallery’s promotional materials when they acquired it in 1949. The painting depicts the esteemed Reverend Robert Walker, a senior minister of Canongate Kirk, unexpectedly captured in a carefree, whimsical moment in mid stride while he skates on a pond with faint mountains in greys and pinks in the background. The painting has become an emblem of Scottish art and culture, is found on a variety of trinkets and is often spoofed. 

One of the most impressive works on display is Phoebe Anna Traquair’s set of four life-sized panels of embroidered silk and gold on linen, titled "Progress of a Soul" (1895-1902). The four panels allegorically illustrate the spiritual journey of a human soul, represented by the depiction of a young man dressed in animal skin. The man starts full of hope and enthusiasm but then struggles with strife and temptation until he is overcome with despair. But the final panel shows his triumphant rebirth and salvation, embraced by an angel leading him to eternal life.

As much as I enjoyed the highlights, my two favourite pieces were part of an exhibition titled “A Point in Time – the 1920s” which reflected Scottish art’s take on the European avant-garde movement of the period, with stylized depictions that were seen as both innovative and brazen. I loved the vibrant colours of William McCance’s “Portrait of Joseph Brewer” (1925) where an employee at the Spectator magazine is depicted in a robotic fashion with metallic-like skin tones while his act of reading a book humanizes him.  The background consists of sharp lines and geographic shapes and I found the whole effect so striking. I was also taken by Eric Robertson’s Cartwheels (1920) depicting a woman performing cartwheels on a Scottish mountain above a loch.  The portrayal of motion and kinetic energy seems very Art Deco and reminds me of Giacomo Balla’s famous painting of a dog wagging its tail.  Antonio Canova’s beautiful Neoclassical marble sculpture of the Three Graces (Zeus’ daughters representing mirth, elegance and beauty, 1815) is perfectly framed by round archways and highlighted by the red walls in the gallery where it resides.  I also liked El Greco’s “An Allegory” where a boy kindling a flame might represent sexual arousal, the monkey on his shoulder symbolizing vice, and grinning man next to him representing folly. I was first drawn to the contrast of light and dark and the eerie feeling of this painting.

In general, I like artworks that tell a story, so I was delighted to come across an entire section dedicated to this.  There was a smaller subsection section showcasing depictions of scenes from works of William Shakespeare including Sir Joseph Noel Paton’s painting of the “Quarrel of Oberon and Titania” (1849) from Midsummer’s Night Dream.  Near by, William Dyce’s “Francesca da Rimini” (1837) reflects a scene from Dante’s Inferno, depicting the doomed love affair between Francesca and her brother-in-law while her jealous husband creeps near ready to murder the couple.  Unfortunately, part of painting was cut away in 1882 due to deterioration so only a disembodied hand remains at the left, although this actually makes the resulting work quite unique.  A folding screen (1867) painted by William Bell Scott depicts scenes from the King’s Quair, a 15th century poem said to be written by King James I of Scotland.  Each panel illustrates occurrences from the poem including King James writing his poem while imprisoned in England, spotting his future queen Lady Jane, asking the goddess Venus for advice, and receiving a carnation from Jane as a token of her love. Finally, the painting of a Scottish terrier named Callum has a humorous backstory.  Dog owner James Cown Smith commissioned John Emms to create the painting.  Upon Smith’s death, he bequeathed £52,257 pounds (over £2 million today) to the National Gallery, but only if the condition that the painting of his beloved pet be permanently displayed.  It is so much more fun and interesting to admire a painting that has a story attached to it.

I usually prefer art museums more than museums showing historic artifacts, which I envision to be cases full of broken pottery shards.  But the National Museum of Scotland was the exception and ended up being my favourite because of its vast, eclectic and fascinating collection. Even the building is unique as it is comprised of two parts.  The original Venetian Renaissance style Victorian Royal Museum was open in 1866 and offers 3 levels of exhibition space including a cast-iron Grand Gallery with an arched glass roof that can be viewed from balconies on each of the floors.  In 1998, a modern edition was added with a cylindrical tower for an entranceway, five stories of new exhibition space and a rooftop terrace designed by sculptor Andy Goldsworthy from which you can see stunning views of the city including Edinburgh Castle and the Scott Monument.

In 2016, renowned Lego artist Warren Elsmere created a model of the old and new sections of the National Museum, made out of 90,000 pieces of lego bricks.  It is viewable both from the outer facades and from the inside with some of the more iconic exhibits on display including a cast iron drinking fountain, the Fresnel lens from the InchKeith lighthouse, a T.Rex dinosaur and a Formula One race car.  Inside the actual new building addition, interesting architectural features include small chairs attached to the side of a staircase that allows people to rest on the large steps while small children (or me!) to sit on the side chairs beside them.

The Grand Gallery is a bright, naturally lit atrium which spans just about the entire length of the Victorian Royal Museum and has a glass dome ceiling topping all three levels of the exhibition space below.  The glass ceiling was inspired by London’s Crystal Palace and is supported by cast iron pillars.  Highlights of the museum displayed in the Grand Gallery include the actual Fresnel lens and drinking fountain that we saw in the Lego model.  The ornate, cast-iron drinking fountain, with a crane at the centre of its basin, is surrounded by an octagonal pagoda decorated with griffins.  It was made in the 1880s and was displayed at the 1888 International Exhibition.  A science and technology section found at one end of the Grand Gallery features several airplanes including a Piper Tomahawk and de Havilland Tiger Moth hanging from its ceiling, as well as the race car belonging to racer Jackie Stewart that we saw represented in the lego model.  At the other end of the Grand Gallery is a Wildlife and Nature section with taxidermy representations of aquatic and land animals hanging from the ceiling and in dioramas on the floor.  A highlight of this section is the preserved body of Dolly the Sheep, the first successfully cloned mammal who died in 2003.

The Millenium Clock is a 10-meter-tall kinetic clock created in 1999 that performs a choreographed sequence of light, sound and motion to the music of Bach’s Concerto in A Minor on the hour from 11am-4pm.  The clock is an intricate sculpture made of wood, metal and glass that is shaped as a cathedral spire with 4 sections—the Crypt, the Nave, the Belfry and the Spire.  At the base, the Crypt evokes a scene from Hell with an “Egyptian” monkey turning a wheel symbolizing the cycle of birth, death and rebirth while an imprisoned ancient spirit in chains represents suffering at the base level of society.  Moving upwards, the Nave contains kinetic sculptures depicting historic dictators such as Hitler and Stalin, highlighting the cruelty and atrocities committed by man.  In this section, a reflective pendulum swings while ridden by a skeleton, bells ring and lights flash and the figures tug on levers and pulleys.  The Belfry features twelve rotating carved figures known as “The Requiem” representing the twelve calendar months as well as hardships and tragedies suffered in the 20th century.  The figures include Hunger, Madness, Grief, the Holocaust, War camps and more.  Some of the figures are bound with chains or what looks like barbed wire.  At the top of the Spire is a Pietà representing hope for redemption while donkey heads ring bells at the base of the spire.  The clock both reflects sins and tragedy of the past while providing hope for future redemption.  Lasting several minutes per hour, the clock display is a highlight of the museum.

There are some fascinating historic artifacts in the collection that are considered highlights.  The Lewis Chessmen are Medieval chess pieces believed to have been made in Norway in the late 12th to early 13th centuries.  Carved from walrus ivory or sperm whale bone with a variety of emotive facial expressions, they were discovered on the Isle of Lewis (former Norwegian colony off the west coast of Scotland) in 1831.  From a total of 93 pieces, 82 are displayed at London’s British Museum while Scotland has 11 pieces.  Introduced in 1564 and dubbed “The Maiden”, Scotland’s first beheading machine was used for executions for over 150 years, replacing the previously used execution sword.  It was made of oak with a lead weight attached to allow the iron blade to fall quickly.  In 1836, a group of boys exploring a hidden cave in the north-eastern slopes of Arthur’s Seat (an inactive volcano in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh) came across 17 miniature pine coffins each containing a wooden doll dressed in detailed clothing.  The reason for these figures remains a mystery despite multiple unconfirmed theories.  Eight have survived and are on display in the museum.  Also on display is a copy of Scottish mystery writer Ian Rankin’s novel “The Fall” which includes a plot point about the figures, along with replica coffins created for a TV series based on the book.   We were impressed by the intricate detail found in the 1928 plaster cast replica of Mary Queen of Scots’ tomb including the ruffles and details in her gown.  It is life-size and to scale relative to the actual marble tomb which is in Westminster Abbey.

Another section of the museum was dedicated to fashion and design. I admired the frilly, flowery and elaborate hats on display even though I would never have the occasion to wear anything like them.  I wanted nothing to do with some of the shoes on display, which looked like the most uncomfortable footwear ever!  I had to look closely to see what was unique about a white silk dress with what seemed like writing on it.  Up close I could see that the dress designed by Phoebe English in 2020 was adorned with “care label” tags that are attached to clothing with washing/dry cleaning instructions.  Moving on the Jewelry section, even more unique was the beaded necklace made from puncturing holes into a vintage 19th century blue and white Delftware plate (2009).  I also admired the “Queen of the Night” tiara or neckpiece made from gold, moonstone and mother of pearl (1996).

In terms of decorative arts and design, there was a small exhibit dedicated to pottery created by Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau including a clay plate depicting one of Picasso’s favourite topics, bullfighting.  Other objects include “Book of the Sea”, Anne Petters’ beautiful work made from kiln-formed glass on a wooden stand that looks like delicate pages of an open book, but also like the foam from crashing waves of the sea (2019).  During COVID lockdowns, Veronika Fabian created a necklace made from parts of her own coffee maker.  Titled “Love Machine”, the work explores the solace she found from her daily cup of coffee during periods of isolation.  Several works were made from 3-D printing including an intricate orb-shaped pendant lamp.  There were many more interesting items to explore and we ended up spending significantly more time in this museum than originally planned.

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery has an impressive collection of portraits from the 14th Century to the current day in a variety of mediums including paintings, sculptures, drawings, etchings and photographs.  There are around 3000 paintings and sculptures, 25,000 prints and drawings and over 38,000 photographs representing both historical and modern Scottish personalities.  While the predictable highlights include images of iconic historical figures including Mary Queen of Scots, Winston Churchill, Robbie Burns, Sir Walter Scott, etc., their images are so ubiquitous that they weren’t very exciting to see again.  We were drawn to a portrait titled “A Young Skip”, especially after reading the back story of nine-year-old John Darg Laing with a raised broom calling for a curling shot.  The description goes on to reveal that John was killed in WWI at age 19 after his plane was shot down.  Rich really liked the painting depicting the execution of King Charles I, including a scene after the beheading where the executioner holds up the severed head while a woman in the foreground faints.

We were much more interested in viewing the Modern section featuring more current Scottish personalities.  Even though we did not recognize most of the people in the portraits, it was fascinating to see the how they were depicted, especially when creating self-portraits.  There were several portraits of current Scottish celebrities that we did recognize.  A whimsical oil painting of Tilda Swinton titled “Red and Unread” (2002-4) was created by her former partner John Byrne.  It depicts a red-headed Swinton sitting on a big pile of scripts that she had turned down while her foot is on a smaller pile that she had completed.  Byrne also painted a portrait of actor and comedian Billy Connolly (2002) depicting him at various points in his career with details including a kilt with a buckle emblazed with Connolly’s nickname “Big Yin”, and Banana Boots from his 1970s routines. John Bellany’s (1986) painting of Sean Connery in a colourful golf shirt from Belmont Golf Club is interesting since his head seems disproportionately small compared to his body. An irreverent oil painting of actor Alan Cummings (2014) by Christian Hook portrays Cummings wearing a kilt around his neck made from the tartan of the Scottish Independence “Yes” Campaign while his bare legs stretched out.  A jar labeled “Honey” is a tribute to Cummings beloved dog Honey who had recently passed away.  A (2020) photograph of Rwandan Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa just pops from afar in his striking bright yellow suit.  The actor is known for his role in the Netflix show Sex Education and debuted as the 15th Doctor Who in 2023.

Some of the portraits that I liked despite not being familiar with the subject include a regal 2018 painting of singer Emeli Sandé that has elements of abstract expressionism in the purple hues chosen for her face and cubism in the depiction of her cheeks and hair.  Singer/Songwriter Horse McDonald sang her best-known song “Careful” during the sitting for her 2019 portrait and artist Roxana Halls captured her vibe, mannerisms and movements.  The colours in the background seem to reflect the mood of the music being performed.  Even more interesting was seeing how artists portray themselves in self-portraits.  Painter William Crosbie depicts himself contemplating a surrealistic painting, revealing his interest in the art style (1941).   Barbara Balmer’s 1995 self-portrait on a “Frosty Friday” depicts a closeup of her barely exposed face, mostly covered by a hat and high-neck jacket.  The muted colours of this painting, her calm demeanor and the focus on her eyes make this image distinctive.  George Alexander Doulas Haig, the 2nd Earl Haig’s 1988 self-portrait depicts himself standing with a paint brush and paint palette with the Eildon Hills behind him.  He started painting when he was a prisoner of war during WWII.

Although most portraits are of a single person, there are works in this museum that depict multiple people.  Two examples of this were paintings hung adjacent to each other.  Looking at them head on, to the left was “Last Supper in Footdee” by Joyce Cairns (1989) depicting an imaged dinner party at her home, portraying herself with 9 people from her life dressed in costumes, plus Tigger the cat and a disembodied hand with a striped sleeve representing an anonymous 12th person that seems reminiscent of the painting we saw earlier at the National Gallery.  The pale almost ghoulish faces remind me of something German painter Otto Dix might create.  Across from this painting is one called “Poet’s Pub” by Alexander Moffat (1980) that depicts Scottish poets and writers from mid to late 1900s, none that I had heard of, but I liked the colours and the composition.  One of the most interesting yet eerie portraits is titled “Three Oncologists” by Ken Currie (2002) depicting cancer specialists from Ninewells Hospital and Medical School in Dundee.  They are painted in a ghostly manner to reflect the emotional and psychological aspects of their work in cancer treatment.  Finally, “Rescue Party, Kilmun Street” (1941) does not seem to be a portrait of anyone specific but may have warranted inclusion in the gallery because it was painted by James Bond author Ian Fleming detailing an incident while he was a police officer during WWII.

As much as the portraits were interesting to see, the real star of this museum is the architecture and magnificent splendor of the Great Hall that was part of the Portrait Gallery building designed by Sir Robert Anderson between 1885-1890.  As you enter on the ground floor, you are presented with a series of arches held up by columns topped by a stunning wrap-around frieze with a gold and gesso background on which a procession of 155 figures from history including clergy, monarchy, politicians, military leaders, writers and artists.  They are depicted chronologically from Stone Age man to Saint Ninian (the first Christian missionary 360AD) through to essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) with important figures like Robert the Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots, John Knox, Sir Walter Scott, Robbie Burns, Sir Henry Raeburn and more.  The walls on the second floor boast a series of large-scale murals painted in late Victorian and Edwardian styles which depict famous events in Scottish history.

From this upper floor, we can also get a closer look at the individual figures represented in the procession.  The frieze was created by William Brassey Hole, who also painted the large murals.  Seeing the details of all the individual figures makes this work even more impressive.  There are marble busts along the window ledges including ones of Sir Walter Scott and artist Phoebe Anna Traquair, one of the few females represented.  More busts are found in a Victorian library that visitors can use for study and research with books and journals dating from the 19th century to present day.

Of the four National museums that we visited in Edinburgh, the least interesting for me was the Modern Art Museums.  Dubbed Modern 1 and Modern 2, I thought this would be the largest collection that we would see since it spanned two buildings.  But it turned out that Modern 2 only housed a rather pricey paid special exhibit that we were not keen on.  So, we were left with Modern 1 which was relatively small and felt repetitive since a large section contained portraits that were too reminiscent of the Portrait Gallery.  What I liked best about Modern 1 was the cool, swirly sculptural landform in front of the museum, that was designed by landscape architect Charles Jencks.  Consisting of a serpentine mound accessed via a circular path with three crescent-shaped pools of water in the middle, this serene landscape that you can walk on was the most beautiful work that I found at this museum.  I also liked some of the outdoor sculptures including a bronze by Eduardo Paolozzi titled Master of the Universe (1989) which shows scientist Sir Isaac Newton bent over with a measuring instrument.  The sculpture is based on a famous work by William Blake.  We also unexpectedly came across one of Antony Gormley’s six cast iron figures based on the artist’s own body.  This one depicts a man down only to his torso and it is made to appear like the figure is rising up out of the ground.  The set of six sculptures are known as SIX TIMES and we would find one more later in the day when we walked part of the “Water of Leith Walkway”.

I was disappointed that there were not more sculptures on display inside the Modern 1 Museum as I was hoping for large-scale, brightly coloured pop art installations like those we experienced at other Contemporary art galleries around the world.  The limited sculptures on display were created by French artist Louise Bourgeois and British artist Helen Chadwick as part of a temporary exhibit called Artist Rooms that highlights the works of selected artists.  In one of Bourgeois’ rooms was a giant bronze Spider sculpture (1994) with an “egg sac” filled with rocks.  Bourgeois associates the spider motif with motherhood and her own mother since she sees them both as “repairers”.  Another room had an untitled installation made up of items of her own clothing plus bones (from a cow) and tubular objects made from rubber and fabric that are meant to resemble body parts.  The work is supposed to reflect the aging body.  Helen Chadwick’s installation, made with her partner David Notarius was called “Piss Flowers” (1991) since they were literally made from urinating on piles of snow in flower-shaped moulds that were then filled with plaster to form floral sculptures.  They documented their process with black and white photos.

I was immediately drawn to Kenyan British artist Michael Armitage’s work, painted on a Ugandan Lubugo bark cloth, since I recognized the homage to Gaugain’s Vision of a Sermon which we saw at the National Gallery.  The fuzzy image resembling Jacob Wrestling the Angel is represented in the same location of the painting, but instead of Breton women, there are African dancers performing a ritual Tanzanian Baikoko dance on the right and other figures with their backs turned away instead of looking forward at the action.  The work is titled "Nasema Nawe" (2016) which is Swahili for “I say to you”.  Armitage’s works blend East African landscapes with commentaries on social inequities, violence and politics.  Another interesting piece was “The Order of Desire” (2022) by Frieda Jaegar which combines oil painting with Indigenous Mexican embroidery techniques.  A painting of a car dashboard with items such as a cell phone cable, candy wrappers, lipstick and a scrunchie (representing consumerism) is adorned with beautifully embroidered plants and flowers forming an unconventional still life.  Jaegar also reflects on what objects are considered masculine vs. feminine.

I spent a long time carefully inspecting all the details of Grayson Perry’s “The American Dream” (2020).  This is a colour etching on paper that channels old 1950s Cold War propaganda maps warning of communist threats.  In this version which satirizes the current polarized cultural landscape of United States, the god-like “Big Brother” is a representation of Mark Zuckerberg’s face, commenting on social media’s power to fuel conflict, outrage and division.  Red arrows emanating from this face represent the negative emotions generated from doom-scrolling including fear, alienation, resentment, anger, remorse, and so forth.  These arrows lead to vehicles including war planes, battleships and helicopters labeled with buzzwords and catch phrases such as “Climate Change”, “Black Lives Matter”, “White Privilege”, “Baby Boomers”, “Free Speech”, “Animal Rights”, etc.  There is so much to look at and absorb in this work.

Although we found the Modern museum a bit underwhelming, we were thrilled to discover the Water of Leith Walkway right next to it and decided to explore.  The Water of Leith is the main river traversing through central Edinburgh.  It is 24 miles long, starting from Pentland Hills in the south, then flowing north-east through Edinburgh before emptying into the Firth of Forth, which is a narrow inlet of the North Sea.  The Walkway is a public treelined footpath that runs 12 miles along the river, passing by the Modern Museum and the village of Dean (where we saw the Dean Cemetery) within Edinburgh.  Five more of Antony Gormley’s sculptures were found along the river but only one was close enough for us to come across.  It was thrilling to spot the full-body sculpture standing in still water with a raging waterfall nearby.  The Walkway was serene and passed under bridges and by an athletic complex where people were playing Padel as well as some tennis courts. What a wonderful getaway from the hustle and bustle of Old Town Edinburgh, especially during the Fringe Festival.  This unexpected find became one of the highlights of our stay in Edinburgh.

Scotland 2025: Edinburgh - Kirkyards, Princes Street Gardens

In addition to attending Edinburgh Fringe shows, our first few days in the city were spent exploring old historic cemeteries (known as kirkyards) and their associated churches (kirks), as well as gardens and streets in the Old Town.  We love touring cemeteries in every new country that we visit since we are fascinated by the history and the different styles of tombs and monuments in various countries that reflect their unique cultures.

We started at the Greyfriars Kirkyard, a famous cemetery dating back to 1562 on the site of a former Franciscan monastery which was named for the friars who wore grey habits.  The friary was dissolved in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation and the land was turned over to the town by Mary Queen of Scots to be used as a burial ground.  It is a lush, atmospheric cemetery, full of massive, ornate tombs from 17th and 18th centuries.  Greyfriars is also linked to many significant historical events.  It was interesting to find out about some of the people memorialized in this graveyard and to learn about the history of this place.

There are many elaborately carved 17th century stone tombs still standing.  They were erected for wealthy occupants with some being “mural monuments”, which are structures imbedded right into the walls of the cemetery.  Amongst the most beautiful is the tomb of George Foulis of Ravelston (1569-1633), who was a goldsmith and Master of the King’s Mint in Scotland.  It also commemorates his wife, Jane Bannatyne whose father was a well-known poet.  Commissioned by their son in 1636, the central carving depicts images of George and Jane on either side of a skeletal figure with an evil grin and clasped hands signifying death.  Above this image is a cherub and Father Time symbolizing mortality and the passing of time.  Nearby is another massive mural monument for Thomas Bannatyne (1570-1635), probably a cousin of Jane’s.  Erected by his wife Janet, Thomas’ tomb features an angel holding up a book while crushing a skeleton to represent the soul's victory over death as well as an image of Father Time with an hourglass and scythe.  Between the two huge monuments is a relatively small, unadorned one - maybe for a poor relative?

The tomb for royal solicitor John Bayne of Pitcairlie (1620-1681) is shaped like a small temple which was once opulently painted and gilded.  Inside is an almost life-sized statue of the lawyer who was a “writer to the Signet” meaning he worked on contracts that required the monarch’s seal of approval.  The tomb is currently behind bars for protection against vandalism. The Kincaid monument is a tribute to the Kincaid family of Warriston, who were prominent merchants and landowners in the 17th Century.  The tomb is decorated with a pair of carved female forms with their hands clasped in prayer.  Although not in this tomb, Alexander Kincaid (1710-1777), former Lord Provost (city councillor) was buried in another location in Greyfriars in 1737.

Greyfriars Kirkyard is noted for its significant role in Scottish history.  During the 17th Century, a violent religious and political struggle dubbed the “Killing Times” arose in Scotland.  A Presbyterian group known as the Covenanters opposed royal interference in the Church of Scotland.  In 1638, at Greyfriars Kirkyard, they signed the National Covenant asserting religious and civil rights.  This led to armed conflicts with Kings James VI and Charles I that saw Covenanters being killed or tortured and imprisoned.  After the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679, hundreds of Covenanters were kept in horrendous conditions in an open-air section of the Kirkyard known as Covenanters’ Prison. Many did not survive.  This area still exists in the Kirkyard although it is behind gates and only accessible via guided tour.  There is also a Martyrs’ Monument commemorating the suffering of this group.  Ironically, the circular mausoleum of “Bloody” George Mackenzie (1636-1691), the Lord Advocate who persecuted the Covenanters, is situated just around the corner from the prison.  His mausoleum is said to be haunted by a malevolent poltergeist that is either Mackenzie himself or one of the tormented souls of the Covenanters.

Other interesting historical elements include a “MortSafe”, a heavy iron cage designed to cover and protect a grave from vandalism or theft, particularly by body-snatchers or “resurrectionists” in the 19th century who robbed graves and stole bodies to be used for medical research.  The cages were rented for up to 2 months until decomposition made the bodies useless.  William Burke and William Hare were infamous criminals in Edinburgh who decided it was more expedient to murder prostitutes or fellow lodgers staying at their rooming house rather than to rob graves or wait for them to die naturally, as was the case with their first body which they supplied to Dr. Robert Knox, a dissection lecturer. From 1827-1828, the pair killed 16 people and supplied them to doctors for dissection, being paid around paid 7 pounds 10 shillings per body (equivalent to 950 pounds today).  Their method of killing by suffocation came to be known as “burking”.  Found in the centre of Greyfriars Kirkyard is a small section of the Flodden Wall, a historic defensive wall that weaved through Edinburgh’s Old Town in the 1500s to protect the city from future English invasion after a resounding Scottish defeat in at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.  At the time, the 24-foot-tall, 4-foot-thick wall enclosed an area of 140 acres and protected 10,000 residents.

For all of its fascinating history, Greyfriars Kirkyard is also known for some quirky reasons including being the inspiration to J.K.Rowling for the names of many of the characters in her series of Harry Potter books including the last name Potter itself.  Apparently, Rowling roamed through the cemetery looking at the names on the graves and came up with Thomas Riddell, a 19th century general whose the name she used for Lord Voldemort, as well as tombs inspiring the characters of Sirrus Black, Minerva McGonagall and more.  Harry Potter guided tours often walk through the kirkyard revealing the location of these graves.

But perhaps the most famous grave is dedicated to the dog “Greyfriars Bobby”, a loyal Skye Terrier who is said to have guarded and refused to leave his master John Gray’s grave for 14 years after the night watchman died in 1858.  A statue standing prominently in the centre of a large flower garden plus a tomb stone marks Bobby’s grave. By contrast, John Gray’s tomb is quietly located in another part of the cemetery with much less pomp and circumstance or foot traffic.  Bobby was so famous that there are numerous paintings and drawings of him, a Disney movie inspired by him, and a second sculpture at 30-34 Candlemaker Row in front of a pub named after him.  This latter sculpture was recently featured in an episode of the Netflix TV series Dept.Q when detective Carl Morck (played by actor Matthew Goode) walks by and rubs its shiny bronze nose.

Inside the Greyfriars Kirk (Church), we found several paintings and etchings of Bobby.  There is even a souvenir shop selling trinkets with Bobby’s image.  He has become quite the tourist attraction.  We also lucked out and arrived in time to enjoy a musical performance in the church which featured a folk singer, guitar and a pair of accordions.  Completed in 1620, it is the first church built in Scotland after the Reformation.  A small museum displays artifacts and art related to Greyfriars Bobby, a copy of the National Covenant and other religious artifacts.

While in Edinburgh, we also visited St.Cuthbert’s Kirkyard and Parish, which was established in 1595 and had its own unique tombs and history.  Grave robbery was a huge problem in the 19th century so we saw several signs of deterrents.  At one edge of the cemetery sits a “Body Snatcher Watchtower”, which was erected in 1827 as a place where watchmen would stay overnight to detract graverobbers.  We came across an even more elaborate mort-safe than the one at Greyfriars.  St.Cuthbert’s Kirkyard sits right below Edinburgh Castle providing stunning views from certain vantage points.  Similar to Greyfriars, this cemetery has mural monuments built into its walls but here we found many more free-standing tombs which allowed me to get close enough to get a better sense of how large these individual grave markers were.

There were some beautiful sculptures and carvings on some of the tombs including interesting juxtaposition of skulls and angels.  This was a popular motif between the 1600s-1800s since the skull represented mortality and death while the angel represented salvation and a soul’s journey to eternal life after death, making the combination a hopeful imagery.  The grounds of St.Cuthbert’s are landscaped with trees, bushes and flowers including a very unique tree native to Chile or Argentina which is commonly known as a “Monkey Puzzle”.  Its branches curve upwards, covered with leaves that are stiff, dark green, triangular, razor-sharp and armour-like.  The British coined the name of the tree since they thought it would be difficult or a puzzle for a monkey trying to climb it.  As we left the kirkyard to enter the adjoining Princes Garden, we came across the sculpture of “Bum the Dog” which commemorates a famous 19th century stray dog who roamed Edinburgh’s sister city San Diego.  The friendly St.Bernard-Spaniel had lost part of his front leg in a train accident and was admired for his friendly nature and resilience.  San Diego sent Edinburgh this sculpture in 2008 after Edinburgh gifted a sculpture of Bobby, honouring the respective dogs for their stories of canine loyalty and community spirit.  People have taken to leaving sticks at the foot of Bum’s statue.  Now having discovered two dog sculptures in Edinburgh, I was on the lookout for more and we came across three others during the remainder of our trip through Scotland.

We had tried several times to get into the Parish of St. Cuthbert but it was closed each time. We realized later that this was because it was being used as a venue for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  We finally managed to tour the interior on our last day in Edinburgh after the Fringe had ended.  There were several points of interest inside including a beautiful stained-glass window designed by Louis Tiffany which depicts David with sling in hand setting out to do battle with Goliath.  The window was dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant William Victor St.Clair McLaren who died in the Boer War in 1900.  One of only three notable Tiffany windows in Scotland, this one was commissioned by McLaren’s mother along with a second memorial made of carved stone.  On the east wall of the apse is an alabaster frieze carved as a reproduction of Leonardo Da Vinci’s 1498 masterpiece The Last Supper.  The carving was donated by members of the church in 1906. A beautiful marble hexagonal baptismal font includes bronze figures of a mother and child which is a copy of Michelangelo's Madonna of Bruges.

Another interesting fact about St. Cuthbert Parish is that it is the location where famed mystery writer Agatha Christie married her second husband archaeologist Max Mallowen in 1930.  Being a divorced woman, Christie could not be married in England and therefore had the ceremony performed in Scotland.  A copy of the marriage certificate is shown in a display case along with newspaper clippings about the event.

Princes Street Gardens consists of a pair of large public parks separated by a street running north-south perpendicular to Princes Street called “The Mound”, which also delineates the “Old Town” from the “New Town”.  A pathway at the end of St. Cuthbert Kirkyard (next to the Bum the Dog sculpture) leads into the West Princes Street Gardens, which is the more ornate of the two parks.  Spanning 37 acres, the parks were created in the 1820s by draining Nor Loch, a polluted artificial lake that was originally a 15th century defensive barrier for the city.

The gardens are known for their picturesque setting beneath Edinburgh Castle with an excellent viewpoint near the Ross Bandstand, an outdoor concert space donated by William Henry Ross in 1877.  Nearby is the gorgeous Ross Fountain, named after a different person, gunmaker Daniel Ross who purchased it at London’s 1862 Great Exhibition. Made from cast iron painted turquoise and gold and designed in Beaux Arts style, the fountain features cherubs, mermaids, and water nymphs. At the top of the north-eastern end of the West Gardens near Princes Street is the world’s oldest, fully functioning floral clock created in 1903.  It consists of over 35,000 living flowers and plants with clock hands and numbers on the face and mechanisms hidden under the floral arrangements.  Just south of the clock down at park level is a quaint 1868 Victorian styled cottage that was originally built as the Head Gardener’s residence.  Today it is used as administrative office space for the park but the private garden surrounding the house is still beautifully landscaped with flower beds, trees and bushes.  At the gates leading to the cottage is a sign that reads “Great Aunt Lizzie’s”, signifying the affectionate nickname that had given to the gardener’s home.

Many historic statues and monuments grace the west end of the parks including several impressive war memorials. The Royal Scot’s Greys Memorial is a looming bronze sculpture of a horse and rider overlooking the park and Edinburgh Castle.  A distinguished cavalry regiment formed in 1678, whose official name was the 2nd Dragoons when they joined the British army, earned the nickname “Scot’s Greys” due to the grey horses that they were known to ride.  The regiment played key roles in major conflicts from the late 17th through the 20th centuries. The Scottish American Memorial, also known as “The Call 1914”, was erected in 1927 as a touching tribute from Scottish Americans to honour Scots who served in WWI.  At the centre is the bronze sculpture of a kilted infantryman while behind him is a bronze frieze depicting all who answered the call ranging from civilians to soldiers, led by a pipe band. The Royal Scots Memorial is an even larger monument that commemorates and honours the history of the Royal Scots regiments from 1633 through 2007.  Set in a semi-circle is a central stone with the badge of the regiment in bronze, flanked by seven stone monoliths each featuring low-relief carvings of the Royal Scots depicting their uniforms and arms through different periods through the centuries.  A bronze fence connects each stone and depicts medallions of the monarchs who reigned during each period.

The Genius of Architecture Statue depicts a robed goddess personifying “Architecture” crowning a boy with a scroll representing theory and one with a trowel representing practice.  Other monuments of interest included a plain tomb-like marker honouring Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson and a large stone erected in 1978 memorializing the Norwegian Brigade and other armies that trained in Scotland during WWII.  Along the upper edge of the West Gardens are historic sculptures dedicated to important Scottish figures including Sir James Young Simpson who first demonstrated the aesthetic properties of chloroform.

There were also a couple of poignant sculptures featuring animals found in the middle of the park. The Mortonhall Baby Ashes Memorial was created in 2019 by Adam Scott as a memorial for stillborn babies and infants who were cremated in Mortonhall Crematorium and secretly buried in mass graves between 1967 and 2011, affecting over 250 families.  The sculpture consists of a bronze baby elephant etched with “forget-me-not” flowers with a plaque indicating “gone but never forgotten”.  Wojtek the Soldier Bear commemorates an orphaned bear cub who was adopted as a mascot by the 2nd Polish Corps during WWII.  To bypass military regulations banning pets, Wojtek was enlisted as a private with his own serial number and paybook.  He was known for wrestling with the soldiers and drinking beer, as depicted in scenes from a bronze frieze behind the bear sculpture.  He is said to have carried artillery shells and crates in Italy during the Battle of Monte Cassino which led to his promotion to corporal.  After the war, Wojtek retired and spent his remaining days in the Edinburgh Zoo.

The Mound was created between 1781 and 1830 by dumping 1.5 million cartloads of earth excavated from the foundations of the “New Town” into the drained Nor Loch to create a new thoroughfare connecting it to the Old town.  Many important structures were built on The Mound including the National Gallery of Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Church of Scotland General Assembly Hall and Bank of Scotland Headquarters.  East Princes Street Gardens is delineated by The Mound on its west side and Waverly Train Station on the east.  Whereas the slope on the West Garden leading from Princes Street to the park is lined with landscaping and sculptures, it is left as a grassy incline on the east side where people like to sit in the sunshine.  The east side has more flat open spaces which are used for festivals including a Christmas Market featuring a huge Ferris Wheel named Edinburgh Eye, and Europe’s largest skating rink.  The one significant monument on the east side is dedicated to novelist Sir Walter Scott.  The Scott Memorial is a massive Victorian-Gothic sandstone tower spanning over 200 feet in height featuring a tall spire with gothic details.  There are 64 statues of characters from Scott’s novels including Ivanhoe and Robb Roy as well as 16 busts of famous Scottish poets, authors and royalty including Robbie Burns and Mary Queen of Scots.  At the centre of the monument is a marble statue of Scott with his loyal dog Maida at his side.  This is now the third dog sculpture that we have found so far in Edinburgh.

We unexpectedly came across another cemetery that was not originally on our radar as we walked back from our visit to the Modern Art Museums.  Dean Cemetery is yet another historic kirkyard dating back to 1846 but it is much quieter due to its distance away from the heart of Old Town.  It is known for its picturesque landscape with mature trees and garden paths, Victorian monuments and notable graves including noted photographer David Octavius Hill (1802-1870), historical painter David Scott (1807-1849) and doctor/Arctic Explorer Robert Anstruther Goodsir (1823-1895), all of whom had ornate tombs near the front of the cemetery.  I learned through later research that there were even more elaborate tombs and monuments further into the cemetery.  But since we were already tired from our museum day, we only did a cursory tour of the front and rested on a shady bench under a tree before heading off again.

Scotland 2025: Edinburgh - Fringe Festival

The timing of our vacation to Scotland revolved around the schedule for Edinburgh Fringe which runs annually during the first three weeks of August.  Rich and I love live theatre and regularly attend the Toronto Fringe Festival which launched in 1989 as part of an international network of Fringe festivals inspired by the original one in Edinburgh.  I have always wanted to attend the festival that started it all.

In 1947, the Edinburgh International Festival was initiated after World War II as an effort to celebrate art and reunite people through cultural exchange. The invited performers came from prestigious companies spanning music, theatre, dance and opera.  Eight lesser known and uninvited theatre groups arrived independently and set up their own shows in smaller, alternative venues, performing on the “fringes” of the main festival.  Over the years, the number of uninvited performers grew until the Fringe Festival was formalized in 1958, offering open access, unconventional venues and the spirit of creative independence, experimentation and public engagement.  Other countries joined in over the decades and as of 2025, there are around 300 Fringe festivals worldwide.

We decided to attend the last week of Edinburgh Fringe and selected 8 shows to watch in 5 days, which was a bit ambitious since we had a show on the day that we landed and were quite jetlagged and struggling to stay awake.  While the overall concept of Fringe is the same in Toronto, there were some marked differences that we noticed in Edinburgh. The Toronto Fringe festival runs for 12 days in July with around 100 shows at 22 venues, mostly in small, conventional theatre spaces.  Each show appears at the same venue throughout its run but varies in terms of start times so that there is opportunity for people to watch during the day or in the evening.

By contrast, the size and scope of Edinburgh Fringe is significantly larger.  In 2025, it featured 265 “theatre spaces” hosting more than 3350 shows over 25 days.  Each show played at the same location and the same time throughout the festival, which makes sense since it would have been a logistic nightmare otherwise.  However, this restricted us as to which shows we had time to see, since we also wanted to visit museums and other attractions during the day.  The types of spaces chosen for venues ranged widely from traditional theatres to churches, pubs, hotels, office meeting rooms, university classrooms, shops and stores, temporary tent structures and pretty much any space where rows of chairs could be set up.  Often, this made sightlines difficult since many of these spaces had no rake to speak of.

Attending the Edinburgh Fringe has much more of a drinking/party atmosphere.  You are expected to wait at the bar, drinking and listening to music until your show is announced just a few minutes before start time. At this point, you form a quick queue that is rushed into the theatre. However, those who wait in the bar tend to end up at the back of the line while those in the know figure out where the queue will start and just wait there.  This was more important than ever at this festival because the lack of a rake in the seating often meant I would not see if we were not seated in the front row.  Being from Toronto, we are used to queuing in line for at least 30-60 minutes if we wanted good seats, awaiting to be let into the theatre 15 minutes before the show starts.  For Edinburgh, we only showed up 20 minutes before start time but the volunteers were always shocked at how early we were!  The show starts almost immediately after you are seated. The quick turnover between shows was always impressive as immediately after a show ends, the entire cast participates in tearing down their sets and props to clear way for the next one.

The entire city is consumed by Fringe during these three weeks, to the point where restaurants don’t take reservations and some smaller attractions shut down their usual opening hours since they are hosting shows instead.  Given that the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo runs at the same time, over 1 million tourists descend on the city during this period. Every wall, lamppost, fence or other flat surface was plastered with advertisements for shows.  Given our scheduling time constraints, we pre-selected our shows ahead of time and pre-purchased our tickets so we unfortunately did not have time to add more.  Some of the titles and images for shows were hilarious or just plain weird.

In addition to the shows, the streets were lined with buskers singing, juggling, miming, performing feats of magic and even basketball tricks.  We were also inundated by hawkers trying to pass out flyers promoting their shows, often dressed in wild costumes from the shows and standing on bollards to attract attention.  On a daily basis, we walked by the same woman on Grassmarket, just a few steps from our apartment.  She was balanced on the same bollard each day in a different outfit trying to draw attention to her show.  It felt rude to continually refuse the flyers but also wasteful to take one since we knew we could not add more shows.  People tried all different ways to get us to take a flyer. One husband and wife duo were handing out the out together and the husband’s schtick was “Please take a flyer.  It’s the only way my wife will let me see the children!”.

Although it was exhausting visiting tourist attractions by day followed by watching theatre in the evening, we had fun with our Edinburgh Fringe experience.  We never really got used to the differences and continued to arrive early to await entry for each show.  We had selected 7 musicals and 1 comedy, of which 3 of the shows were historic in theme while 4 of them were detective/crime/mystery related and one was a meta-musical that dealt with the love of musicals.  Although selecting fringe shows is always a crapshoot, we figured we were safe with 7 musicals because even if the plot was dumb, at least there would be singing.  This didn’t quite work out as planned but at the end, six out of eight of our picks were winners which we thoroughly enjoyed.  That is not such a bad percentage since you never know what you get at Fringe, at least in Toronto.

We started out with our sole non-musical, which was the hilarious slapstick farce The Shoddy Detective and the Art of Deception. At a high level, the show was about the mystery of a missing priceless painting and a pair of hapless detectives who interview a slew of wacky suspects to try to solve the case.  But the plot was really incidental and more of a showcase for the comedic talents of four actors including two playing the eponymous and incompetent “Shoddy Detective” Stuart Pidcock and his adversary, the criminal mastermind turned detective Dusty Wills. 

The other two actors are each billed as “Multi-Roller” meaning they played many roles, switching them adeptly using the door on the left and a window on the right of the stage as means of exiting and re-entering in different costumes.  These include Lord and Lady Rayburn, the owners of the manor where the action takes place, the gardeners, the cook, the maid, and a Russian countess.  The male multi-roller also plays an insurance broker and his wife to great comedic effect by dressing half as the man and the other half as the woman, which he reveals as he turns in profile to expose each character.  Initially these characters are only seen from the door opening but eventually “they” come onto centre stage and have a hilarious fight with “each other”.  But the female multi-roller Becky Bartram was the standout playing all other female characters including the maid who is repeatedly struck in the face and flipped out of a window.  Her acrobatic prowess was astounding and it made sense to learn from reading the program that she is also a trained stuntwoman.

This first show was held in the Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower which is an entertainment venue hub opened in 2023 that hosts 7 separate theatre spaces with capacities ranging from 44 to 300 seats.  The smaller spaces consist of rows of chairs or seats on the floor with no slope while the larger ones have raised stages and raked seats.  As with all the Fringe venues, there is also a lively bar.  As our show was more established and popular, it was held in one of the larger spaces so we sat in the second row and had fairly good sightlines.

We noticed that many of the venues were prefaced with “Gilded Balloon”.  It turns out that the name came from the original Fringe venue at Edinburgh’s Cowgate St, housed in a former warehouse built in 1823 for a silk merchant’s shop called “The Gilded Balloon”.  The name was retained when it became a comedy venue in 1986 but the building was destroyed in a fire in 2002.  As a tribute to this original space, some newly created Fringe venues have added “Gilded Balloon” to their names including the Appleton Tower where we watched this very entertaining show.  We were off to a great start.

Our next show was I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical, a song cycle describing both performers and audience members who love musicals (that’s me, so this was right up my alley).  The opening number self-referentially talked about a show’s opening number including the 5-minute warning before start time (which ironically, we didn’t get), no cellphones or noisy wrappers for candy (described as "boiled sweeties"), the heart-pumping anticipation for the actors as they hear the opening overture, and complaints about latecomers, timed hilariously just as actual latecomers were let into the show to a big laugh. Subsequent songs deal with aspects of musicals an actor’s perspective.  A song about the grind of auditioning included picking a “unique" song just to find out 3 people before you chose the same one, showing vocal and emotional range in your song, and touching up your photo so much that it no longer looks like you.  This song reminded me of Kathy's lament in the musical The Last Five Years.  

Next, an actor tries to adjust to a faulty piano accompaniment by changing the key of his song when a note played is too high, too low, to loud and then silent before finally giving up and singing acapella.  The vocal agility of the performer as he adapted to the change of key in each verse was admirable and made for a funny tune.  Other songs from the actor’s perspective included performing while sick, preparing for a role through sleep, diet and exercise regiments, requiring to kiss a co-star with bad breath, being the understudy guy that no one wanted to see, the diva and so on.  There were also a few songs from the audience’s point of view.  There was the superfan who buys all the soundtracks and dresses up like the characters including Elphaba from Wicked and the Phantom.  The final two actors came out in costumes that looked like Captain Hook and Smee from Peter Pan but turned out to be Hamilton and Cosette.  Then there were the secret musical lovers who outwardly would not seem like the types including a punk rocker, serious academic, tattoo artist and jock.  The theme song “I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical” was sung twice including the finale before ending with an Encore song.  As expected, I loved this meta-musical about musicals!

This time the show played in Gilded Balloon at the Museum, which is a venue at the back of the National Museum of Scotland with a 210-seat auditorium.  Once again, we had a real theatre with raked seating so we started to think that all of our shows would be like this.  We would find out by the next show that this was not the case.  For this one, we sat in the second row and found ourselves too close to the wide stage.  This became an ongoing dilemma between sitting up front so I could see or sitting further back to get a proper perspective.

Our next show, the “musical” Grey, gave us our first taste of how diverse and experimental Edinburgh Fringe could be both in terms of venue and performance. The show was held in Riddler’s Court, a historic structure built around 1590 as a luxurious townhouse for a wealthy local magistrate where banquets were hosted for royalty including King James VI. The location was first used for Fringe after a renovation in 2010 and now contains 4 small theatre spaces. 

Our show was in the Clover Studio, the smallest theatre that only holds up to 20 seats. The tiny claustrophobic space offered two rows of three folding chairs on each side with a centre aisle in between and no rake. The first row was so close to the performance area that your feet would be overlapping it. We had a split second to decide whether or not to sit in that front row and I wrongly chose not to. Unfortunately, from the second row, I could only see the top of the lone actress’ head for most of the performance.  At least I stuck to my guns and insisted that I sit on the aisle instead of shifting over as the ushers requested so I could lean across to see more whenever the actress moved to the centre of the stage.

Grey refers to Lady Jane Grey, a sixteen-year-old Protestant and great-granddaughter of Henry VII who became a political puppet and tragic martyr when she was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland in 1553 by supporters who wanted a Protestant Monarch.  Known as the “Nine Days Queen”, she was deposed and imprisoned by the more powerful Mary Tudor who was Catholic.  The play opens with Jane in prison in a tiny room in the Tower of London (thus appropriate for this theatre space) with just some books, candles, writing material, a chair and a chest on the floor.  As she awaits her fate, still hoping that she will be set free, she reminisces about how she got there.  I use the word "play" instead of "musical" because we waited for almost half the show listening to a non-stop monologue before a song was sung. In total only 2 or 3 songs were performed over an hour-long show and they were for mood only as opposed to propelling the plot. By my standards, this does not qualify as a musical.  The play ends dramatically with Jane being blindfolded and beheaded.  Based on this, for our next 5 shows which were all supposed to be musicals, I held my breath until the first song was sung.  Luckily this always happened within the first few minutes so our experience with Grey was an anomaly.

This actually was not a bad show and I might have enjoyed it if I knew what to expect.  As it was, given that I could not see, had not properly researched the history to understand what was happening, and waited most of the hour for singing, I would pronounce this as our first dud.

Because of our experience with Grey, I was determined to sit in the first row whenever we walked into a theatre with no rake, as was the case for our next musical Dirty Money.  This one was held within a room within the Radisson Blue Hotel, which is a new building erected in 1990 but designed to look historic with a stone façade and a turret in front, in order to blend in with its surroundings.  Three spaces are allocated for the Edinburgh Fringe.  The one for Dirty Money consisted of a small floor space marked off for a thrust stage with chairs arranged on three sides.  We snagged the last two seats in the front row facing the stage, so seeing over heads was not a problem but we were too close so it was more difficult to see or hear any action on the other side of the floor in front of us.

Dirty Money opens with a ne’er do well named Luke, whose failed business enterprise resulted in a large debt owed to a violent mobster.  At the same time, a wealthy and powerful billionaire has been incarcerated for corruption and has offered half her fortune to anyone who can break her out of jail.  Forced by the mobster to attempt this jailbreak as a way of paying off his debt, Luke ropes in his friends in the caper, without telling them that the promised reward would all go to the gangster.  The musical had fun and sometimes heart-felt songs. Despite the cramped space and sparse staging consisting of a chair positioned within a wall-less metal enclosure and multiple wood tables that were stacked into various configurations, the stagecraft and clever choreography easily conveyed all the different settings dictated by the scenes.  A missed musical cue at the start of Luke’s big redemption song was handled adeptly by the actor who said “cue the music” twice before singing acapella until the score kicked in. 

We had started to notice at the end of Grey and again with this show that the bows at the end of the show were abrupt so that the actors could race off the stage and return quickly to dismantle the sets.  Such is the life of a Fringe performer.

Our next show Gladiatrix would become our favourite show of this festival.  It is based on the lesser-known historical existence of female gladiators (or gladiatrices) who competed in the Gladiator Games fighting each other or against exotic animals.  They were considered salacious novelty acts until Emperor Septimius Severus outlawed them in 200AD.  The musical explored the various possible reasons why a woman might become a gladiatrix with each of four actresses singing a song that revealed her reason.  One was a slave who signed a contract to fight 100 battles after which she was to be set free.  The second one had a birthmark which at the time was considered taboo and was shunned from her community.  A third was a servant whose affair with her rich patron was discovered by his jealous wife after which she was cast out.  And finally, a wealthy noblewoman did it for kicks, seeking excitement, fame and glory.  Two male gladiators acting as narrators and other roles as well as the Emperor himself filled out the cast.

This musical stood out not only for its wonderful songs but especially due to the stunning, acrobatic fight scenes with swords, shields and spears, often while singing.  One actress did cartwheels and flips as part of her battles.  Creative use of a long red cord was featured in a scene depicting the servant being beaten after her dalliance was discovered, and at the final battle scene to signify blood after a kill.  The actor playing Septimius Severus was hilarious and channeled the role of King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar.

This show was held at “The Space @ Venue 45”, which is a historic theatre venue within the Old St. Paul’s Church Hall.  We walked into what felt like a large gym auditorium to find floor seats on three sides.  Once again, we took the front role but this time it was perfect since the stage area was huge to allow for the fights and we had the best view.  It was interesting seeing the actors dressed in the gladiator costumes hanging out with the audience in the bar area while waiting for the previous show to end so that they could take the stage.

Our next musical Detective Demise was another fun show held a unique location called Just the Tonic at the Caves, which is a venue with six performance spaces set in ancient underground chambers or caves.  Most of the spaces have just floor seats but our show was in the Fancy Room which has a very slight rake in the seating.  Because of this, we tried to sit in the second row to get more of a perspective of the stage and after sitting on my coat, I was able to get high enough to see most of the action.  The venue is quirky and whimsical on the outside as well since there are parts of the front or rear of cows jutting out of the façades.  Perhaps this is a nod to the space being on the street Cowgate which was once a medieval route for herding cows to market.

Detective’s Demise opens at the birthday party for police detective Ben Stone who is murdered by one of his five guests which include his materialistic wife Kate, alcoholic brother Alex, partner at the precinct and best friend Will, stepsister Lucy and Lucy’s boyfriend Joe.  When junior detective Arthur Evans comes calling after the death, he steps in to investigate and finds out that each of the suspects have a potential (some quite silly) motive for killing Ben.  As Arthur interviews each suspect, they recreate past scenarios in clever flashback numbers featuring Ben.  We thoroughly enjoyed this show with its great songs and good comedic acting.  We therefore had high hopes for the next one which was scheduled later in the evening at the exact same theatre and with the same theatre group, even featuring a few of the same actors.

Unfortunately, we did not like Escape Room at all as we found the plot convoluted and difficult to follow, and for some inexplicable reason, the sound quality was off so it was difficult the hear.  This was surprising since it was in the same theatre space and even reused a few of the backdrops from the previous show!  The overall premise was that six college friends are tricked into attending an Escape Room event (although it was supposed to be at Fringe in some meta way which made no sense).  Inexplicably, a seventh character showed up (presumably accidentally) but spoke mostly French so that the others (and the audience!) did not understand him for the most part.  As they work to solve puzzles to facilitate their escape, old conflicts and rivalries are brought to the surface that need to be worked through.  A few of the actors that we found so charming and endearing in the previous show just came across as annoying.  This became our second dud and we really hoped that we would enjoy the last pick since it is always better to end on a high note.

Luckily, we loved the final show very much and it became our second favourite.  Jackie! was a biographical musical about former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy starting from her early days as a young plucky reporter/photographer nee Jacqueline Lee Bouvier when she first met John F Kennedy.  Actress Nancy Edwards who plays Jackie was picture-perfect in the role and reminded me of Katie Holmes who also took on this role in a TV miniseries. 

The rest of the characters were played as caricatures, exaggerating (or maybe not?) aspects of their real-life counterparts. The actor who played JFK adopted an exaggerated Boston accent that was a bit jarring to hear at first. Patriarch Joseph Kennedy was depicted as controlling and domineering almost to the point of being mobster-like.  He welcomes Jackie to the family with the song “Bought and Paid For” talking about materialistic items that the family owned but also referring to Jackie herself.  Robert Kennedy was portrayed as the family idiot which seemed harsh and inaccurate and perhaps played for laughs.  The final actress in the cast played both Jackie’s sister Lee Radziwill as well as Marilyn Monroe, singing the infamous “Happy Birthday Mr. President” song to highlight JFK’s infidelity.  A throwaway line alluded to the rumour that Monroe was murdered when she became inconvenient to the Kennedys.  

It was quite impressive how a 60-minute show so adeptly portrayed Jackie’s journey from ingenue to First Lady, becoming a style icon admired for her intelligence, grace and beauty, to being beaten down by the political pressures and pressed to use drugs prescribed by “Dr. Feelgood”, to her rebellion before and after JFK’s assassination, and finally escaping the Kennedys’ grasp by marrying billionaire Aristotle Onassis (depicted as totally gay).

Held in the Gilded Balloon Patter House which hosts 10 performance spaces and is known for its bright pink façade, we were in the Big Yin theatre and finally back to having a real stage and racked seating.  This was a wonderful show and a joyous ending to our Edinburgh Fringe experience.  Fringe has been successful springboards for past shows which went on to achieve commercial success.  These include Six the Musical, Drowsy Chaperone, Kim's Convenience, Fleabag and more.  It would be great to see Gladiatrix and Jackie! expanded further into full professional productions.