From Tibet to Japan

I saw three Fringe shows today, the first was "Tibetan Monks Dance and Music", which was interesting. A mix of of prayers and chanting as well as traditional festival dances in elaborate and colourful costume. Not what I would really call great entertainment but am glad I went to see it, it's something you're not likely to see often and that's part of the fun of the Fringe, seeing new things.

After the show I grabbed an Oink pulled pork roll and then had a beer at the Bow Bar before wandering up and down the Mile for a bit before my second show, "Casting The Runes", it was a two person play. I guess you could call it a psychological thriller, it was extremely well done but lacked that something special to give it 5 stars. I'm not a big fan of psychological thrillers to start with and given only an hour I guess it is hard to build up the suspense to really grip you. It was good and I did enjoy it.

Third show of the day and definitely the highlight of the day: "The Sake" was a stunning show from Japan. It had a mixture of comedy, traditional dance, modern dance, aerial acrobatics all mix together with great visuals and music (some live, some recorded). Unfortunately you're not allowed to take pictures during the main performance but we were allowed to take pictures at the start where this gentleman did an amusing intro before the house lights went down. I did happen to take a photo of one of the guitarists on the Royal Mile a few days ago. Pictured here, as you can see this is not exactly "traditional" japanese, but if you look in the background you can see one of the more "traditional" dancers.