International Women’s Day at Craigmillar Community Arts: exhibition and talk about women’s role in medicine from Emma Black of the Surgeons’ Hall, display showcasing the wide range of talent among CCA Women’s Group, art workshops, mini facials and manicures and a healthy lunch. 10.30am-2pm, Craigmillar Community Arts, 58 Newcraighall Road. Free: all welcome.
Fountainbridge Library is 75! A library has stood on the Dundee Street site since 1897 – the first neighbourhood library was funded from the estate of philanthropist Thomas Nelson, but by the 1930s the building needed to be replaced. JAW Grant was appointed to be architect of the new library, with sculptor Charles D’Orville Pilkington Jackson commissioned to provide the carving to surmount the main doorway; Jackson’s original plans included ornate carvings of a fountain and a bridge, so he was understandably dismayed when he learned of a planned change of name to ‘Dundee Street Library’ – luckily the plan was dropped, and despite delays caused by the war, the new library was opened in 1940. To celebrate this anniversary, the library has arranged a week of events; today it’s an After School Children’s Storytelling with Children’s Librarian Simon Radcliffe – and there will be cake! Children can bring along their grown-ups too. 3.30pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. There will also be an Anniversary Celebration Day on Wednesday 11th and a Birthday Bookbug on Thursday 12th March, plus an exhibition of photos and memories of the last 75 years.
Tiny Tales: A Wiggle and a Jiggle and a Woo Hoo Hoo! Do you ever just want to dance around, swing in the trees, crouch down low and shout Woo Hoo Hoo? An action-packed session with Maria Menzies, full of wonderfully wiggly songs and stories. 10am or 11.30am (40 minute sessions), Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £5 per child and can be booked online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579. Please remember to book a free adult ticket for yourself too.
Lunchtime Concert: Mendelssohn in England and Scotland. Roberto Prosseda (piano) will play Four Songs Without Words, Trois Fantaisies ou Caprices op.16, Variations Serieuses op.54 and Fantaisie op. 28 ‘Scottish Sonata’. 1.10pm, Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh, Bristo Square. Free: no booking required. Supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Edinburgh.
The Speakeasy…with guest host Fiona Herbert. Stand-up, songs and stories, with a dash of the unexpected. Uncover true stories from the haunting to the hilarious live on stage, giving some insights into different worlds. This month’s line up: Dave Hook (aka Solareye from Stanley Odd), comedian Bruce Devlin, award-winning actor, performer and presenter Juliette Burton, comedian Phil O’Shea, writer and musician Paul Docherty, writer Angela Hughes, and a performance by Adam Tomkins of his monologue from I Have Been Looking For You My Whole Life. For ages 16+. 8pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £7 and can be booked online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579. Advance booking is advised.
Italian Film Festival: curated by Allan Hunter and Richard Mowe, the 22nd Festival continues today. ‘An exciting and diverse line-up of contemporary and classic Italian cinema, including hilarious comedies, insightful dramas, seat-edge thrillers and classics from award-winning directors’. All films are subtitled in English, Today: The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (15) ‘an inspired coming-of-age comedy that pays heartwarming tribute to all of those who have fallen in the long struggle against the Mafia’. 6.10pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets can be booked online via the website or by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688.
Benji the PlayTalkRead bus will be at Muirhouse Library today! Songs, stories and play sessions for young children and their parents and carers. 10am-1pm and 2-4pm, Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. Free.
The Holiness of Beauty: George Frederick Bodley and the Aesthetic Movement. This seminar in the Edinburgh College of Art Architectural History/Theory series will be led by Bodley specialist Dr Michael Hall. 5.15-6.30pm, Common Room, Minto House, 20-22 Chambers Street. Free and open to all.
Edinburgh University Shakespeare Company Presents The Merchant of Venice: it is the summer of 1939 and Britain is travelling headlong towards one of the most devastating and transformative periods of its history. Oblivious to the oncoming storm, the London elite sit smoking their cigars and enjoying the fruits of their inheritance. 7.30pm today-Saturday 14th March (with 2.30pm matinee on Saturday 14th), Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place. Tickets cost £10/£8/£6 and can be purchased online here.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Jenni Daiches: Forgive (Luath Press). Jenni Daiches’ latest novel is about Ruth and those who come to lodge with her at Netherburn, her home in the remote moors of Scotland, as they all try to live their lives and move on – but the question that always looms for Ruth is, what does it mean to forgive? Jenni Daiches was born in Chicago but has lived in Scotland since 1971. Having worked for some years for the National Museums of Scotland, she is now a freelance writer and lecturer, with special interests in Scottish literature, Scottish emigration, and questions of identity. 6.30-7.45pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets are available from the shop’s front desk, or by calling 0131 622 8218 or emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk. Tickets can also be obtained from eventbrite here.
Sequamur: a multi-media Gaelic language play by DS Murray, reflecting on the life of Lewis educationalist William Gibson. The play is based on factual material and integrates a new music and soundscape commission with experimental film projections evoking First World War battle scenes and the reflections of the soldiers as their stories are brought back to Gibson, the teacher who inspired them to leave the classroom and go to war in 1914. A localised World War One commemorative roll of honour with the names of the fallen soldiers from each region the play visits will be screened following the performance. Sequamur is performed in Gaelic with live simultaneous translation into English via headphones. For ages 12+. 1-2.40pm or 7-8.40pm, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets cost £10/£7 and can be purchased online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 560 1581.
Memories of Sighthill Industrial Estate: the theme of this year’s Local History Week is food and drink, and the library is looking for old photos or memories of the three big food manufacturers who were based in the area – Milanda the bakers, Golden Wonder Crisps and Burton’s Biscuits. The library is planning a photographic display for the week, so if you have any photos or stories about working on the industrial estate, please phone them 0131 529 5566 or email sighthill.library@edinburgh.gov.uk – and come along to the library’s special reminiscence day today, at which you can share your tales of the factories whilst enjoying some tea and biscuits. The library will also be posting snippets about the industrial estate on its Facebook page. 10.30am-4.30pm, Sighthill Library, Sighthill Road.
LGBT: Getting to Grips with Relationships. A four-week course exploring the barriers and unhelpful patterns of behaviour that may present in relationships, and discovering ways of overcoming these with a range of creative techniques designed to offer alternate ways of relating to the people in our lives. An ideal course for people with an interest in self-government who wish to make new discoveries in a group setting. 6.30-8.30pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. Booking is essential: please contact Alison Wren on 0131 652 3283 or alison@lgbthealth.org.uk.
Pennywell New Housing Phase 2 Community Information Event: find out more about the new housing planned for Pennywell – timescales, outline design and plans. 4.30-7.30pm, Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. (Also at Craigroyston Community High School on Thursday 12th March 1.30-4.30pm).
Leith Folk Club: Christine Sparks with support Tomfoolery. 8pm (doors open 7.30pm), Victoria Park House Hotel, 221 Ferry Road. Tickets cost £7 and can be bought on the door or in advance via the ticket booking line: 07502 024852. ‘Bringing worldwide folk, traditional, blues, bluegrass, Scottish and Celtic music to a local audience.’
