8:56:17 > 8:56:20Sadly, since recording this week's episode of Edinburgh Nights,
8:56:20 > 8:56:23which includes the actor Richard Wilson on sparkling form,
8:56:23 > 8:56:26he's had to withdraw from performing at the festival due to ill health.
8:56:26 > 8:56:29We wish him a full recovery.
8:56:29 > 8:56:30Welcome to Edinburgh,
8:56:30 > 8:56:32where the world's biggest festival of culture
8:56:32 > 8:56:33is well underway,
8:56:33 > 8:56:36and performers from all over the planet
8:56:36 > 8:56:40are inhabiting every single nook and cranny in Scotland's capital.
8:56:40 > 8:56:41Over the next three weeks,
8:56:41 > 8:56:44we'll be bringing you the creme de la creme
8:56:44 > 8:56:45of the talent in town.
8:56:47 > 8:56:51Coming up, famous faces reboot classic comedy scripts.
8:56:52 > 8:56:55Tony Award winner Cherry Jones takes the lead
8:56:55 > 8:56:59in Tennessee Williams' heartbreaker The Glass Menagerie.
8:56:59 > 8:57:01Ian Rankin joins me at a provocative exhibition
8:57:01 > 8:57:04exploring the dark side of Scottish art.
8:57:06 > 8:57:09And we bring you a sappy song from Hollywood star Alan Cumming.
8:57:09 > 8:57:10# Tell me
8:57:10 > 8:57:14# Why... #
8:57:17 > 8:57:19The Edinburgh Fringe has helped kick-start the careers
8:57:19 > 8:57:21of many household names.
8:57:21 > 8:57:24Angus Deayton cut his comedy teeth here in 1979
8:57:24 > 8:57:26with the Oxford Revue,
8:57:26 > 8:57:29and Richard Wilson has performed and directed at the Traverse
8:57:29 > 8:57:31over a course of many years.
8:57:31 > 8:57:35Now, believe it or not, both men are back in town.
8:57:35 > 8:57:38Angus Deayton is revisiting his comedy breakthrough, Radio Active,
8:57:38 > 8:57:41while Wilson is resurrecting a cantankerous character
8:57:41 > 8:57:43from beyond the grave.
8:57:45 > 8:57:48Wilson and Deayton co-starred in the classic sitcom
8:57:48 > 8:57:49One Foot In The Grave,
8:57:49 > 8:57:51and a single episode, The Trial,
8:57:51 > 8:57:54forms the basis of Wilson's one-man Edinburgh show.
8:57:56 > 8:57:59Well, I'll tell you exactly what the problem is, Mr Sturgeon!
8:57:59 > 8:58:02I was out the back working in the garden when he arrived,
8:58:02 > 8:58:03so I asked him if, for the time being,
8:58:03 > 8:58:05he'd put it in the downstairs toilet for me.
8:58:05 > 8:58:08And do you know what he's done? He's only planted it in the...
8:58:08 > 8:58:10LAUGHTER
8:58:10 > 8:58:12Why are you returning to Victor Meldrew?
8:58:12 > 8:58:15I'm returning to Victor Meldrew, uh...
8:58:15 > 8:58:18- because I need work.- Yes.
8:58:18 > 8:58:19I want to carry on...
8:58:19 > 8:58:22Sorry! You need work?
8:58:22 > 8:58:23- I do!- Really?
8:58:23 > 8:58:26He's the busiest person in show business.
8:58:26 > 8:58:27I think I said somewhere,
8:58:27 > 8:58:29"I hope I never see Victor Meldrew again."
8:58:29 > 8:58:31But I've changed my mind.
8:58:31 > 8:58:33And now do you love him again, or did you never not love him?
8:58:33 > 8:58:35I never... I've always loved him.
8:58:35 > 8:58:37The thing you really love most is being asked to say,
8:58:37 > 8:58:39"I don't believe it", isn't it?
8:58:39 > 8:58:42- By passers by and members of the public.- Yeah.
8:58:42 > 8:58:45- How many times do you say it in The Trial?- Four times.
8:58:48 > 8:58:52What in the name of bloody hell?
8:58:53 > 8:58:56I do not believe it!
8:58:56 > 8:58:58LAUGHTER
8:59:00 > 8:59:03Why not choose an episode
8:59:03 > 8:59:05that Angus is in?
8:59:05 > 8:59:07Why choose The Trial?
8:59:07 > 8:59:10Well, I chose The Trial because there was only one person.
8:59:10 > 8:59:13- No thought for your friends! - Just saying.
8:59:13 > 8:59:15- Look...- I'm here. I'm in Edinburgh.
8:59:15 > 8:59:17I'd never done a one-person show before.
8:59:17 > 8:59:20This just seemed so much easier.
8:59:20 > 8:59:22- So next year?- Next year.
8:59:22 > 8:59:25- But you've already sold out. Is that true?- This is true, I'm afraid.
8:59:25 > 8:59:27So why are you publicising it?
8:59:27 > 8:59:29I'm here to support you.
8:59:29 > 8:59:30- Oh!- Thank you.
8:59:30 > 8:59:33- I'm not quite sure why, but thank you.- And to meet Kirsty.
8:59:33 > 8:59:35You're bringing back an old show, too.
8:59:35 > 8:59:37Yes, it's a very similar idea, basically.
8:59:37 > 8:59:39Both bringing back old shows!
8:59:39 > 8:59:40Yes, an episode from a radio series
8:59:40 > 8:59:43rather than an episode from a TV series, but otherwise...
8:59:43 > 8:59:45Does that say something about our careers, do you think?
8:59:45 > 8:59:47- Does it?- Erm...
8:59:47 > 8:59:51That we look at projects and think, "What might be fun? Let's do that."
8:59:51 > 8:59:53- Exactly.- Yeah.
8:59:53 > 8:59:56# Meaningless songs
8:59:56 > 9:00:00# In very high voices
9:00:00 > 9:00:03# In a pair of tight
9:00:03 > 9:00:06# Gold jeans... #
9:00:06 > 9:00:08So, what was Radio Active?
9:00:08 > 9:00:11Well, Radio Active was born here at the Edinburgh Festival
9:00:11 > 9:00:14when we were still at college, when we were still at university,
9:00:14 > 9:00:17and it was a show that was based in a local radio station,
9:00:17 > 9:00:22so it was a parody, initially, of a radio show.
9:00:22 > 9:00:24- Don Tipley, the programme so far, have you enjoyed it?- Yes, it's fun.
9:00:24 > 9:00:27And the meal in the canteen beforehand, Sally Mason,
9:00:27 > 9:00:29- was that a good idea? - Yes, it was lovely.
9:00:29 > 9:00:31- Malcolm Grace, my wife, is she a nice woman?- Charming.
9:00:31 > 9:00:34- Don Tipley, did you like my wife? - I thought she was very nice.
9:00:34 > 9:00:36Yes, she was once described by my mother as a venomous slut.
9:00:36 > 9:00:39So I thought, today, because you had your scripts in your hands,
9:00:39 > 9:00:41it's because you didn't know it yet.
9:00:41 > 9:00:42- Right! No.- No?
9:00:42 > 9:00:44When you record a radio programme...
9:00:44 > 9:00:47- Ah!- ..Richard, you don't actually need to learn the lines...
9:00:47 > 9:00:49- I see. I've got it now. - ..because no-one's filming you.
9:00:49 > 9:00:52- I thought it was because it was your first show.- No.
9:00:52 > 9:00:55You must have been very confused for most of the show.
9:00:55 > 9:00:58We've had a large number of letters concerning political bias
9:00:58 > 9:01:00in our current-affairs output.
9:01:00 > 9:01:02Now, to show how seriously we take these allegations,
9:01:02 > 9:01:05here to answer them in the studio is our head of carpets.
9:01:05 > 9:01:08Tell me, do you have any reason to think these allegations are true?
9:01:08 > 9:01:09- No.- No? Splendid.
9:01:09 > 9:01:11Well, moving on, then.
9:01:11 > 9:01:14And Geoffrey Perkins and you wrote Radio Active.
9:01:14 > 9:01:16This show is a kind homage to him.
9:01:16 > 9:01:18In part, it is a tribute to Geoffrey, yeah,
9:01:18 > 9:01:21because he did write at least 50% of the show.
9:01:21 > 9:01:23And now before our next programme,
9:01:23 > 9:01:25here's a traffic report.
9:01:25 > 9:01:27Thank you, Anna.
9:01:27 > 9:01:30There's a two-mile tailback on the flyover caused by an accident.
9:01:30 > 9:01:32Pssh! Boom! Boof!
9:01:32 > 9:01:35- All the other cars screeching to a halt. - HE SCREECHES
9:01:35 > 9:01:37And people out running around, shouting, "Oh, my God,
9:01:37 > 9:01:39"there's been an accident."
9:01:39 > 9:01:41He had that Midas touch.
9:01:41 > 9:01:44It's astonishing, the number of shows that he's responsible for...
9:01:44 > 9:01:46- Yeah.- ..creating over the years.
9:01:46 > 9:01:50I mean, Spitting Image and Father Ted, Catherine Tate, Harry & Paul.
9:01:50 > 9:01:52I mean, the list is endless. He's much missed.
9:01:52 > 9:01:55Well, time fast running out. Don Tipley, how would you sum up
9:01:55 > 9:01:57Radio Active's output this week in a word?
9:01:57 > 9:01:59- Abysmal.- Abysmal. Sally Mason, do you think that's fair?
9:01:59 > 9:02:02I think it's positively generous in the circumstances.
9:02:02 > 9:02:03Positively generous. Malcolm Grace?
9:02:03 > 9:02:06- That wasn't a question.- Wasn't it? - No.- Oh, dear. My mind is going...
9:02:06 > 9:02:08Just going back to One Foot In The Grave,
9:02:08 > 9:02:11looking back on the series, the writing was incredibly surreal.
9:02:11 > 9:02:13- And very macabre as well.- Yeah.
9:02:13 > 9:02:15I think there was a very dark side to David Renwick.
9:02:15 > 9:02:18- Abdominal disorders. - LAUGHTER
9:02:18 > 9:02:20Abdominal disorders, where are we?
9:02:23 > 9:02:24My God.
9:02:24 > 9:02:26Colon tumour!
9:02:27 > 9:02:30Often, no symptoms in the early stages.
9:02:30 > 9:02:32That's exactly what I've got.
9:02:32 > 9:02:33LAUGHTER
9:02:33 > 9:02:35That was what was so great about it.
9:02:35 > 9:02:38I mean, it looked like a really kind of conventional sitcom,
9:02:38 > 9:02:41with a sofa, an old couple - middle-aged couple.
9:02:41 > 9:02:43Um... And, um...
9:02:43 > 9:02:45Because it's not. Scratch the surface,
9:02:45 > 9:02:48and it's quite sort of weird and mysterious a lot of the time,
9:02:48 > 9:02:49and quite dark.
9:02:49 > 9:02:51I think it was...
9:02:51 > 9:02:53I can't remember, one of the BBC people said,
9:02:53 > 9:02:57that David Renwick was the Beckett of sitcom.
9:02:59 > 9:03:02- There you are. - What did he mean by that?
9:03:02 > 9:03:04The silences.
9:03:04 > 9:03:06Like this one.
9:03:06 > 9:03:08LAUGHTER
9:03:15 > 9:03:17Afternoon!
9:03:18 > 9:03:21Were you very professional, or did you corpse a lot,
9:03:21 > 9:03:22I mean, working together?
9:03:22 > 9:03:26We had fun doing it but, actually, filming comedy, I hate to say,
9:03:26 > 9:03:28is a horribly serious business.
9:03:28 > 9:03:31Once you've actually read it for the first one or two times,
9:03:31 > 9:03:33- you sort of... you've got the jokes...- Yeah.
9:03:33 > 9:03:36..you've laughed at that, then recording it...
9:03:36 > 9:03:37- The trick is to make it funny.- Yeah.
9:03:37 > 9:03:40When did you become so close in real life?
9:03:40 > 9:03:43- We support the same football team.- We...
9:03:43 > 9:03:45SHE SNORES God...
9:03:45 > 9:03:48- Men and football, my favourite!- Yes.
9:03:49 > 9:03:51Some women...like football.
9:03:51 > 9:03:54- Yes, you support the same football team?- That linked us.
9:03:54 > 9:03:57- And we had a sort of similar sense of humour.- Yes.
9:03:57 > 9:04:00And I would arrange summer holidays and Richard would often turn up.
9:04:00 > 9:04:02- Freeloading?- Yeah...
9:04:02 > 9:04:04No, no, no, no! No, no!
9:04:04 > 9:04:07Angus used to organise these big holidays.
9:04:07 > 9:04:09And Richard was one of the invitees.
9:04:09 > 9:04:11Would you work together again?
9:04:11 > 9:04:14- No. Sorry, I said that too quickly. - Look at that...
9:04:14 > 9:04:16I'd have to think about it.
9:04:16 > 9:04:17I mean, the money would have to be huge.
9:04:17 > 9:04:19Yes, we'd work together again.
9:04:19 > 9:04:22If we got the right Hollywood blockbuster, then probably, yes.
9:04:22 > 9:04:24You would work together.
9:04:24 > 9:04:27I must say, this is the longest interview I've ever had.
9:04:27 > 9:04:29And it's just finishing! Thank you very much, indeed.
9:04:31 > 9:04:33Now, there are thousands of shows on all over the city
9:04:33 > 9:04:36and, obviously, we can't bring you every single one,
9:04:36 > 9:04:38so here's our pick of the productions
9:04:38 > 9:04:40that have been making waves this week.
9:04:40 > 9:04:45The International Festival kicked off in spectacular style,
9:04:45 > 9:04:49with 27,000 people attending Deep Time,
9:04:49 > 9:04:51an epic outdoor event at Edinburgh Castle.
9:04:51 > 9:04:55Music from Mogwai provided a soundtrack
9:04:55 > 9:04:56to awesome animations,
9:04:56 > 9:04:58which were projected on the castle walls,
9:04:58 > 9:05:00charting 350 million years
9:05:00 > 9:05:02of Edinburgh's history.
9:05:05 > 9:05:07CHEERING
9:05:09 > 9:05:12Two of Canada's most arresting art groups
9:05:12 > 9:05:14joined forces in Monumental,
9:05:14 > 9:05:15a dark, dystopian
9:05:15 > 9:05:17and almost deafening performance
9:05:17 > 9:05:20from dance company The Holy Body Tattoo,
9:05:20 > 9:05:24and post-rock collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
9:05:29 > 9:05:33At the Usher Hall, Barry Humphries transported his audience
9:05:33 > 9:05:35to the hedonism of Germany's Weimar Republic,
9:05:35 > 9:05:39with a subversive evening of jazz, tango and saucy sonatas,
9:05:39 > 9:05:43performed with cabaret sensation Meow Meow
9:05:43 > 9:05:45and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
9:05:45 > 9:05:47# Out of the ruins of Berlin. #
9:05:50 > 9:05:52In a rather more modest venue,
9:05:52 > 9:05:54a relay of performers, politicians and punters
9:05:54 > 9:05:57have begun what could become the longest performance
9:05:57 > 9:06:00in the history of the Edinburgh Fringe.
9:06:00 > 9:06:03Their continuous reading of all 2.6 million words
9:06:03 > 9:06:05of the Chilcot Report
9:06:05 > 9:06:08will run for as long as it takes - in a garden shed.
9:06:09 > 9:06:13"The report of the Iraq Inquiry, Volume One."
9:06:13 > 9:06:16Comedian Seymour Mace, who was shortlisted
9:06:16 > 9:06:19for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards at last year's Fringe,
9:06:19 > 9:06:21is on fine form again.
9:06:21 > 9:06:24Amusing and repulsing his audience in equal measure
9:06:24 > 9:06:26with his latest creation, Mannequin Hands.
9:06:26 > 9:06:28# Mannequin hands... #
9:06:28 > 9:06:31LAUGHTER AND GROANING
9:06:39 > 9:06:43And, as ever, a cast of world-class dance, circus and cabaret acts
9:06:43 > 9:06:45are taking to the air and making a splash,
9:06:45 > 9:06:49as the festival quite literally gets into full swing.
9:06:53 > 9:06:55The Glass Menagerie was the play
9:06:55 > 9:06:58that catapulted Tennessee Williams to fame.
9:06:58 > 9:07:02Now the International Festival is hosting the European premiere
9:07:02 > 9:07:04of the acclaimed Broadway production
9:07:04 > 9:07:06directed by the man of the moment, John Tiffany.
9:07:06 > 9:07:09It stars the Tony Award winning actress Cherry Jones,
9:07:09 > 9:07:13who plays the fading Southern belle Amanda Wingfield.
9:07:13 > 9:07:16And another thing, I am right at the end of my patience!
9:07:16 > 9:07:18What do you think I'm at the end of, Mother?
9:07:18 > 9:07:21Or aren't I supposed to have any patience to reach the end of?
9:07:21 > 9:07:24Now, I know, I know it seems unimportant to you,
9:07:24 > 9:07:26what I am doing and what I'm trying to do,
9:07:26 > 9:07:29having the difference between them. You don't think...?
9:07:29 > 9:07:31I think that you are doing things
9:07:31 > 9:07:33that you are ashamed of.
9:07:36 > 9:07:38The play focuses on mother Amanda's dreams
9:07:38 > 9:07:41of her son, Tom, finding the perfect gentleman caller
9:07:41 > 9:07:44for her shy and fragile daughter, Laura.
9:07:45 > 9:07:48This is the play that Tennessee Williams
9:07:48 > 9:07:49really comes to prominence with,
9:07:49 > 9:07:52and it's his only autobiographical play.
9:07:52 > 9:07:54Well, for him, it's an unsuccessful attempt
9:07:54 > 9:07:57to exorcise a guilt that he feels about what happened.
9:07:57 > 9:08:00He didn't see his sister Rose for four years
9:08:00 > 9:08:04as he was embarking on, you know, his career as a playwright.
9:08:04 > 9:08:05And during that time,
9:08:05 > 9:08:07Rose spiralled down
9:08:07 > 9:08:09and she had a lobotomy.
9:08:10 > 9:08:13And when he came back, she was kind of reduced,
9:08:13 > 9:08:16and it was all about his attempt
9:08:16 > 9:08:18to try and deal with the fact
9:08:18 > 9:08:21that he thought he had absolutely abandoned his sister, and his mum.
9:08:21 > 9:08:23It's a play made up of his memories.
9:08:23 > 9:08:26Trying to write, which he did.
9:08:26 > 9:08:27Drinking a lot, which he did.
9:08:27 > 9:08:30Pretending he was going to the movies,
9:08:30 > 9:08:32and we know what he did.
9:08:32 > 9:08:36And that often hasn't got any easier between gay men and their mothers.
9:08:36 > 9:08:40I don't believe you go every night to the movies.
9:08:40 > 9:08:43Nobody goes to the movies night after night!
9:08:43 > 9:08:45Nobody in their right mind
9:08:45 > 9:08:48goes to the movies as often as you pretend to.
9:08:48 > 9:08:51People don't go to the movies at nearly midnight.
9:08:51 > 9:08:53Movies don't let out at 2am.
9:08:53 > 9:08:57Come in stumbling, muttering to yourself like a maniac.
9:08:57 > 9:09:00You get three hours' sleep and then go to work.
9:09:00 > 9:09:03How did you two get together over The Glass menagerie, then?
9:09:03 > 9:09:05We were talking about Cherry's trip,
9:09:05 > 9:09:07recent trip back to Paris, Tennessee.
9:09:07 > 9:09:09This was five years ago,
9:09:09 > 9:09:11and as I started talking about my mother's letters,
9:09:11 > 9:09:15I guess my accent got deeper and deeper,
9:09:15 > 9:09:17further down south.
9:09:17 > 9:09:20And just out of nowhere, John said,
9:09:20 > 9:09:22"We're going to work together
9:09:22 > 9:09:24"and were going to do The Glass Menagerie."
9:09:24 > 9:09:26Because it is my favourite play,
9:09:26 > 9:09:28and I never thought I'd get to direct it,
9:09:28 > 9:09:29because I went into new plays,
9:09:29 > 9:09:32and it wasn't until I heard your voice, and I thought,
9:09:32 > 9:09:36"Am I going to get the opportunity to direct The Glass Menagerie
9:09:36 > 9:09:38"with real American actors,
9:09:38 > 9:09:41"and an Amanda who's actually from Tennessee?"
9:09:41 > 9:09:44And that's why I pursued you like a hound.
9:09:44 > 9:09:46Like a Yorkshire terrier.
9:09:47 > 9:09:50Because I thought, "This is my one chance."
9:09:50 > 9:09:52Is it because you're southern...
9:09:52 > 9:09:56that, actually, your portrayal of what often is a character
9:09:56 > 9:10:00who is derided as being nasty and overblown is very sympathetic?
9:10:00 > 9:10:04I am so glad people feel that way,
9:10:04 > 9:10:07particularly because I so admire her.
9:10:07 > 9:10:09Everything she has done
9:10:09 > 9:10:12her entire adult life
9:10:12 > 9:10:14has been for the care of those children.
9:10:14 > 9:10:18When sweet Tom is going on and on about the shoe factory,
9:10:18 > 9:10:23if he had one iota of a notion
9:10:23 > 9:10:26of what she has had to do and sacrifice
9:10:26 > 9:10:30just to feed them and keep them warm.
9:10:30 > 9:10:33You know, but she never lords that over them.
9:10:33 > 9:10:37No matter how much of a harridan some people think she is,
9:10:37 > 9:10:39she never says, "Do you know what I've done for you?
9:10:39 > 9:10:41- "Do you know how much I've sacrificed?"- Sacrificed.
9:10:41 > 9:10:45How dare you jeopardise your job?
9:10:45 > 9:10:47Jeopardise our security?
9:10:47 > 9:10:50How do you think we would manage without that job?
9:10:50 > 9:10:53Look, Mother, do you think I'm crazy about the warehouse?
9:10:53 > 9:10:56Do you think I am in love with the Continental Shoemakers?
9:10:56 > 9:10:59You think I want to spend 55 years of my life
9:10:59 > 9:11:03down there in that celotex interior, with fluorescent tubes?
9:11:03 > 9:11:06Honest to God, I'd rather somebody picked up a crowbar
9:11:06 > 9:11:09and battered out my brains than go back mornings!
9:11:09 > 9:11:11But I go. Sure, every time you come in in the morning
9:11:11 > 9:11:15yelling that bloody, "Rise and shine, rise and shine!"
9:11:15 > 9:11:18I think to myself how lucky dead people are, but I go.
9:11:18 > 9:11:23The play itself, when, you know, he wrote about the staging,
9:11:23 > 9:11:25it's very minimal,
9:11:25 > 9:11:29and that allowed you to explore what you like to do on a stage.
9:11:29 > 9:11:32I've discovered that the less you put to give an audience,
9:11:32 > 9:11:33the more they see.
9:11:33 > 9:11:37So I took everything away from you, didn't I?
9:11:37 > 9:11:38Every single prop I could.
9:11:38 > 9:11:41I mean, actually, Tennessee Williams took it all away from us,
9:11:41 > 9:11:44I just went further. He writes with this thing called plastic theatre,
9:11:44 > 9:11:47is the introduction to The Glass Menagerie, where he says, you know,
9:11:47 > 9:11:51"The ice cubes in the glass are the death of American theatre."
9:11:51 > 9:11:52Because what he wanted to do
9:11:52 > 9:11:55was conjure Amanda and Laura out of thin air,
9:11:55 > 9:11:57and so he did it with gauzes and lighting,
9:11:57 > 9:11:59so he was able to just make them appear.
9:11:59 > 9:12:00And, obviously,
9:12:00 > 9:12:04that's quite familiar now to theatre audiences as a technique.
9:12:04 > 9:12:08So I said, "Well, how do we conjure Amanda and Laura out of the set?"
9:12:08 > 9:12:10"Oh, well, I know how to do this."
9:12:10 > 9:12:13John said the first day of rehearsal, he said,
9:12:13 > 9:12:16"All I know is the women come out of the furniture."
9:12:16 > 9:12:18He said, "That's all I know, that's all I know."
9:12:18 > 9:12:21And I thought, "Well, that's a good place to start!"
9:12:25 > 9:12:28Here you are, on stage in Edinburgh,
9:12:28 > 9:12:30you know, getting great reviews,
9:12:30 > 9:12:34but a lot of people know you from...
9:12:34 > 9:12:36'the first woman President of the United States.'
9:12:36 > 9:12:39- 'Oh, the power of television!' - 'Allison Taylor. Exactly.'
9:12:39 > 9:12:41Putting American lives at risk
9:12:41 > 9:12:42is the hardest decision
9:12:42 > 9:12:44I've ever had to make.
9:12:44 > 9:12:46But it is one that has to be made.
9:12:47 > 9:12:50It was 2007, the primaries were going on,
9:12:50 > 9:12:54and they were so sure that Hillary was going to win the primary
9:12:54 > 9:12:59that they felt like they would be behind the times
9:12:59 > 9:13:00if they did not have a woman president,
9:13:00 > 9:13:05so I actually have Hillary to thank for getting that job.
9:13:05 > 9:13:08What do you think, though, is happening in America just now?
9:13:08 > 9:13:12The terrible dark shadow that's been over our country...
9:13:12 > 9:13:13for ever...
9:13:13 > 9:13:18has been given a wretched voice
9:13:18 > 9:13:21that suddenly gives permission
9:13:21 > 9:13:25for all that ignorance to bubble forth.
9:13:25 > 9:13:29And I have great faith
9:13:29 > 9:13:31in the country that,
9:13:31 > 9:13:36despite these dire poll numbers right now
9:13:36 > 9:13:40that show them ridiculously close,
9:13:40 > 9:13:46that he will get his bottom whooped.
9:13:46 > 9:13:49And he'll go back into his little Trump hole,
9:13:49 > 9:13:52never to be seen or heard from again.
9:13:53 > 9:13:56Of course, John, you're also the co-creator of the smash-hit show
9:13:56 > 9:13:58Harry Potter And The Cursed Child,
9:13:58 > 9:14:00which is currently running in the West End.
9:14:00 > 9:14:03So, what a trajectory you've had, from studying Drama and Classics
9:14:03 > 9:14:06at Glasgow University, to the Traverse, to Paines Plough,
9:14:06 > 9:14:08to the National Theatre of Scotland, Broadway, musicals,
9:14:08 > 9:14:11how many awards!
9:14:11 > 9:14:13Years of Black Watch.
9:14:13 > 9:14:17And what's brought you back to Scotland now?
9:14:17 > 9:14:20Well, I mean, Scotland is my kind of home.
9:14:20 > 9:14:24I suppose my heart's in Glasgow, but it all began in Edinburgh.
9:14:24 > 9:14:26And when Fergus Linehan,
9:14:26 > 9:14:28the director of the EIF,
9:14:28 > 9:14:30phoned me up last year and said,
9:14:30 > 9:14:33"Would you bring your production of Glass Menagerie
9:14:33 > 9:14:34"to the Festival?"
9:14:34 > 9:14:36my heart did so many somersaults.
9:14:36 > 9:14:39Me and Tennessee had a bourbon that night.
9:14:39 > 9:14:41And I said, "Are we doing it?" He went, "Mm-hmm."
9:14:44 > 9:14:46Each summer, the Edinburgh Art Festival puts on
9:14:46 > 9:14:48an eclectic mix of exhibitions.
9:14:48 > 9:14:51This year, there's everything from Impressionist masterpieces
9:14:51 > 9:14:52at the National Gallery of Scotland,
9:14:52 > 9:14:54to site-specific installations
9:14:54 > 9:14:57in some very unexpected spaces.
9:14:57 > 9:14:59The crime writer Ian Rankin
9:14:59 > 9:15:00joined me to inspect a show
9:15:00 > 9:15:03which puts a dark spin on the Scottish Enlightenment.
9:15:03 > 9:15:06But first, two new commissions
9:15:06 > 9:15:09which commemorate the centenary of World War I.
9:15:14 > 9:15:17Until recently, the MV Fingal,
9:15:17 > 9:15:19a former Northern Lighthouse board ship,
9:15:19 > 9:15:21was just a leaden lump of metal.
9:15:24 > 9:15:29But now it's been transformed into a modern-day interpretation
9:15:29 > 9:15:30of a World War I dazzle ship,
9:15:30 > 9:15:34by the Turner Prize nominated artist Ciara Phillips.
9:15:37 > 9:15:40Dazzle ships were developed by the British Navy
9:15:40 > 9:15:42as a way of bewildering the Germans
9:15:42 > 9:15:45with contrasting patterns designed to make ships hard to target.
9:15:47 > 9:15:49The designs were devised by a team of women
9:15:49 > 9:15:54under the watchful eye of maritime artist Norman Wilkinson.
9:15:57 > 9:15:59Ciara Phillips' ship is called Every Woman,
9:15:59 > 9:16:04and its painting was also largely carried out by female artists.
9:16:04 > 9:16:06I worked as a scenic artist,
9:16:06 > 9:16:09and a lot of scenic artists are women,
9:16:09 > 9:16:11so it was just natural
9:16:11 > 9:16:15that the team developed as all women.
9:16:15 > 9:16:19The cat is basically a floating scaffold tower.
9:16:19 > 9:16:21We used the cat all the way through.
9:16:21 > 9:16:24We had poles, four-inch rollers on a pole -
9:16:24 > 9:16:27that was how the ship was painted.
9:16:27 > 9:16:29There was something really intimate about it,
9:16:29 > 9:16:33this enormous sort of cliff of a ship
9:16:33 > 9:16:35towering up against you like this.
9:16:35 > 9:16:37And then you're there with a roller,
9:16:37 > 9:16:39and there's something very intimate.
9:16:39 > 9:16:42It was amazing to have this experience.
9:16:42 > 9:16:44I feel very moved coming back, seeing it.
9:16:47 > 9:16:50World War I was the first truly global conflict
9:16:50 > 9:16:53involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers
9:16:53 > 9:16:54from across the British Empire.
9:16:56 > 9:16:58But the contribution of colonial troops
9:16:58 > 9:17:00has often been overlooked.
9:17:03 > 9:17:07Pakistani artist Bani Abidi's sound installation
9:17:07 > 9:17:09in the Old Royal High School
9:17:09 > 9:17:13gives a voice to the Indian soldiers who fought in the war.
9:17:13 > 9:17:16The title is A Memorial To Lost Words,
9:17:16 > 9:17:18because I'm looking in particular
9:17:18 > 9:17:20at letters that were written
9:17:20 > 9:17:22by the Indian soldiers to their families,
9:17:22 > 9:17:24and were censored and never made it back home.
9:17:24 > 9:17:28And songs that were sung by women in villages in India,
9:17:28 > 9:17:32that were unsung after the war.
9:17:32 > 9:17:35So, um...
9:17:35 > 9:17:38Yeah, so it's a dialogue of two songs,
9:17:38 > 9:17:40three women's voices and a single male voice.
9:17:43 > 9:17:46I was really interested in the emotions that were being censored,
9:17:46 > 9:17:47which could not be shared,
9:17:47 > 9:17:50because they were telling people to not come to this war.
9:17:56 > 9:17:57So you have the male voice,
9:17:57 > 9:17:59and then you have women's voices
9:17:59 > 9:18:02who are actually singing a folk song from that period,
9:18:02 > 9:18:05which is telling the menfolk to come back home,
9:18:05 > 9:18:07and what it is to have lost them.
9:18:07 > 9:18:09So they are the very sort of lost voices
9:18:09 > 9:18:12of what happens to the families and women who were left behind,
9:18:12 > 9:18:16so it's... In multiple ways, it's absolutely unheard-of songs,
9:18:16 > 9:18:18and the songs of dissent.
9:18:26 > 9:18:28The aftermath of the Second World War
9:18:28 > 9:18:32is the starting point for the Dovecot Gallery's exhibition
9:18:32 > 9:18:34The Scottish Endarkenment.
9:18:35 > 9:18:37It suggests Scottish art
9:18:37 > 9:18:40took a darkward turn post-1945.
9:18:42 > 9:18:44The works on display deal with themes
9:18:44 > 9:18:45such as psychological conflict,
9:18:45 > 9:18:47sexual prejudice and social tension.
9:18:49 > 9:18:53So, who better to explore this survey of the Scottish psyche with
9:18:53 > 9:18:57than crime writer and art collector Ian Rankin.
9:18:57 > 9:18:58So what do you think of the idea
9:18:58 > 9:19:00of actually framing an art exhibition
9:19:00 > 9:19:02around the opposite of enlightenment?
9:19:02 > 9:19:04Well, usually, you think of the writers.
9:19:04 > 9:19:07You think of people dealing with the darker side of human nature,
9:19:07 > 9:19:09you tend to think of the writers rather than the painters.
9:19:09 > 9:19:12So it's really interesting to see if this exhibition manages
9:19:12 > 9:19:15to bring across that notion that artists as well as writers
9:19:15 > 9:19:19have always had an interest in the darker side of human existence.
9:19:19 > 9:19:22So, when we start to look around here,
9:19:22 > 9:19:24then, looking straight at
9:19:24 > 9:19:26this incredibly arresting canvas,
9:19:26 > 9:19:28this was an artist's response
9:19:28 > 9:19:31to being in a concentration camp
9:19:31 > 9:19:34and thinking that she would never be able to paint anything.
9:19:34 > 9:19:36Yeah, and I think she's done a terrific job.
9:19:36 > 9:19:38I mean, I've visited Auschwitz only once.
9:19:38 > 9:19:40I know this isn't Auschwitz, but when you go there,
9:19:40 > 9:19:42the scale is almost unbelievable.
9:19:42 > 9:19:44You really can't take it in.
9:19:44 > 9:19:47Until you go into the museum and you see the glass cases
9:19:47 > 9:19:51full of suitcases, full of shoes, full of spectacles, full of hair.
9:19:51 > 9:19:52And then it humanises it,
9:19:52 > 9:19:55because you can focus on one shoe or one pair of shoes,
9:19:55 > 9:19:57and you go, "That was a human, that was a person."
9:19:57 > 9:20:01What really strikes me about this is that they're all women's shoes.
9:20:01 > 9:20:03Look at that beautiful orange shoe down there,
9:20:03 > 9:20:05the pink shoe, the lilac shoe.
9:20:05 > 9:20:07It reminds me a little bit of Schindler's List,
9:20:07 > 9:20:09where there's suddenly a little burst of red
9:20:09 > 9:20:10in this black-and-white movie,
9:20:10 > 9:20:12because when you think of the death camps,
9:20:12 > 9:20:14you often think of them in kind of sepia tones,
9:20:14 > 9:20:18and suddenly to get a little sharp reminder of the colourfulness
9:20:18 > 9:20:21of human activity and human life
9:20:21 > 9:20:23makes it the more powerful, I think.
9:20:25 > 9:20:28I think your eye is taken completely by the Bellany,
9:20:28 > 9:20:29don't you think?
9:20:29 > 9:20:31Yeah. I mean, I love Bellany, anyway.
9:20:31 > 9:20:34I love his use of colour and his composition.
9:20:34 > 9:20:36John Bellany's Ettrick Shepherd painting
9:20:36 > 9:20:38was directly inspired
9:20:38 > 9:20:39by Scots author James Hogg's
9:20:39 > 9:20:42Confessions Of A Justified Sinner.
9:20:42 > 9:20:44To actually take on a literary author,
9:20:44 > 9:20:47- but it's actually John Bellany's face, isn't it?- It is.
9:20:47 > 9:20:50- It's John Bellany's face! - It certainly is John Bellany's face.
9:20:50 > 9:20:53But the sheep are amazing. They look actually quite bloodied.
9:20:55 > 9:20:58And then you've got this quiet corner of the exhibition,
9:20:58 > 9:21:01and then you've got an Alison Watt, and you think,
9:21:01 > 9:21:03well, I can properly stand here and we can actually relax...
9:21:03 > 9:21:07look at this, and not worry about
9:21:07 > 9:21:08what it actually is.
9:21:08 > 9:21:10Yeah, but the reason it's in here is, I mean,
9:21:10 > 9:21:12for two reasons, I guess.
9:21:12 > 9:21:13One is light and shade.
9:21:13 > 9:21:15There's a lot of light and darkness in that painting.
9:21:15 > 9:21:17There's a lot of blackness in Alison's paintings.
9:21:17 > 9:21:19It could be a shroud. It could be a shroud.
9:21:19 > 9:21:21And so there's also that possibility.
9:21:21 > 9:21:23But with Alison Watt, you can, you know, I mean,
9:21:23 > 9:21:25- some people think her paintings are very erotic.- Yeah.
9:21:25 > 9:21:28- I don't know if you find that. - I do sometimes.
9:21:28 > 9:21:31I think, is that an arm with a breast underneath?
9:21:31 > 9:21:34It could be a snowy crevice going into a cave.
9:21:34 > 9:21:36So, do you think the idea of
9:21:36 > 9:21:39kind of putting an exhibition together on endarkenment works?
9:21:39 > 9:21:41It's not like putting an exhibition together
9:21:41 > 9:21:43on Surrealism or on Impressionism.
9:21:43 > 9:21:46It's a kind of really deep philosophical idea, endarkenment.
9:21:46 > 9:21:48Well, it is, it's also a very loose idea,
9:21:48 > 9:21:50and you could look around here and say,
9:21:50 > 9:21:51"I don't see how that fits,
9:21:51 > 9:21:53"quite fits in, or how that artist fits in."
9:21:53 > 9:21:55But it is a chance to see some fantastic artists
9:21:55 > 9:21:58at the top of their game, from the 20th and the 21st century.
9:21:58 > 9:22:00So take that on board first,
9:22:00 > 9:22:01see some amazing art
9:22:01 > 9:22:03and think about some of the themes,
9:22:03 > 9:22:05because every artist approaches it in a very different way.
9:22:10 > 9:22:12That's just about all for this show.
9:22:12 > 9:22:14I'll be back next Saturday,
9:22:14 > 9:22:17when I'll be talking to Man Booker prize-winner James Kelman
9:22:17 > 9:22:18about his new novel.
9:22:18 > 9:22:21Sigur Ros sits alongside Schubert
9:22:21 > 9:22:24as the International Festival takes a new musical direction,
9:22:24 > 9:22:28and we'll be feeling the love which is all around town this year.
9:22:28 > 9:22:31But tonight, we play you out with Hollywood star Alan Cumming,
9:22:31 > 9:22:33who's back on home turf
9:22:33 > 9:22:37to sing a selection of seductive and sappy songs at The Hub,
9:22:37 > 9:22:39every night until 27th August.
9:22:39 > 9:22:41Goodnight.
9:22:41 > 9:22:42# Tell me
9:22:42 > 9:22:47# Why
9:22:49 > 9:22:51# Tell me
9:22:51 > 9:22:55# Why
9:22:59 > 9:23:01# I may be mad I may be blind
9:23:01 > 9:23:04# I may be viciously unkind
9:23:04 > 9:23:10# But I can still read what you're thinking
9:23:10 > 9:23:12# Oooh
9:23:15 > 9:23:18# And I've heard it said too many times
9:23:18 > 9:23:20# That you would be better off Besides
9:23:20 > 9:23:24# Why can't you see this boat is sinking
9:23:26 > 9:23:27# This boat is sinking
9:23:32 > 9:23:35# Let's go down to the water's edge
9:23:35 > 9:23:40# And we can cast away those doubts
9:23:40 > 9:23:43# Some things are better left unsaid
9:23:43 > 9:23:46# But they still turn me inside out
9:23:48 > 9:23:51# Turn me inside out
9:23:52 > 9:23:55# Turn me inside out
9:23:55 > 9:23:57# Tell me
9:23:57 > 9:24:01# Why
9:24:04 > 9:24:05# Tell me
9:24:05 > 9:24:10# Why
9:24:13 > 9:24:15# This is the book I've never read
9:24:15 > 9:24:17# These are the words I've never said
9:24:17 > 9:24:19# This is the path I'll never tread
9:24:19 > 9:24:21# These are the dreams I'll dream instead
9:24:21 > 9:24:23# This is the joy that's seldom spread
9:24:23 > 9:24:25# These are the tears The tears we shed
9:24:25 > 9:24:27# This is the fear This is the dread
9:24:27 > 9:24:29# These are the contents of my head
9:24:29 > 9:24:31# And these are the years that we have spent
9:24:31 > 9:24:33# And this is what they represent
9:24:33 > 9:24:35# Do you know how I feel?
9:24:35 > 9:24:37# Cos I don't think you know how I feel
9:24:37 > 9:24:39# This is the book I've never read
9:24:39 > 9:24:41# These are the words I've never said
9:24:41 > 9:24:43# This is the path I'll never tread
9:24:43 > 9:24:45# These are the dreams I'll dream instead
9:24:45 > 9:24:48# This is the joy that's seldom spread
9:24:48 > 9:24:49# These are the tears The tears we shed
9:24:49 > 9:24:51# This is the fear This is the dread
9:24:51 > 9:24:56# These are the contents of my head. #