Examination time can be stressful: waking up at 7.20 every morning to reserve a seat in the library like a keen tourist armed with a towel with the goal of a sunbed, eating a collection of Sainsbury’s meal deals and occasional mental breakdowns with your library pals (who, just to clarify, you don’t actually know, but consider them your friends because you now see them more than your flatmates). It’s hideous. It’s important to de-stress, so in true Culture fashion, here is a compilation of ideas for alternative entertainment, just to keep you sane. And remember: it’s culture, so therefore educational, so one could argue that you are technically revising. You’re welcome.
1. Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The 1960’s version is a Sunday classic: Hepburn, New York, and that ever-so-romantic love story. The King’s Theatre are hosting a production from the 30th May to the 4th June.
2. Chicago. A musical classic. If the 1920s American nightclub scene isn’t a good distraction, then I’m unsure what is. Head to the Edinburgh Playhouse between thr 13th and 18th June.
3. Visit the Ingleby Gallery’s ‘No Man’s Land’ by Kevin Harman. His exhibition has managed a synthesis of Pollock, Monet and Turner. It’s on until the 21st May.
4. Sara Barker has produced an exhibition at the Fruitmarket that blends steel, aluminium, brass and glass to create. The exhibition closes on the 30th May.
5. If you feel like you’ve reached the end, read some dystopia novels. The Handmaid’s Tale is always a crowd pleaser, with the marriage of feminism and dystopia… What’s not to love? If you’re fancying a less gendered text, Huxley’s Brave New World is a good alternative, sure to distract you from revision pains.
6. Have a ponder at the Scottish Poetry Library’s cafe, just off Canongate. The Library also holds regular events on Thusdays and weekends, so do research what events are on by using the City of Literature’s site.