Dental Dean Update — Fringe Events

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16 August 2024

RCSEd Communications Team

As I write this blog at the beginning of August, the College campus in Edinburgh has a very different feel to the average day. Indeed, on driving into Edinburgh this morning, the roads were much quieter than normal, with some of my usual routes blocked off and temporary billboards almost everywhere across the city. Edinburgh has a different vibe today and the usual buzz of people going to work has been replaced by a more leisurely, but no less busy atmosphere.

The Dental Dean’s office looks out over the College gardens towards Nicolson Street and this morning, as I work at my desk, the gardeners have cut the grass, tidied the shrubs and the flower beds look resplendent. Café 1505 has some new outdoor benches and around the College, other places for socialising having been assembled in the last few weeks. The College also has a very different feel today.

When I am working from the Dental Dean’s office, I am struck by the number of people who come to the museum each day and also those who come into the College grounds for a general look around. Many visitors have their photo taken at the “Your Next Breath” memorial statues and take some time for contemplation in the serenity of the College gardens. There are also the many staff and volunteers who to and from around the buildings in relation to College business. However, today's visitors, and those who will visit over the next few weeks are somewhat different. In addition to the usual tourists, the variety of people checking and double checking both arrangements and facilities in and around the College today is notable. Last-minute preparations are also being put in place across the city.

It is the time of year where Edinburgh welcomes the various festivals to town including the International Festival, the Royal Military Tattoo, the art, book and film festivals as well as the Fringe. Every year, the College through Surgeons’ Hall becomes a venue for the Fringe. The Fringe began in 1947 and since then, has grown to become bigger than its sister International Festival with many popular artists having started their career at Fringe events. Quite simply, the Fringe has become the world’s largest arts festival and is renowned for the quality of performers across the globe. I like to savour some unusual events every year and spending time at the Fringe to unwind. There is something for everyone with cabaret, theatre, music, drama, comedy, spoken word, children’s shows and just about all forms of art performed at Surgeons’ Hall and across the other venues in the city over the four weeks of the Fringe. The alternative side to the arts has now become mainstream, and I thought it would be interesting to delve into ‘fringe dentistry’ as part of this month’s blog. There are several acts involved in the Fringe this year with dental connections.

One of the performances at Surgeons’ Hall this year is a theatre play called “Timeless”. Inspired by a true story, the main character, Martin went to the dentist a decade ago but since then Martin has a problem, he cannot make new memories. Every morning he wakes up it is 2008. The play is an amusing but also disturbing account of the impact of memory problems on Martin’s whole family. Dental floss features in “Pygmy Twylyte”, a rock & jazz show billed as a smorgasbord of Frank Zappa’s music, but along with the essential dental hygiene, pickles, poodles, snowballs and stinky feet also feature. I’m not so sure this random collection has any significance, but I will be interested to read the reviews even if I can’t make it. On a more serious note, there is a spoken word show “Land o’paracetamol” which is all about the drug we all know. Early on in the show’s promotional material, paracetamol is mentioned in relation to dental pain, and the text goes on the mention the facts around paracetamol overdoses. It is an educational show, and will be of value to those who go to see it. Hopefully the performer will mention the need for dental prevention to avoid the problems of dental pain in the first place.

For the equine among us, there is the show “Do horses have teeth, Sir”. This is an audience-participation show for those who like being part of the act, with a strong theme of horses throughout, but also moths, mathematics and myths. As you can imagine with a participating show, it is likely to be a stimulating experience based around the principle of provoking the audience to think more deeply about seemingly mundane questions in life.

A theatre play titled “Milk Teeth” might sound appealing to our Paediatric Dentists, and whilst I am sorry to disappoint, the show is actually about an adult who is going through psychological therapy and buys a baby doll to reconnect with her inner child. From the point of opening the box, the main character, Zenab feels a strange connection to the baby doll. The play is not really about deciduous teeth, but focuses on lost love, motherhood and loneliness.

Comedy features highly at the Edinburgh Fringe and there are two comedy shows with a tangent to the oral cavity. “Grubby Little Mitts: Eyes Closed, Mouths Open” is a sketch show using slapstick, absurdism and humour to amplify normal life and through rapid speech, musical interludes and unusual props, their show is billed as “chaotic”. Finally, at an even greater tangent, “Neil By Mouth” is a comedy show by the international performer, Neil Delamere who tells tall tales, and with sharp observations and improvisations, provides the audience with non-stop entertainment on television comedy shows, the stage and the internet. Neither of the comedies are really about dentistry, but are likely to be good fun.

There are a whole host of surgical and medical themed shows as well, from comedy including Comedians’ Surgery, through to the serious plays including “Frontlines and lifelines: an army doctor in crisis and war” with everything in between, with shows such as Doctor Fraustus, St Doctor’s Hospital and even Willy Wonka and the Doctor Factory to entertain.

So, there are lots of dental and surgical references across the Edinburgh Fringe this year and it will not disappoint. My only difficulty is due to clinical and College commitments, I will only be able to engage in a small part of the Fringe, but I will enjoy the experience nevertheless, and will hopefully find out if horses have teeth along with some comedy.

I am always keen to hear from the Faculty, so please get in touch dental@rcsed.ac.uk.

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