And on the 7th Day...
I rested. But before we get to that point - which let's be honest (even grudgingly) wasn't even on the 7th day - I have one more show to tell you about.
The Sake - 3.5 Stars
In three words: Lovely little tipple
Highlight: Unexpected punk rock
Anyone who has an interest in the weird and wonderful Japanese culture should take the night off and take a short visit to the New Town Theatre for a quick glass of The Sake, brought to the Edinburgh Fringe by DEN entertainment. I was lucky enough to visit Japan many years ago (13 years ago actually... F**K!!!) so this show poured out a delightful stream of nostalgia.
The concept is relatively simple: the story of sake making through a mix of traditional dance and aerial performance. This idea could have quite easily been on the wrong side of artsy and pretentious - another one of theatre's deadly sins in my book. The Sake manages to cheerily avoid falling into this trap and gives us a tongue-in-cheek show that doesn't take itself too seriously. 
The show is hosted by the Toji (Sake Master) who brings unexpected humour and a cheekiness that is extremely welcome and sets the tone of the evening. Though not exactly fresh material, his comedic comments about the "useful" phrases found in language books do raise genuine laughs throughout the audience. Notably, comments about the Japanese Prime Minister's last election (you'll either have to see it or really think about that one) and his demonstration of his skills with a samurai sword stick in my mind.
With its mix of traditional and abstract costuming we are taken through the sake-making seasons. Multimedia screens, which echo Japanese ink paintings, and rock music (played live on stage by amazing punk rock style Japanese musicians) make the perfect background for daring aerial performances. Generally... I thought it was just lovely. It's not going to be the most polished thing I'm going to see this year but it made me just want to run back to Japan - if I had any money and there weren't a lot of water in the way (also running!). An authentic feeling Japanese experience for a one hundredth of the cost of the plane ticket. Now, who can argue with that?
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