Issue 742 by List Publishing Ltd

BRIDGET CHRISTIE NASTY WOMEN

LOST IN FRANCE

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MARC ALMOND HITS AND PIECES – THE GREATEST HITS TOUR

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FRONT

CONTENTS

Realist

appy February folks. Or ‘filmy February’ as we’ve taken to calling it: this issue is packed with film highlights for the month and more. Of course, there’s the barnstorming, fist-pumping sequel to Trainspotting (read our T2 review on page 58). But it’s also Glasgow Film Festival time; head to page 17 for our pick of this year’s gems, including music extravaganza Lost in France, opener Handsome Devil, and our cover film, the Academy Award-nominated My Life as a Courgette (though those Oscar people have it down as ‘Zucchini’, naturally). Talking of the Academy Awards, we’re big fans of nominees Moonlight (review on page 59), Loving (page 58), Toni Erdmann (page 60), Hidden Figures (page 58) and Elle (page 62). In February, it’s also the Edinburgh Student Arts Festival, now in its third year: see our highlights for 2017 on page 36. In March, the Glasgow International Comedy Festival comes along, with a chance to see brand new shows as well as those Fringe sell-outs you may have failed to catch last August, like the wonderful Bridget Christie (page 28). And HippFest is back as well, with the best reason you’ll ever have to visit Bo’ness. Check out our profile of silent-film pioneer Nell Shipman on page 26, whose movie The Grub Stake opens the festival. Because even a century ago, women were making films too, y’know.

David Tennant

Bridget Christie

The Replacement

COVER STORY

T2 TRAINSPOTTING

NASTY WOMEN

BRIDGET CHRISTIE LOST IN FRANCE

GRANDADDY JOAN EARDLEY HIPPFEST

Bilson Eleven

AROUND TOWN

CLOSE UP WE ZOOM IN ON THE GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL

1 FEB–31 MAR 2017 | ISSUE 742

FREE

Highlights

BOOKS

Nasty Women

Leaving is My Colour

Highlights

PHOTO: LOUISE SPENCE

GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL

EDINBURGH STUDENT ARTS FESTIVAL

The laughs will be loud and long when the GICF gets rolling with the likes of Bridget Christie, Russell Howard, Sue Perkins, Richard Gadd and Reginald D Hunter doing their stand-up thing.

Proclaiming ‘creative people are changemakers’, ESAF returns with another feast of socially enterprising culture featuring visual art, workshops, gigs, performances and films.

Jon Ronson

Highlights

Edinburgh Iranian Festival

T2 Trainspotting

Moonlight

Highlights

KIDS

Monkey Business

Highlights

MUSIC

Pet Shop Boys

Nautilus Rising

Sampha

Highlights

Classical Highlights

THEATRE

Win tickets to The Winter’s Tale at Lyceum Theatre Win tickets to the Race for Space Live at Usher Hall

8 8

Win a family package to Kelburn Garden Party 9

Win tickets to Hay Fever at Citizens Theatre

Take Me Somewhere

Made in India

Highlights

VISUAL ART

Vote for your favourite restaurant and win a luxurious overnight stay for two at Gleneagles

Danza Contemporanea de Cuba

Mark Wallinger Mark

Joan Eardley

Highlights

GREAT OFFERS

Bianca Del Rio

list.co.uk

24: Legacy

Count Arthur Strong

FIRST & LAST

Sanjeev Kohli

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Audacious Women Festival

COMEDY

GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL Our cover stars are part of a movie which some critics say is among the finest stop-motion films ever. My Life as a Courgette is just one of the delights in the 12-day long GFF which, as ever, features the best of classic and contemporary cinema. Iconic movies such as Chinatown rub shoulders against Mad to Be Normal, with David Tennant starring as notorious Glasgow-born psychiatrist RD Laing, while Andrew ‘Moriarty’ Scott pops up in the opening gala film, Handsome Devil.

The Mountain Cafe

FILM

Plus

Lost in France

FOOD & DRINK

Editor

News

FEATURES

1 FEB–31 MAR 2017 | LIST.CO.UK

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GRAPHIC CONTENT

CONTRIBUTORS

What we’ve been talking about As the much-anticipated Trainspotting sequel hits its way through cinemas now (why it wasn’t subtitled ‘Radge of Honour’ is a total mystery), we thought long and hard about the best and worst follow-ups in cinema history. Would the super-delightful Toy Story franchise get a mention? Would Speed 2 be cited as appalling? And would the alwaysquoted Godfather 2 be namechecked? Yes, yes, and well, what do you think?

BEST SEQUELS TOY STORY 2 / TOY STORY3 Two magical films that you’d have to be a monster to hate. They both remind me of being little and wishing my toys would come to life just like Buzz, Woody and co.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II The 15-year-old forever trapped in my psyche can’t get enough of the John Woo fight sequences, gratuitous use of slow-motion and motorbike chases.

DAWN OF THE DEAD It’s the zombies again, only with added critique of mindless consumerism!

FAST & FURIOUS FIVE It turned a turgid boyracer farce into a Bondrivalling action franchise (I’m serious, btw).

THE GODFATHER PART 2 Because of the way it dramatises the terrible gulf between Vito, who for all his ruthlessness is all about loyalty to the people he cares about, and Michael, who’s all about everyone else’s loyalty to himself. It’s not just a sequel: it completes the first film.

CONTENT Editor-in-Chief Yasmin Sulaiman Senior Digital Editor Scott Henderson Head of Content Rowena McIntosh Deputy Head of Content Murray Robertson Senior Content Producer Alex Johnston Content Producers Henry Northmore, Kirstyn Smith, Louise Stoddart Subeditors Brian Donaldson, Paul McLean, Editorial Assistant Arusa Qureshi SECTION EDITORS Around Town / Music Kirstyn Smith Books / Film Scotland Yasmin Sulaiman Comedy / Front Brian Donaldson Dance / Kids Kelly Apter Film Reviews Emma Simmonds Food & Drink Donald Reid News Rebecca Monks TV Henry Northmore Theatre Gareth K Vile Visual Art Rachael Cloughton PRODUCTION Senior Designer Lucy Munro Designers Stuart Polson, Carys Tennant DIGITAL Senior Developer Andy Carmichael Senior Designer Sharon Irish Software Developer Iain McCusker Data Developer Andy Bowles COMMERCIAL Head of Account Management Chris Knox Senior Account Manager Debbie Thomson Account Manager Rachel Cree Sales Support Executive Jessica Rodgers Events and Promotions Assistant Arusa Qureshi Digital Business Development Director Brendan Miles Partnership Director Sheri Friers ADMINISTRATION Head of Accounting & HR Sarah Reddie Publisher Robin Hodge CEO Simon Dessain

Jobs at list.co.uk/jobs

WORST SEQUELS SPIDERMAN III Who thought giving Peter Parker an emo fringe would be a good idea?

ROBOCOP 3 The RoboCop films are a lesson in decreasing returns and the third part is an unredeemable travesty.

TITANIC II I’m not sure any terrible sequel can beat the atrocity that was directed by Dick Van Dyke’s grandson, Shane.

SPEED 2 It’s Speed, but on a ship. So . . . Slow, then.

We are looking for a Developer, an Account Manager, and an Affiliate Content Producer

THE MATRIX RELOADED / THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS They have the honour of being less considered and intelligent than the fan fiction which came out on the web after the first film.

Published by The List Ltd HEAD OFFICE: 14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE Tel: 0131 550 3050, Fax: 0131 557 8500, list.co.uk, email editor@list.co.uk GLASGOW OFFICE: at the CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD Tel: 0141 332 9929, glasgow@list.co.uk ISSN: 0959 - 1915 © 2017 The List Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without the written permission of the publishers. The List does not accept responsibility for unsolicited material. The List provides this content in good faith but no guarantee or representation is given that the content is accurate, complete or up-to-date. Use of magazine content is at your own risk. Printed by Acorn Web Offset Ltd, W.Yorkshire.

2 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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A toast to the honey bees. THANKS LITTLE GUYS, YOUR WORK LIVES ON.

K E E P Y O U R N I G H T A S S I M P L E A S Y O U R S E R V E . P L E A S E D R I N K R E S P O N S I B LY. ©2017 JACK DANIEL’S. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. JACK DANIEL’S AND TENNESSEE HONEY ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS.

1 Feb Fe F Feb–31 eb eb––31 31 3 1 Mar Mar 2 Ma 2017 017 01 017 7 THE TH T HE LI HE L LIST IST IST ST 3

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The

REALIST Y R A U R B E F

FILM

2 Glasgow Film Festival Another jam-packed collection of film glories comes to Glasgow. Alongside opener Handsome Devil and closer Mad to be Normal (starring David Tennant), the Sound and Vision strand features Lost in France (pictured), the story of Scotland’s vibrant 90s indie music scene. Plus, we’re partnering with GFF on their Modern Families strand, which includes Oscarnominated animation (and our cover) My Life as a Courgette. See feature, page 17. Various venues, Glasgow, Wed 15–Sun 26 Feb.

FILM

1 T2 TRAINSPOTTING One of the most highly-anticipated movie sequels of all time, director Danny Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge make it seem as though the key quartet of Sick Boy, Renton, Spud and Begbie have never been away. Loosely based on Irvine Welsh’s follow-up novel, Porno, friendship and betrayal are deep in the heart of this tale in which Edinburgh has never looked so lovely yet lurid. See review, page 58. Out now.

THEATRE

3 Manipulate The visual theatre festival produced by Puppet Animation Scotland offers up many highlights in its final days, including Jordan & Skinner’s Sanitise (pictured) and Pickled Image’s Coulrophobia. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sun 5 Feb.

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So much culture, so little time. We boil it down to 20 of the best events PHOTO: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

KIDS

FILM

4 Black Beauty

5 Moonlight

Anna Sewell’s classic tale is brought to vivid life by the Andys, Manley and Cannon, as they play the McCuddy brothers who are seriously down on their luck. But hope raises its head when they discover their mother’s copy of the titular book. See review at list.co.uk. Touring until Sun 19 Feb.

The Oscars have been dubbed as a fight between La La Land and Moonlight. And with good reason too – this is an unmissable film about a young black man growing up, with stunning turns from its superior cast and astute direction from Barry Jenkins. See review, page 59. General release from Fri 17 Feb.

MUSIC

VISUAL ART

AROUND TOWN

MUSIC

7 Alan Kitching

8 ESAF

9 Conor Oberst

Now that they’ve made lots of money, the West End boys can focus on wild live shows. A top evening is assured for fans seeing the Super tour. It would be a sin to miss it etc. See preview, page 69. Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, Tue 21 Feb; Edinburgh Playhouse, Wed 22 Feb.

A Life in Letterpress provides a major retrospective of this radical printmaker’s work covering the ways in which the Darlington-born Kitching blazed a quiet trail across six decades of typographical mastery. See review, page 92. The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Sun 5 Mar.

Named in 2016 as one of the country’s most innovative social enterprises, the Edinburgh Student Arts Festival returns, with performance, music, film, visual art and workshops all in this year’s mix. See feature, page 36. Various venues, Edinburgh, Thu 9 Feb–Fri 3 Mar.

The Nebraskan singer-songwriter, lead singer of Bright Eyes and Monsters of Folk member, brings an intimate performance of the complex angst-folk he’s been laying on the world since 1993. See Highlights, page 80. Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 3 Feb.

PHOTO: © JEREMY SUTTON-HIBBERT, GOVAN-KVAERNER, 1993, FROM THE SERIES ‘SHIPBUILDING’. COURTESY STREET LEVEL PHOTOWORKS

6 Pet Shop Boys

CHOSEN BY ARTIST CHRIS LESLIE

10 Shipbuilding

Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert’s Shipbuilding captures a moment in history at the Kvaerner shipyards in Govan. The photographs were taken in the early 1990s when the Clyde was still wellknown for building ships and it still had its huge cranes dominating the Glasgow skyline (sadly the cranes were demolished in 2014). Jeremy’s photographs offer an insight into the monumentality of this industry and the people who drove it. Shipbuilding is still very much a part of Govan today – the yard is still there, under a different name and company and it still employs a few thousand people – but nothing on the scale and physicality that these photographs document. The Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock is a hidden gem of a venue, with spectacular views over the Firth of Clyde. It’s a breath of fresh air to get out of the city sometimes and clear the head. And, of course, it’s the perfect place to view Jeremy’s photographs. Chris Leslie: Disappearing Glasgow, The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Sun 19 Feb; Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert: Shipbuilding, Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, until Sun 19 Feb. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 5

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H C R MA

COMEDY

1 Glasgow

International Comedy Festival

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

In these days of global uncertainty and mad wallbuilding, we all need a good laugh, right? Thankfully two and a half weeks of vast chuckling has been laid on by the GICF. The likes of Richard Gadd, Fern Brady, Bridget Christie and Larry Dean will be revisiting their 2016 Edinburgh Fringe triumphs while Russell Howard, Sue Perkins (pictured), Miles Jupp and Reginald D Hunter display their brand new wares. See feature, page 28. Various venues, Glasgow, Thu 9–Sun 26 Mar.

PHOTO: PHIL WILKINSON

KIDS

BOOKS

2 Monkey Business

3 Aye Write!

Enter the world of primates in this excellent exhibition full of sights and sounds (and interactive sections) which will let you experience lorises, lemurs and macaques as never before. There’s also a section on endangered species that will leave you sad and furious. See review, page 66. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, until Sun 23 Apr.

It’s another author-packed programme, as over 200 writers drop in to three venues for Aye Write! Among those attending are Ian Rankin, John Byrne (pictured), Jenni Murray, Peter Davison and Jackie Kay. There’s also a new music strand featuring Brix Smith Start and Tim Burgess called Aye Tunes! Of course. See Highlights, page 51. Various venues, Glasgow, Thu 9–Sun 19 Mar.

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The

REALIST PHOTO: THE OTHER RICHARD

THEATRE

FILM

VISUAL ART

4 Take Me Somewhere

5 Glasgow Short Film Festival

6 Joan Eardley

The Arches may no longer be a physical hub of Glasgow’s creative community, but its spirit lives on in this festival directed by incoming NTS director Jackie Wylie. Look out for triplethreatening Lucy McCormick (pictured), El Conde de Torrefiel and Panti. See preview, page 84. Various venues, Glasgow, Wed 22 Feb–Sat 11 Mar.

Running at CCA, Glasgow Film Theatre and the Joytown Grand Electric Theatre, the country’s biggest celebration of short film marks its tenth birthday with a programme featuring documentaries An Evening with Bukowski and Jazz is Our Religion. Various venues, Glasgow, Wed 15–Sun 19 Mar.

A Sense of Place incorporates the two elements which forged Eardley’s lauded status: the poverty in parts of post-war Glasgow and the tranquil landscapes of Catterline, a small fishing village near Stonehaven. See review, page 92. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Two, Edinburgh, until Sun 21 May. PHOTO: BRIAN HARTLEY

FILM

DANCE

FILM

7 HippFest

8 Scottish Dance Theatre

9 Elle

This annual celebration of silent cinema opens with 1923’s The Grub Stake, directed by and starring Nell Shipman. This pioneering female director’s lost reputation will hopefully now be uncovered and cherished. See feature, page 26. Hippodrome, Bo’ness, Wed 22–Sun 26 Mar.

Choreographers Botis Seva and Anton Lachky have their work laid on by Scottish Dance Theatre with pieces entitled, respectively, TuTuMucky and Dreamers. See preview, page 88. Dundee Rep, Fri 10 & Sat 11 Feb; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 3 & Sat 4 Mar.

Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven has divided opinion throughout his entire career but this new psychological thriller starring Isabelle Huppert (Oscar-nominated for the role) is as close to universal acclaim as it gets. See review, page 62. General release from Fri 10 Mar.

CHOSEN BY LOUD POETS’ KEVIN MCLEAN

PHOTO: CHRIS SCOTT

10 StAnza, Scotland’s Poetry Festival As a collective of spoken word artists, we’re particularly excited for StAnza’s series of Poetry Cafés. These events showcase the very best spoken word talent from across the UK and I personally can’t wait to see Katherine McMahon (left) and Stephen Watt. Katherine was one of the first poets I ever saw live and I was instantly captivated. She is a master of metaphor and quiet but powerful narratives. Stephen, on the other hand, embodies the punk spirit of John Cooper Clarke. His diversity of style and subject makes every performance he is a part of a unique and dynamic event. I am incredibly excited to see these two fantastic artists wow the audiences at StAnza. Make it Loud! workshop with Kevin Mclean and Katie Ailes, Town Hall, St Andrews, Sun 5 Mar; Loud Poets, Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Sun 5 Mar; Katherine McMahon and Stephen Watt, Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Thu 2 Mar; StAnza, various venues, St Andrews, Wed 1–Sun 5 Mar. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 7

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READER OFFERS WIN TICKETS TO THE WINTER’S TALE AT THE LYCEUM

The Lyceum returns to the Shakespearean canon with acclaimed director Max Webster (King Lear with Michael Pennington; Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare’s Globe) presenting a uniquely Scottish take on the bittersweet masterpiece, The Winter’s Tale. When King Leontes suspects his wife Hermione of adultery, his jealousy tears the kingdom apart. The queen is banished and believed dead, while their daughter Perdita is abandoned among simple shepherd folk. Passionate tragedy interweaves with pastoral comedy, leading to one of Shakespeare’s most magical and moving denouements. The cast includes Lyceum favourites Maureen Beattie (The Cherry Orchard), Frances Grey (Messiah, BBC); and John Michie (Taggart, seen recently in Grain in the Blood at the Traverse Theatre). This late, great play is performed by a talented company of actor musicians in a vibrant and lyrical production. The List are offering readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to see The Winter’s Tale at The Lyceum on 22 Feb 2017. To be in with a chance of winning, just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

What is the famous stage direction in The Winter’s Tale? The Winter’s Tale Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh Fri 10 Feb – Sat 4 Mar 2017

lyceum.org.uk @lyceumtheatre

WIN TICKETS TO THE RACE FOR SPACE LIVE AT USHER HALL

‘Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship, I marvelled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty – not destroy it!’ – Yuri Gargarin, first man in space. Join Edinburgh International Science Festival on Yuri’s Night (12 Apr) – the international celebration of human endeavour in space – as corduroyclad London-based outfit Public Service Broadcasting perform their hit album The Race for Space from start to finish. With accompaniment from the National Youth Choir of Scotland and string quintet Mr McFall’s Chamber, this very special evening will bring stories and samples from the American and Soviet space race to life before your eyes and ears. PSB’s uniquely spellbinding live AV transmissions see them weave samples from old public information films, archive footage and propaganda material around live drums, guitar, banjo and electronics as they teach the lessons of the past through the music of the future. The evening will begin with the brains behind Public Service Broadcasting – J. Willgoose Esq – in conversation with science-obsessed comedian and broadcaster Helen Keen, discussing the making of the album and the fascinating tales of the space race that inspired it. The List have teamed up with the Edinburgh International Science Festival to give away five pairs of tickets to the gig. To be in with a chance of winning, just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

When is Yuri’s Night? The Race for Space Live Usher Hall Lothian Rd Edinburgh, EH1 2EA Wed 12 Apr, 7.30pm

sciencefestival.co.uk @EdSciFest TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Wed 15 Feb 2017. Tickets are non-exchangeable or non-refundable. The List’s usual rules apply.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Wed 1 Mar 2017. Offer has no cash value and cannot be refunded or exchanged. The List’s usual rules apply.

8 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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READER OFFERS WIN A FAMILY PACKAGE FOR THE KELBURN GARDEN PARTY 2017

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE RESTAURANT AND WIN A LUXURIOUS OVERNIGHT STAY FOR TWO AT GLENEAGLES

The Kelburn Garden Party is a beautifully formed music festival set in the stunning surroundings of the 13th-century Kelburn Castle near Largs. The festival features a diverse and quality music programme as well as unrivalled attractions for kids and adults, such as the Secret Forest Project, The Neverending Glen Art Trail, dedicated kids areas, workshops and games. The List are offering two lucky readers the opportunity to win a family package for Kelburn Garden Party 2017, which includes a pair of adult tickets and a pair of kids tickets. To be in with a chance of winning, just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

What century was Kelburn Castle built? Kelburn Garden Party Kelburn Castle, North Ayrshire, KA29 0BE Fri 30 Jun – Mon 3 Jul

kelburngardenparty.com @kelburnparties TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Wed 1 Mar 2017. Offer has no cash value and cannot be refunded or exchanged. The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN TICKETS TO HAY FEVER AT THE CITIZENS THEATRE At the rural retreat of the eccentric Bliss family, retired actress Judith is learning the names of all the flowers in the garden, her children are speculating about her possible return to the stage, while their father David is upstairs trying to finish his new novel. Each has invited a guest for the weekend and as the party settles, the hapless visitors rapidly find themselves characters in the Bliss’s self-made melodrama. Revelation, romance and outrageous behaviour set the tone of Noël Coward’s 1920s’ comedy Hay Fever, which is directed by Dominic Hill, exploring the games people play to avoid the realities of everyday existence. The List are giving away six pairs of tickets to see Hay Fever on Tue 11 Apr at 7.30pm. To be in with a chance of winning, just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

Who directs Hay Fever? Hay Fever Citizens Theatre 119 Gorbals St Glasgow, G5 9DS Wed 5 – Sat 22 Apr

citz.co.uk @citizenstheatre

A celebration of the best restaurants in Glasgow and Edinburgh is underway with the The List’s Reader Award in 2017 and we need your vote. The List’s Reader Award in association with Birra Moretti will be presented to the restaurant that receives the most online votes from our readers. The winning restaurants will be announced at our Eating & Drinking Guide Awards in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Birra Moretti have partnered with The List to support food and drink in Scotland, helping to promote the businesses and products making a difference to Scotland’s rich gastronomic culture since 2009. To vote, just log on to list.co.uk/readerward before 1 Apr 2017 and you could win a glorious overnight stay at Gleneagles which includes a sumptuous three-course dinner for two, breakfast and a voucher towards an activity. @thelistmagazine #ListReaderAward For full terms & conditions, visit list.co.uk/readeraward

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Mon 3 Apr 2017. Offer has no cash value and cannot be refunded or exchanged. The List’s usual rules apply.

1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 9

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Alice Evans (Violin)

JS BACH Matthew Passion

Director Kristian Bezuidenhout

Wed 12.04.2017 New Auditorium Royal Concert Hall | Glasgow Thu 13.04.2017 Perth Concert Hall | Perth Good Friday 14.04.2017 The Queenâ€™s Hall | Edinburgh All concerts start at 7pm. Full details available on our website:

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NEWS

For more news go to

LIST.CO.UK /NEWS ANNOUNCEMENTS, LINEUPS AND OPINION PHOTO: EOIN CAREY

N TS G E TS R E A DY TO R O C KV I L L A

STANZA STANDING STRONG AT 20

The National Theatre of Scotland has moved into spanking new permanent headquarters in the Speirs Wharf regeneration area of Glasgow. Rockvilla, as it’s to be known, has been described as ‘an engine room for Scottish Theatre’ on the banks of the Forth and Clyde canal in Glasgow. Designed by Hoskins Architects, the new space allows the company to house all its rehearsal and production activity under one roof.

StAnza – Scotland’s poetry festival in St Andrews – has launched its 2017 programme. The 20th edition of the festival features poets such as John Agard, Jackie Kay, Patience Agbabi, Robert Crawford and Jacques Darras, while the themes of this year’s event are ‘The Heights of Poetry’ and ‘On the Road’.

G O O D BY E TO GAY F I E L D Gayfield Creative Spaces in Edinburgh, which offered workshops, studios and galleries to individuals and organisations, closed its buildings in January. Though the Gayfield Square premises will no longer be used for creative purposes, the company itself will feature archival work on its website, and will continue as a facilitating resource for creative talents in Edinburgh and beyond.

PIECES OF PAOLOZZI A public symposium is being held on what to do with the remains of a mosaic by artist, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. The pieces once graced Tottenham Court Road underground station in central London, but after their removal, less than half of the pieces were saved. Now the public is being asked to contribute their views on what to do with them, in a meeting at the Edinburgh College of Art in February.

November 2016, and will make way for 11 live-actor shows, 360-degree theatre sets and two rides. Watch out for more announcements soon.

GSA GOES NORTH Glasgow School of Art has officially launched a new campus in Forres. The Highlands and Islands Creative Campus is located at Blair Steading on the Altyre Estate in Moray. It will be used as a base for GSA’s Institute of Design Innovation.

SWANKY NEW MACSORLEY’S Glasgow pub and music venue MacSorley’s has closed temporarily for a £250,000 refurbishment. The new venue will include bespoke artwork from Glasgow-based artists Social Recluse. It is expected that MacSorley’s will continue offering live music.

NEW LEASE OF LEITH LIFE THE DUNGEON DIGS DEEP Edinburgh Dungeon has invested over £500,000 on construction at its Market Street site, for a new show opening in February. The work started in

A campaign to revive the Leith Theatre is gaining traction. Spearheaded by Irvine Welsh, the project needs £250,000 to revamp the building and transform it into an arts venue. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 11

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NEWS New kids on the block

COMING UP

As the New Writers Awards are announced, Rebecca Monks ﬁnds out what winning can mean for an upcoming author

• EDINBURGH STUDENT ARTS FESTIVAL This student-run festival celebrates art of all kinds from Edinburgh’s educational institutes. 2017’s programme has a strong emphasis on visual and performance art. See feature, page 36. Various venues, Edinburgh, Thu 9 Feb–Fri 3 Mar. • GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL Scotland’s fastest growing film festival returns with a mix of local and international film, plus mainstream crowd-pleasers and groundbreaking art-house movies. See features, page 17. Various venues, Glasgow, Wed 15–Sun 26 Feb.

hat do two librarians, a social care worker, a prop maker and a retired English teacher have in common? All are among the 10 recipients of this year’s Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awards. The awards, which have been around since 2009, are now an important fixture in the Scottish literary calendar. Presented yearly, recipients receive a £2000 cash prize, which allows them to focus on their work. They also get mentoring from accomplished writers and industry professionals, performance and presentation training, and a residency at Cove Park: a retreat which offers writers and other artists the chance to focus on their work in a relaxed setting. This year, over 400 entrants submitted work for consideration, and the final list was whittled down to just 10 by a panel of judges which included Don Paterson, Amy Liptrot and Pamela Butchart. Though the opportunities are immense, simply the acknowledgement of talent that the awards offer can be enough. That said, it’s not always an easy ride, and many awardees have been through the process before. One of this year’s recipients, Ciara MacLaverty applied for the programme three times before winning. ‘I heard about the New Writers Awards from a friend and former winner (Katy McAulay, playwright) who told me she’d finally won after three tries,’ she explains. ‘I got shortlisted on my second try, nothing on my third, and I sent off my fourth try, just going through the motions. I was delighted to win, just when I felt I needed the support most.’ Simon Brown never expected to be an awardee at all. ‘I applied because I thought I might as well try my luck and see if anything would come of it,’ he says. ‘I never, ever thought anything would come of it so it’s a huge thrill.’

MacLaverty, listed in the Poetry category, says that receiving the award has inspired her to create strong work. ‘Validation is a great motivation. The SBT has invested in us and we all want to work hard for them. I want to publish a small book of poetry and sniff the new pages. I want to read to a wider audience – at family festivals, on the radio, in schools. I want to write poems for postcards, advertisers, old people’s homes. For Cal Mac Ferries.’ Brown too, is motivated by his award. ‘I’m hoping this will give me a leg up when it comes to finding an agent or – the holy grail – getting published. I’m really looking forward to the mentoring aspect too; hopefully by the end of the year I’ll have at least a first draft of my next novel. Beyond that? I’m happy just writing for now. It would be nice to have as many people as possible read my work but you’ve got to be realistic about these things.’ THE FULL LIST OF NEW WRITER AWARDEES ARE: FICTION & NARRATIVE NON FICTION Anna Stewart (Dundee) – library and information assistant Elisabeth Ingram Wallace (Glasgow) – art director, prop maker, production designer Laura Morgan (North Sutherland) – project manager Sally Huband (Shetland) – full-time writer Simon Brown (Edinburgh) – library assistant POETRY Ciara MacLaverty (Glasgow) – survey assistant Lydia Harris (Orkney) – retired English teacher Molly Vogel (Glasgow) – university tutor CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION Christine Laurenson (Shetland) – social care worker Helen MacKenzie (Linlithgow) – freelance copywriter

PHOTO: FRANÇOIS M. NORRIS

• AUDACIOUS WOMEN FESTIVAL This festival encourages women to do something daring and bold, be it through music, spoken word, performance, or something even more audacious. See preview, page 47. Various venues, Edinburgh, Sat 18–Sun 26 Feb.

• STANZA Scotland’s national poetry festival returns. 2017’s headliners include John Agard (pictured) and Vahni Capildeo. Various venues, St Andrews, Wed 1–Sun 5 Mar. • AYE WRITE! Writers gather in Glasgow for this 11-day celebration of words. This year’s highlights include Louise Welsh, Chris Brookmyre and John Byrne. Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Thu 9–Sun 19 Mar. • GLASGOW LIVE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL Bridget Christie, Janey Godley and Richard Herring are just three of the funny people headlining this year’s comedy festival. See features, page 28. Various venues, Glasgow, Thu 9– Sun 26 Mar. • EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL Sciencebased fun, for kids, grown-ups and everyone in between. The full programme is released on Thu 16 Feb. Various venues, Edinburgh, Sat 1–Sun 16 Apr.

12 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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Discover a spectacular science adventure at City Art Centre this Easter Get a Day Pass for a fantastic family day out exploring our six-ﬂoor science playground. Step inside the Carnival of the Mind, build humanity’s ﬁrst Mars colony in Mars Master Constructors, or scrub up and save lives in ER Surgery.

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Produced by Borderline Theatre Company and Ayr Gaiety

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BIG PICTURE

DAVID TENNANT Just because you’ve stopped being the Time Lord doesn’t mean that life gets any less hectic. For David Tennant, 2017 looks like being another jampacked year. Currently filming the third series of ITV’s crime series success story, Broadchurch, he will soon appear as the titular lothario in Don Juan in Soho on the West End stage, and voices Scrooge McDuck for the Disney DuckTales TV reboot. Meanwhile, the Glasgow Film Festival’s curtain will be brought down by Mad to be Normal, in which the Bathgate-born actor plays pioneering psychiatrist RD Laing, one of Govanhill’s most controversial sons. GFT, Glasgow, Sun 26 Feb.

1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 15

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FEATURE

W O G S A L G M L FI L A V I T S E F Premieres, retrospectives and themed strands are a prerequisite of any modern ﬁlm festival. This year’s GFF ticks all those boxes and more. Over the following pages, we speak to rising star Florence ‘Lady Macbeth’ Pugh about keeping her feet on the ground, take a trip into the 1990s Scottish indie music scene and chat to one of the documentary-makers behind a warts-and-almost-all ﬁlm about surrealist genius David Lynch 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 17

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W O G S A L G FILM L A V I T S E F

TALK OF THE DEVIL Eddie Harrison talks to writer-director John Butler plus stars Fionn O’Shea and Nicholas Galitzine about Handsome Devil, the opening gala of 2017’s Glasgow Film Festival

‘And these children that you spit on. As they try to change their worlds. Are immune to your consultations. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through . . . ’

his seminal lyric from David Bowie’s song ‘Changes’ turns up near the start of John Butler’s Handsome Devil, the teen drama which opens the 2017 Glasgow Film Festival. Set in a rugby-mad Irish boarding school, Butler’s feelgood drama is about two young men, Ned (Fionn O’Shea) and Conor (Nicholas Galitzine) in fierce conflict with their surroundings, until an inspirational teacher (Andrew Scott) gives them the strength to be themselves. The same Bowie quote opens a classic teen movie, John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, and Butler admits he was very much aware of the reference. ‘If people notice that quote, then I’m happy. I’m a huge fan of Hughes, I love the way his films describe teenagers who don’t know who they are yet. But looking at his films again now, there’s elements that don’t chime so well today, like the lack of gay characters and the use of gay insults,’ says Butler. ‘At these moments, Hughes’ liberal ideas roll over to reveal a conservatism behind them. So I

wanted to update some of these ideas, and put sexual conflict at the heart of the drama.’ Butler’s film deliberately blurs the cultural reference points of the era it evokes – ‘it’s not a period film, but it is firmly based on my own personal experiences,’ says Butler. So while visible posters advertise the Boomtown Rats, the film’s soundtrack ranges from the Housemartins to the Trashcan Sinatras. Such diverse musical appreciations run against the school’s strict ethos, and identifying that conflict helped Galitzine to tackle the role of sports hero Conor. ‘I felt honoured that John would cast me in a role that he felt so strongly about. When I read the script, I knew exactly what it was about; I went to a very similar school, very rugby driven, and even had a trial for the Harlequins rugby team,’ says Galitzine. ‘Conor is a great physical specimen, a strong guy who has the potential to do harm, but also someone vulnerable and frustrated by their circumstances. There’s a high suicide rate among young men, and I think this film shines a light on why that might be.’ Off-screen, Galatzine is an aspiring musician, a useful talent because a large part of Handsome Devil’s charm comes from Conor and Ned attempting to play as a duo for a school talent show (‘I wasn’t such a fan of 80’s music, but John created a great playlist to help me get into character,’ says Galitzine). Co-star Fionn O’Shea admits he doesn’t share Galitzine’s gift; ‘I really can’t sing and I’ll never be a pop-star,’ O’Shea laughs. But Butler had other plans for O’Shea, dying his hair bright red to imitate David Bowie’s spaced-out outsider in The Man Who Fell To Earth. ‘I can’t even play the guitar!’ says O’Shea. ‘They told me

my hands were too small when I tried to learn. Fortunately, Nicholas is a brilliant musician and that helped me get through any awkwardness in our singing scenes. That contrast between Conor and Ned is important. This is a film about not being a sheep and following the crowd, and that’s something my mum has always told me, never to be afraid to go against the grain. It’s all about finding your own voice, musically or otherwise, and I think that’s why people relate so well to it.’ The catalyst for the boys’ change is teacher Mr Sherry, a role which reunites Butler with Andrew Scott, an actor he worked with on 2013’s The Bachelor Weekend, and instantly recognisable as Moriarty from the BBC’s Sherlock. ‘Andrew was a dream to work with, so generous and so inspiring . . . ’ says O’Shea, and Butler adds, ‘You could say there’s an element of Dead Poets Society to that role, and it needs a special actor; we got one in Andrew.’ A key early scene in Handsome Devil shows Ned coming a cropper of the school’s establishment when he attempts to pass off Lou Reed’s lyrics as his own writing. It’s a painful moment that smacks of real-life experience, and it’s no surprise that it comes from Butler’s own schooldays. ‘Yes, that was me, told by my English teacher not to speak in a borrowed voice,’ says Butler. ‘I don’t see myself as a political filmmaker, but I do think there’s an important message here about the importance of finding your own voice. Even as the cultural climate seems to be changing against us in 2017, I hope that a message of liberal tolerance will still find an audience.’ Handsome Devil opens the Glasgow Film Festival on Wed 15 Feb.

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W O G S A L G FILM L A V I T S E F

CROWNING GLORY Following an unforgettable turn in The Falling, Florence Pugh takes on her ﬁrst leading role in Lady Macbeth. Katherine McLaughlin chats to this young star about staying grounded while the hype swirls around her

n Lady Macbeth, 21-year-old Florence Pugh is absolutely commanding as a young bride trapped in a loveless marriage. Her towering performance is no small feat when you consider that her part in William Oldroyd’s debut feature is her first leading film role. Director Carol Morley took a chance on Pugh in 2014 and cast her in a small but integral part alongside Maisie Williams in teen drama The Falling. Set at a boarding school in the 1960s, her character’s behaviour acts as a catalyst for a break-out of mass hysteria; even with her small amount of screen time, she made a lasting impression and was marked out as one to watch. Pugh openly admits she was against auditioning for the role at first after being clued up on this harsh process by her brother Toby Sebastian (Game of Thrones’ Trystane Martell). Having been fully prepared for rejection, the callback made her feel ‘immense but also incredibly weird. My brother is in the industry and I’d been watching him do this for the past four years.’ Speaking the day before she flew out to Sundance for the first US screening of Lady Macbeth, she continues, ‘I think it’s more shocking now when I look back on it because that will never happen to me again. I will never have that electricity in my first meeting and then it go so well all the way through until I get the part.’ Before Pugh appeared on the big screen, she found her footing in school productions. Her first role was in a nativity play as Mary who she played with a Yorkshire accent. She lets

out a big laugh on recalling the memory of her seven-year-old self: ‘I wore this massive pregnancy bump and hobbled on to stage. I would shout “oooh me back”!’ In Lady Macbeth, she plays Katherine, the unhappy wife of a sadistic wealthy mine owner. When her husband goes away on business, she embarks on a passionate affair and veers into dangerous territory. Adapted by Alice Birch from Nikolai Leskov’s 19th century novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, the screenplay’s strength and her character’s complexity were the reasons Pugh was attracted to the role. ‘She constantly shocks us,’ she says. ‘When I was reading the script, that was one of the things I loved.’ Pugh approached the role with a fresh eye and saw Katherine as a woman who ‘bounces from an adult to a child in a matter of seconds. I love how that is so perfect and is what girls that age accidentally do. They bounce to being weirdly grown up and quite sexy with how they talk to men, and when you suddenly put them in a difficult situation they become a girl again. I thought that was totally Katherine all the way through.’ Following this impressive turn, Pugh’s star is certainly on the rise. But she has no qualms about staying grounded while her career skyrockets. ‘I have been told for about three years now not to get big-headed,’ she says, laughing uproariously. ‘Obviously I know it happens and I know people do start believing the hype which is when things can get bad. But I have enough people in my life that I care for as much as they care for me, so I can’t find it in me to be sassy. I’m sure at some point if I shout at someone for getting me the wrong coffee somebody will happily slap me. I don’t think I’ll be changing any time soon.’ Lady Macbeth, Glasgow Film Theatre, Sat 18 Feb. General release from Fri 28 Apr.

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W O G S A L G FILM L A V I T S E F

WHAT HAPPENS IN FRANCE . . .

The rise of Glasgow’s independent music scene in the 90s is captured in a new documentary, Lost in France, which revisits a deﬁning trip to the French countryside by some of its key players. David Pollock takes a stroll down memory lane

‘T

o be honest, both as a label and as a band, we never really saw Brittany as being this great, seminal coalescing of the Glasgow music scene,’ says Stewart Henderson, one of the heads of Glasgow’s long-serving and much-loved Chemikal Underground label, together with his fellow ex-members of the Delgados. Yet the label, the band and a swathe of their contemporaries from Glasgow’s fertile mid to late-90s music scene have found their existence celebrated not with a concert documentary film set in their home city, but one which returns the core group of performers to the rural French countryside – specifically to the village of Mauron, which they chartered a coach to back in 1997 for a very different music festival. ‘It was Niall McCann who saw the potential of looking back to that trip and using it as a reference point for where we are now,’ says Henderson, referring to the Irish director of Lost in France, which arrives at Glasgow Film Festival a week ahead of general release. Previously known for 2012’s Art Will Save the World, a documentary on the life of pop auteur Luke Haines, McCann has fused new footage from a contemporary concert in Brittany with archive material and interviews to tell the story of a period which birthed Mogwai, Arab Strap, the Delgados and Bis, as well as creating founding experiences for artists like Alex Kapranos, later of Franz Ferdinand.

Henderson claims to have no knowledge of how an en masse migration of Glasgow DIY music – including many of the above and lessremembered groups like Magoo, the Blisters and Kapranos’ own the Karelia – ended up in France, and he doesn’t put the memory loss entirely down to the amount of alcohol consumed. As he recalls, it may have had something to do with fellow Delgados Emma Pollock and Paul Savage’s friendship with the festival organiser, David Sosson, who studied in Glasgow for a time, worked as a chef at Pierre Victoire and regularly attended gigs at the old 13th Note. ‘I’m really not comfortable with the idea of a hagiography of Chemikal,’ Henderson continues. ‘The last 20 years have been great, but we’ve fucked up along the way too, we’ve made mistakes and things haven’t always been great. So the film works out quite well, it gives an idea of where we were and where we’ve all come to. There’s a bittersweet element, it’s realistic – it’s fair to say I’m a bit downcast in it at times. We’re all presented by the challenge of what new technology means for the work we do now, and I think the film is better for acknowledging that.’ RM Hubbert, the Chemikal-released solo artist and guitarist with the recently-reformed El Hombre Trajeado, stood out in the group who returned to France as a musician who hadn’t been on the original trip, although he was actively involved in Glasgow’s scene in the late 90s through the Kazoo Club, which he ran at the 13th Note with Kapranos. ‘It was fun,’ he says. ‘The mayor held a reception for us, I’m pretty sure he thought I was Aidan Moffat . . . ’ There followed a show in a tiny pub with solo sets from Hubbert, Pollock, Kapranos and Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, and an electric

show from Holy Mountain. ‘As well as going back to that place, it was like going back in time,’ says Hubbert. ‘Alex and I played together for the first time in about 18 years, we drank a lot and remembered a lot. I like the version of the film I’ve seen, and I didn’t expect to – nobody thinks their own story is interesting, do they? But at the time we all thought we were inventing this shit, that we’d invented a new way to do music that only we understood. We felt like revolutionaries, but that’s what happens with every generation of music or art – it’s powered by kids who think the establishment won’t listen to them, so they do it themselves. Entirely powered by piss and bravado, of course.’ As pragmatic as Henderson is about the landscape of the music industry right now, he seemed to also enjoy the process of looking back. ‘The danger is that you try to retrofit feelings or understanding that you never had at the time,’ he says. ‘But the perspective on it is interesting – it was the first time Arab Strap had played outside the UK, it was around the time Mogwai made Young Team, and the Delgados came back from France and changed radically, adding strings to our music. It was a crossroads where we came to realise that something pretty impressive was happening in those last few years of the 1990s in Glasgow. There was the feeling that things were falling into place and this would be quite the caper.’ Lost in France is screening at GFT, Tue 21 & Wed 22 Feb, with a post-film concert featuring Alex Kapranos, Stuart Braithwaite, RM Hubbert, Emma Pollock and Paul Savage after the film on Tue 21 (sold out). The concert screens live at selected cinemas in Glasgow and Edinburgh, see list.co.uk/film for times.

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BARTÓK’S

BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE & THE 8TH DOOR WORLD PREMIERE

Composed by Lliam Paterson Conceived and directed by Matthew Lenton

THEATRE ROYAL

FESTIVAL THEATRE

28 MAR – 1 APR

5 & 8 APR

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W O G S A L G FILM L A V I T S E F D

David Lynch has never been keen to discuss his life and work. Murray Robertson talks to Jon Nguyen, one of the documentary-makers tasked with revealing more about a man behind some of the most iconoclastic creations in ﬁlm history

avid Lynch is a very private man. The enigmatic artist and sometime filmmaker (not forgetting his TV work on Twin Peaks, which returns in May) is notoriously reticent. Unperturbed by this, documentary-makers Jon Nguyen and Olivia Neergaard-Holm have created an intimate examination in David Lynch: The Art Life, a journey through his personal history and artistic process, narrated by the elusive man himself. The film features anecdotes, unseen artwork and movie footage, and drops tantalising hints about the genesis of some of his more profound cinematic ideas. Ten years ago, Nguyen produced Lynch One, a documentary exploring the director’s creative process as he completed his most recent film, Inland Empire. The documentary-maker’s approach to Lynch was audacious and proved to be surprisingly successful. ‘I contacted a friend of mine who had been David’s assistant during Mulholland Drive,’ recalls Nguyen. ‘I said, “could you do me a favour and ask David if we could make a documentary about him?” He laughed at me and said, “David’s very private; he’ll never agree to it.” Two days later I got a call back from my friend – kind of astonished – saying that David had agreed.’

Nguyen and his team gradually got to know Lynch (and vice versa). ‘I remember he didn’t really want to answer a lot of questions,’ states Nguyen. ‘He just said, “pick up the camera and you’ll find out what the film’s about at the end.” So we kind of chased him around for a year and made Lynch One. But our relationship with him got closer and over the years we worked on some small projects. We knew that eventually we would get to a certain point in our relationship – and maybe perhaps in his life – where he would be more open and willing to talk. We started asking him questions in the first documentary and he didn’t really answer them; you could tell by his body language that he wasn’t interested in talking to us. So this film is the complete opposite: it’s him talking and answering questions. Whereas the first is cinéma vérité, this one is David taking us on a journey through his life.’ It’s been a long process, starting with around two dozen interviews conducted across four and a half years and followed by a further period of filming from 2013-2015. Throughout this time, Nguyen and his team were granted unprecedented access, not only to Lynch’s portfolio but to his family photos as well. ‘There are albums that contain thousands of

pictures going all the way back to his greatgreat-grandparents: the early settlers. He gave us access to his music library and the 8mm student films that he made in the 60s and 70s.’ Intriguingly, Nguyen says that his film features experimental work that has never been seen before, including out-takes from The Grandmother and Six Men Getting Sick. While The Art Life weaves an intimate tapestry of Lynch’s formative years, the filmmakers spent much of their time in his studio discussing dayto-day projects as he freestyled with whatever medium took his fancy. ‘The thing we realised after filming him was that David spent most of his time in the painting studio. When he has a lot of freedom, that’s what he does from morning to night.’ Despite Lynch’s guarded reputation, Nguyen insists that thanks to their long history, he was fairly open from the start. ‘We had a strong relationship with David at that point,’ he asserts. ‘It’s a film that was 12 years in the making, really, because you can’t just walk in off the street and get David Lynch to open up to you.’ David Lynch: The Art Life, Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Fri 24 & Sat 25 Feb.

TWIN SPEAKS 24 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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BEST OF THE WEST

Hailed as one the UK’s leading ﬁlm events, Glasgow Film Festival is jam-packed full of genre-straddling movie goodies – from local to international, mainstream to art house, cult to classics, plus workshops, discussion panels and guest appearances, too. Arusa Qureshi picks out some of the highlights at this year’s fest THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY THE WOMAN WHO LEFT At 3h 46m, Lav Diaz’s Venice Golden Lion winning The Woman Who Left is an epic and tense tale, made all the more agonising by the use of black and white. It’s a challenging and haunting film but one that is bound to hold your attention. ■ GFT, Thu 16 & Fri 17 Feb ALSO ON: Mifune: The Last Samurai, Multiple Maniacs

FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE (MA VIE DE COURGETTE) Back in October, we gave My Life as a Courgette five stars when it screened at the London Film Festival. Swiss director Claude Barras’ animation is emotional and heartwarming, following the story of 19-year-old orphan Icare, known by his nickname Courgette. It’s part of the festival’s Modern Families strand, run in partnership with The List, which also features Rob Reiner’s classic The Princess Bride and Rock Dog, the animated tale based on Zheng Jun’s graphic novel. ■ CCA, Fri 17 Feb (subtitled); Sat 18 Feb (dubbed)

a supernatural thriller and psychological drama, with Kristen Stewart giving an unnerving performance as celebrity shopper / medium Maureen. See review, page 62. ■ GFT, Sat 18 & Sun 19 Feb ALSO ON: Contemporary Color, Rock Dog

forces ordinary citizens to remove compassion for the sake of legal blame. Old Stone is a chilling look at a society with a moral crisis in which death is the preferred option. ■ GFT, Mon 20 & Tue 21 Feb ALSO ON: Trespass Against Us, Patriots Day

GLASGOWISS SHORT F FESTIVAILM L WED 15–SUN

19 MAR

latest Toho reboot, but also a deeper political message about how governments deal with events like nuclear disasters. ■ GFT, Fri 24 Feb

WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY ELLE We praised Isabelle Huppert’s ‘masterful inhabiting of a truly complex character’ in our review (see p62) because of the way she commands the screen, and now she’s even up for an Academy Award for the role. If you’re looking for suspense, this is the film to see. ■ GFT, Sun 19 & Mon 20 Feb

I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Director Raoul Peck uses James Baldwin’s writing (narrated by Samuel L Jackson) over archive footage, news clippings and vintage photographs. Jackson’s narration adds to the power and weight of Baldwin’s words. ■ GFT, Wed 22 Feb ALSO ON: The Levelling, The Demons

ALSO ON: Bad Rap, David Lynch’s Factory Photographs / La Jetée

ALSO ON: Secretary, Bafta Scotland presents: Visual Effects with Steven Begg

SATURDAY 25 FEBRUARY LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA Audience Award nominee Lipstick Under My Burkha follows the story of four Indian women, who attempt to seek their freedom by asserting their sexuality in a largely patriarchal system. ■ GFT, Fri 24 & Sat 25 Feb

THURSDAY 23 FEBRUARY

MINDHORN Starring The Mighty Boosh’s Julian Barratt, Mindhorn looks like a wacky and highly goofy comedy, made all the more hilarious by a great cast of actors and excellent script. ■ GFT, Mon 20 & Tue 21 Feb

A SILENT VOICE (KOE NO KATACHI) As well as being beautifully animated, the themes of bullying and disability, uncommon in Japanese anime, are dealt with exceptionally well in A Silent Voice, providing a sensitive take on an otherwise heavy subject. ■ GFT, Thu 23 Feb

ALSO ON: Leave Her to Heaven, Anatomy of a Soundtrack

ALSO ON: All This Panic, Paradise

ALSO ON: Phantasm, The Thing

SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY

TUESDAY 21 FEBRUARY

FRIDAY 24 FEBRUARY

PERSONAL SHOPPER Director Olivier Assayas’ latest film is a mix between

DON’T M

MONDAY 20 FEBRUARY

OLD STONE Johnny Ma’s debut feature takes a look at a flawed social construct that

SHIN GODZILLA (SHIN GOJIRA) Expect carnage, destruction and the usual hysteria from the

ALSO ON: Princess Bride, Jawbone

SUNDAY 26 FEBRUARY MAD TO BE NORMAL The closing gala of GFF will see the world premiere of John Butler’s RD Laing biopic. David Tennant stars as the controversial Laing, who made his mark in the 60s as the ‘high priest of anti-psychiatry’. Mad to be Normal is a poignant look at a fascinating figure and an ideal way to end the festival. ■ GFT, Sun 26 Feb ALSO ON: The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, How to Steal a Dog 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 25

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HIPPFEST

High Stakes As HippFest in Bo’ness opens with a rare screening of 1923 adventure The Grub Stake, Nikki Baughan explores the life and work of its irrepressible writer and director Nell Shipman

or Alison Strauss, director of HippFest, The Grub Stake is an obvious choice for the opening night of the annual silent movie festival. ‘It epitomises our programming ethos, which values out-of-theordinary film experiences fostering diversity and discovery,’ says Strauss. ‘We relish a chance to present a film made by someone whom most people have never heard of, and Nell Shipman is crying out to be celebrated. It’s almost criminal that she’s been effectively written out of film history.’ In a role that reflects her own offscreen character, Shipman stars as feisty young Faith, lured to the Yukon by promises of marriage and gold. When she discovers she has been duped by her lover, she sets off on her own mountain quest for the precious metal, complete with thrilling chases, fights and a breathtaking clifftop finale. Born Helen Foster-Barham in Canada in 1892, Shipman began a successful acting career in her teens but turned down a lucrative contract with producer Sam Goldwyn because she didn’t want to be ‘prettified’. Instead, she left the studio system in search of creative independence and became a voracious filmmaker unafraid to take risks in the pursuit of her vision. ‘She became known for playing adventurous women, often filming on location in hazardous landscapes,’ says Ellen Cheshire, film lecturer and author of Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema. ‘Her first big hit was God’s Country and the Women [1915], adapted from the novel by James Oliver Curwood, which she wrote and starred in. In 1918 she founded Shipman-Curwood Producing Company and produced, wrote and starred in Back to God’s Country [directed by David M Hartford]. Released in 1919, it had a controversial marketing campaign

capitalising on her nude scene: “don’t book this movie unless you want to prove that nude is not rude”!’ Although the film was popular and profitable, it did not bring Shipman the success she so richly deserved. ‘Her abandoning of the Hollywood studio system in pursuit of her own way of making films was disapproved of,’ says Cheshire, ‘and caused a rift with the establishment that would plague her until she died.’ After establishing Nell Shipman Productions with co-star Bert Van Tuyle, for whom she left her theatrical impresario husband Ernest, Shipman also left Hollywood to make films in Idaho, including The Girl from God’s Country (1921) and The Grub Stake. Sadly, however,

little of her work remains in existence. ‘Once sound film had taken hold, many of the silent films were junked, forgotten or ignored,’ says Cheshire. ‘Shipman spent years trying to get those writing the history of Hollywood to acknowledge her and, when she was living in poverty, she wrote to the Motion Picture Relief Fund seeking support. Their reply, in 1969: “we can find no record of your name in any film credit”. Shipman died the following year.’ While Shipman’s story is incredible, it is, says Cheshire, far from unique, as more women were employed in the film industry during the earliest days of cinema than they are now. ‘That is a shocking and troubling notion,’ says Cheshire, who will be giving a talk at HippFest highlighting the achievements of Shipman and her contemporaries. ‘That’s why there are movements around the world to address the gender disparity in film and television production.’ And it’s also why HippFest is dedicated to celebrating the works of such filmmakers. ‘Other women like Mary Pickford, Anita Loos, Alice GuyBlaché and Lois Weber were influencing cinema, but I do think Nell was unique because of her irrepressible self-sufficiency,’ says Strauss. ‘When you learn about her, you imagine that she would have changed the course of filmmaking, yet it’s hard to trace her influence because she’s been overlooked by film historians. And I don’t think she thought of herself as a champion of anyone’s cause; she just wanted to make entertaining movies for audiences to enjoy.’ The Grub Stake, Hippodrome, Bo’ness, Wed 22 Mar; HippFest runs from Wed 22–Sun 26 Mar, full programme released Tue 7 Feb.

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comed festival glasgow international

ALIVE AND KICKING Bridget Christie had death ﬁrmly on her mind when Britain dramatically voted to leave the EU. The award-winning comic tells Brian Donaldson how she went from remains to Remain

ridget Christie began 2016 working on Mortality, a brand spanking new show that would turn out to be topical in the extreme. Even though death is a subject which constantly haunts us, the sheer volume of major celebrity demises across the ensuing 12 months (from Ziggy Stardust in January to Princess Leia in December) meant that the Grim Reaper could consider 2016 as something of a benchmark year. As Christie told me 12 months ago, death has been everywhere during her life. ‘We’re quite open about death in our house, because the kids ask about it. And I can’t lie, especially to my daughter who is five. She sees through everything, so if she says “mummy, am I going to die?”, you just have to be truthful about it. I was absolutely terrified of death when I was little and used to have nightmares about atomic bombs and nuclear war and UFOs.’ Yet, by the end of June, Christie would have completely ditched Mortality for an entirely different project revolving around another topic riddled with fear. Because You Demanded It was the hurriedly written show she took to the Edinburgh Fringe a few weeks later, a typically passionate and hilarious diatribe about the Brexit vote. ‘It was a huge moment in politics,’ says Christie of the EU referendum result. ‘It would have felt like a real failure on my part not to talk about it. I was gutted but needed to make sense of it. Lots of people I know voted Leave. More than any other show I’ve done, this one has been the most divisive in terms of audience reaction.’ Given that Christie has performed in public places dressed variously as an ant with goggles and 17thcentury monarch Charles II, this is really saying something. But with the country still split almost straight down the middle on the issue of EU membership, she remains fearless in taking an avowedly partisan show to crowds who might not share her views. ‘Brexit has changed everything: the way we talk about politics and the way it’s reported,’ she states. ‘I might find myself agreeing on the EU with somebody whose views on everything else I hate. Then I’ll read an article or see someone “from the left” who I’ve always agreed with that’s pro-Leave, and I think, “how can you possibly think that?” Nothing is clear-cut any

more. And even my core audience – lefty, feminist, Guardian-reading – is split, and that’s a reflection of broader society.’ Ever since her creative renaissance somewhere around 2010 (when audience apathy and critical ambivalence transformed itself into a double-sided wave of widespread adulation), Christie has been consistently hitting a rich seam of form which included a thoroughly deserved Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2013 with A Bic for Her. Given that her time on the British comedy scene has featured a wide range of reactions to her work, she is unlikely to take anything for granted. Yet, not only has she been fully welcomed into the Fringe comedy fold, the outside world has collectively sat up and taken notice of her onstage achievements. As well as the Edinburgh Comedy Award, Christie has also claimed a South Bank Sky Arts Award, been a Women of the Year winner in the Red magazine awards, and received an honour as part of Marie Claire’s Women at the Top awards. Those last two accolades in particular have left Christie feeling extremely humbled. ‘The other women who were winning all those other awards were so amazing; they’d done absolutely extraordinary things across the board from charity, science, business, and as human rights activists. It is brilliant and really nice to be recognised, but it doesn’t really affect anything and it shouldn’t either. It doesn’t make me a better writer or performer or mean that I’m better than anybody else; it just means that some people like what I do. I never think, well, “I can file stand-up comedy away now, I’ve sorted that out”. There’s always an awful lot to do. It’s a balance between enjoying it and celebrating and getting on with stuff.’ So, whither Mortality, the show about death which Christie had to mercilessly put down last summer? She suggests that it may well be resurrected for a future Edinburgh Fringe and national run. ‘I just thought there may be a show in all of that, in something we’re all facing but we don’t really talk about. I thought I might be able to make it funny. But then the Brexit vote came and death sort of became irrelevant.’ Bridget Christie: Because You Demanded It, Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Sat 18 Mar.

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dy ‘Even my lefty, feminist, Guardianreading core audience is now split’

PHOTO: CHRIS FLOYD

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LDS

GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL

TWO STORRIES HIGH Ahead of their appearances at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, mum and daughter comedy duo Janey Godley and Ashley Storrie take on a wee Q&A The legend of Glasgow audiences being ‘unique’ includes a story of Des O’Connor pretending to faint rather than carry on trying to impress a tough crowd. What is it that makes Glasgow gatherings so different and what’s the most extreme thing you would consider doing to quickly get off stage? Janey Godley: I don’t think audiences are that

different to anywhere else in the UK, though I do think Brexit might have changed that. Glasgow audiences are very comedy savvy and know what they like and can smell fear quicker than anyone else, so maybe that’s a different thing. I would never get off stage quickly; if I feel I’m being hated en masse in the one room I would deliberately make that last longer for the people who hate me. Ashley Storrie: Glasgow audiences are unique in that they are the best; aye, we don’t tolerate crap easily (especially if we’ve spent money) but

when we’re enthused we are the most giving of audience members. Every person I meet in the performing arts gushes about how much they love playing to a Glasgow audience. I think that magic just comes from being Glaswegians . . . perhaps living with the knowledge that we have a shorter life span than others makes us live a bit harder. And as for running away, the thought has genuinely never crossed my mind; I’d rather stand and take my lumps than slink off. What is the one thing you most admire about each other as comedians? And is there one thing you would change in the other to make them an even better comic? JG: I admire Ashley’s improvisational skills

which you can see in her videos. The amount of people I meet who say “American 1940s John” is the best comedy sketch I have ever seen’, and Ashley just shrugs that off. I also admire that she has to endure, ‘oh you’re Janey Godley’s daughter’ backstage as a snipe and she immediately takes that as a compliment. AS: I admire my mother’s ability to stand in the face of any enemy and laugh; I don’t think there’s anything more infuriating or hilarious. And if I could change anything . . . well, it wouldn’t necessarily make her a better comic but she’d certainly be on the telly more: a penis. I’d give her a penis. During the Presidential debates, Hillary was asked to come up with one nice thing to say about Trump. Can you also think of a single positive comment about the orange man in the White House? JG: His ability to lie is amazing. I come from a

line of gangsters and ne’er-do-wells and nobody could lie like him. AS: I’d like to take this golden opportunity to gush about Trump’s ability to spray the world with his never-ending stream of thoughts. Only kidding, that was all a pee joke. I can’t think of a single nice thing to say about him. Is he good with birds? Nah.

Are you glad you’re not starting off now in comedy or do you think this is a perfect time to be a newbie standup? JG: Any time is a perfect time. But having

said that, if you want to know if a woman comic has been on TV, check Twitter and see hundreds of men with football bios calling women names. AS: I’ve been going about five years now as a real-life comedian so I still consider myself newish. Unless there’s a point in the future when I can read a newspaper without having to see an opinion piece about ‘Whether Women Are Actually Funny’, I don’t think there’s ever going to be an ideal time to be a vagina-haver in this industry. What’s the weirdest place you’ve performed stand-up? JG: In a police cell in 1994 before I was a

self-employed stand-up. Long story. AS: In the Scottish Parliament with the autistic comedy class we both taught. It was a magical evening and we made a lot of politicians uncomfortable: so, a win! In 30 words or less, pitch us an original sitcom JG: A writer pitches a sitcom about

plagiarism, it gets stolen and she holds the people hostage in a caravan. AS: A rich ‘businessman’ buys too many red hats and has to find some madcap ways of selling them, like running for President. What’s the punchline to your favourite joke? JG: . . . a chip pan accident. AS: . . . they’re called The Aristocrats. Ashley Storrie: Full Frontal Storrie, Blackfriars Basement, Glasgow, Sat 18 Mar; Janey Godley: There’s Only One Godley, Òran Mór, Glasgow, Fri 24 & Sat 25 Mar.

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GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL

FOOL’S GOLD Comedian and actor Omid Djalili has some sad news for his fans as he calls time on the crazy dancing. But as Brian Donaldson discovers, the mad japes are far from over

or those who still view Omid Djalili as a mainstream entertainer, armed with a number of silly voices and the occasionally cheesy punchline, it’s time they witnessed a different side to his act. After all, last summer he was at the forefront of the project to have a reading of the entire Chilcot Report (all 2.6 million words of it) ‘performed’ at the Edinburgh Fringe. The final sentence was uttered by the 144th reader, 285 hours after it all began, but as well as the wealth of publicity it generated, Iraq Out & Loud also made an impact by going on to scoop the Panel Prize at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. As co-producer (alongside Bob Slayer), he is clearly proud to have received the award, but is equally as keen to spread the plaudits. ‘The idea belongs to the collaborators,’ he insists. ‘In fact, the idea felt like it belonged to the entire comedy industry. Sometimes an idea really captures the zeitgeist; comedians are very adept at sensing when we’re being fobbed off. So it was important to us that the readings were a simple, nonpolitical, people-powered, public service.’ Having been central to such an important campaign, the inevitable next step is for him to ham it up once again. So, here he is back on our stages with a show entitled Schmuck for a Night. Isn’t it time for the real Omid Djalili to stand up? ‘I like the word “schmuck”,’ he insists. ‘It means fool or buffoon. Really, you have to be a schmuck to do comedy in today’s climate. I’m embracing the schmuck in me to take on the big issues of our day. Plus, it’s a word that ends with “uck” which can only be a good thing.’ Those who witnessed the work-in-progress performances of the show earlier in the year suggested that he may have taken a foot off the pedal slightly to produce a less hectic show. Would he agree with that summary? ‘Yes, I’ve become less frenetic,’ he concurs. ‘I used to dance every two minutes in between the stand-up. I can’t even remember why I did that. It was mentioned to me that when I danced, audiences were laughing at me not with me. So it was either stop dancing or ban my manager from the gigs.’ Sadly, for some Djalili admirers, his boss will be attending Schmuck for a Night whenever they so choose. Physical larks and daft patter have been part of the Djalili schtick ever since he first appeared on our live stages in the mid-90s, but current affairs and identity politics have often underpinned the japes. In 1996, he performed a two-hander with Ivor Dembina called The Arab and the Jew while his 2002 Perrier-nominated show, Behind Enemy Lines, could barely help itself tackle 9/11 head-on. With his new tour, Brexit, Daesh and the new US President will appear in some form or another, but he’s quick to deny any simple pigeonholing of his views and attitudes. ‘I think the show will change even while I’m on stage,’ Djalili reckons. ‘It’ll be so current, sometimes audiences won’t laugh until they get home and turn on the TV. I will say that I’m not party political; I have no party agenda. But I’ll talk about what’s going on around us, trying to contribute to the discourse. In fact, that’s what the show should have been called: Schmuck Talks About What’s Going On Around Him Trying to Contribute to the Discourse.’ That’s Omid Djalili for you: always playing the fool. Omid Djalili: Schmuck for a Night, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 18 Feb; King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Sun 19 Mar. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 33

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THE REPLACEMENT

SWAP SHOP

Morven Christie gives Henry Northmore the lowdown on her starring role in BBC One’s new psychological drama The Replacement

‘I

personally call it a head-to-head female thriller,’ is Morven Christie’s elevator pitch for BBC’s new Glasgow-set psychological drama The Replacement. Christie (pictured left) plays Ellen, an ambitious architect whose career is just taking off after landing her company a huge contract to build a new library. ‘If you’re an architect, you have to train for seven years so it becomes your whole world, it’s the centre of her universe. She finds herself a bit lost on discovering she’s pregnant; she has to accept changes to how she defines herself.’ The woman she’s going ‘head-to-head’ with is Paula, played by Vicky McClure, who joins the firm as Ellen’s maternity cover. At first she seems too good to be true, but soon starts to overstep the mark, ingratiating herself with her new boss and client, insinuating a way into Ellen’s life. Does she really have a sinister agenda or is Ellen suffering from antenatal depression? ‘There’s a lot in the story about how much of what Ellen experiences is actually happening, and how much is her projecting her fears,’ adds Christie. With any thriller, its villain is crucial to the entire show’s success, and after demanding roles in This is England, Line of Duty, Broadchurch and The Secret Agent, McClure has proven her versatility. ‘We did a lot of quite intensive prep before we started shooting,’ explains Christie. ‘We both have the same approach; we get all the hard work done in advance so when we’re on set we can just put the pedal to the metal and go. So there wasn’t a lot of faffing around, and we just went at the scenes full throttle. And then once they called “cut”, we went off and screamed with laughter.’ Written and directed by Joe Ahearne, who has previously worked on Doctor Who, This Life and wrote Danny Boyle’s 2013 feature Trance, The Replacement taps into universal fears about our place in the world, our sense of individuality, and the idea that we can be exchanged or upgraded. ‘It’s the story about a specific period in a woman’s life but really it’s about identity,’ says Christie. ‘Joe’s a big Hitchcock fan so he’s very into the idea of being with one character and watching the world through their eyes. The Replacement is a thriller but my responsibility is to play a human being; the genre is what the director takes care of.’ When we talk, Christie is back home in Glasgow taking a break to recharge her batteries, hang out with her dog, and attend a few gigs at this year’s Celtic Connections, before heading down to the Lake District as filming starts on series two of The A-Word. ‘When Joe wrote The Replacement, it was set in quite an anonymous city, but once it was greenlit, the idea of shooting in Scotland came up,’ says Christie. ‘He knew Glasgow, so rather than Glasgow standing in for any city, he made it very specific, and they committed to a Scottish cast. I’m a native Weegie so it was great for me.’ That Scottish cast also includes Dougray Scott, Richard Rankin and Neve McIntosh. Mirroring her character, Christie’s career has gone into overdrive over the last few years with lead roles in Grantchester, The Hunted and Twenty Twelve, not forgetting a guest spot on Doctor Who. ‘I’d never watched it, which is probably something I shouldn’t admit; sci-fi is not my vibe at all. Actually it was a complete scream, just six weeks of silliness and we had such a laugh. I tend to be drawn to heavier dramatic stuff but sometimes you just want to run around corridors with aliens chasing you.’ The Replacement, BBC One, Feb (date tbc).

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ESAF

BRIGHT YOUNG T

he Edinburgh Student Arts Festival exists to foster young creative talent, while making art accessible in the process. Now in its third iteration, ESAF returns this year with a packed schedule of events, ranging from live music to film, with the upcoming festival focusing on celebrating the spirit of collaboration. ‘ESAF is a social enterprise that initially provided emerging creatives with a platform to showcase their work to the public,’ says founder and director Briana Pegado. ‘We have since evolved into an organisation that provides a space for anyone to give creativity a go.’ Briana is hopeful that this year’s programme will give audiences the chance to explore some of the up-and-coming creative voices of the future through the diverse events on offer. ‘Our artists have been invited in to react to the spaces they will be shown in and many have chosen to explore similar themes including stigmas over sexuality, mental ill-heath, and challenging our posttruth society whilst questioning the concept of truth,’ Briana explains. ‘Our creatives are bold, insightful, reactive, and some of the brightest young things coming out of Edinburgh.’

Edinburgh Student Arts Festival, various venues, Thu 9 Feb-Fri 3 Mar. See edinburghstudentartsfestival.com for the full lineup

CONTEMPORARY MYTHOLOGIES: NARRATIVES OF FANTASY AND LOSS This visual art exhibition will showcase contemporary reinterpretations of classical mythology, giving the selected artists the chance to illustrate and respond to the theme in a unique and personal manner. The opening night will feature a performance by Joseph Stitts, with short stories read by Fionnuala Mottishaw. ■ Scottish Storytelling Centre, Fri 10 Feb, 7pm.

COME AND SING WORKSHOP WITH BOB CHILCOTT Join choral composer and conductor Bob Chilcott for a day of singing in aid of Waverley Care. The workshop will give you the chance to learn some of his works and you’ll also be invited to take part in an informal performance at the end for family and friends. ■ St Cuthbert’s Church, Sat 11 Feb, 10.30am.

PUNK AND PUSSY: THE SOLO SHOW Izzy Bravo’s solo performance show will include spoken word from the perspective of both a fiveyear-old and a 20-year-old, interwoven to underline strong feminist and punk themes as well as the 36 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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ESAF PHOTO: ANDY HOLLINGWORTH

G THINGS correlation between two identities. ■ Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sat 11 Feb, 7pm.

to December, as well as brand new material. ■ Scottish Storytelling Centre, Thu 16 Feb, 9pm.

LAUREN PATTISON

EVERING // GLASSMASTERER // ARCHIPELAGO // PUBLISHER

Newcastle’s Pattison is a rising star on the comedy scene, having been runner-up in 2014’s Funny Women competition and a finalist in 2015’s Chortle Student Comedy Awards. She will be previewing her debut hour at ESAF, hoping to turn a work in progress into a fully-realised show. ■ Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sun 12 Feb, 9pm.

PLATFORM: CONTEMPORARY VOICES An exhibition that doesn’t shy away from controversy or conflict, Platform offers a space for artists to explore the issues and questions that mould contemporary society, from the migrant crisis in Europe to mental health taboos. Zsófia Forrás, Matthew Poland and DJ Ross Devlin will perform at the opening night. ■ Biscuit Factory, Wed 15 Feb, 7pm.

LOU MCLEAN Singer-songwriter Lou McLean will bring her brand of wistful Riot Grrrl pop to ESAF. Come and hear songs from her highly-praised debut EP September

Acoustic duo Evering will be joined by Edinburgh producer Glassmasterer, experimental jazz /punk three-piece Archipelago and versatile live performer Publisher for an evening of music at the Biscuit Factory. This will be the first of two music nights taking place as part of ESAF, with the second at Studio 24. ■ Biscuit Factory, Fri 17 Feb, 6.30pm.

NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION: RESHAPE REALITY Boris Lee will lead a workshop on how varying viewpoints can influence how we see the world. Experiment with your own outlook and see how others interpret the world around us. Drawing skills are not essential and paper, colour pencils, oil pastels and felt-tip pens will be supplied. ■ Trinity Apse, Sun 19 Feb, 2pm.

FISTYMUFFS Incorporating spoken word into their music,

To celebrate the launch of this year’s Edinburgh Student Arts Festival, Arusa Qureshi picks some of the highlights from the 2017 programme FistyMuffs are a feminist quartet that use original material to discuss pertinent political and social issues. From emotional abuse to unwanted groping, the band’s songs reflect their own personal experiences, adding power to their performance. ■ Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sun 19 Feb, 7.15pm.

REAL TALK STORYTELLING Real Talk, founded by Lily Asch, allows for the discussion of mental health in an open and safe environment, through storytelling. Hear real stories about people’s experiences with mental health and learn how to tell your own story through specially organised workshops (on Fri 10 & Sat 11 Feb). ■ Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sun 19 Feb, 8.30pm.

WILD NUTRITION: BRIGHT, YOUNG THINGS IN FILM A collaboration with Undependence Film Festival by PopUp Scotland, Wild Nutrition is a programme of films that places an emphasis on the work of three young female directors: Emmeline Kim, Stephanie Ward and Maren Victoria Thingnæs. ■ Filmhouse, Fri 24 Feb, 6pm. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 37

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FOOD & DRINK THE MOUNTAIN CAFE

For the latest news, listi n reviews, ggs and o list.co.uk to /food&dr ink

New book showcases Kiwi chef’s Cairngorm dining destination If you know a bit about Aviemore, you’ll know that The Mountain Café is where to find some of the best food in the Cairngorms National Park. Originally from South Island, New Zealand, owner Kirsten Gilmour brings her background as a chef and enthusiasm for Scotland to a wide range of dishes both sweet and savoury, the pick of which are showcased in a new cookbook. Appealingly photographed by Paul Masson, 130 recipes

are included such as sloe gin and bramble salmon salad, butternut, chilli and coconut fritters, cardamom oranges and ‘Badass brownies’, with plenty of info on free-from alternatives. ■ The Mountain Café Cookbook: A Kiwi in the Cairngorms by Kirsten Gilmour is published in hardback by Kitchen Press Publishing on Tue 14 Feb. mountaincafe-aviemore.co.uk

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FOOD & DRINK

DRINKS NEWS

NEWS & REVIEWS

With no signs of the gin drying up anytime soon (you’ll have had your Teasmith, presumably, the latest new gin from Aberdeenshire featuring Ceylon tea), get ready to rock some rum. SeaWolf, the first white rum distilled in Scotland, was launched at the end of 2016 by the guys behind Edinburgh’s Bramble Bar. Turning down the abv, Dry Edinburgh is an alcohol-free bar popping up in Stockbridge till the end of February, while the relaunched and rather sassy Epicurean in the G&V hotel on George IV Bridge is giving a high profile to both mocktails and cocktails (pictured, the Lavender Fields) featuring aromatic infusions and home-grown flowers.

RISING IN THE EAST

An 1850s townhouse in the East End of Glasgow is the setting for the small but ambitious and distinctive new restaurant Bilson Eleven, as Jay Thundercliffe discovers

ead into the East End from High Street and, if you’re prepared to look, history is all around. Cross the largely unseen Molendinar Burn, around which the city was born, catch glimpses of the cathedral and Necropolis, and onwards past Drygate, an area for brewing since the 16th century. It’s fitting then to enter the 1850s townhouse – one of the first in the area – containing Bilson Eleven, where subdued tartan, rich deep colours and early Victorian features signal an extensive renovation by chef-proprietor Nick Reitz. Dennistoun resident Reitz brings experience from the Two Fat Ladies group (as do most of the staff), so little surprise his compact and accessible menu is half fish. Curried skink is an enticing take on Cullen skink’s constituents – pepper and mustard haddock, charred leek and potato curry, with a cumin velouté. It’s a dish that epitomises Bilson Eleven, where Scottish flavours and favourites are delivered with skill, imagination and enough flair to charm. Haggis and kale appear with cod – haggis in a dreamy pureé, the kale crispy – while whisky comes in a panacotta, cleverly picking out elements of Talisker (smoky apple and pepper biscuit) and whisky itself (barley sauce and malted cream). From the land, an intriguing amuse-bouche version of

Scotch broth features potted lamb and homemade tagliatelle combined with the earthy flavours of Ayrshire ham and mushrooms, and a water-bathed and indoor-barbecued ribeye is bolstered by a brash barbecue sauce. Intended to have eleven tables of two – hence the name (‘Bilson’ is manufactured from Reitz’s children Billy and Sonny), it’s now eight tables with a couple of fours. But the name stuck, and so has the feeling of intimacy, which is well regulated by a maximum of four diners every half hour – all marshalled by a front of house that has evident pedigree, from complimentary drinks in the small separate lounge to the swirling of sauces at the table. There’s a sense, too, that a skilled chef is spreading his wings, flashing inventive culinary nods and winks, all the while respecting the heritage of an often overlooked yet important part of town.

A well-deserving destination restaurant for the East End

A little unlived in, but time and impending alcohol licence will help

BILSON ELEVEN 10 Annfield Place, Dennistoun, Glasgow G31 2XQ, 0141 554 6259, bilsoneleven.co.uk Wed–Sun 4–9.30pm. Closed Mon/Tue.

RECOMMENDS . . .

CRAFTY PIG GLASGOW

An upmarket neighbourhood bar meets the ‘bit on the side’. Finger lickin’ BBQ from the smoker, slow cooked meats; best enjoyed with a Jack Honey on the rocks. crafty-pig.com

Ave. cost two-course dinner £26 40 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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SIDE DISHES

Glasgow’s eating and drinking scene is off on a bit of a growth spurt at the moment, with new openings including The Spanish Butcher on Miller Street from the team behind The Butchershop Bar & Grill and Hutchesons, and A’Challtainn Bar and Kitchen in the Barras Art and Design centre – more evidence of the eastern

end of the city centre opening up. Lively Indian tapas outfit Tuk Tuk opens in early February at 426 Sauchiehall Street, The Hawke Bar and Kitchen is linked to and immediately above Arisaig in the Merchant City, and in the coming months look out for a new place in Finnieston by Nico Simeone of Cleveden’s 111 by Nico.

News to nibble on

The Waverley Arches on Market Street and The Pitt street food market were two of the more dynamic food and drink destinations in Edinburgh in 2016, so there’s plenty of anticipation for The Food & Flea Market, a permanent daily street food destination just along from the Waverley Arches by the junction of East Market Street and New Street. They’ve got half a dozen pitches which will rotate favourite vendors from The Pitt, with Knights Kitchen, Rost and Barnacles & Bones among the early starters.

satisfyingly alliterative The Jaffle Joint in Portobello, and The Barrelhouse, which has breathed life (and a bit of controversy over its shanty-chic design) into the former Jock’s Lodge bar. In town, Taisteal is the new venture in Stockbridge from Field chef Gordon Craig, while Contini George Street has just emerged from a major refit with an eye-catching new look and a brand new menu. There’s also a crop of new Far Eastern venues including Kenji Sushi in Stockbridge, O’Kitchen serving Korean on Marchmont Road, and a new Maki & Ramen sushi bar replacing Kampung Ali Malaysian Delight in Fountainbridge.

The eastern reaches of the city are seeing some new looks, including Italian Dal Patino on Musselburgh High Street, the

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REAL FOODS | 37 Broughton Street EH1 3JU | 8 Brougham Street, Tollcross EH3 9JH | www.realfoods.uk 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 41

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HIGHER SOCIETY

RECENT OPENINGS

The refurbished club rooms for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in central Edinburgh remain a delectably dependable dining destination, reports Will Bain

ith the glory of its malts and the serenity of its clubs, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is something of a religious experience to its members. Thankfully, just like church, non-members are also welcome at the Dining Room restaurant and Kaleidoscope bar inside the society’s Queen Street townhouse. A major refurb in July 2016 shifted the restaurant upstairs to the capacious grandeur of the first floor, with the stylish Kaleidoscope bar moving in at ground level. The shift upstairs hasn’t phased the kitchen; the Dining Room remains one of the more dependable fine-dining venues in town. Seasonally changing menus have finesse without fussiness, showcasing deep flavours in elegant dishes: a pillowy ravioli of celeriac and chanterelles is both rich and light, while succulent halibut is warmly underpinned with umami Jerusalem artichokes. Quality produce is handled with skill, so you can expect perfectly pink venison and vegetables which retain character and bite. While the cooking is excellent, the menu perhaps lacks a cutting edge, and the food can feel like it’s playing second fiddle to the drink – although there’s no shame in that, as first and foremost this is a place to worship the whisky gods. THE DINING ROOM The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, 28 Queen Street, New Town, Edinburgh, EH2 1JX, 0131 220 2044, thediningroomedinburgh.co.uk £22 (3-course set lunch) / £42 (3-course set dinner)

The best of the new restaurant, café and bar openings in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Prices shown are for an average two-course meal for one.

Glasgow ALCHEMILLA MIDDLE EASTERN BISTRO 26 Argyle Street, Finnieston, 0141 337 6060, thisisalchemilla.com, £21 (lunch/dinner) Snuggled into a small shopfront amid the crowned heads of gastronomic Finnieston, this stylish new arrival specialises in thrilling combinations of flavour and texture. The light, wood-filled room hosts a smattering of reclaimed tables and a chic bar dotted with comfy leather dining seats offering a view of the open kitchen, where chef Rosie Healey (an absconder from the London Ottolenghi operation) performs some of the delicious alchemy suggested by the name. Small and medium sized plates arrive looking undramatic but soon reveal some rich Middle Eastern flavours and clever touches.

menu has sushi, ramen and noodle dishes cooked up from an open kitchen; the headlining sushi burritos are super-sized maki: Japanese in concept, North American in portion.

SOY DIVISION VEGAN CAFE 51 Kilmarnock Road, Southside, 07702 027676, fb.com/soydivisionglasgow, £13 (lunch) Knowingly kitsch, life-affirming, puntastic and even dog-welcoming, Soy Division – the first vegan café in Glasgow’s Southside – has made the transition from Farmers Market stall to cosy neighbourhood hangout extremely well. From early morning, breakfast rolls are stuffed with ‘bacon’ or a ‘square sausage’, while daily specials such as a ‘mince’ round, chickpea curry with corn couscous or lasagne are generous if not wildly imaginative. Beyond tasty soy lattes and a host of teas, the puds – including brownies and raw cheesecakes – are a standout.

Edinburgh SIX°NORTH

TEMAKI FAR EAST FUSION 113 Hope Street, City Centre, 0141 248 1869, temakiglasgow.co.uk, £8 (lunch) / £12 (dinner) Occupying a small spot on Hope Street, Temaki is in the first wave of places bringing sushi burritos to Scotland. A large-scale renovation project revealed some original cornicing and wood panelling which blend in with the hip decor. Music comes from a DJ mixing funk and R&B and gives the place a bar-like atmosphere, though at the time of going to press a full drinks licence awaits. Street food inspired, the

CRAFT BEER BAR 24 Howe Street, New Town, 0131 225 6490, sixdnorth.co.uk, £12 (lunch) / £14 (dinner) The onus here is on Belgian beer, though house brews are actually made in Aberdeenshire, in a spot six degrees of latitude north of Belgium. Leaf through a tome containing detailed information on hundreds of beers (it’s available on your smartphone or one of the bar’s tablets if you’re firmly committed to millennial culture), although beer fearers needn’t stress: there’s also an impressive wine and spirits list, including 20 varieties of gin. In a further break with tradition, there’s no need to hit up the kebab shop after a few pints, as the kitchen serves everything from scallops to steak, with the meat and cheesefilled sharing platter a decent pick for your beer (and reading) adventures.

DISHOOM MODERN INDIAN 3a St Andrew Square, New Town, 0131 202 6406, dishoom.com, £19 (lunch/dinner) There hasn’t been this much excitement about a local opening since Krispy Kreme brought the M8 to a standstill in 2013, with Dishoom pulling out all the stops for their first restaurant outside London. The completely gutted 1920s former office feels like something from a more romantic time, with green stained-glass windows and dividers splitting the dining room into cosy sections, belying its bustle and buzz. The food is based around influences brought to Bombay’s café scene by Iranian immigrants, with a tiny bit of colonial Britain thrown in. From a large menu, try cinnamon-seasoned vegetable samosa, coriander-infused lamb sheekh kebab or their creamy, secret-recipe house black dhal.

THE EMPRESS OF BROUGHTON STREET BAR 25 Broughton Street, Edinburgh, 0131 556 6754, fb.com/theempressedinburgh, £12 (lunch) / £17 (dinner) It’s a grand old name for a new Edinburgh bar which sees the team behind Jeramiah’s Taproom on Elm Row taking over the former Mathers, calling time on brown wood and brown beer by exposing some stonework and clearing the bar for a lip-smacking range of craft beers. The main turn from the kitchen are flatbreads topped with combos such as grilled peach and prosciutto or harrisa salmon and squid rings, with burgers, mussels and shareable small plates offering alternates. The impressively inked Empress who inspired the bar’s name is one Maud Wagner, an early 20th-century US tattoo artist.

Independent write-ups on all the restaurants worth knowing about in Glasgow and Edinburgh are available on our online Eating & Drinking Guide at list.co.uk/food-and-drink 42 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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OUTSIDE THE BOX With food and drink breaking free of its familiar Scottish stereotypes as well as conventional hotel and restaurant settings, Louise Stoddart discovers Scotland is opening itself up to a diverse and exciting new range of culinary activities in 2017 GLASGOW IN THE SKY Following its huge success in London, Events in the Sky (pictured) is coming to Glasgow in June, serving dinner at a table that’s suspended 100 feet in the air by a mobile crane. Diners can watch as the chef prepares each dish from the pop-up kitchen at the centre of the table. Chaophraya are one of many restaurants that will be involved. ■ George Square, Glasgow, Thu 15–Sun 18 Jun, eventsinthesky.co.uk

BALLINTAGGART FARM Remember Edinburgh’s first supper club, Charlie and Evelyn’s Table? Founders Chris and Rachel Rowley are back after a brief stint in London where Chris studied at Leiths School of Food and Wine. Now they’re based at Ballintaggart Farm, Pitlochry, where they’ve converted the steading into a destination for food lovers with a guesthouse, great breakfasts, evening meals, cookery workshops and feast nights to get stuck into, too.

drinks extravaganza. Tales of the Cocktail’s annual event is normally held in New Orleans every July, but it goes on tour once a year, choosing Europe (for the first time ever) as its destination. Leading hospitality professionals from around the world will head to the city for a series of events which aim to educate and inspire cocktail aficionados, as well as celebrate Scotland’s energetic spirits scene.

Cassia Kidron in 2010 with the aim of bridging the gap between the increasingly urbanised societies we live in and the rural communities that supply us with our food. By growing and sourcing ingredients directly from the field as well as preparing and cooking meals for classmates, the courses give students a chance to get out and about, get muddy and properly involved in cooking and preparing meals.

■ Various venues, Edinburgh, Sat 1–Tue 4 Apr, talesofthecocktail.com

■ Isle of Bute, course dates announced early February, rootcamp.co.uk

GAME OF THRONES POP-UP BAR Edinburgh’s Game of Thrones pop-up bar, Blood & Wine, has been so successful that the brains of the operation have decided to extend their tenancy in Daylight Robbery until Thu 23 Feb. If you’re a GoT fan (or just curious), then check out how The Pop Up Geeks have recreated the land of Westeros with Arbor Gold and Frey Pies.

SCOTLAND THE BREAD Andrew Whitley and Veronica Burke’s breadmaking courses near Peebles are renowned across the UK (Whitley is the author of the seminal Bread Matters, as well as co-founder of the UK’s Real Bread Campaign). Their latest project, Scotland the Bread, seeks to link growing local wheat and other grains with community baking projects to improve the daily bread consumed across Scotland. With courses for beginners and bread pros, it’s now possible to bake a 100% Scottish loaf – and ensure it tastes fantastic too.

■ Blood & Wine, Daylight Robbery, Edinburgh, until Thu 23 Feb, thepopupgeeks.com

■ ballintaggart.com

TALES OF THE COCKTAIL In April, the world renowned cocktail conference and festival heads to Edinburgh for a four-day

ROOT CAMP A residential field-to-table cookery school for teenagers based on the Island of Bute, Root Camp’s summer courses were established by

■ Bread Matters, West Linton, courses available throughout the year, breadmatters.com

For more, keep an eye on food.list.co.uk/events 44 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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1 Febâ€“31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 45

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AROUND TOWN

F the latesotr listing news, reviews,sgand list.c .uko to /aroundoto wn

AUDACIOUS WOMEN FESTIVAL

PHOTO: SCOTT CARROLL

A celebration of historical and contemporary risk-takers Aiming to break personal, political or institutional barriers, and to celebrate audacious women everywhere, the Audacious Women Festival returns for a third year offering risk-taking women a week-long programme of workshops, talks and performances at locations across Edinburgh. ‘My own audacious act last year was to have a singing lesson after a lifetime of not opening my mouth,’ says organiser Sally Wainwright. ‘It was so successful that I carried on with the lessons, and this year I’ve signed up for the Witches Reel flashmob!’ Alongside this blazing candlelit choral highlight are opportunities to don goggles for a stonemasonry workshop, try zine-making with new indie publishers 404 Ink or pick up a stitch

with Gilmerton Libraries knitters-in-residence the Purly Queens. For a less hands-on approach, you might fancy the Revolution on Roller Skates exhibition with Auld Reekie Roller Girls (pictured), heading to the Scottish Parliament to hear MSPs reflect on the women who’ve inspired them, author Sara Sheridan discussing the historical feminist inspiration behind her work or poet and playwright Liz Lochhead on painter Joan Eardley. With its collaborative and encouraging vibe, celebrating personal victories alongside historical groundbreakers, the Audacious Women Festival makes it easy to try something new. (Laura Waddell) ■ Various venues, Edinburgh, Sat 18–Sun 26 Feb.

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HITLIST

EDINBURGH STUDENT ARTS FESTIVAL Various venues, Edinburgh, Thu 9 Feb–Fri 3 Mar, edinburghstudentarts festival.com See feature, page 36. AUDACIOUS WOMEN FESTIVAL Various venues, Edinburgh, Sat

18–Sun 26 Feb, audaciouswomen.scot See preview, page 49. RAI CON Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 4 Mar, raicon. co.uk Anime convention with a bit of manga thrown in there for good measure. Features a host of talks, panels, workshops, screenings and exhibitors.

SCOTTISH CYCLING, RUNNING AND OUTDOOR PURSUITS SHOW SECC, Glasgow, Fri 10–Sun 12 Mar, scottishcyclingrunning outdoorpursuitsshow. co.uk Test your fitness at interactive attractions including mini velodrome sprint trials and a bespoke mountain bike trail.

SCOTTISH TATTOO CONVENTION Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Sat 25 & Sun 26 Mar, scottishtattoo convention.net Body art lovers of the world unite and take over. Attracting artists from across the globe to get their jaggy paintbrushes all over your body, there’s also music, burlesque, competitions,

merch and the chance to just mingle with other lovers of the art.

AROUND TOWN HIGHLIGHTS Events are listed by city, then date. Submit listings for your event at list.co.uk/add

Hobby Crafts

GLASGOW GAME THINK Bute Hall, Fri 3 Feb, game-think-2. eventbrite.co.uk A conference for anyone involved in video game-related research. HOPSTARS MICRO BEER FESTIVAL Hippo Taproom, Sun 5 Feb, hippotaproom.co.uk A micro beer festival with some of the country’s best breweries, including Fallen, Fyne Ales and Gallus. BRAW BEARD AND MOUSTACHE CHAMPIONSHIPS Drygate Brewery, Sat 18 Feb, thebrawbmc.com A battle for the best facial hair in Scotland’s first Beard and Moustache Championship. Also live music and a charity raffle. RUN DEAD City Centre, Sat 25 Feb, rundead. co.uk The city is swarming with zombies in this live-action chase where you have to locate the remaining survivors without getting eaten. LENTFEST Various venues, Wed 1 Mar–Sun 16 Apr An annual festival of faith and arts, incorporating theatre, film screenings, music, poetry and visual arts, across the Archdiocese of Glasgow. GIN FESTIVAL The Briggait, Fri 3–Sun 5 Mar, ginfestival.co.uk A showcase of the UK’s finest gins, with masterclasses from industry experts and live music. HINA MATSURI JAPANESE SPRING FESTIVAL Kibble Palace, Sat 4 Mar, japanese-matsuri-glasgow.org. uk Take part in this celebration of Japanese culture by checking out a

spot of taiko drumming, trying your hand at origami and sampling some Asian sweets. HOBBY CRAFTS SECC, Sun 5 Mar, hobbycraftshows.co.uk Indulge in your favourite craft activity, be it jewellery-making, paperwork, or sewing and cross stitch at this gathering of like-minded folks who just want to make things. BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL WORLD TOUR SECC, Sat 11 Mar, banff-uk.com A selection of exhilarating sports and adventure films.

EDINBURGH HOLISTIC WAYS FESTIVAL Corn Exchange, Sun 5 Feb, holisticwaysfestival.co.uk One-day festival featuring psychics, complementary therapies, alternative health products, crafts and more. Also Trades Hall of Glasgow, Sun 26 Feb.

W3L Wester Hailes Education Centre, Fri 10 Feb, w3lwrestling.com Big characters and even bigger body slams at this family-friendly American-style wrestling show which features stars from the World Wide Wrestling League. CAPITAL SCI-FI CON Meadowbank Sports Centre, Sat 18 & Sun 19 Feb, capitalscificon.co.uk Sci-fi convention aiming to raise funds for Children’s Hospice Association Scotland. There’s original film and TV memorabilia from Doctor Who and Star Wars, live special effects presentations, retro gaming consoles, trade stalls, a cosplay competition and the chance to meet actors, comic book illustrators and writers. EDINBURGH’S GEORGIAN SHADOWS City Centre, Thu 23 Feb–Sun 26 Mar, edinburgh.org Six buildings in Edinburgh’s New Town, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, are brought to life using inventive lighting.

THE GREAT BRITISH DOG WALK Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, Sun 19 Mar, greatbritishdogwalk.org Take the doggy for walkies with this national campaign in aid of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. UNDERGROUND EXTREME PARANORMAL GHOST TOUR City of Edinburgh Tours, various dates throughout Feb & Mar, cityofedinburghtours.com Venture if you dare into some of Edinburgh’s most haunted locations both above and underground on this adults-only tour.

DUNDEE WOMEN IN SCIENCE FESTIVAL Various venues, Dundee, Sat 4–Fri 10 Mar, facebook.com/ WomenInScienceFestival A celebration of all the women working in science, as well as events that help women to explore the field. It will have to go some to match the 2016 offering which featured authors Lucy Hawking and Kathryn Harkup.

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BOOKS

Fo the latestr n listings a ews, reviews, g nd o list.co.uk to /books

404 INK: NASTY WOMEN In the face of bigotry comes a collection of powerful essays ‘Loud world domination’. That’s what Heather McDaid and Laura Jones, founders of Scottish independent publisher 404 Ink, have in mind for this year as they launch a collection of 22 essays entitled Nasty Women. ‘A nasty woman, it seems, is a woman who speaks up,’ says McDaid, recalling the moment when Donald Trump viciously turned on Hillary Clinton during one of their heated Presidential debates. ‘And with truth and reality apparently becoming malleable concepts in the media, it’s more important than ever to publish real stories from real people.’ Nasty Women, the first book from 404 Ink, is a powerful essay collection from female writers looking at what it means to be a woman today. Katie Muriel’s ‘Independence Day’ asks why women should accept Trump as their President when he’s shown them

so little respect? Laura Waddell’s essay on art and class resonates because she writes the bare, hurtful truth, while Jen McGregor’s candid exploration of contraception is honest and necessary. That’s before we’ve got to sexual assault, racism, gender . . . Funded through Kickstarter, within two weeks the project had blasted past its initial £6000 target, hitting £12,000 with 12 days still to go. Even Canadian author Margaret Atwood pledged. ‘We’re absolutely thrilled that she supports what we’re doing,’ Jones says. ‘The speed at which it’s taken off, plus the encouragement we’ve received through people backing the project has been completely overwhelming. But anyone who interprets Nasty Women as a book just for women is missing the point.’ (Jen Bowden) ■ Nasty Women is published on International Women’s Day, Wed 8 Mar.

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BOOKS | Reviews DEBUT FICTION

AMY BURNS Leaving is My Colour (Freight Books) ●●●●●

‘I first realised I loved Jack the day he drowned,’ begins Amy Burns’ novel, setting the reader up for a wistful tale on the pitfalls of a modern, melancholic romance. Don’t buy into it. There's nothing romantic about this darkly witty road trip through the bumpy highway of a young woman’s mind. Instead, it’s about the anti-romance of reconciling life and love, finding your place in an imperfect family, and the way our flaws are exposed and exploited by the people closest to us. With acerbic pragmatism, Burns takes us through the life of Rachel, a serial divorcee and recovering drug addict. Rachel’s sister never warmed to her because ‘she was expecting a puppy’. Her mother tried to poison their father when she suspected an affair. Jack is the love of her life, but actually, Jack’s a bit of a douche. He’s also married, distant and an imperfect representation of the idyllic life Rachel craves. Where Burns succeeds is in making us feel sympathy for Rachel without ever asking for it. Conversations with her family are played out in script form, because we don’t need narrative interjections to see that they’re dysfunctional. We don’t need Rachel to tell us she is depressed: Burns does that for her, by painting a bleak world in which she’s trapped, in few enough words that the reader can imagine it all too well. If you like novels with linear plots and a neat little ending, this isn’t for you. If instead, you want a book that is as honest, fractured and occasionally as hilarious as life itself, Leaving is My Colour will look good on you. (Rebecca Monks) ■ Out Thu 16 Feb.

ANTHOLOGY

MEMOIR

CRIME

FICTION

MAHVESH MURAD AND JARED SHURIN

CAT MARNELL

CLAIRE MACLEARY

AYOBAMI ADEBAYO

How to Murder Your Life (Ebury Press) ●●●●●

Cross Purpose (Saraband) ●●●●●

Stay with Me (Canongate) ●●●●●

When her husband dies suddenly, Maggie Laird is left with a mortgage and two teenage children. With little employment to her name, she's convinced by neighbour Wilma that they should take on Maggie’s late husband’s private investigator business. Set in Aberdeen, Maggie’s initial lack of street smarts is a welcome change from the macho bravado of many crime novels. For a novel with quaint chapter titles such as ‘Maggie Has a Wobble’, it’s surprisingly gritty, with the duo quickly embroiled in cases involving drugs, fraud, prostitution and even murder. While Maggie is firmly the protagonist, the book lends a variety of perspectives to Aberdeen’s mean streets. Chapters are voiced by the likes of drug dealer Fatboy and alcoholic childminder Kym, creating an intricate web of plotlines. There’s a tendency to explicitly sum up how far the two women have come, but with the business established and the women’s friendship cemented, hopefully the sequel dives more directly into the Granite City's underworld. (Rowena McIntosh) ■ Out Thu 23 Feb.

Ayobami Adebayo’s novel takes its title from the translation of ‘Rotimi’, the name of lead character Yejide's third child. It’s a phrase that rings truer and truer to Yejide throughout the book as everything and everyone she holds dear slips through her fingers. Set in 1980s Nigeria, Stay with Me tells the story of Yejide and husband Akin’s marriage and its ultimate demise. Set amid stormy political times, their crumbling marriage is juxtaposed against the country’s faltering foundations. Both husband and wife are given a narrative voice, cajoling the story out from alternate perspectives across chapter after harrowing chapter. Endless strands are explored and woven through Adebayo's beautiful, stark writing, from the couple's tragic attempts to bear children to the Nigerian relationship between modern and traditional medicine, through betrayal and motherhood. Stay with Me is suffused with the constant ache of heartbreak, bolstered only by that intangible need to keep going, no matter what. (Kirstyn Smith) ■ Out Thu 2 Mar.

The Djinn Falls in Love (Solaris) ●●●●● ‘Djinn, jinn, genie,’ reads the introduction. ‘Every culture has their own interpretation.’ This short story anthology, edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin, uncorks conjurings of this mystical being from writers across the world including Kirsty Logan, Kamila Shamsie, Neil Gaiman and Sami Shah. Genies take various forms here, but along the way there’s much smoke and fire, disappearance and possession, teetering on the edges of reality. Occasional forays into medieval quirk are bound to traditional myth, but the strongest blur the lines more subtly. Monica Byrne’s ‘Authenticity’ depicts with awe an adult film shoot in a desert, and JY Yang’s ‘Glass Lights’ shows a lonely office worker irritated by transit dating ads. Kuzhali Manickavel’s ‘How We Remember You’ is a particular highlight, with sun-dappled and guilty distortions of memory. It’s rare to find an anthology spanning both the globe and realms beyond, and the variety is enjoyable. (Laura Waddell) ■ Out Thu 9 Mar.

For someone who has managed to land what many would consider dream opportunities, Cat Marnell sure knows how to screw things up. This is the main takeaway from How to Murder Your Life, a memoir that traces the journey of a downward spiral of prescription medication, hard drugs, less-than-stellar boyfriends and intense partying. Marnell’s account of life as an addict while working her way up through Condé Nast is rough yet strangely captivating, with each chapter exhibiting a fierce honesty. Despite her candid narrative, an abundance of white privilege dominates, initially materialising as a result of her wealthy upbringing. But Marnell’s consistently selfdeprecating acknowledgement of this is amusing, preventing her colloquialisms and anecdotes from being insufferable. How to Murder Your Life is a response to our widespread fascination with dysfunction, allowing Marnell to retrospectively divulge her own challenging, intricate tale, while laying bare the horrors of addiction. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Out Thu 2 Feb.

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PHOTO: IDIL SUKAN

HITLIST

FLINT & PITCH PRESENTS: THE TOLL BY LUKE WRIGHT Scottish Storytelling Centre, Fri 3 Feb, lukewright.co.uk A new

spoken word / theatre piece from the acclaimed Luke Wright, based on Brexit Britain. Support from Colin McGuire and Michelle Fisher. AUDACIOUS WOMEN FESTIVAL Various venues, Edinburgh, Sat 18–Sun 26 Feb, audaciouswomen. scot A festival for and

by women that aims to break down social, political and institutional barriers. Featuring events, exhibitions and performances about women who have flaunted convention. See preview, page 47. STANZA: SCOTLAND’S POETRY FESTIVAL Various venues, St Andrews, Wed 1–Sun

5 Mar, stanzapoetry. org Leading literary festival focusing on verse. International wordsmiths join locals for readings, performances, slams, workshops and poetryrelated exhibitions. Headline poets include Patience Agbabi, Jim Carruth, Elaine Feinstein, Sasha Dugdale and Jackie Kay.

AYE WRITE! GLASGOW’S BOOK FESTIVAL Various venues, Glasgow, Thu 9–Sun 19 Mar, ayewrite.com Located mainly in the iconic Mitchell Library, Aye Write! remains committed to celebrating Scottish and international writers and writing. Around 200 writers are expected to attend.

BOOKS HIGHLIGHTS GLASGOW HARRY POTTER BOOK NIGHT Waterstones, Newton Mearns, Thu 2 Feb, waterstones.co.uk A themed evening for all you wannabe witches and wizards. Dress code: wizard (natch). DAVID KEENAN Watersones, Byres Road, Thu 2 Feb, waterstones.co.uk Debut author David Keenan presents his trippy novel This is Memorial Device. Set during the 70s and 80s in Lanarkshire, it follows a post-punk band who refuse to become mainstream. ANN CLEEVES Primavera Bistro, Newton Mearns, Tue 7 Feb, anncleeves.com Ann Cleeves, author of the ‘Shetland Quartet’ of crime thrillers featuring Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez, and writer of ITV’s Vera and the BBC’s Shetland, signs copies of her books. SEEDS OF THOUGHT POETRY NIGHT CCA, Fri 17 Feb, cca-glasgow.com A fun and relaxed evening of spoken word and music for seasoned and new performers, plus open mic if you’d like to get involved. CLAIRE MACLEARY: CROSS PURPOSE Waterstones, Thu 23 Feb, waterstones.com Saraband, the publishers behind Graeme Macrae Burnet’s Booker-nominated His Bloody Project, launch the newest edition to their stable, Cross Purpose. See review, page 50. WEE WRITE Mitchell Library, Mon 27 Feb–Sat 4 Mar, ayewrite.com A six-day programme offering over 100 author events, activities and readings for children, families and school pupils of all ages.

RAI CON Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 4 Mar, raicon.co.uk Anime convention, with a bit of manga thrown in there for good measure. Featuring a host of talks, panels, workshops, screenings and exhibitors.

Ruby Wax

SUE PERKINS: SPECTACLES King’s Theatre, Sun 12 Mar, sueperkinslive.com The bespectacled half of Great British Bake-Off duo Mel and Sue goes solo with her new comedy show / book tour, Spectacles.

EDINBURGH JON RONSON’S PSYCHOPATH NIGHT Citizen’s Theatre, Thu 16 Mar; Old Fruitmarket, Wed 22 Mar, jonronson.com The author of The Psychopath Test recounts the events that led up to the writing of his bestselling book from 2011. Featuring very special guests Mary Turner Thomson and Eleanor Longden. See preview, page 55. Also Dundee Rep, Fri 17 Mar, dundeerep.co.uk; Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Sun 19 Mar, lyceum.org.uk BUKOWSKI Joytown Grand Electric Theatre, Fri 17 Mar, glasgowfilm.org A screening of Matteo Borgardt’s 1981 documentary about the epically hard-living author Charles Bukowski, followed by live poetry and music from Jacob Yates and the Pearly Gate Lockpickers. RUBY WAX: FRAZZLED Citizens Theatre, Sun 19 Mar, rubywax.net The American comedian and author discusses her new book, Frazzled, which is a guide to mindfulness. ALEX GRAY Primavera Bistro, The Avenue Shopping Centre, Tue 21 Mar, alex-gray.com The writer of crime thrillers and creator of DI Lorimer (often described as a Glaswegian version of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus) talks about her latest book, Still Dark.

CANONGATE STARS & STORIES John Knox House, until Sat 25 Mar, cityofliterature.com Celebrate 500 years of Canongate’s incredible literary history with this trail that explores the books which have shaped Scotland. SJI HOLLIDAY: THE DAMSELFLY Waterstones, West End, Thu 2 Feb, waterstones.co.uk SJI Holliday celebrates the launch of book three in the Banktoun Trilogy. CELEBRATING BRIDE Scottish Storytelling Centre, Fri 3 Feb, tracscotland.org/scottishstorytelling-centre A celebration of the season of Bride in story, song, poem and dance. Déirdre ní Mhathúna introduces the poems, Susanna Orr Holland discusses her performance work, and Colin MacLennan introduces Circle Dance. REMEMBERING BRIGID Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sat 4 Feb, tracscotland.org/scottishstorytelling-centre Singer and storyteller Susanna Orr Holland, storyteller Kate Walker and violinist Morag Brown share tales of Brigid in ancient myth through her guise as saint and goddess. EMMA FLINT Waterstones, West End, Wed 8 Feb, waterstones.co.uk The author of Little Deaths discusses the real life inspiration behind her New York-set debut fiction.

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

Events are listed by city, then date. Submit listings for your event at list.co.uk/add

MEET DELICIOUSLY ELLA Waterstones, West End, Thu 9 Feb, waterstones.co.uk Meet writer and food blogger Ella Woodward as she signs copies of her latest book, Deliciously Ella with Friends: Healthy Recipes to Love, Share and Enjoy Together. ADVENTURES, AMBUSHES AND CLIFFHANGERS Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sat 18 Feb, tracscotland.org/scottishstorytelling-centre Children’s author Lari Don discusses her strong female characters, including Molly from the Spellchasers trilogy. DARE TO BE LOUD Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sat 25 Feb, tracscotland.org/scottishstorytelling-centre A spoken word workshop for women. Spoken word artist Katie Ailes guides you through creative writing and performance exercises, sharing her own stories and giving handy tips about performing them. DARK TALES Scottish Storytelling Centre, Tue 7 Mar, tracscotland.org/scottishstorytelling-centre Join David Campbell, Mara Menzies and Daniel Allison for an evening exploring the dark side of story. FLINT & PITCH PRESENTS: SHOW ME THE MONEY BY PAULA VARJACK Scottish Storytelling Centre, Fri 10 Mar, flintandpitch.com Spoken word / theatre show from Paula Varjack, looking at how artists manage to support their creative dreams. Also on the bill are Martin O’Connor and Skye Loneragan. SCOTTISH FOLK TALES FOR CHILDREN Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sat 18 Mar, tracscotland.org/scottishstorytelling-centre Join storyteller Judy Paterson and illustrator Sally Daly for an afternoon of stories and art activities to celebrate the launch of their new book, Scottish Folktales for Children. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 51

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COMEDY

Fo the latestr n listings a ews, reviews, g nd o list.co.uk to /comedy

BIANCO DEL RIO RuPaul’s Drag Race winner brings us her latest claws-out stand-up show Charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent: the all-important quartet of qualities needed to be crowned winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Since the show’s premiere in 2009, there have been outstanding contestants, epic lip-syncs and some serious throwing of shade, not to mention jaw-dropping transformations. But in eight seasons, no one has left an impression quite like Bianca Del Rio (real name Roy Haylock), the self-proclaimed cross between ‘Joan Crawford and Bozo the Clown’. As the winner of season six, Del Rio’s razorsharp sense of humour was quick to win over legions of fans who appreciated her cutting commentary and always brutal insults. Viewers warmed to some moments of kindness towards the other queens, even though she came armed with one-liners from her fictional ‘Rolodex of Hate’ (when asked by RuPaul about whether her

competitors were aiding her in the competition, she quipped, ‘well, they’re all helping me out by being horrible and making me look better’). Del Rio has since received a plethora of attention, not just for her drag but for her quick-witted comedy which has led to a sell-out stand-up tour, TV specials and a feature-length film, Hurricane Bianca, with Alan Cumming and Margaret Cho. Not Today Satan – her trademark catchphrase and the title of this new stand-up tour – has Del Rio descending upon Scotland, having already won over audiences in Australia and the United States. Expect much of the familiar un-PC ruthless banter, hilarious anecdotes and savage jibes from America’s finest comedy queen. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 11 Feb; SECC, Glasgow, Sun 12 Feb.

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Stuart Goldsmith | COMEDY

CAST AWAY Not only is Stuart Goldsmith a highly accomplished stand-up, he’s a damn ﬁne interviewer. His Comedian’s Comedian podcast is a musthear for anyone interested in the nitty-gritty of stand-up as an artform. Here, he picks ten of his favourite moments from those recordings

TONY LAW (EPISODE 186)

MIKE GUNN (EPISODE 21)

Since Tony’s first appearance on the podcast, he has confronted his alcohol and drug dependency and started to rebuild himself. Listening to one of comedy’s wildest, most surreal artists manage to turn his life around in the face of a career which rewarded him for his excesses is truly electrifying. You can probably hear me punching the air throughout the recording.

I won’t spoil Mike’s ‘photocopier’ anecdote by revealing the ending but it’s my favourite true story from all the interviews, and involves an ex-junkie weeping in a children’s classroom.

JOSIE LONG (EPISODE 92) ‘No one ever says, “guess who I invited on the expedition? This bitter, shrivelled-up old husk”.’ Josie is like a Japanese anime house-spirit of sparkling positivity.

JOHN ROBINS (EPISODE 181) John said, ‘I always see myself as having been bullied at school, but my worst fear is that there are people thinking, “no, you were a dick to me actually”.’ I find his honesty and willingness to put his ego on the line incredibly exciting. I also think there are probably very many comedians who could make the same point but wouldn’t dream of doing so.

RUSSELL HOWARD (EPISODE 170)

PHOTO: ANDRE PATTENDEN

Describing the moment he walked offstage after a show at Wembley Arena, Russell checked that everything was OK rather than celebrating. For someone whose comic persona is absolutely welded to optimism and happiness, his answer to the question, ‘are you happy?’ was a frank ‘no’.

GARY DELANEY (EPISODE 67) Gary got his teeth into how hard work is more important than talent, and said that he’d started with so many other people more talented than him who’d fallen by the wayside. He went on to describe his writing process in such depth it was like an exploded diagram; at the live recording you could hear the audience all scrabbling for their notebooks.

SHAPPI KHORSANDI (EPISODE 171) Shappi was amazingly candid about her struggles with an eating disorder and how stand-up was her ‘second chance at the playground’, but my favourite moment is when she talks about the snobbery which some critics and comics have about the club circuit.

SARA PASCOE (EPISODE 11) Sara relates some advice from Tim Key about there coming a point where over half your audience are there specifically to see you. I’m pleased to be undergoing that moment right now.

BILL BURR (EPISODE 176) I really enjoyed an invigorating argument that Bill and I had about the nature of ‘male privilege’. I was trying to make the point that ‘privilege’ in the context of ‘social privilege’ doesn’t mean having an easy life, it just means not being subject to certain systematic oppressions as well. His recent Conan appearance suggests he’s coming round, but I’m sure it’s nothing to do with me.

RONNY CHIENG (EPISODE 151) Ronny is now a Daily Show correspondent and sells out 1000-seater festival venues, but despite his huge talent and onstage fury he’s amazingly humble. He said he wanted his ‘comedy gravestone’ to read, ‘he tried his best; he did OK; he did well more times than he sucked and that’s more than what most of us can ask for.’

Stuart Goldsmith: Compared to What, The Stand, Glasgow, Mon 13 Mar; see comedianscomedian.com for all 194 podcasts to date. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 53

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COMEDY | Previews STAND-UP

DAVID KAY The Stand, Glasgow, Sun 12 Mar There are very few comedians working today who have partly made their reputation with routines about scones. OK, for ‘very few’, read ‘one’: David Kay. Many things have been said and written about the laconic Scottish stand-up since his arrival on the scene in the mid-90s, but nothing has summed him up quite so succinctly as this press quote: ‘Kay arrives looking as though he should be in an art-school indie band, yet talking as if he’s a senior citizen.’ But never mind all that: what is it about scones that floats his comedic boat? ‘I couldn’t do scone-based material without loving scones,’ he confesses. ‘I like a scone with butter and jam. Often when I’m writing new material I’ll have a scone to get me in the zone. The good thing about scones is that they are as relevant now as they were when I started. And also scones are just funny.’ Written down, this might not seem especially amusing, but if you have Kay’s couthy vocal delivery in your head, then it’s downright hilarious. But as he prepares for his Glasgow International Comedy Festival show, will he be performing some controversial material (he once had a section about identity theft built around some missing pyjama bottoms) or will it just be scones again? Both, as it turns out. ‘I’ll be covering politics, motivation, creative thinking and coaching Sir Andy Murray, but I’ll need some scone-based material because my audience demands it,’ Kay insists. ‘I think some of the new scone-based stuff will revolve around some of the contemporary recipes that we’re now seeing. I’ve only just become aware of the “sun-dried tomato scone” for one. In fact, I’m finding that a bit too controversial myself now that I think about it. I might phone the tabloids: that’s never a scone.’ (Brian Donaldson)

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Previews | COMEDY

list.co.uk/comedy

PHOTO: EMLI BENDIXEN

PHOTO: JAMES ROBERTSON

MY COMEDY HERO

TALK

FERN BRADY

JON RONSON

Blackfriars Basement, Glasgow, Fri 24 Mar; a live album recording of Male Comedienne is at The Stand, Edinburgh, Sun 26 Mar

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 16 Mar; Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Sun 19 Mar; Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Wed 22 Mar

I went to see Doug Stanhope in 2011 and my friend and I were the only women in an audience where all the men looked like truckers / murderers / both. I don’t know why more women in the UK aren’t into him: I overheard a feminist comic at a gig recently shouting that he’s a misogynist and it really bothered me because I think his general misanthropy gets mistaken for misogyny. His podcast is excellent: it dispenses with the usual format of having celebrity guests and instead plays host to the colourful residents from Bisbee, Arizona (Stanhope eschewed LA to live in the middle of nowhere). I’ve always been interested in comedians who use real-life stories for their shows so in that sense I’m massively influenced by him. A comedian who knows Stanhope told me that he deliberately seeks out mad experiences to use for comedy: I also used to constantly get into ridiculous situations just to have a good story to tell eg. the two and a half years I spent working in Edinburgh’s strip clubs as possibly the worst lap dancer of all time. I just hope there comes a day when women can talk about sex stuff and it’ll simply be seen as funny and not ‘why do female comedians always do sexual material?’ It’s already happened in the US with stuff like Broad City and Chelsea Handler, so fingers crossed it’s in the post. (As told to Brian Donaldson) ■ See more at list.co.uk/comedy

He might shirk from the phrase ‘timeless’ being used about his work, but Jon Ronson’s topics are refusing to go away. The journalist’s print and broadcast work has covered extremism (Them), social media (So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed), and men who stare at goats (OK, that might be a little more niche). With his latest touring show he revisits The Psychopath Test, his 2011 book which explored some high-profile as well as rarely read cases, relating them to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, a 20-point test which claimed to conclusively detect psychopathic tendencies. As you might expect, Ronson has problems with such sweeping diagnoses. ‘One of the items on the checklist is impulsivity and another item is being cunning and manipulative, but how can you be both?’ he wonders. ‘If you put those to one side, the nuances of psychopathic behaviour have been anatomised by Hare in a brilliant way, but it is a very powerful weapon that gets misused constantly.’ For Psychopath Night, he’s joined onstage by two people who have been at the sharp end of, in one case, psychopathic behaviour and, in the other, the vagaries of the 20-point test. In broader terms, the world suddenly appears to be in the hands of less than lucid individuals. ‘Through the book, what I learned about psychopaths is that they have moulded society,’ notes Ronson. ‘And capitalism at its most ruthless is a physical manifestation of psychopathy.’ (Brian Donaldson)

LOCAL LAUGHS RACHEL JACKSON

EDINBURGH COMIC AND ACTRESS HAS A GO AT OUR Q&A Can you tell us about the moment when you thought: ‘stand-up is for me’? When people kept laughing at my life so I thought, ‘I may as well get paid for this’. Do you have any pre-show rituals? Pacing up and down the corridor. Every time. Even if there’s not a corridor. How do you handle hecklers? I date them. Where do you draw the line when it comes to ‘offensive comedy’? I truly live by RuPaul’s message: ‘if it’s funny you can get away with anything’. What’s the one thing you remember about your very first stand-up gig? My first solo show, Memoirs of a Bunny Boiler, was a sort of standup / one-woman play mash-up and I remember being terrified as it’s

just you up there. If it’s good, all on you. If it’s bad, all on you. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another comedian so far? I was told to keep being weird. I have always been told I’m weird anyway and I have a bit of a persona I like to play around with. At the end of the day, we’re all freaks, right? Which comedian’s memoir would you recommend to someone? I liked Steve Coogan’s a lot because his career is a bit of an inspiration to me. I want to keep creating mad characters people know and love, and then a few years down the line shock everyone with how good my straight acting is too.

■ Rachel Jackson: Force of Nature, Wild Cabaret, Glasgow, Wed 15 Mar; Bunny Boiler’s Dating Vlog can be seen now on BBC Three online. See more of this q&a at list.co.uk/ comedy 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST S 55

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COMEDY | Highlights

Hemphill’s hit sitcom. See First & Last, page 96.

HITLIST

STILL GAME LIVE 2 SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Sat 4–Thu 16 Feb, thessehydro.com The stage version of Ford Kiernan and Greg

RICHARD GADD: MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO The Stand, Glasgow, Sat 11 Mar, thestand.co.uk Edinburgh Comedy Award winning show from the Fifeborn performer. Also The Stand, Edinburgh, Tue 14 Mar, thestand.co.uk

BRIDGET CHRISTIE: BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Sat 18 Mar, citz.co.uk Acute social and political humour from the award-winning standup, who repeatedly pokes fun at her own righteous anger, this time tackling Britain’s departure from the EU. See feature, page 28.

RICHARD HERRING: THE BEST The Stand, Edinburgh, Tue 21 Mar, thestand. co.uk A ‘best of’ compilation from the wonderfully pernickety comedian as he chooses the finest routines from his last 12 shows. Also Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 22 Mar, citz.co.uk

FERN BRADY: MALE COMEDIENNE Blackfriars Basement, Glasgow, Fri 24 Mar, blackfriarsglasgow. com/basement A tacksharp look at gender, class, poledancing, canines and big man-hands. See My Comedy Hero, page 55. Also The Stand, Edinburgh, Sun 26 Mar, thestand.co.uk

COMEDY HIGHLIGHTS Events are listed by city, then date. Submit listings for your event at list.co.uk/add

Uncles

GLASGOW JACK WHITEHALL: AT LARGE SECC, until Fri 3 Feb, secc.co.uk Posh-voiced star of Fresh Meat and Bad Education on his second arena tour.

REGINALD D HUNTER: THE MAN WHO ATTEMPTED TO DO AS MUCH AND SUCH King’s Theatre, Fri 24 Mar, atgtickets.com/venues/kingstheatre The self-proclaimed ‘comedian, swashbuckler and scientist’ takes his latest show on the road.

RUSSELL KANE: RIGHT MAN, WRONG AGE The Garage, Thu 9 Mar, garageglasgow.co.uk Russell Kane discusses why it’s perfectly OK to be 20 but feel 40 (or vice versa) and explains why nobody truly feels their age.

JANEY GODLEY: THERE’S ONLY ONE GODLEY Òran Mór, Sat 25 Mar, oran-mor. co.uk Killer comedy from Lady Godley with a show that promises no-holds-barred humour that takes zero prisoners. See feature, page 30.

PAUL FOOT: TIS A PITY SHE’S A PIGLET Òran Mór, Fri 10 Feb, oran-mor. co.uk Surreal and chaotic humour from the 2013 Sydney Comedy Awardwinning stand-up. DAVID O’DOHERTY: BIG TIME Citizens Theatre, Mon 13 & Tue 14 Mar, citz.co.uk Armed with a teeny keyboard and an incredible wit, the Irish wag presents his latest solo show of comedy and songs. STEWART LEE: CONTENT PROVIDER SECC, Thu 15 Mar, secc.co.uk Mr Lee’s latest live show is undoubtedly just as caustic as ever. Also Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Fri 17 Mar, edtheatres.com JON RONSON: PSYCHOPATH NIGHT Citizens Theatre, Thu 16 Mar, citz.co.uk Alongside special guests, the Cardiff-born journalist discusses events that led to his bestselling book, The Psychopath Test. See preview, page 55. Also Royal Lyceum Theatre, Sun 19 Mar, lyceum.org. uk; Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Wed 22 Mar, glasgowcityhalls.com

JOHN SHUTTLEWORTH: MY LAST WILL AND TASTY MINT Citizens Theatre, Thu 23 Mar, citz.co.uk A recent health scare (well, a mild bout of sciatica) has made Shuttleworth question his mortality.

EDINBURGH

UNCLES Citizens Theatre, Fri 17 Mar, citz.co.uk Robert Florence and Iain Connell put the world to rights. Also The Stand, Edinburgh, Sun 26 Mar, thestand.co.uk

CHRIS RAMSEY: IS THAT CHRIS RAMSEY? Citizens Theatre, Tue 21 Mar, citz.co.uk Upbeat anecdotes, feelgood humour and witty observations.

SEAN MCLOUGHLIN: KAMIKAZE Blackfriars Basement, Fri 17 Mar, blackfriarsglasgow.com/ basement McLoughlin presents an hour of perfectly pitched if occasionally unhinged stand-up.

DAVID KAY The Stand, Tue 21 Mar, thestand. co.uk Wonderful ramblings from the star of Radio 4’s Mordrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard. See preview, page 54.

ASHLEY STORRIE: FULL FRONTAL STORRIE Blackfriars Basement, Sat 18 Mar, blackfriarsglasgow.com/basement Storrie’s witty and intelligent humour is wrapped up in tales of her not-sonormal life. See feature, page 30.

RUSSELL HOWARD: ROUND THE WORLD SECC, Tue 21 Mar, secc.co.uk The energetic star of Good News and Mock the Week heads out on his biggest live tour yet. He’s even playing China.

BIANCO DEL RIO: NOT TODAY SATAN Usher Hall, Sat 11 Feb, usherhall. co.uk Flamboyant humour from the American actor, stand-up and drag queen. See preview, page 52. Also SECC, Glasgow, Sun 12 Feb, secc.co.uk OMID DJALILI: SCHMUCK FOR A NIGHT The Queen’s Hall, Sat 18 Feb, thequeenshall.net The BritishIranian comedian and star of stage and screen brings his new show to an adoring public. See feature, page 33. Also Perth Concert Hall, Wed 22 Feb, horsecross.co.uk; Rothes Hall, Glenrothes, Fri 24 Feb, onfife.com SEAN LOCK: KEEP IT LIGHT Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Thu 16 Mar, edtheatres.com The team captain of Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats presents his latest live show.

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FILM

Fo the latestr n listings a ews, reviews, g nd o list.co.uk to /film

EDINBURGH IRANIAN FESTIVAL Cinema is the beating heart of a community festival Despite common misconceptions, Iran’s history and culture are rich with phenomenal music, art, film and food. The biannual Edinburgh Iranian Festival aims to foster a sense of understanding, introducing audiences to the country’s diverse cultural highlights. ‘Iran is more often in the headlines for its politics than for its heritage and creativity,’ says festival organiser Sara Kheradmand. ‘So we hope to introduce Scotland to the heart and soul of Iran: its people and its culture.’ As well as talks, exhibitions and performances, the festival’s film strand will feature a wide range of new releases and UK premieres, including Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-nominated The Salesman. ‘The film season this year is

one of two halves,’ explains Kheradmand. ‘On the one hand, it pays tribute to one of the legends of Iranian cinema, Abbas Kiarostami. And on the other, it looks to the future of Iranian cinema by providing a platform for several young female directors.’ The festival will also focus on stories with young women at the centre, such as Sarah Saidan’s animated short Beach Flags (pictured) and Reza Mirkarimi’s familial drama Daughter. Kheradmand is ultimately hopeful that the festival will meet its goals in terms of uniting communities. ‘We hope people will recognise that we’re all more alike than we are different.’ (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Various venues, Edinburgh, Thu 9–Sun 19 Feb.

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FILM | Reviews

BIOPIC – ROMANCE

LOVING (12A) 123min ●●●●●

COMEDY DRAMA

T2 TRAINSPOTTING (18) 117min ●●●●● ‘Nostalgia . . . that’s why you’re here . . . a tourist in your own youth,’ Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) tells a reformed Renton (Ewan McGregor) in Danny Boyle’s long-awaited Trainspotting sequel, although he might as well be talking to us. It’s 21 years since Irvine Welsh’s junkie anti-heroes hit the big screen, but T2 arrives right on time – perfect for an age that’s pining for the past. So is it good? Is it Archie-Gemmill-scoring-against-Holland-good? Yes it is. Loosely based on Welsh’s follow-up novel Porno, it sees Renton return to Edinburgh from Amsterdam, two decades on from stealing from his mates. Ewen Bremner’s Spud is still on smack. Robert Carlyle’s incarcerated Francis Begbie has just been turned down for parole. And Sick Boy is running his aunt’s knackered pub, scheming to turn it into a brothel. To say more would spoil returning writer John Hodge’s blood-pumping script, aside from revealing it wholly ditches the porn movie plot from Welsh’s book. With themes of friendship and betrayal present again, resentment and guilt festers away like an open sore. Shot by Anthony Dod Mantle, from Arthur’s Seat to condemned high-rises, Edinburgh is captured in all its beauty and squalor, while footage is mixed in from the original like ghosts passing through. The major players thrive, though Carlyle shines brightest as he once again dons the tache of the psychotic Begbie. The soundtrack teases us with strains from the first film, combined with everything from Queen to Wolf Alice to Vera Lynn. It isn’t the to-die-for jukebox from before, but how could it be? Far from destroying its predecessor’s legacy, T2 builds on it with characters that are older, sadder and definitely not wiser. Heroin chic is making a comeback. (James Mottram) ■ Out now.

In the still of the night in Caroline County, Virginia, on July 11 1958, the local sheriff’s department entered the home of interracial couple Richard and Mildred Loving to arrest them. Their crime was simply being married in an era of intolerance and they were banned from the state, prompting a long legal battle. Writer-director Jeff Nichols approaches their story with his usual understated assurance. He trusts his actors to quietly convey their rage and paranoia, which in turn creates an uneasy mood. Joel Edgerton completely convinces as Richard with his slimmed-down appearance, cropped hair and stoic swagger. Ruth Negga shines as Mildred too, her pensive stares communicating a multitude of emotion, her growth in confidence subtly relayed. Nichols shows how their relationship shifts under the strain, and how their love prevails against the odds. Observing them is photographer Grey Villet (Michael Shannon), a friendly presence and skilled raconteur. You see him take a picture of the pair laying on their sofa, giggling in front of a comedy show. This joyful image is revealed at the end of the film, where it acts as a wonderful reminder of precisely what the couple were fighting for. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ General release from Fri 3 Feb.

BIOPIC – DRAMA

HIDDEN FIGURES (PG) 127min ●●●●●

DRAMA

FENCES (12A) 139min ●●●●● Denzel Washington gives a towering performance in the long-awaited screen adaptation of playwright August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Fences. Washington, who also directs, knows it like the back of his hand, having played protagonist Troy Maxson in the 2010 Broadway revival. He has reunited the adult ensemble of that production, including Viola Davis as Troy’s long-suffering wife Rose. It is set in 1950s Pittsburgh where Troy is a proud working stiff, full of resentment that he never realised his potential as a sportsman. Wilson specifically articulates the AfricanAmerican experience but the complex relationships will be understood by people everywhere. The film was shot – beautifully – on location in Wilson’s old working class Pittsburgh neighbourhood. What will not be to everyone’s taste is the sense of importance that can weigh heavily, and the running time that Washington seemingly couldn’t bear to cut. However, it is undeniably a work of great compassion, humour and wisdom, enacted with ferocious passion. Washington and the gutwrenchingly brilliant Davis won Tonys for their performances on Broadway. For this not to get any Oscars love would really be a scandal. (Angie Errigo) ■ General release from Fri 10 Feb.

Hidden Figures is the true story of the forgotten mathematicians behind the NASA space programme. That these overlooked boffins were African-American women makes Theodore Melfi’s biopic extra intriguing. His adaptation of Margot Lee Shetterly’s book, penned with Allison Schroeder, is a character-driven drama that handles its racially segregated American backdrop with care and is just as much about sexism in the workplace. Beginning in 1961, at NASA’s Virginia HQ, centre-stage is Katherine G Johnson (Taraji P Henson), a maths genius plucked from the computer room to work with those calculating rocket trajectories. While she’s not even permitted to use the whites-only bathroom, her friends fare little better – with Dorothy (Octavia Spencer) and Mary (Janelle Monáe) respectively denied promotion and education rights. Kirsten Dunst and Jim Parsons are ignorant NASA employees, while Kevin Costner – as Johnson’s ‘colour-blind’ boss, a man desperate to beat the Russians into space – is superb in a role he was born to play. Hidden Figures emerges as an inspirational story about collective triumph – showing that if we all work together, regardless of race or gender, the impossible can be achieved. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 17 Feb.

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Reviews | FILM

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CRIME DRAMA

WAR FILM

THRILLER

TRESPASS AGAINST US

BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK

PATRIOTS DAY

(15) 100min ●●●●●

(15) 133 min ●●●●●

(15) 113min ●●●●● Adam Smith’s directorial debut seems like a typical tale of a crook trying to acquaint himself with the straight and narrow, but it strays from the norm in its rural Gloucestershire setting and focus on a traveller family. Michael Fassbender plays Chad Cutler, who’s struggling to get out of the game and looking for a better life for his son. Brendan Gleeson is suitably snivelling as Chad’s pa Colby, a man who undermines his grandson’s education, while keeping his own spawn on a path to prison. If Fassbender’s cup runneth over with charisma, he fails to project the weak will of a man floundering under his father’s thumb. Writer Alastair Siddons was inspired by a real-life family who terrorised a county but the gang here are beyond shambolic. When a news report describes them as ‘highly professional’ it seems like a joke. Accents waver and the film lacks audacity as well as authenticity, surprising given Smith’s background as a provocative music video director. It doesn’t know what to make of its characters, eventually plumping for a quirky, feel-good climax – yet another departure from what came before. (Emma Simmonds) ■ Screening on Tue 21 Feb as part of GFF. General release from Fri 3 Mar.

Ang Lee follows up his Oscar-winning take on Life of Pi with another technically ingenious adaptation, this time tackling Ben Fountain’s novel about a US soldier’s bitter experiences. Shot using a uniquely high frame rate, Lee’s film looks pin-sharp and offers a uniquely vivid sense of place and time. Joe Alwyn makes a strong centre as Billy, a teenage soldier who returns to his Texas homeland as part of Bravo Squad after a tour of duty in Iraq. The boys have gained celebrity status due to Billy’s heroism under fire, and travel in a stretch limo to a football stadium where they take the stage alongside Destiny’s Child as part of the halftime entertainment. Billy’s sister Kathryn (Kristen Stewart) wants him to apply for a discharge, while wannabe agent Albert (Chris Tucker) is trying to sell the squad’s story to Hollywood as a film project. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a real curio, a genuinely experimental film, intermittently successful despite a punishing lack of depth or detail in the characters. Ultimately, the cruel juxtaposition of dark personal angst and glitzy red, white and blue exteriors provides the film’s single ideological punch, thrown by Lee in spectacular style. (Eddie Harrison) ■ Selected release from Fri 10 Feb.

Hot-on-the-heels of last year’s Deepwater Horizon, Peter Berg reworks another real-life tale. This time his focus is the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the ensuing manhunt. Based on the book Boston Strong, Berg regular Mark Wahlberg stars as Tommy Saunders (a composite of several law enforcers) who is tasked with security at the finishing line. When the first bomb goes off, Tommy heads directly into danger to help those who have been hurt. Berg pays tribute to the heroes that helped thwart the terrorists with a visceral race-against-the-clock thriller that finds time for a sense of humour. Utilising a fine cast that also includes Kevin Bacon, JK Simmons and John Goodman, Berg goes to great lengths showing the minutiae of each day, while he contrasts the innocence of the morning of the bombings with the trauma of what follows, and draws the distressing event and its aftermath together using edge-ofyour-seat tension. With graphic depictions of the explosions from ground level, Berg never shies from the horror of an attack which killed three civilians and injured over 260 more, yet the emphasis is firmly on humanity, hope and bravery. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ Screening on Mon 20 & Tue 21 Feb as part of GFF. General release from Thu 23 Feb.

DRAMA

MOONLIGHT (15) 111min ●●●●● Persecuted by his peers, struggling with his sexuality and neglected by his drug-addled, sex-peddling mom, life lobs challenge after challenge at young Chiron and he builds barriers, wide and high, to protect himself. If Moonlight sounds hard-going then it emphatically isn’t: the second film from US writer-director Barry Jenkins is far more than the black Boyhood, smashing stereotypes and trading in hope – hope that people will turn out to be better than they seem and that true love will find a way around those walls. Chiron’s father-figure Juan (Mahershala Ali) tells him, ‘At some point you got to decide for yourself who you wanna be,’ and the film is divided into three chapters that chronicle our protagonist’s evolving persona – from diminutive, painfully shy youngster, to insecure teen, to closeted tough guy. Moonlight soars skyward on the strength of James Laxton’s cinematography, which provides an intimate, child’s-eye-view of domestic instability, immerses us in the daunting world of teenage schoolyard alienation, and oh-so-softly uncovers the aching loneliness that lies behind the carefully crafted machismo of Chiron’s adult years. The three actors who play Chiron are equally sublime – Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes – and there’s sensitive supporting work from Ali, singer Janelle Monáe and Britain’s own Naomie Harris, playing Chiron’s addict mother. Best of all, Moonlight is a film of terrific sincerity, subtlety and optimism, one that nonetheless shows the difficulty of fleeing one’s fate and how the responsibility for a child can stretch way beyond the family home. It’s astutely judged, beautifully humane and, in its final throes, devastatingly romantic. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 17 Feb. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 59

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FILM | Reviews

COMEDY DRAMA

20TH CENTURY WOMEN (15) 118min ●●●●●

COMEDY

TONI ERDMANN (15) 162min ●●●●● This superlative, award-winning comedy from German writer-director Maren Ade wields its silliness to potent effect – with scenarios ranging from titter-inducing social awkwardness to more flamboyant lunacy – but it is also a textured portrait of the parentchild relationship, and a shrewd satire of corporate shenanigans. It sees a father and daughter reconnect in Bucharest when Winfried (Peter Simonischek), an underemployed music teacher and serial prankster, springs a visit on his miserable management consultant offspring Ines (Sandra Hüller), much to her horror. When she packs him off, he returns sporting an ill-fitting brown wig and his cherished false gnashers, in the guise of his alter-ego, the titular Toni Erdmann. In the process of crashing his daughter’s social scene and constantly threatening to humiliate her professionally, he teaches Ines to lighten up. There’s a wonderful naturalism to the often excruciating interactions and the leads are astonishingly game and utterly convincing. The film’s fly-on-the-wall visual style, too, captures the unfolding insanity in a way that keeps it grounded. In its own inimitable and genuinely unforgettable way, Toni Erdmann takes a pin to the corporate bubble, ridiculing business-speak, highlighting the stubbornness of workplace sexism and showing the increased pressure to succeed that divides generations. Ultimately we see that Ines fears her father’s presence not because of a lack of love or commonality but because it forces her to confront the consequences of her professional decisions, and to see her life through his eyes. Never mind her career achievements, what Winfried wants is what all parents should: for his daughter to simply be happy. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 3 Feb.

Exploring familial bonds has been a common theme throughout the work of writer-director Mike Mills (Thumbsucker, Beginners). His third film tells the story of three women living in Santa Barbara in 1979, including a mother struggling to raise her teenage son, and it’s based, in part, on Mills’ own upbringing. Framed like a school report of sorts, a grown-up Jamie (played as a teen by newcomer Lucas Jade Zumann) reflects on the lives of these women. Each of them are assigned their own soundtrack that captures their spirit and they each get some killer lines. Annette Bening turns in a sophisticated performance as Jamie’s chain-smoking mother Dorothea who rents out her home to punky photographer Abbie (Greta Gerwig), while Elle Fanning plays Jamie’s promiscuous friend Julie. Mills tells the women’s stories with a distant fascination, with the narration recalling Kevin Arnold’s bittersweet bewilderment in the TV show The Wonder Years. Though aspects of the film play out like a guide to the female psyche, for the most part this is a poignant and witty mixtape. All the characters get their moment to shine as they throw glorious and awkward shapes to their own personalised tunes. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ General release from Fri 10 Feb.

BLACK COMEDY

PREVENGE (15) 87min ●●●●●

BIOPIC – COMEDY DRAMA

THE FOUNDER (12A) 115min ●●●●● The story of the men behind McDonald’s, John Lee Hancock’s 1950s-set dramedy is like The Social Network sandwiched between two sesame seed buns. This is not a film about the way the fast food giant changed our eating habits. Rather, it’s about the fulfilment of an American dream and the ruthless battles that took place beneath those golden arches. Who is the founder of the title? Is it Dick or Mac McDonald (played here by Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch), who took a tiny hotdog stand and grew it into an ingenious San Bernardino burger joint that bore their surname? Or is it Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), the travelling salesman who signs a deal with the siblings to franchise their concepts across the country and edges them out? Scripted by Robert D Siegel, the film is a fascinating study in ambition. Brilliantly played by Keaton, who is even better here than in the flashier Birdman, Kroc is the embodiment of capitalism. The result is an absorbing account of a cultural (and culinary) phenomenon that will leave audiences divided. Some will sympathise with Dick and Mac, others will cheer on the shameless Kroc. But all should be able to recognise just what a fine job Hancock et al have done. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 17 Feb.

Alice Lowe is up the duff and on the hunt in the provocative Prevenge, a film which gets considerable mileage out of its creator’s own pregnancy. It balances an exploitation movie plot with a society-savaging agenda, mocking the tendency to pigeonhole and mollycoddle expectant mothers. Writer-director Lowe turns in a performance of eerie passivity and typically brilliant comic timing as a woman in her third trimester who has become a conduit for her unborn child’s murderous desires. For a directorial debut, it’s remarkably well-realised (it’s Lowe’s second shot as screenwriter after Sightseers). Despite the extreme nature of the narrative, Prevenge plays on common pregnancy frustrations and fears with its strong vein of demented wish-fulfilment. It also pleasures in making you squirm, the discomfort enhanced by the intimacy and explicitness of the execution, the spiralling events reflected in woozy camerawork and a seesawing score. The conceit reaches its logical conclusion when the result of Lowe’s own gestation, her baby daughter, cameos in a sequence where the actress is able to showcase her genuine maternal pride; a disarming moment of nice among the large dollops of nasty. (Emma Simmonds) ■ Selected release from Fri 10 Feb.

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DRAMA

COMEDY DRAMA

GOLD

IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD

RULES DON’T APPLY

(15) 121min ●●●●●

(TBC) 97min ●●●●●

(12A) 127min ●●●●●

Matthew McConaughey is mesmerising as he ‘uglies up’ for this seemingly tall tale from Stephen Gaghan (Syriana) which melds Wolf of Wall Street-style financial skulduggery with a Herzogian walk on the wild side. Gold falls short of its influences in the bravura stakes but proves pleasantly confounding; odiousness makes way for compassion, greed for loyalty and pluck, while its love affair takes a backseat to something more bromantic. Loosely based on the Bre-X mining scandal, it sees McConaughey’s small-time Reno-based prospector Kenny Wells take a desperate punt on maverick geologist Mike Acosta (Edgar Ramírez), scrabbling together the capital to fund a gold hunt in the Indonesian jungle. McConaughey’s game work is transparently a bid for fresh awards glory. Sadly, the other elements of the story fall by the wayside as the film pins its hope on a bankable showman and his eye-catching transformation, with every goofy grin and display of sweaty flesh lapped up. Yet it never really settles into a satisfying groove, nor confidently projects an identity. Gold has some of the glitter of an Oscarwinner but you don’t have to inspect it too closely to see that it ain’t quite the real deal. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 3 Feb.

The sixth film from Québécois wunderkind Xavier Dolan is designed to put you through the wringer. Based on Jean-Luc Lagarce’s play of the same name, It’s Only the End of the World sees Louis (Gaspard Ulliel) head back home to break the news of his terminal illness to his estranged family. After about ten minutes in the company of his brutish older brother Antoine (Vincent Cassel), younger sister Suzanne (Léa Seydoux), mother (Nathalie Baye) and Antoine’s wife Catherine (Marion Cotillard), it becomes clear why he left. This histrionic brood continually argue and shout and it’s absolutely unbearable. They each get their moment to reconnect with Louis, but can’t seem to say what they really feel. Dolan creates a claustrophobic, intentionally uncomfortable experience. The overbearing, dreamlike ambience gives the impression that Louis is trapped, with everyone forcing their sad goodbyes on him. Yet the presentation of the film’s themes is laboured and Dolan’s typically extravagant symbolism comes across as crude instead of stirring. The director has stated that this is his ‘first film as a man’ but, coming after the masterful Mommy, it feels like a step back. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ Selected release from Fri 24 Feb.

Warren Beatty was once the Hollywood alpha male. Having done it all it seemed he had retired. He hasn’t acted in a film since 2001 and hasn’t directed one since 1998’s Bulworth. It’s therefore a shock to see him aged 79 playing notorious nutcase Howard Hughes, but he still knows how to make a movie. Beauty contest winner Marla (Lily Collins) arrives in 1958 Hollywood with her mother (Annette Bening) and a contract at Hughes’ studio. She gets a snazzy villa, a strict set of rules, and a driver, Frank (star on the rise Alden Ehrenreich). Marla and Frank are both religious and ambitious, but their mutual attraction threatens to undermine their virtue and plans. Eventually they cross paths with their elusive employer and their lives are changed forever. A host of welcome faces figure in the daft, fitfully disquieting goings-on and the nostalgia for old Hollywood and Hughes’ exploits is handsomely evoked. Perhaps because Scorsese got there with a dramatic epic first, Beatty adopts a curiously kooky take on the mogul’s deterioration, which veers quite oddly in tone. Still, it is engagingly acted, and something of an old-school treat. (Angie Errigo) ■ Screening on Sun 19 & Mon 20 Feb as part of GFF. General release from Fri 10 Mar.

DRAMA

CERTAIN WOMEN (12A) 107min ●●●●● ‘It would be so lovely to think that if I were a man people would listen and say ok. It would be so restful,’ sighs lawyer Laura (Laura Dern) after dealing with a difficult client who repeatedly ignores her advice in a workplace injury case. Director Kelly Reichardt adapts three of Maile Meloy’s short stories that each play with the idea that women have long been carving out success for themselves, even if that fact is often ignored or disrespected. Courage and determination are traits which all the women in this triptych of tales exhibit. Laura straps on a bulletproof vest to act as negotiator after her client takes a security guard hostage. Michelle Williams as Gina is also in negotiations, but with an elderly man for the sandstone in his front yard. She enters his house resolved to get the stone for a good price only to be undermined by her husband Ryan (James Le Gros). Williams has perfected the silent withering glance, and those she directs at Le Gros are wickedly gratifying. Relative newcomer Lily Gladstone delivers one of the most poignant performances in a film of flawless turns as a lonely rancher who falls for a second lawyer, Elizabeth (Kristen Stewart). After a few dates she takes Elizabeth on a moonlit horse ride along a dusty and remote trail that is electrifyingly sexy and dripping with unquenchable desire. Reichardt has already established herself as one of the best American directors working today with films like Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy and Meek’s Cutoff, and Certain Women sees her cement that reputation. It’s a tender, meaty and startlingly beautiful portrait of the American Northwest and the trailblazing women that toil fearlessly against its rocky terrain. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ General release from Fri 3 Mar. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 61

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FILM | Reviews

ACTION THRILLER

FREE FIRE (15) 91min ●●●●●

DRAMA

ELLE (18) 131min ●●●●● When we first see successful, middle-aged video games producer Michèle Leblanc (Isabelle Huppert), she is struggling with an intruder who proceeds to rape her. Her character is immediately established when, instead of reporting the assault, she clears up, takes a bath and acts as if nothing has happened. This extreme pragmatism – bordering on aloofness – informs every facet of her life, from her relationship with her ex, to her affair with the husband of her best friend. But, as she attempts to track down her rapist, Michèle’s desires become increasingly ambiguous. We soon see why she is reluctant to involve the police: a childhood ordeal has left her wary of authority. In fact much of Michèle’s behaviour is far from traditional; she certainly doesn’t behave as a woman supposedly should in such circumstances. Yet, thanks to Huppert’s masterful inhabiting of a truly complex character, and a smart script by David Birke (adapting Philippe Djian’s novel) that balances shocking moments with the blackest of comedy, her behaviour never rings less than true. Indeed, while Elle is a challenging watch, Paul Verhoeven’s film works because it recognises, and fully embraces, the fact that there is not one stock response to such an assault. It’s undoubtedly Huppert’s multi-layered performance that sees the film play like a complex psychological drama, rather than an exploitative rape saga – although it will likely, and does perhaps wilfully, inspire debate on that front. Michèle may be shaped by her experiences but she is no victim and her unique strength, along with accompanying destructive streak, gives the narrative its undeniable, lingering power. (Nikki Baughan) ■ Screening on Sun 19 & Mon 20 Feb as part of GFF. General release from Fri 10 Mar.

With guns a-blazin’ and crooks cracking wise, Free Fire is the latest from director Ben Wheatley and writer Amy Jump. This 70s-set, single location actioner sees an arms deal go south fast, with Brie Larson, Armie Hammer and Cillian Murphy among the trigger happy participants. Like Reservoir Dogs reimagined as a prolonged gun battle, we watch as a motley crew converge on a disused umbrella factory in Boston. Wheatley doesn’t quite drop the ball with his sixth film but he does fumble it slightly. There’s not much at stake, the action feels repetitive and it lacks the instantly iconic swagger of the aforementioned Dogs. The plot is threadbare and doublecrosses have negligible impact. Luckily a saviour is on hand in the shape of Sharlto Copley as the flamboyantly attired, exuberantly preposterous Vern. There’s some terrific writing too (‘Vernon was misdiagnosed as a child genius and he never got over it.’), aided by the precision delivery of a cracking ensemble but, while the period trimmings are fun, the film runs out of ideas long before its (modest) runtime is up. Still, devotees of facial hair and firearms are likely to have a blast. (Emma Simmonds) ■ Screening on Wed 22 & Thu 23 Feb as part of GFF. General release from Fri 31 Mar.

BIOPIC – ADVENTURE

THE LOST CITY OF Z (15) 141min ●●●●●

THRILLER

PERSONAL SHOPPER (15) 105min ●●●●● The latest collaboration between Clouds of Sils Maria director Olivier Assayas and that film’s César-winning star Kristen Stewart is an awkward fusion of ghost story, celebrity culture satire and Brian De Palmastyle thriller. Stewart is Maureen, an American in Paris struggling to come to terms with the death of her twin. The siblings had a pact that whoever died first would send the other a sign to prove that there was an afterlife. There are genuine attempts to embrace scary movie traditions: Maureen spends the night in the old dark house owned by her brother, investigates the spiritualist leanings of painter Hilma af Klint and novelist Victor Hugo, and is visited by ectoplasm-spewing poltergeists. These features are balanced by existential musings but Assayas shoehorns too many other elements into the story, including a secret stalker and Maureen’s demanding celebrity boss (Nora von Waldstätten). In some respects, Personal Shopper is rather stylish, with hints of Polanski and even Kieslowski in the execution, and Stewart’s nervy, edgy performance nearly manages to keep everything on track. Almost but not quite is the final verdict. (Allan Hunter) ■ Screening on Sat 18 & Sun 19 Feb as part of GFF. General release from Fri 17 Mar.

James Gray’s painterly, meditative style goes down well with film festival enthusiasts. But it’s an unusual approach for a manly, action-adventure saga. Based on David Grann’s non-fiction book, Gray’s latest chronicles the calamity-strewn expeditions of explorer Percy Fawcett. When Fawcett finds remnants of pottery and carved faces deep in the Amazonian jungle he becomes obsessed with finding proof of an ancient, sophisticated civilisation in what he called the ‘Lost City of Z’. As Fawcett, Charlie Hunnam is a model of courteous, stiffupper-lipped Britishness. Playing his sidelined wife, Sienna Miller makes what she can of an improbably forward-thinking protofeminist. An almost unrecognisable Robert Pattinson hones his character actor credentials as a loyal sidekick with little to say. They cannot, however, overcome a languorous, sometimes confusing narrative, sketchy characterisations and an exquisitely staged but bafflingly transcendental ending. Gray can’t escape the shadows of Herzog’s Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, and the real star is Darius Khondji”s superb cinematography. Those anticipating Indiana Jones-style thrills are in danger of finding The Lost City of Zzzzs. (Angie Errigo) ■ General release from Fri 24 Mar.

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Highlights | FILM

HITLIST

T2 TRAINSPOTTING On general release The cast of Danny Boyle’s 1996 hit Trainspotting are finally reunited. Renton, Sick Boy, Begbie and Spud are definitely older but are they any wiser? See review, page 58. GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL Various venues,

Glasgow, Wed 15–Sun 26 Feb, glasgowfilm. org This year’s highlights include opener Handsome Devil, and closer Mad to be Normal, which stars David Tennant as RD Laing. See features, page 17. LOST IN FRANCE Glasgow Film Theatre, Wed 22 Feb, glasgowfilm.org Niall

spearheaded by indie label Chemikal Underground. See feature, page 22.

McCann’s film explores the rise of Scotland’s independent music scene in the mid-90s,

MOONLIGHT Selected release from Fri 17 Feb Astutely judged and beautifully humane sophomore feature from director Barry Jenkins, which is up for eight Academy Awards in 2017. See review, page 59.

HIPPFEST Hippodrome, Bo’Ness, Wed 22–Sun 26 Mar, falkirkcommunitytrust. org Scotland’s only silent film festival is back, and this year opens with a rare screening of Nell Shipman’s The Grub Stake. The full programme is announced on Tue 7 Feb. See feature, page 26.

FILM HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: AMADEUS General release on Thu 2 Feb Lucian Msamati plays Salieri in Peter Shaffer’s iconic play, broadcast live from the National Theatre, and with live orchestral accompaniment by Southbank Sinfonia. LOVING General release from Fri 3 Feb Based on the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga), a married couple from Virginia who were arrested in 1958 and found guilty of the then-crime

of miscegenation (he was white, she was black.) Quietly assured drama with outstanding performances and understated dignity. See review, page 58. TONI ERDMANN General release from Fri 3 Feb When Winfried (Peter Simonischek) visits his adult daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller) in Romania, he thinks that she takes life too seriously, and decides to play pranks on her. Superlative third feature from German writer-director Maren Ade. See review, page 60.

LUX SCOTLAND PRESENTS: STEVE REINKE, ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK SONG & SELECTED SHORTS Glasgow Film Theatre, Sun 5 Feb An exploration of the relationships between desires, bodies and action. Including other shorts, all curated by Seán Elder. SOLARIS Glasgow Film Theatre, Sun 5 Feb Andrei Tarkovsky’s epic was intended as a socialist response to Kubrick’s 2001, but some critics have lambasted it for its cod psychology and tired

melodrama. Others believe it to be his most accessible film charged with a genuine poignancy and depth. Critics, eh? ROYAL OPERA HOUSE: WOOLF WORKS General release on Wed 8 Feb Virginia Woolf is the inspiration for multi-award-winning choreographer Wayne McGregor’s brilliant triptych for the Royal Ballet. British composer Max Richter creates a specially commissioned score incorporating electronic and live music.

Derek Jarman & Tilda Swinton, Edinburgh International Film Festival 1991

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FILM | Highlights

FILM HIGHLIGHTS 20TH CENTURY WOMEN General release from Fri 10 Feb The story of three women who explore love and freedom in Southern California during the late 1970s. See review, page 60. FENCES General release from Fri 10 Feb Denzel Washington plays the patriarch of a family struggling in 50s Pittsburgh. See review, page 58. THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE General release from Fri 10 Feb Bruce Wayne must not only deal with the criminals of Gotham City, but also the responsibility of raising a boy he adopted. Hard work for a Lego figure. PREVENGE General release from Fri 10 Feb Ruth (Alice Lowe) is an expectant mother who starts to hear her unborn baby urging her to kill people. Lowe’s blackly comic, squirmingly uncomfortable directorial debut is remarkably well-realised, with an impressive cast and her own eerily passive, brilliantly timed performance at the core. Enjoyably provocative. See review, page 60. TAXI DRIVER General release from Fri 10 Feb The now-classic story of an alienated taxi driver in New York who is so repelled by the squalor and the moral decay around him that he is driven to terrible violence. One of the key American films of the 1970s with the Scorsese-De Niro partnership at its peak. BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S Glasgow Film Theatre, Tue 14 Feb; Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Sun 12 Feb The iconic Hepburn has never made neurosis look so good, and while the film may have numerous redeeming features (not least the exquisite cinematography by Franz F Plane and the swinging soundtrack by Henry Mancini), it is she who remains responsible for making it such a wellloved classic. THE FOUNDER General release from Fri 17 Feb The story of Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers’ fast food eatery, McDonald’s, into one of the biggest restaurant businesses in the world. See review, page 60. HIDDEN FIGURES General release from Fri 17 Feb Based on a true story. A team of African-American women provide

John Wick 2

NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program’s first successful space missions. See review, page 58. JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 General release from Fri 17 Feb Former hitman Wick (Keanu Reeves) returns for more ass-kicking vengeance. PATRIOTS DAY General release from Thu 23 Feb The story of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the aftermath, which includes the city-wide manhunt to find the terrorists responsible. See review, page 59. LOGAN General release from Wed 1 Mar A third film in the solo series for the adamantium-clawed hero, Wolverine. CERTAIN WOMEN General release from Fri 3 Mar The lives of three women intersect in small-town America, where each is imperfectly blazing a trail. See review, page 61. ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS Selected release from Tue 7 Mar Filmed at the Hammersmith Odeon on 3 July 1973, Bowie’s last performance as Ziggy Stardust features songs from

Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and a cover of the Velvet Underground’s White Light / White Heat.

fresh eyes. He embarks on an adventure with a street smart girl to discover how he came to be.

AGE OF SHADOWS Selected release from Fri 10 Mar Thriller set in the 1920s during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Lee Jung-chool, a Korean working for the Japanese police, is tasked with exposing the Korean resistance’s second-in-command, Kim Woo-jin. However, the more time he spends with the rebel forces the more he doubts his role as an informant for the occupying forces.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST General release from Fri 17 Mar Live action adaptation of the Disney fairy tale starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens doing his best to be gruff as the Beast.

ELLE Selected release from Fri 10 Mar Michele (Isabelle Huppert) is a successful, middle-aged video games producer who, when raped by a violent intruder, doesn’t report the assault but behaves as though nothing has happened. Paul Verhoven’s dark character drama features an astonishing, multi-layered central performance from Huppert and its treatment of sexual violence is challenging and audacious. See review, page 62. THE SPACE BETWEEN US General release from Fri 10 Feb The first human born on Mars travels to Earth for the first time, experiencing the wonders of the planet through

THE LOST CITY OF Z General release from Fri 24 Mar The story of Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett who disappeared while searching for a city he believed existed in the Amazon jungle. See review, page 62. FREE FIRE General release from Fri 31 Mar Boston, 1978: Chris (Cillian Murphy) is an IRA member looking to buy guns from Vern (Sharlto Copley), with the help of go-betweens Justine (Brie Larson) and Ord (Armie Hammer): it soon descends into violence. Copley is very funny and there’s some terrific dialogue. See review, page 62. GHOST IN THE SHELL General release from Fri 31 Mar Live-action remake of the animated film based on the Manga comic title, starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman).

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KIDS Fo the latestr n listings a ews, reviews, g nd o list.co.uk to /kids

MONKEY BUSINESS Fun and informative primate exhibition for all ages

●●●●●

PHOTO: NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND

The first thing that hits you is the noise. Calls, cries and screeches fly above your head as primates share vital information. Much the same is happening down below, as we humans discuss new facts we’ve learned or point out a cute face or pink bum we’ve spotted. We’re all in it together, as a mirror in the exhibition’s entrance points out: ‘you are a primate’, says the sign, placing us firmly in the centre of a gallery of monkeys, gibbons, apes and lemurs. The team behind Monkey Business are experts in their field, and it shows. Over 60 primates (none of which were killed for this exhibition) have been taxidermied and positioned to feel as lifelike as possible. Whether it’s a baboon striding, a Hamlyn’s monkey flying or a Geoffroy’s marmoset clinging to a trunk, each behaves as it would have done in the wild. Sections on habitat, diet, sight and sound each come with fascinating morsels of information, some via text, some through fun interactive screens offering hands-on learning. You can enjoy fishing for termites, swinging on the Jungle Climb and buying groceries for a chimpanzee. But then read the important words about endangered species and hopes for the future: all of which is in our hands. (Kelly Apter) ■ National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, until Sun 23 Apr.

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list.co.uk/kids CONCERT

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: STAN AND MABEL Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Sat 18 Feb Some books are crying out for adaptation, and as far as CBeebies presenter Chris Jarvis (pictured) is concerned, Jason Chapman’s tale of instrument-playing animals is definitely one of them. ‘What’s interesting about Stan and Mabel is it was written as a book first but really lends itself to being transformed into a musical piece – I’m sure it was always the intention,’ says Jarvis. ‘Because it’s all about a cat and dog who make their way to Italy to enter a music competition to be the best orchestra in the world, and they gather players – cows and other animals – on the way. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s a happy one.’ Chapman’s book has been adapted by composer Paul Rissman for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s latest family concert, with Jarvis out front narrating. A regular storyteller, both on stage and television, Jarvis is no stranger to a good yarn and memorable tune – but hearing him effuse about Stan and Mabel, it’s clear this gig in particular has caught his interest. ‘So much care and thought has gone into composing this,’ he says. ‘There are four songs which the audience can join in with, and each one is instantly catchy and easy to learn. But at the same time they’re not basic – they’re sophisticated in their own special way.’ He’s also passionate about introducing young children to good quality live classical music (Stan and Mabel is aimed at ages 4 to 8) – something missing from his own childhood. ‘When I was young it was a world that wasn’t really for us, that felt a bit boring and almost forbidden,’ says Jarvis. ‘Whereas now it really isn’t – the doors have been thrown wide open and orchestras are welcoming children in. So much music children hear comes out of a speaker, but to see it played live by so many talented musicians, and realise how that sound is made, that’s mind-blowing.’ (Kelly Apter)

COMEDY

BOB’S BLUNDABUS: COMEDYOPOLY / HOW 2 DRIVE A BUS ComedyOpoly, McPhabbs, Glasgow, Sat 11 & Sun 12 Mar; Riverside Museum, Glasgow, Sat 18 & Sun 19 Mar; How 2 Drive a Bus, Riverside Museum, Glasgow, Sat 18 & Sun 19 Mar Promotor Bob Slayer is one of the true mavericks of Britain’s comedy scene. He’s been at the forefront of the ‘Pay What You Want’ movement at the Edinburgh Fringe, broke his neck during an ill-advised wheelie-bin crowdsurfing stunt, and appeared on Judge Rinder in the mysterious case of an unpaid debt. And last August, he received recognition from the Edinburgh Comedy Awards judges by receiving the Panel Prize for putting together Iraq Out & Loud, a month-long public reading of the entire Chilcot Report. Now, his BlundaBus (a double decker that’s also a pop-up comedy venue) will host two kids’ events at this year’s Glasgow International Comedy Festival: ComedyOpoly and How 2 Drive a Bus. The former is ‘a very fun, irreverent show that is part chat show and all game show,’ states Slayer. ‘When I was working on converting the bus with some comedians, we would end long days of pulling out seats with a little game of Cluedo or Monopoly. The bus was parked in a yard which had a restaurant on another bus. We were having so much fun with the board games that our laughter attracted an audience and ComedyOpoly was born.’ Meanwhile, the How 2 Drive a Bus format evolved from kids simply having fun and playing. ‘There are 30 kids interacting on a bus, taking it in turns to drive and tell their own jokes,’ says Slayer. ‘They ask questions of the genius giraffe and meet the hungry caterpillar.’ As for the BlundaBus itself: ‘it couldn’t be called anything else, could it?’ (Brian Donaldson) DANCE

BARROWLAND BALLET: WOLVES

PHOTO: BRIAN HARTLEY

Tramway, Glasgow, Sat 18 Mar; Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, Sat 25 Mar Whether we’re in primary school or retired, there’s always somebody ready to tell us how to live our lives. Choreographer Natasha Gilmore has pulled together a cast of over 50 children, teenagers, adults and older people to illustrate that point in her new show, Wolves. Together, they’ll perform alongside Barrowland Ballet’s professional dancers, to deliver a show that explores what happens when we don’t conform to the norm, deciding instead to take our own path. ‘Each generation brings something different to an intergenerational company, which creates an environment of respect that has a vibrant atmosphere,’ explains Gilmore. ‘And the different age groups bring out the best in each other: the carefree playful attitude of the young kids helps everyone shake off their self-consciousness and become more playful, combined with the discipline and focus of the older groups.’ We all take risks, but how people react to that can depend on our age, gender, ethnicity and place in the world. ‘None of us is immune to the pressures of society,’ insists Gilmore. ‘So I think it’s important that people see themselves represented on stage, to show that all our stories matter and are of interest. Wolves gives a voice to people of different ages, different genres and races, and doesn’t stick to the confines of the clichés in those groupings.’ (Kelly Apter) 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 67

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KIDS | Highlights

HITLIST

show. See review at list. co.uk. Also Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 14 Feb, redbridgearts.co.uk

BLACK BEAUTY Platform, Glasgow, Mon 6 Feb, redbridgearts. co.uk Classic equestrian tale brought to life in this funny and touching new

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: STAN AND MABEL Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Sat 18 Feb, sco.org.uk Chris Jarvis narrates this musical version of Jason

Chapman’s picture book, in which a dog and cat enter a competition to become the world’s best orchestra. See preview, page 67. WOLVES Tramway, Glasgow, Sat 18 Mar, barrowlandballet. co.uk A cast of children, teenagers, adults and older

dancers come together for Barrowland Ballet’s latest community production. See preview, page 67. BOB SLAYER: HOW TO DRIVE A BUS Bob’s Blundabus at The Riverside Museum, Glasgow, Sat 18 & Sun 19 Mar, glasgowcomedy festival.com Children’s comedy show that takes

place on an actual bus with a crazy driver. See preview, page 67. MONKEY BUSINESS National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, until Sun 23 Apr, nms. ac.uk Fun, interactive exhibition for all ages featuring more than 60 taxidermied primates. See review, page 66.

KIDS HIGHLIGHTS PHOTO: DAN TSANTILIS

Events are listed by city, then date. Submit listings for your event at list.co.uk/add

Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom

GLASGOW BEN AND HOLLY’S LITTLE KINGDOM King’s Theatre, Fri 17 & Sat 18 Feb, benandhollylive.com Richard Lewis’ adaptation of the award-winning television animation set in a miniature world of fairies, elves and insects. FUNBOX: UNDERWATER ADVENTURE SECC, Sun 19 Feb, funbox.co.uk Deep sea adventure from the former Singing Kettle stars. The Funbox is locked and the magical keys hidden in the sea bed – can you help find them? WEE WRITE! Mitchell Library, Mon 27 Feb–Sat 4 Mar, ayewrite.com A week-long programme offering over 100 author events, activities and readings for children, families and school pupils. GUNGE: A SHOW WITH GUNGE IN IT The Stand, Sun 12 Mar, thestand. co.uk Lee Kyle hosts this comedy game show, where the losing captain gets gunged. DISNEY ON ICE: 100 YEARS OF MAGIC Braehead Arena, Wed 15–Sun 19 Mar, disney.co.uk/disney-on-ice A colourful ice show, featuring dozens of Disney characters from across the years, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and the Disney Princesses. SCOOBY-DOO SECC, Thu 16 Mar, secc.co.uk The Mystery Inc gang take to the stage for this family musical. FAMILY COMEDY SHOWCASE The Griffin, Sat 18 Mar, glasgowcomedyfestival.com Musical acts, straight stand-up and

more at this family comedy show with no smut and no swearing.

Light-hearted look at climate change with comedians Viv Gee, Marc Jennings and Stephen Halkett.

Storytelling sessions inspired by a different portrait each month, featuring rhymes, songs and puppet characters.

JAMES CAMPBELL: THE FUNNY THING ABOUT . . . Citizens Theatre, Sat 18 Mar, glasgowcomedyfestival.com Standup for ages 6+ from the giant of kiddie comedy, James Campbell.

THE MIGHTY KIDS BEATBOX GAME The Stand, Sun 26 Mar, thestand. co.uk Learn some beat boxing tips and win prizes in this comedy game show.

BAGS OF ART Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One, Sun 19 Feb, nationalgalleries.org Cool and creative fun with artists Tessa AsquithLamb and Louise Fraser.

JANGO STARR: ONE MAN SHOE Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre, Sat 18 Mar, jangostarr.co.uk Family show about bumbling theatre caretaker Jango, thrust into the limelight as he finds out how to become a star.

RSNO MUSICAL SAFARI Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Thu 30 Mar, rsno.org.uk A musical safari for little ones, in which you can clap, dance or sing along. Suitable for ages 3–6.

THE SONG OF FERGUS AND KATE The Stand, Sat 18 Mar, thestand. co.uk An interactive show about monsters that uses storytelling, music and animation to encourage children to celebrate their differences. VIV GEE, MARC JENNINGS & STEPHEN HALKLETT: SAVE THE PLANET The Tall Ship, Sun 19 Mar, glasgowcomedyfestival.com

EDINBURGH CIRQUE BERSERK Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 7–Sun 12 Feb, cirqueberserk.co.uk A large-scale family circus show with jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, dancers, musicians and stuntmen. WEE TREASURES Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Sat 11 Feb, nationalgalleries.org

BABY LOVES DISCO Electric Circus, Sun 19 Feb, babylovesdisco.co.uk A chance for babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers and their carers to enjoy some dayclubbing with real club DJs spinning retro and pop tunes. There’s a chillout room, facepainting and healthy snacks. SCOTTISH FOLKTALES FOR CHILDREN Scottish Storytelling Centre, Sat 18 Mar, tracscotland.org/scottishstorytelling-centre Join storyteller Judy Paterson and illustrator Sally Daly for stories and art activities to celebrate the launch of their new book, Scottish Folktales for Children.

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MUSIC

Fo the latestr n listings a ews, reviews, g nd o list.co.uk to /music

PET SHOP BOYS

PHOTO: PELLE CRÉPIN

New tour for the semi-elusive electro duo Floating in a bubble somewhere between retro kitsch and timeless futurism, Pet Shop Boys are titans of innovation in British pop music. Any doubts held on this score are owned by listeners who never quite realised that PSB were hiding in plain sight, semiotic manipulators disguised as two-dimensionally reassuring salesmen of pop hits. The crooning former Marvel UK editor Neil Tennant and permanently-sunglassed electronics ‘boffin’ Chris Lowe certainly don’t need to be weighed down with over-excited claims of cleverness in lieu of being able to write a great song. Where they really made an impression which lasted was in covering both bases, stealing in and out of the zeitgeist with effortless radio hits which took the temperature of their times perfectly. Fusing disco, electropop and house music into one, they illustrated London’s class divide in ‘West End

Girls’, soundtracked Thatcherite yuppiedom with ‘Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)’, and took gay culture into the mainstream with tracks like ‘Rent’ and their cover of ‘Go West’. The opinion that they’ve faded as musicians isn’t shared by those who still look at chart placings rather than YouTube views: including last year’s Super, all 13 of their albums have been top ten UK hits. Yet it’s their attention-grabbing live shows which keep the Boys’ legend flying high; this latest leg of the Super tour is boosted with a set designed by Es Devlin – who also worked on last year’s opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics – featuring lasers, fat suits and exotically designed headgear. How much you want to think about what it all means is up to you. (David Pollock) ■ Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, Tue 21 Feb; Edinburgh Playhouse, Wed 22 Feb.

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MUSIC | 2017 highlights

LISTEN From Goldfrapp to Coldplay and Optimo to U2, this looks like being be a massive year in music. David Pollock pricks up his ears and directs you towards the big sonic hitters of 2017

ith albums increasingly being released on an overnight online drop, it’s hard to tell which record is going to make the most seismic change to your ears over the next few months. In an ideal world, we’d discover that Beyoncé’s creative skills are such that she can follow up Lemonade with something equally epochal in the space of 12 months. Either way, it looks like the protest song is back for 2017 and who can blame it? The eve of the US Presidential inauguration delivered a taste of what we can expect, when two of the most attention-grabbing alternative crossover bands in the Northern Hemisphere surprise-dropped new tracks with a very political edge. From Arcade Fire, it was the growling electronic mantra ‘I Give You Power’ alongside Mavis Staples, and from Gorillaz, the apocalyptic hip-hop beat ‘Hallelujah Money’ with Benjamin Clementine. Both artists have as-yet-unscheduled albums on the way this year. In news concerning veteran tentpole recording titans, U2 have declared that the election of Trump means their Songs of Experience – the companion piece to 2014’s Songs of Innocence – may not be political enough, so they’ve put it on hold in favour of a money-spinning summer nostalgia tour of their 1987 classic, The Joshua Tree. The new album may or may not surface this year, but if not, there’s always Coldplay’s intended Kaleidoscope EP for all our earnest stadium-rock

needs, which apparently comprises offcuts from 2015’s A Head Full of Dreams. In news from the next generation of Atlantic-straddling, arena-filling talents, Ed Sheeran’s third album is out in March. There are artists you feel obliged to mention amid an exercise like this, and there are those whose return is genuinely excitementinducing. Strictly in the latter category comes ‘Anymore’, the first track from Alison Goldfrapp’s March-due Silver Eye, which reveals a move away from recent pastoral efforts and back to the dirtier electronic sound of Black Cherry and Supernature. And, of course, the Jesus and Mary Chain are also back in March with Damage and Joy, the very long-awaited follow-up to 1998’s Munki. A collaboration with the producer Youth, the record’s not-unworthy advance track ‘Amputation’ suggests it will be a collection worth getting thrilled about. Despite her reputation for drowsy, bluesy folk-indie of a very polite brand, Laura Marling demonstrated once more at the Celtic Connections opening concert in January why she’s such a vital artist. Semper Femina will be here in March, and that title alone (it translates as ‘Woman Forever’) lends high expectations. In a very different vein, Depeche Mode bring us Spirit, the follow-up to 2013’s Delta Machine. We’re especially eager to find out what they can do with producer James Ford (he of Simian Mobile Disco fame) at the helm.

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JMC PHOTO: LAURENCE VERFAILLIE

N UP

In association with CAA

Sunday 1st October

GLASGOW Concert Hall SATURDAY 16th DECEMBER 2017

Tuesday 3rd October

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by arrangement with CAA and VECTOR

JAMES BLUNT THE AFTERLOVE TOUR

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Heaven on Earth 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y To u r Playing The Classic Album

How Wild The Wind Blows Performing the Songs and Poems of Molly Drake

L-R: Goldfrapp, Meursault, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Optimo Monday 9th October

Most of the above will doubtless be on tour, but we’d also point you to a few more interesting shows which are on the books already. There’s the Weeknd at the Hydro, Glasgow (Fri 10 Mar), which will give us a chance to see how his unusual combination of expansive pop sound and often bleating introspection translates to the big stage. Factory Floor will be appearing in quadrophonic sound, no less, at SWG3, Glasgow (Thu 16 Mar) while Future Islands are also a joyous live experience as they’ll prove at Barrowlands, Glasgow (Thu 27 Apr). Anyone who experienced the mighty Black Madonna on Hogmanay at Edinburgh’s Biscuit Factory will want to be back at that venue for Nightvision’s first date there (Fri 31 Mar), with Move D and Optimo. Staying with Optimo (Espacio), Twitch and Wilkes’ iconic Glasgow club night is 20 years old, and to celebrate they’ll be holding a special one-day festival early in August. On a very different tack (but again incorporating Scottish artists and the arrival of a brand new onedayer), singularly powerful Edinburgh songwriter Meursault will be releasing the cheerily titled I Will Kill Again, as part of Song, by Toad’s Granfalloon mini-festival at Summerhall, Edinburgh (Sat 25 Feb). Other March developments to spy from a Scottish perspective are the arrival of the debut album by Manuela (comprising Manuela Gernedel and her husband Nick McCarthy, formerly of Franz Ferdinand), Strange Words and Weird Wars from Glasgow’s Marnie (ex-Ladytron), as well as records from Campfires in Winter and State Broadcasters. In festival news, DF Concerts’ 2017 T in the Park replacement on Glasgow Green will be TRNSMT (Fri 7–Sun 9 Jul), while the much-loved Electric Fields at the start of September in Dumfriesshire has announced its headliners: Frightened Rabbit, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Arab Strap.

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January

Girl Band & Goat Girl February

£10

Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire, Belle Orchestre) £12 10

Sacred Paws Spinning Coin, The Doozer £10 11

Grown Ups: Groove is in the Heart

£8 / £10

Mediterraneo Carnevale feat. Tantz, The Badwills & TESS (Edinburgh Samba School) £9 with mask / £10 without mask 25

Song by Toad’s Granfaloon Meursault album launch w/t very special guests £15 March

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Nautilus Rising | MUSIC

SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND The legendary Sub Club’s ﬁrst label is ﬁnally up and running. Arusa Qureshi chats to those who are determined to see Nautilus Rising go all the way

PHOTO: DANIEL COOK

ub Club is a Glasgow institution, having long established its position as a permanent fixture on Scotland’s electronic music scene. Its 30-year history is epitomised by a near-constant flow of exceptional resident and guest DJs, an ever-faithful community of regulars and a consistently impressive programme of events. But these credentials extend far beyond the city of Glasgow, thanks largely to the club’s reputation as one of the best places to dance, sweat and hear great music. To start a label, then, is not just a natural progression, but a way for Sub Club to widen its reach and further cement its growing prominence. Nautilus Rising may have only launched in 2015, but plans had been in the works for a significant period. ‘Sub Club had a long-term ambition of starting a label, to both inform and be informed by the sound of the club’s weekly Saturday, Subculture,’ explains Telford, a DJ who has been connected to Sub Club since 2005. ‘I suppose it’s a slow convergence of factors built over the three-decade period, which meant this ambition was realised in 2015.’ The label’s first EP release, NR01, featured tracks from Lord of the Isles, Vince Watson, Alex Smoke and Stephen Lopkin, while Cologne’s Lazaros was sought out for the NR02: GE EP, reinforcing their international outlook and wide-ranging focus. ‘There is no geographical status or demographic agenda,’ Telford notes. ‘The nature of the club’s network is such that we have a lot of friends all over the world, so NR02 and NR03 both came about through referrals and introductions by some of these friends.’ This desire to evolve and remain perceptive has continued to be a central ethos for the label as they make their first foray into the world of visual arts with the upcoming release of enigmatic producer V’s NR03: Faux Pas EP. The music video for its title track (pictured) signals the beginning of a brand extension that’s as vital to the growth of Nautilus Rising as the music itself. And part of this growth is down to the label’s make-up, with resident DJs and Sub Club veterans Telford and Domenic Cappello on one side, and Edinburgh College of Art sculpture graduate Richard Phillips-Kerr on the other. ‘I see the label as uniquely positioned to have a brand and visual output that goes above and beyond, supported by music which does the same,’ says Phillips-Kerr. ‘Also important to all of this is learning and development. We’ve developed a lot with NR03 and we’ll only become bolder.’ The music video was shot near the Barrowlands, with choreography by Stasis, drawing attention to the strength of the female collective. It provides an appropriate accompaniment to ‘Faux Pas’, the EP’s stand-out track, with its ominously pronounced percussion and 80s-sounding instrumentation. It’s certainly a strong release for the label but Phillips-Kerr is keen to stress that the EP isn’t necessarily indicative of the direction that they’re heading in. ‘There isn’t really a “direction”; I guess there’s a focus on the quality of the output rather than the shape that output takes. We view each release as an island: each one requires its own brief and approach; intuitively getting that right is important.’ With three EPs now under its belt, Nautilus Rising is soon to be an institution in itself. So what’s next for the label? ‘To keep getting better,’ says Phillips-Kerr. ‘Release some clothing, start doing parties and more music. The reason there isn’t a Nautilus Rising t-shirt yet or a bi-monthly party at Sub Club is because we’re working on it, and we have been for a while. We’re going to do it right.’ NR03: Faux Pas is out now on vinyl; digital release, Fri 17 Feb. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 73

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MUSIC | Previews PHOTO: PAMELA LITTKY

PHOTO: DORIAN/HEAD HERITAGE

ACID DRUDERY

INDIE POP

JULIAN COPE

TEGAN AND SARA

La Belle Angele, Edinburgh, Sat 18 Feb; Òran Mór, Glasgow, Sun 19 Feb

O2 ABC, Glasgow, Fri 17 Feb

Shortly after Donald Trump’s election, an American friend emailed with the succinct message: ‘so much anxiety, let’s get drunk!’ Julian Cope, the archest of drudes, must have tuned in to her desperate vibrations across the information superhighway because he recently celebrated his return to alcohol consumption with the release of Drunken Songs, which he describes as ‘40 minutes of Gnostic drunkenness – a perfect respite for these Trumped-up troubled times’. Cope is no stranger to altered states. His early career, fronting Liverpudlian post-punk dynamos the Teardrop Explodes, was marked and ultimately marred by his insatiable acid and mushrooms intake. He cleaned up and got high on history instead, forging an alternative career as a well-respected if wigged-out academic and author. But the publishing world’s gain is not entirely music’s loss. ‘I love listening to music more than I love making it,’ he admits, ‘but then I’ll suddenly get a feeling out of nowhere, maybe from some trip abroad or interfacing with some unusual person and I’ll be back.’ In this case, the catalyst for Drunken Songs was the track ‘As the Beer Flows Over Me’, which he wrote for his own funeral, and in specific praise of the grain (he’ll have no truck with wine). Cope must be a jolly drunk, as he does offer reasons to be hopeful, if not outright cheerful, in the Trump age. ‘I’m always of the belief that we’re working towards something,’ he says. And that doesn’t necessarily have to mean oblivion. (Fiona Shepherd)

After forming in 1995, sisters Tegan and Sara spent the first 19 years of their career riding the indie pop wave to world fame. Their first six albums were loaded with distinctive semi-ballads that straddled the line between folk and rock, as they caught the world’s attention with airtight harmonies and acoustic riffs. All that changed when they hit year 20. The duo released Heartthrob, a properly poptastic album produced by Greg Kurstin whose credits include P!nk and Kelly Clarkson. Every song sounded tailor-made for radio, while the Tegan and Sara-isms which fans had come to expect seemed nowhere in sight. Gone was the angst of ‘19’ and the pain of ‘Call it Off’. All that remained was pure, unadulterated pop. It was a strange move, but somehow it worked. Heartthrob was shortlisted for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize, after debuting on the Billboard chart at number three. The duo even won Pop Band of the Year at the Juno Awards. Now, their eighth studio album, Love You to Death, is set to follow that success when it’s released in June. Though still very much pop-heavy, the new album promises to ‘cast darker shadows’ and ‘linger longer in the psyche’. Audience members shouldn’t look for the emotional acoustic songs of old, though. The new Tegan and Sara sounds like P!nk meets, well, a talented songwriter. Love You to Death marks the death of an indie career, but in this case, pop has worked. (Rebecca Monks)

HORROR PUNK

CREEPER The Garage, Glasgow, Sun 26 Mar Creeper’s propulsive sound is drenched in Gothic romanticism. Formed in Southampton in 2014, they followed in the footsteps of Misfits, AFI, Alkaline Trio and My Chemical Romance by mixing pop punk with horror imagery and tales of doomed desire. Across three EPs and numerous support tours they’ve built a passionate, dedicated (some might even say cultish) fanbase, with lead singer Will Gould an enigmatic black-clad pied piper beckoning you into their dark mysterious domain. Citing influences as diverse as JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, bombastic rocker Meat Loaf, 80s vampire flick The Lost Boys, Studio Ghibli animated fantasy Spirited Away, and horror classic The Exorcist, their music is invested with character and story. Each track is a mini-movie, featuring lurid stories of love and loss, pain and heartache. 2015 was a pivotal year in Creeper’s evolution as original guitarist Sina Nemati left to pursue a career in sound engineering. But they bolstered their sound, growing to a six-piece with the addition of new guitarist Oliver Burdett and keyboardist Hannah Greenwood. ‘Oliver is a really nice fit, and as we all know each other so well, it seems really natural,’ explains Gould. ‘Hannah is one of our best pals and incredibly talented. It felt long overdue and awesome to finally have her officially in the band.’ The band is now signed to metal powerhouse Roadrunner for the March release of their debut album, Eternity, in Your Arms. ‘These shows are a significant moment in the history of Creeper,’ insists Gould. ‘Not only are they the first time you'll hear the new songs from Eternity, in Your Arms live, but they’re the biggest headline shows we've ever played. They will also be the first to have a full, ambitious production to equal the ambitious character of our debut record.’ (Henry Northmore) 74 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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MUSIC | Records TV SOUNDTRACK

ALBUM OF THE ISSUE

ELECTRONIC

GRAEME MILLER & STEVE SHILL

SAMPHA

The Moomins (Finders Keepers) ●●●●●

Process (Young Turks) ●●●●●

It’s often the case that you can recognise a voice instantly even if you’re unable to pinpoint exactly who it belongs to. Many would be able to distinguish the steady tranquillity of Sampha’s vocals within just a few bars of melody (from SBTRKT’s ‘Hold On’ to Kanye West’s ‘Saint Pablo’). But with debut album Process, Sampha has risen to new levels, traversing territory that allows his voice, music and production to firmly stand alone. The album is led by a sense of opposition – an inhale and exhale, attack and release – which works to signify the intensity that comes with change. ‘Plastic 100°C’ is turbulent in its make-up, working up to the vehemence of second single ‘Blood on Me’ with its bold and sinister hook: ‘I swear they smell the blood on me / I hear them coming for me.’ But this quickly fades for ‘(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano’, a quiet reflection, with the instrument from Sampha’s family home as a foundation for his reminiscence. It’s a focal point of the album, drawing attention to Sampha’s talents as a songwriter and musician rather than merely as a guest vocalist. The pace quickens again with the excellently mixed ‘Reverse Faults’ and the restless polyphony of ‘Under’, before eventually closing with the pensive meditation of ‘What Shouldn’t I Be?’. With his debut, Sampha has succeeded in cementing his voice within a landscape that belongs solely to him. Each track, produced by Sampha himself and Rodaidh McDonald, acts like a small snippet of a wider story that has been in progress since the release of his debut EP Sundanza in 2010. Process is ultimately an archive of emotional shift as well as musical growth. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Out Fri 3 Feb.

Some might say that The Clangers had all the best tunes. Graeme Miller and Steve Shill would beg to differ. In 1982, those two post-punk performers, from the same Leeds scene which spawned Gang of Four, home-recorded a lo-fi synth soundtrack for the televisual incarnation of The Moomins, Tove Jansson’s adorable creature creations who starred in a series of beloved children’s books. The stop-motion animated series – adapted and produced by Anne Wood, the woman who would later bring us the brazenly lysergic Teletubbies – was broadcast in the UK in the early 1980s (not to be confused with the later Japanese anime series and its jaunty easy-listening country theme tune). But its soundtrack has never been commercially available until now: good news for fans of the gentle Nordic creatures and of whimsical vintage synthesizer music alike. Necessity was the mother of invention and, surely inspired by the plaintive simplicity of Vernon Elliott’s soundtracks to various Oliver Postgate shows, Miller and Shill created their DIY score using a Wasp (an early, rudimentary digital synthesizer with all the finesse of a Stylophone) and an ocarina (or wind flute) to create that Clangers-like suggestion of naïve inquiry. In keeping with the darker atmosphere of its European production, their soundtrack has its eerie moments but is every bit as endearing as the lovably rotund Moomins. The engaging theme tune ambles along with a drunken hurdy-gurdy backdrop, and folk whistling of the kind you would normally only hear during the more rustic entries to the Eurovision Song Contest. Like all good themes, it ultimately gets under the skin. The rest of the score contains some ambient oddities, quirky vignettes and what sounds like a didgeridoo on the otherwise Middle Easterninspired ‘Hobgoblin’s Hat’ but its charm prevails. (Fiona Shepherd) ■ Out Fri 3 Feb.

ELECTRONIC

REUNION ALBUM

BLANCK MASS

GRANDADDY

World Eater (Sacred Bones Records) ●●●●●

Last Place (30th Century Records) ●●●●●

The press release accompanying this third album proper by Benjamin John Power – presumably having been approved by the artist himself – describes World Eater as the ‘reactionary and representative record of a year teeming with anger, violence, confusion and frustration’. This is the musical document of 2016's upheavals from Power (a sometime Fuck Buttons member), but it’s not sufficient just to say you’ve taken inspiration from times of turmoil which have shifted global perceptions. If anything, you have to back it up through music which grabs the zeitgeist and breaks into a sprint with it. There’s no question that World Eater sounds precisely like the prevailing contemporary tastes in popular culture. It’s densely electronic, structured around icy beats and glistening electronic pop and hiss, somehow simultaneously impersonal and intimate. Interestingly, there are no vocals, or none which can be identified. Instead, chants, hymnal calls, quasi-metal screams and murmured, hardto-place words abound, a sonic representation of the chaos amid our online world. World Eater snatches at influences, and the sense is of overwhelming tension and anxiety being released by some explosively accurate pop riffs. ‘John Doe’s Carnival of Error’ begins on a twinkling, repeated percussion line which walks the wire between comfort and uncertainty. 'Rhesus Negative’ follows it in more typically apocalyptic style, nine minutes of racing, crunchy instrumental beats pitched somewhere between Gary Numan and Rage Against the Machine. ‘Please’ is a frosty and sparse piece of yearning chillwave, while ‘The Rat’ and ‘Silent Treatment’ soon submerge smooth pop hooks between galloping beats. ‘Minnesota / Eas Fors / Naked’ is the darkest thing here, a nerveshredding track of stress-position fuzz and sick-building noise, with ‘Hive Mind’ the most beautiful, a soothing R&B beat stretched to eerily hypnotic dimensions. If this is 21st century protest music, it’s a protest against the complacency of the comfort zone. (David Pollock) ■ Out Fri 3 Mar.

When a long-awaited reunion has been spun out to this degree, it had better be good in the end. The 11 years between releases has seen a split, solo projects, one reconciliation, a move away from Modesto, California for their band's driving force Jason Lytle, and the realisation during the recording of the song ‘A Lost Machine’ that he was in fact working on a new Grandaddy record. Oddly, that song itself is the penultimate track here, and it’s part of a reflective, almost mournful conclusion which is at odds with the record’s bright opening. If it’s the song which inspired Last Place, it’s coming from a beautiful but dark location. There's a wash of sad piano and spacey, Mercury Rev-sounding effects which see the narrator sheltering from some unspecified disaster at ‘the temporary shelter in the roller rink’ where there’s ‘live old-time music and it’s warm inside’. With emotions flattened, he reports that ‘every woman and child and man in the canyon lived,’ before the song rises to an apocalyptic, traumatised finale. This song is supplemented by the punch-drunk electro-acoustics of ‘Jed the 4th’ and the breathy closing ballad ‘Songbird Son’, in which Lytle pines ‘you’ve lost your right to sing . . . message better left unsaid . . . don’t say nothin’.’ It’s a deflating conclusion which straddles the line between defeat and acceptance, but it doesn’t tell the full story of the record. ‘Way We Won’t’ is a joyous, fuzzy rocker which sings the virtues of home and belonging; ‘Evermore’ confidently adds synths to the band’s rustic rock roots; ‘Chek Injin’ is a blast of youthful skate-punk; and ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Here Anymore’ speaks of a sense of rootlessness with breezy humour. For a reunion, the themes are strangely unsure and noncommittal, but in both its depths and its peaks, the music still finds occasion to soar. (David Pollock) ■ Out Fri 3 Mar.

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Records | MUSIC

list.co.uk/music LATIN BLUES

INDIE ROCK

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF

THE PIGEON DETECTIVES

The Navigator (ATO Records) ●●●●●

Broken Glances (Dance to the Radio) ●●●●●

Like so many in our global community, Alynda Segarra, aka Hurray for the Riff Raff, is a glorious mix of cultural influences and background, some of which she’s only acknowledging now in her acclaimed rootsy rock’n’roll songs. Of Puerto Rican descent, Segarra was brought up in the Bronx, had her musical epiphany via New York’s downtown punk scene, then heeded the call of the south and has made New Orleans her home for many years. The Navigator is her musical homecoming, a semi-autobiographical odyssey in which she sings a version of her own experience through the story of the title character, Navita, who gradually comes to an appreciation of her heritage and the pro-active need to preserve it. Segarra sings the inner-city blues in ambivalent style on ‘Living in the City’ which, thanks to her freewheeling NY rock’n’roll delivery, is a celebration as much as a condemnation of urban life. Next, she mixes in brooding new wave electronica elements to the yearning ‘Hungry Ghost’ (‘and I travel from coast to coast’). Meanwhile Hispanic percussion and Tropicália influences resonate throughout like an additional background narrative, woven through the slow sway of ‘Nothing’s Gonna Change that Girl’ before soulfully seeping into the title track. ‘Rican Beach’ is a fictional battleground in the South Bronx but intended as a rallying cry for the preservation of indigenous culture against capitalistic interests. Here, Segarra gets to the heart of the album’s matter, recalling the Cree singer/songwriter and Native American rights activist Buffy Sainte-Marie in her soulful stridency, and occupying similar territory to Ry Cooder on his Chavez Ravine album, about the clearance of East LA’s Hispanic community to make way for Dodger Stadium. Those artists lamented historical cultural cleansing; on the angry epic piano ballad ‘Pa’lante’, Segarra rails against the aggressive gentrification of the present, and the future. (Fiona Shepherd) ■ Out Fri 10 Mar.

We’ve all done it. Chosen a worthy, if unattainable New Year’s Resolution that will definitely transform our lives for the better and instead turns January into a month-long guilt trip. The key to success (according to official NHS advice, no less) is breaking goals down into small, manageable chunks – to measure your marathon training in the half-miles rather than by the dozen. Judging from their fifth studio album, Broken Glances, it seems that the Pigeon Detectives – those cheerful, cherubic cheerleaders for uncomplicated indie rock, still going after all this time – have taken that advice on board. So, rather than taking up jogging like the rest us, the lads from Leeds have decided to cast aside their tendency to write ‘songs that smash you in the face’ and create an album that contains a little more subtlety. They’ve benefitted heavily from the guidance of producer Richard Formby, previously associated with acts like Wild Beasts and Ghostpoet, and although lead singer Matt Bowman doesn’t have anything close to the vocal dexterity of the former’s Hayden Thorpe, the Detectives’ tilt at reflective songwriting has brought them to interesting new places. It’s an eclectic LP; familiar-sounding tunes like ‘Enemy Lines’ stand alongside tracks like ‘Monroe’, which ends on an indulgent two-minute long keyboard instrumental, and lead single ‘Lose Control’, which sounds as if it was created by a totally different band. The emphatic, anthemic choruses are gone, traded out in favour of moody, brooding themes on ‘Postcards’ and the sparse arrangements of sombre ‘Falling in Love’ – it’s as if, finally, they’ve realise that emotions don’t always have to be the size of the stadium they’re being performed in. The Pigeon Detectives aren’t quite there yet, as evidenced by promising numbers like ‘Sounding the Alarm’ which displays an instinct for pop hooks which placed them in the noughties’ indie pantheon in the first place, before falling back on a regulation chorus line. Still, it’s progress. (Sam Bradley) ■ Out Fri 24 Feb.

FOLK

INDIE GRUNGE

ALASDAIR ROBERTS

MINUS THE BEAR

Pangs (Drag City) ●●●●●

Voids (Suicide Squeeze Records) ●●●●●

‘Tell me the marvels you saw on your rambles,’ sings Alasdair Roberts towards the end of Pangs, the latest chapter in his reimagining of old weird Caledonia. ‘I saw a calabash in Amarillo,’ comes the reply, followed by a litany of wonders from across the globe. It’s testament to the scope of Roberts’ syncretic vision that he can cast his net so widely, while remaining rooted in the folklore of these islands. Pangs is the Glasgow-based singer-songwriter’s eighth album, not including collaborative projects such as Urstan with Gaelic singer Mairi Morrison and last year’s Plaint of Lapwing with multi-instrumentalist James Green. His last album for Drag City, 2015’s Alasdair Roberts, was an austere, but deeply rewarding solo collection. Pangs sees the return of regular collaborators Stevie Jones, Alex Neilson, Rafe Fitzpatrick and Tom Crossley, plus Debbie Armour on backing vocals and Jessica Kerr on cello. But unlike 2013’s A Wonder Working Song – a sprawling occult ceilidh of an album, full of guest appearances – Pangs derives its energy from the core trio of Roberts, Jones and Neilson. While both musicians have played separately on previous Roberts albums, and together in avant-folk supergroup Sound of Yell, they come into their own as a rhythm section here. For all the brilliance of Roberts’ finger-picked guitar, none of his prior albums have had such rhythmic vitality. ‘The Angry Laughing God’ skips along at a fair old pace, rising to a gallop in its final section, while ‘The Downward Road’ explodes in a riot of whoops, whistles and whip-cracks. Roberts and his collaborators augment the basic tracks with electric guitar, synth, organ, fiddle, cello and flute, but the results are never overcooked. The arrangements are playful and Crossley's flute and Armour's backing vocals are beautifully judged, bringing lightness and colour, without being overly pretty. From the swirling medieval folk-rock of ‘Pangs’ to the stately balladry of ‘The Breach’, this is one of Roberts' most accomplished albums to date. (Stewart Smith) ■ Out Fri 24 Feb.

When you think of Seattle, your mind most likely conjures up images of Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell and other archetypes of 90s grunge. But the city has also been a haven of sorts for indie bands in the new millennium, thanks in part to a shifting focus from the angst and heavy distortion of grunge to the dreamy and comparatively halcyon sounds of American indie. Minus the Bear may be a product of that shift, but in a 15-year history, their music has remained somewhat independent of the conventional output with which Seattle has become associated. The opening tracks of Voids illustrate this perfectly, going from the unanticipated pop-heavy chorus of ‘Last Kiss’ to the off-kilter rhythms of ‘Give & Take’, a more signature Minus the Bear move. Guitar lines are particularly strong throughout the album, as evidenced in the more serene ‘Call the Cops’, where guitar intricacies draw out the vocal melody’s simplicity. There’s a similar effect in ‘Invisible’, but the competition between guitar and voice is more distinctive, leading to an explosive chorus where Jake Snider’s vocals ultimately triumph. Minus the Bear are known for their use of electronics, fluidity of rhythm and ability to build atmosphere, aspects that have always set them apart from their indie-rock peers. Final track ‘Lighthouse’ is a reminder of this, with its cacophonous instrumental crescendo providing a playful finale to their many tonal experiments. With each release, the band have succeeded in renewing their sound in a way that illustrates a penchant for experimentation and genre defiance. Album number six, Voids, does not quite serve as the tabula rasa which is perhaps intended, but in retaining the elements that are characteristic of their musical landscape, it reinforces the band’s many strengths, drawing attention to a collective drive for progress. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Out Fri 3 Mar. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 77

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MUSIC | Records – Jazz & World

JAZZ & WORLD

EXPOSURE

JAZZ

GOVAERT, REIS, VICENTE, MARTINSSON In Layers (FMR Records) ●●●●● Portugal is home to one of the freshest contemporary jazz scenes in Europe. A creative summit between emergent Portuguese and Dutch players, In Layers brings together trumpeter Luis Vicente and guitarist Marcelo dos Reis with drummer Onno Govaert and pianist Kristjan Martinsson. Weaving melodic fragments and rhythmic patterns into their investigations of timbre, texture and tone, the four musicians achieve a fine balance between abstraction and form. Reis and Vicente are highly distinctive, with the former adding flamenco flourishes to his deconstructed chords, and the latter offering a stream of bleats, snuffles and muted fanfares. The inventive Govaert generates a great deal of energy around resonant metallic tones, while Martinsson adds vivid colour and rhythm with his busy clusters and graceful repetitions. Anything but run-of-themill, In Layers breathes new life into European free improvisation. JAZZ

RAYMOND MACDONALD & GRAEME WILSON Cast of Thousands (Creative Sources) ●●●●● For its latest release, Lisbon’s Creative Sources turns its attention to Scotland and the saxophone duo of Raymond MacDonald and snazzy shirt enthusiast Graeme Wilson. Both are mainstays of Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, as well as leading lights in the Concurrent research network for improvisation across disciplines. The music on Cast of Thousands has arisen from experiments carried out through that network, and bears the imprint of MacDonald and Wilson’s research into structured improvisation. ‘The Bucket of Kimchi’ is a dense weave of rapid-fire alto cycles from MacDonald and Wilson’s bold tenor outlines, while ‘Montelimar’ offers a curious salty-sweet lyricism. ‘Crow and Skylark’ could easily be a dry exercise in extended technique, but there’s real character and imagination to MacDonald and Wilson’s chorus of avian trills and raspy squawks. WORLD

BARGOU 08 Targ (Glitterbeat) ●●●●● Nidhal Yahyaoui grew up in the Bargou valley, a forgotten region of the Tunisian highlands. Targ is his supercharged take on Bargou’s unique folk music, in which traditional instruments are underpinned by driving trap drums and fat Moog bass. The results are spectacular. Instead of a polite fusion, this is retrofitted trance music, in which the old and new meet on a pure energy level. Yahyaoui’s powerful vocal melodies are intertwined with Lassaed Bougalmi’s insistent lines for the flute-like gasba and the keening zokra. Together, they flow over Imed Rezgui's bendir polyrhythms and Sofyan Ben Youssef’s throbbing synths. WORLD

LULA PENA Archivo Pittoresco (Crammed Discs) ●●●●● Lula Pena’s first album since 2010’s Troubadour was worth the wait. The Portuguese singer-songwriter has a deeply personal style, drawing on fado, flamenco, bossa nova, French chanson, and folk songs from Greece, Sardinia and Chile. Using texts by Brazilian and Belgian poets, as well as her own lyrics, Pena writes songs that are both mysterious and empathetic. Her voice is a gorgeous thing: warm and finely grained, with a subtly expressive vibrato on sustained notes. She accompanies herself on acoustic guitar, beating out rhythms with her fingers and palm as she strums. A magical record. WORLD

THE MINK STOLES Describing their sound as ‘David Icke and Robert Anton Wilson cover early Flaming Lips’ (there’s a concept for ya), the Mink Stoles are pure cosmic rockers based in Edinburgh. We caught up with Stephen Hill, the band's bassist, for a chat about their upcoming concept EP and that thorny topic: the difference between Edinburgh and Glasgow. On the future We’re recording a four-track concept EP based on a story about nuclear world war. We have a fascination with conspiracy theories about secret governments, aliens, and the manipulation of society by the media. It’s not really splitting-up-with-your-boyfriend music, plus who doesn’t want to listen to songs about reptilian shapeshifters? On who does what All the lyrics and music have been written by Matt [Grieve], some recently and some as long as 15 years ago. They all develop over time, whether in the rehearsal room or on stage, and Daniel [Hill] and myself usually tweak or change the drum’n’bass parts. With the recent addition of Phil [Harris], we hope to write more collaboratively in the future. On who’s killing it We’ve played gigs with lots of extremely talented people, recently with the Wellgreen and Broken by Rock, who are both superb if very different from one another. The Legendary Graeme Mearns Band are magic and we heard a guy called Michael Cochrane during the festival who is a superb singer-songwriter.

VARIOUS ARTISTS Doing It In Lagos (Soundway) ●●●●● This joyous collection of boogie, pop and disco from 1980s Nigeria is a party essential. Most tracks follow American trends, with Oby Onyioha’s elegantly hedonistic ‘Enjoy Your Life’ recalling Diana Ross’s collaboration with Chic. The talking drum breakdown on Odion Iruoje’s Afrocentric disco-rap gem ‘Identify With Your Root’ takes things back to the Motherland, a process reflected in the fidgety highlife guitars of Livy Ekemezie’s ‘Holiday Action’. Then there are the genuine oddities like the demented prog-disco of Willy Roy’s ‘Don't Give Up’, and Rick Asick’s ‘Too Hot’, with its gleefully silly calls to ‘get some ice!’ (All reviews by Stewart Smith)

On the Scottish scene There are two sides to the coin in Edinburgh. It’s based around the Fringe in August: extremely busy, lots of pop-up venues, a great buzz and gigs aplenty. However, the rest of the year can be sparse, though certainly not from a lack of talent. Recently we’ve started playing in Glasgow and getting a great response there from other bands and gig-goers. The scene there is healthier and more consistent at our level. There are more venues and more people attending gigs. (As told to Kirstyn Smith)

■ The Mink Stoles support Cymbals Eat Guitars, Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Tue 7 Feb.

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COMING UP AT THE QUEENâ€™S HALL

TIM KLIPHUIS SEXTET: Fri 17 February Award-winning violinist with Greg Lawson, Seonaid Aitken, Su-a Lee, Nigel Clark and Roy Percy, improvise on themes by Vivaldi, Bartok, Ellington, John McLaughlin and other greats

SIOBHAN MILLER: Fri 24 February ĆŒ " Ć¤5Ć¤( -.Ć¤#(. ,*, . ,Ć¤) Ć¤ Scottish traditional songâ€? (Scotland on Sunday)

THE MANFREDS: MAKINâ€™ TRACKS TOUR: Thu 2 March The 60â€™s group will be * , ),'#(!Ć¤' (3Ć¤) Ć¤." #,Ć¤ hits, including Do Wah Diddy Diddy

CHRIS THILE: Sun 19 March ' ,Ć¤) Ć¤." Ć¤ /( "Ć¤ Brothers, Grammy Award Winner and mandolin king ),Ć¤)( Ć¤(#!".Ć¤)(&3

JOHN SHUTTLEWORTH: Fri 24 March " 6 Ć¤Ć¤ & Ć?-Ć¤5Ć¤( -.Ć¤.)/,#(!Ć¤ My Last Will and Tasty Mint

WWW.THEQUEENSHALL.NET 0131 668 2019 1 Febâ€“31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 79

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MUSIC | Highlights

MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS Events are listed by city, then date. Submit listings for your event at list.co.uk/add

GLASGOW DAMIEN DEMPSEY O2 ABC, Wed 1 Feb, academymusicgroup.com/ o2abcglasgow Arresting singersongwriter from Dublin’s Northside with a full-on guttural vocal style which has found favour with Morrissey. MARTHA WAINWRIGHT O2 ABC, Fri 3 Feb, academymusicgroup.com/ o2abcglasgow Sister of Rufus and daughter of Loudon and Kate McGarrigle performs her own cathartic singer-songwriter material including tracks from her latest album Goodnight City. TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB Barrowland, Fri 3 & Sat 4 Feb, glasgow-barrowland.com Upbeat electronic indie from the Northern Irish trio. LADYHAWKE Glasgow School of Art, Thu 9 Feb, theartschool.co.uk Electro pop contender with 80s undertones, originally from New Zealand. HOSTEL FREAKS The Old Hairdressers, Fri 10 Feb, theoldhairdressers.com Sci-fi techno, synth-wave sound soundtracks and cosmic electronica from Hostel Freaks, with support from MC Almond Milk and Glamour Muscle.

GALACTIC EMPIRE O2 ABC, Sun 12 Feb, academymusicgroup.com/ o2abcglasgow Costumed, heavy metal tribute to the Star Wars universe, including their own unique take on John Williams’ classic score. Also Opium, Edinburgh, Sat 11 Feb, opiumedinburgh.co.uk HOPSIN The Garage, Sun 19 Feb, garageglasgow.co.uk Hip hop and rap from the LA artist. THE VIEW King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Sun 19–Fri 24 Feb, kingtuts.co.uk Six night residency at King Tut’s from the Dundonian indie scamps. THE HANDSOME FAMILY Saint Luke’s, Thu 23 Feb, facebook.com/StLukesGlasgow Mordant wit from the Addams Family of country rock. Rennie writes the lyrics about killing small mammals and husband Brett delivers them in his dry baritone. Also The Caves, Edinburgh, Fri 24 Feb, unusualvenuesedinburgh.com CABBAGE Stereo, Sat 25 Feb, stereocafebar. com Rabble rousing post-punk from the Mancunian quintet. BUSTED O2 Academy Glasgow, Sun 26 Feb, academymusicgroup.com/ o2academyglasgow Pop rock trio, reunited after more than a decade for a batch of UK shows. You’ll remember them from masterpieces such as ‘Year 3000’, ‘What I Go to School For’ and ‘Air Hostess’. Also Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 25 Feb, usherhall.co.uk LADY LESHURR O2 ABC, Sun 26 Feb, academymusicgroup.com/ o2abcglasgow New queen of British rap. KINGS OF LEON The SSE Hydro, Mon 27 Feb, thessehydro.com Hirsute country rock’n’rollers. BREAKING THE BARRIER Indigo, Sat 4 Mar, indigoclub.co.uk Rappers battle it out over several rounds. Final with Shay D & DJ Shorty.

Laura Marling

LAURA MARLING O2 ABC, Fri 10 Mar, academymusicgroup.com/ o2abcglasgow Engaging alt.folk from

the waif-like singer whose music brims with lyrical depth and maturity. VUKOVI King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Fri 10 Mar, kingtuts.co.uk Vukovi describe themselves as a ‘fight between Skunk Anansie and Rage Against the Machine’. BANKS O2 ABC, Sat 11 Mar, academymusicgroup.com/ o2abcglasgow Soulful vocals with synth string backing from the Los Angeles singer-songwriter. THE WAILERS O2 ABC, Thu 16 Mar, academymusicgroup.com/ o2abcglasgow Bob Marley’s original backing band perform Legend in its entirety.

Mar, thessehydro.com Rescheduled show from the well-connected Canadian rapper and laidback R&B star behind huge hits ‘One Dance’, ‘Hotline Bling’ and ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’. BILLY OCEAN Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sun 26 Mar, glasgowconcerthalls.com Eighties soul balladeer who incited imaginary love interests everywhere to ‘Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car’. CREEPER The Garage, Sun 26 Mar, garageglasgow.co.uk Southampton Goth punks. See preview, page 74. NE-YO Barrowland, Thu 30 Mar, glasgowbarrowland.com Smooth hip-hop/ R&B operator.

FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES Saint Luke’s, Sun 19 Mar, facebook.com/StLukesGlasgow Passionate, fiery hardcore from former Gallows frontman, Frank Carter.

CARO EMERALD Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Fri 31 Mar, glasgowconcerthalls.com Dutch singer putting a modern pop spin on post-war jazz styles.

DRAKE The SSE Hydro, Wed 22 & Thu 23

THE SELECTER AND THE BEAT O2 ABC, Fri 31 Mar,

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Highlights | MUSIC

SKINDRED The Liquid Room, Fri 3 Feb, liquidroom.com Big bouncing fusion of ragga, dubstep and metal. SARAH NEUFELD Summerhall, Fri 3 Feb, summerhall.co.uk Indie rock musician from Canada best known as the violinist for Arcade Fire. Part of Nothing Ever Happens Here. FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINALS The Queen’s Hall, Sat 4 Feb, thequeenshall.net Fun Lovin’ Criminals may be past their creative peak but always find an eager crowd, keen to bellow along to the hits. CYMBALS EAT GUITARS Electric Circus, Tue 7 Feb, theelectriccircus.biz New York indie band, with support from the Mink Stoles. See preview, page 78. SACRED PAWS, SPINNING COIN AND THE DOOZER Summerhall, Fri 10 Feb, summerhall.co.uk You’ll have heard their great single ‘Rest’ all over the radio. Here, the Glasgow duo are joined by Spinning Coin and the Doozer. Part of Nothing Ever Happens Here. Busted

academymusicgroup.com/ o2abcglasgow A co-headline tour featuring the two of the original 2-Tone ska acts who both formed in the late 1970s.

EDINBURGH CONOR OBERST The Queen’s Hall, Fri 3 Feb, thequeenshall.net The American singer-songwriter, lead singer of Bright Eyes and member of Monsters of Folk turned solo artist, brings his unique blend of angst-folk to UK audiences.

JULIAN COPE La Belle Angèle, Sat 18 Feb, la-belleangele.com One of contemporary rock and pop’s true mavericks and the former leader of The Teardrop Explodes. See preview, page 74. SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR The Queen’s Hall, Mon 20 Feb, thequeenshall.net The Londonbased pop singer of ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ fame returns to music. MONTICULE Electric Circus, Fri 24 Feb, theelectriccircus.biz Soulful, bluesy country rock from Edinburgh’s Monticule.

HITLIST

co.uk; The Garage, Glasgow, Fri 17 Feb, garageglasgow. co.uk; Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Sat 18 Feb, theelectriccircus. biz Electro pop singersongwriter from Dundee. BE CHARLOTTE PJ Molloys, Dunfermline, Thu 16 Feb, pjmolloys.

TEGAN & SARA O2 ABC, Glasgow, Fri 17 Feb, academymusicgroup.

Elvis Costello

SONG, BY TOAD’S GRANFALLOON Summerhall, Sat 25 Feb, summerhall.co.uk Just what you need to cheer you up – it’s a Song, by Toad all-dayer. Featuring Meursault launching new album I Will Kill Again, plus Faith Eliott, Adam Stafford, Lush Purr, Now Wakes the Sea, and many more. Part of Nothing Ever Happens Here. APOCALYPTICA The Queen’s Hall, Tue 28 Feb, thequeenshall.net Classical – as opposed to classic – metal. Hope it’s overwrought. TROPIC OF CANCER Summerhall, Wed 1 Mar, summerhall.co.uk Leftfield gothic pop from Camella Lobo. Part of Nothing Ever Happens Here. WEE DUB FESTIVAL Various venues, Fri 3–Sun 5 Mar, weedubfestival.co.uk Scotland’s only festival dedicated to dub and reggae music in all its forms. The lineup for 2017 includes Mad Professor, Macka B, Ragga Twins, Rob RSD, Mungo’s Hi-Fi & Sn Wilson, Illbilly Hitech, Radikal Guru & Echo Ranks and Sinai Sound. GLASS ANIMALS The Liquid Room, Wed 8 & Thu

com/o2abcglasgow The Quin twin sisters from Canada who once recorded using the name Sara & Tegan. Gets confusing, doesn’t it? See preview, page 74. PET SHOP BOYS SECC, Glasgow, Tue 21 Feb, secc.co.uk; Playhouse, Edinburgh, Wed 22 Feb, atgtickets.

9 Mar, liquidroom.com Eclectic synth-pop and sultry vocals from the Oxford band. LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY La Belle Angèle, Thu 9 Mar, la-belleangele.com Hailed as the godfather of dub, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, supplies fans with a night of eccentric reggae sounds. ELBOW Usher Hall, Sun 12 & Mon 13 Mar, usherhall.co.uk Strangely uplifting indie miserablists from Manchester. Support comes from C Duncan. ELVIS COSTELLO Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Sat 18 Mar, edtheatres.com Solo show from the veteran singer-songwriter and guitarist, born Declan Patrick MacManus, with a selection of his pub rock and new wave hits. JAGWAR MA The Liquid Room, Sun 19 Mar, liquidroom.com Psychedelic rock from the Aussie band, touring second album Every Now & Then. AUSTRA Summerhall, Thu 23 Mar, summerhall.co.uk Atmospheric Toronto electronica trio showcase new album Future Politics. Part of Nothing Ever Happens Here.

com/venues/ edinburgh-playhouse The Boys are back in town. See preview, page 69.

MITSKI Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Fri 10 Mar, theelectriccircus.biz Gutsy indie rock.

TELEMAN Òran Mór, Glasgow, Sat 25 Feb, oran-mor. co.uk London trio who have been described as ‘like the Beach Boys if they were from Hackney’.

THE WEEKND SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Fri 10 Mar, thessehydro.com Hip hop from Canadian singer Abel Tesfaye, touring new album Starboy.

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MUSIC | Highlights

L A C I S AS

OPERA

SCOTTISH OPERA: PELLEAS ET MELISANDE Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thu 23 & Sun 26 Feb, Wed 1 & Sat 4 Mar; Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 7, Thu 9 & Sat 11 Mar

PHOTO: JAMES GLOSSOP

In Scottish Opera’s new production of Debussy’s infrequently performed masterpiece, Pelléas et Mélisande, directed by the incomparable Sir David McVicar, there is much to anticipate with genuine excitement. Apart from Scottish Opera’s version being the first to be seen in Scotland for a number of years, Pelléas et Mélisande is, says McVicar, ‘a work that looks at things half-expressed and half-lived and conveys the tragic poignancy of existence more than any other opera.’ It is an opera which McVicar has never previously directed but has had in his sights for some time. ‘I tried to get it off the ground with several opera houses, but it was Scottish Opera’s Alex Reedijk who gave me carte blanche and said, “let’s do it”.’ When the company was launched in 1962, it was with Madama Butterfly, but next up was Pelléas et Mélisande. Although seen since then, it is, says McVicar, ‘a piece that is crying out for attention and it’s about time Scottish Opera did it again. I’ve loved it forever and always wanted to do it.’ Part of McVicar’s draw to the opera is that it’s great theatre as well as having a wonderfully sensuous score. Although the story itself is straightforward enough, there is a complex elusiveness too. ‘You can’t pin down a single meaning,’ he says. ‘How it strikes the audience is very personal and very subjective. It’s the story of the human soul making contact with the world and the damage that results. All of the three delicate human beings are not up to the challenge of this world, being almost too fragile to live in it. It strikes a universal chord. We all have to make decisions and here they lead to disaster.’ (Carol Main)

CLASSICAL HIGHLIGHTS HITLIST SCOTTISH OPERA: BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE & THE 8TH DOOR Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 28, Thu 30 Mar, Sat 1 Apr Bartok’s darkly disturbing opera is paired with The 8th Door, co-created by composer Lliam Paterson and theatre director Matthew Lenton. Also Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Wed 5, Sat 8 Apr RSNO: JÄRVI’S 80TH BIRTHDAY Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 17 Feb Estonian maestro Neeme Järvi has a long association with the RSNO and currently holds the title of Conductor Laureate. Only fitting that the orchestra should help him celebrate his 80th birthday then with a special programme of two not often performed dramatic Tchaikovsky scores. Also Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 18 Feb.

GLASGOW BBC SSO: RACHMANINOV’S PIANO CONCERTO NO 2 City Halls, Glasgow, Thu 23 Feb, glasgowconcerthalls.com/ cityhalls Lots of tunes from the BBC SSO in this programme, including Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto, used to memorable effect in David Lean’s 1945 film Brief Encounter, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s exotic score, Scheherazade. Also Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 26 Feb. TWO GREAT FRENCH ROMANTIC TRAGEDIES RCS, Glasgow, Sat 4, Mon 6, Wed 8, Fri 10 Mar, rcs.ac.uk/box-office RCS Opera turns to two unusual versions of stories about doomed lovers – Orpheus and Eurydice in Milhaud’s expressive, vibrant score, and the Scottish premiere of Frank Martin’s take on Tristan and Isolde, Le Vin Herbe (the drugged wine). BBC SSO: STRAUSS’S FOUR LAST SONGS City Halls, Glasgow, Thu 23 Mar, glasgowconcerthalls.com/ cityhalls Heart-tugging emotions from the expansive scores of Wagner

and the glorious beauty of the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde followed by the Prelude to Act 1 of Parsifal are almost too much to bear, especially with Strauss’s Four Last Songs too. Canadian Erin Wall is the soprano.

EDINBURGH SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE: MUSIC IS POWER The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 16 Feb, queenshall.net Powerful concert indeed with the Scottish Ensemble joined by international star violinist Alina Ibragimova, who plays one of the composers she is famed for – JS Bach – but also the more unusual Concerto Funebre by Karl Amadeus Hartmann, written with profound emotive power on the brink of World War II. Also Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow, Fri 17 Feb. MR MCFALL’S CHAMBER La Belle Angèle, Edinburgh, Sat 25 Feb, la-belleangele.com Robert McFall and friends from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra can always be relied upon to take a different look at classical music. Here, they perform with Aberfeldy, both in their own material and songs by Michael Marra.

THE VIENNA TONKÜNSTLER ORCHESTRA Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 5 Mar, usherhall.co.uk All time orchestral favourites of Mendelsson’s Hebrides Overture, Brahms’ Symphony No 1 – which took him 14 years to write – and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with favourite British clarinettist Emma Johnson combine to make a satisfying concert experience with one of Europe’s most established orchestras. SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: SCO AND THE SIXTEEN PERFORM MACMILLAN’S STABAT MATER Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 23 Mar Unusually, the SCO join forces with The Sixteen, with a highlight of their programme certain to be the Scottish premiere of James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater, commissioned for The Sixteen and their founding director Harry Christophers. In the first half, MacMillan conducts his orchestral piece, Tryst, one of the first pieces he wrote for the SCO. The concert is part of a month long celebration of MacMillan’s music. Also City Halls, Glasgow, Fri 24 Mar.

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THEATRE

Fo the latestr n listings a ews, reviews, g nd o list.co.uk to /theatre

DANZA CONTEMPORANEA DE CUBA

PHOTO: JOHAN PERSSON

Triple bill of passionate contemporary dance turns up the heat The last time we saw Annabelle López Ochoa’s work in Scotland, it was set in a hot and steamy New Orleans. And this time around, the choreographer of Scottish Ballet’s stunning A Streetcar Named Desire has been inspired by even warmer climes. Created in Havana for Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, Reversible plays with ideas of gender and sexual power, exploring the rivalry between men and women. ‘In Cuba, the game between the sexes and seduction is an obvious one,’ says

Ochoa. ‘The way they dress and act – women move and express themselves through their hips and men through their upper body. So when I came to choreograph the dancers, I used their power and extrovert nature but I also wanted to infuse poetry and sensuality into the piece, because sensuality is omnipresent in Cuban culture.’ Reversible will sit alongside The Listening Room by Theo Clinkard (where dancers wear headphones playing different music to the

sounds which the audience will hear), and the award-winning Matria Etnocentra by Danza Contemporánea de Cuba’s resident choreographer, George Céspedes. One thing they’ll all have in common is the company’s inimitable Cuban style. As Ochoa says: ‘if I wanted to take Reversible to another company, I’d have to re-do sections, because the theme of gender is universal, but the dancing is specifically Cuban.’ (Kelly Apter) ■ Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 14 & Wed 15 Mar.

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THEATRE | Previews FESTIVAL

TAKE ME SOMEWHERE Various venues, Glasgow, Wed 22 Feb–Sat 11 Mar

PHOTO: NIALL WALKER

When celebrated Glasgow venue The Arches shut down in 2015 amid a blaze of controversy, shockwaves could be felt nationally. Jackie Wylie, that venue’s artistic director and incoming NTS head, has returned with a new platform (events staged across various Glasgow theatres and clubs) that continues to champion the kind of leftfield performance which made The Arches so venerated. ‘Because of the incredible community built up around its 25-year lifespan, there was a remarkable sense of loss and grief when The Arches closed,’ explains Wylie. ‘As a result, there has been an overwhelmingly positive response to carrying on its legacy.’ Take Me Somewhere is a festival that aims to recall the venue’s support for Scottish talent, as well as its programme of experimental performance from around the world. A combination of familiar local artists – including Nic Green and Drew Taylor – appear alongside visiting international companies: El Conde de Torrefiel come from Spain with Guerilla, a meditation on anxiety and future societies, while Lucy McCormick and drag legend Panti return to Scotland with shows that gathered praise at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe. The programme embraces a diversity of ideas and styles. Pieces like Julia Taudevin’s Blow Off or Kieran Hurley’s Heads Up share an interest in what Hurley sees as ‘how it feels to live in a world that’s built on catastrophe, like a constant cavalcade of crisis.’ Panti’s performance / political activism addresses gender and sexual freedom, while Lucy McCormick's Triple Threat is unabashedly filthy, turning the New Testament into a subversive cabaret. Describing Triple Threat, McCormick identifies an eclectic energy that perhaps reflects both The Arches’ legacy and Wylie’s curation: ‘It is a great conduit for my interests and informed by various strains of performance work, from clowning through the theatre of the absurd, to performance art and cabaret.’ (Lorna Irvine)

PHOTO: NICK PONTY

PHOTO: ALY WIGHT

PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER BETHELL

DARK FAIRYTALE

SHAKESPEARE

BYRNE TRILOGY

THE RED CHAIR

THE WINTER’S TALE

CUTTIN' A RUG

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Fri 3 & Sat 4 Mar; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 17 & Sat 18 Mar; Dundee Rep, Fri 31 Mar

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 10 Feb– Sat 4 Mar

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 8 Feb–Sat 4 Mar; King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 7–Sat 11 Mar

Alongside a cast full of popular Scottish actors, Max Webster directs The Winter’s Tale in the spirit of Lyceum artistic director David Greig’s energising vision for the venerable Edinburgh venue. Webster’s Lyceum debut came from his and Greig’s shared enthusiasm for Shakespeare and Scottish folk music. ‘We like theatre that tells good stories, that are full of fun but also ask big questions,’ he says of the production which features Maureen Beattie, Jimmy Chisholm and composer / performer Aly Macrae. The Winter’s Tale is known for its stage direction – ‘exit pursued by a bear’ – but it is also one of Shakespeare’s most ambitious works, pairing pastoral comedy and tragedy. ‘It’s always been one of my favourite plays,’ says Webster. ‘I enjoy evenings in the theatre where you don’t know what’s going to happen, and when you sit down to Macbeth, you know!’ With its sudden – and unexpected – leap across 16 years, The Winter’s Tale presents the bard at his most daring, not least in his mixture of genres. Even after the tragedy, the plot keeps moving. As Webster concludes: ‘Beyond despair and the ways that we inflict pain on each other, might there be redemption?’ (Gareth K Vile)

Following on from last year’s Citizens revival of The Slab Boys, the second part of playwright and artist John Byrne’s trilogy arrives to continue the adventure of Phil, Spanky and co. With the guys heading to Paisley Town Hall for the annual carpet factory dance, Byrne’s script casts a wry eye over the tentative teenage rebellions of the Teddy Boy generation. John Byrne’s gallus patter merchants are a slice of Paisley life, rough-hewn diamonds of workingclass characters caught up in a world that’s about to change, yet still clinging to the more decorous manners and hierarchies of an earlier age. And while it has an iconic status within Scottish theatre, Cuttin’ a Rug retains relevance, featuring both the comedy and tragedy of young men trying to escape the constraints of their class and era. This version of the tale stars brothers Ryan and Scott Fletcher as the anti-heroes alongside Anne Lacey and Paul James Corrigan. Taking on directorial duties is original cast member Caroline Paterson, for what she calls ‘a celebration of Paisley and also John’s work’. And with Paisley in the running for City of Culture 2021, it couldn't be timelier. (Lorna Irvine)

‘When I began writing the story, my idea was that it was for children,’ says Sarah Cameron, writer and performer of The Red Chair. ‘In the very best tradition of fairytales and myth, it was always going to be dark.’ Although Cameron draws on her Scottish childhood for the show, using both Scots language and the enchanted atmosphere of fairytales, The Red Chair is produced by Clod, an ensemble known for its bracing, intelligent and mature productions. This intriguing tension lends the piece a mysterious and challenging dynamic. ‘The Red Chair begins like a fairytale with the baroque and cartoon structure of the story creating a safe space,’ Cameron continues. ‘From there we can explore the darker aspects of the human condition.’ The fantastic plot – which features an invisible daughter and a father who eats until he eventually becomes the chair he sits upon – is unfolded through a complex monologue, revealing both the influence of Scots' poetry and Cameron’s training at the influential Lecoq school. Before spring arrives, The Red Chair revels in the darkness at the edges of reason. (Gareth K Vile) 84 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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The Winter’s Tale

By William Shakespeare Directed by Max Webster

10 FEBRUARY – 4 MARCH 2017

Tickets:

0131 248 4848 | lyceum.org.uk Sponsored by:

Royal Lyceum Theatre Company Ltd is a Registered Company No. SC062065, and Scottish Charity Registered No. SC010509 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 85

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Tron Theatre Company presents

CITIZENS THEATRE PRESENTS

THE SECOND INSTALMENT OF JOHN BYRNE’S SLAB BOYS TRILOGY

By Yasmina Reza Translated by Christopher Hampton

Winner of Tony Award for Best New Play and Olivier Award for Best Comedy (2009)

Preview: Thu 9 March 2017

Fri 10 - Sat 25 March 2017 The Tron Theatre Ltd. is a Scottish Registered Charity No: SC012081. Photography by: Joe Connolly.

8 FEB – 4 MAR

7 – 11 MAR

citz.co.uk 0141 429 0022

edtheatres.com 0131 529 6000

Citizens Theatre Ltd. Registered in Scotland No. SC022513 and is a Scottish Charity No. SC001337. EdTheatres. Registered Charity SC018605.

A CITIZENS THEATRE AND ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE EDINBURGH CO-PRODUCTION

GHOST DANCES Christopher Bruce’s masterpiece plus other works

Directed by Dominic Hill 10 MAR – 1 APR lyceum.org.uk 0131 248 4848

5 – 22 APR citz.co.uk 0141 429 0022

Citizens Theatre Ltd. Registered in Scotland No. SC022513 and is a Scottish Charity No. SC001337. Royal Lyceum Theatre is a Registered Company No. SC062065 and is a Scottish Charity No. SC010509

9-11 February 0844 871 7647* (bkg fee) atgtickets.com/glasgow (bkg fee) * Calls cost up to 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge

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Previews | THEATRE

list.co.uk/theatre

PHYSICAL THEATRE

THE END OF THINGS

PHOTO: BRIAN HARTLEY

Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, Thu 2 Feb; CCA, Glasgow, Tue 7 & Wed 8 Feb, then touring Under the joint artistic direction of Anna Porubcansky and Ewan Downie, Company of Wolves have developed a distinctive voice within Scottish theatre, bringing the influence of Polish physical theatre with work that’s unafraid to grapple large themes. After two-hander A Brief History of Evil, an expanded cast now reflects on The End of Things, which opened at manipulate in January. Downie explains that, within their abstract, lyrical style, the company wanted to examine ‘the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, and how they can be born and die.’ Wryly commenting that the show is more about the nature of endings – a very human conception – the piece, however, is less apocalyptic than that title suggests. ‘We aim for our work to be a space to dream, both for ourselves and for the audience, and that means not closing down interpretations.’ Porubcansky recognises that her soundscape adds to the abstraction, evoking ‘the sounds of dreams, of space, unconscious sound, deceiving sound; the unheard music that lives in the space between people.’ Far from being a diatribe on the horrors of finality, The End of Things asks questions about how humans mark the passage of time through stories. ‘Things only end from our perspective,’ says Downie. ‘From the perspective of the universe, matter forms and reforms, things change, but nothing ends. We also wanted to look at how these stories, these dreams of how the world is, can themselves die or break or fail.’ (Gareth K Vile)

COMEDY

69 SHADES OF GAY! Òran Mór, Glasgow, Wed 8–Sat 18 Feb To any comedy-loving theatregoer from around Glasgow, playwright Stuart Thomas needs no introduction. His wildly successful Real Hoosewives Fae Glesga shows, starring River City's Leah McRae, have a huge and loyal legion of fans. Now, his cheeky take on gay culture, 69 Shades of Gay!, sees another much-loved star of the popular soap, the versatile Gary Lamont, playing Thomas’ out and proud Aiden. The suggestive title actually alludes to the number of relationships Aiden has had. As Thomas explains, ‘it’s the most autobiographical thing I have ever written, although I heavily raided the lives of my friends, both straight and gay. I wanted to say something really positive, and sexpositive, about gay life.' Following Aiden’s trip down memory lane, as he attempts to delete social media evidence of his past lovers, it presents a funny, yet bracing, study of modern life and sexual desire. Thomas believes comedy is an ideal format for dealing with the complexities of human nature, particularly in matters of sexuality. ‘For me, comedy lies in that sweet spot where people are laughing because it’s funny, but also because they feel something too, something universal,’ he says. In short, something from the heart, not just the groin. (Lorna Irvine)

PLAY

MADE IN INDIA Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 8–Sat 11 Feb; Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling, Tue 14 Feb; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 16–Sat 18 Feb Set in a surrogacy clinic in Gujarat, Made in India follows Tamasha Theatre Company’s recent My Name is . . . to discuss problems of the postcolonial world, as western parents turn to India for a commodity they can’t always make for themselves: children. Writer Satinder Chohan sees her script as part of a conversation. ‘I hope audiences might make connections as western consumers who rely on low-cost, low-paid global workers to provide the material stuff of our lives, whether it’s a pair of trainers or a baby,’ she says. ‘It’s a play that deliberately explores colonial and neoliberal relationships between India and the UK.’ Far from being a simple sociological study, Chohan recognises wider implications. ‘Commercial surrogacy is a fitting metaphor,’ she reflects. ‘In India’s service or “surrogacy” economy, locals are hired to service a global / western economy: they are even given western names in call centres, for example. In our “everything for sale” society, the reproductive technology industry perfectly plays out this highly charged financial markets vs morality debate.’ Tamasha’s vision, which brings marginalised voices onto the stage, has always been connected to a polished, precise set of production values. They maintain a fine balance between the seriousness of the issue, and the need to entertain. For Chohan, the importance of theatre as a place for these kinds of story is clear. ‘We need serious plays that make us realise we are connected to a bigger world, to let connections and contrasts percolate dramatically, maybe to resurface when and where we might do something about them in our own lives or the lives of others.’ (Gareth K Vile) 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 87

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DANCE | Previews PHOTO: BRIAN HARTLEY

PHOTO: GUY FARROW

E C N DA

BALLET

CONTEMPORARY

NORTHERN BALLET: CASANOVA

SCOTTISH DANCE THEATRE

Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Thu 23–Sat 25 Mar

Dundee Rep, Fri 10 & Sat 11 Feb; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 3 & Sat 4 Mar

Growing up in 18th-century Venice, Giacomo Casanova studied law, trained as a priest, worked as a writer and violinist, served time in prison and jumped from one maverick project to the next before his death aged 73. And yet today, he’s associated with one thing only: sex. ‘Casanova himself would be appalled at what he has been remembered for,’ says choreographer Kenneth Tindall, whose new work for Northern Ballet aims to paint the Italian in a more three-dimensional light. ‘He slept with 130 women, which works out at about four a year. If you compare that to somebody like Peter Stringfellow who’s slept with thousands of women, it isn’t that much. I think that fact has completely been lost when it comes to Casanova.’ Not that Tindall has disregarded the original lothario’s reputation for enjoying the company of women, far from it. His affairs of the heart (and body) are depicted through a series of sensual pas de deux sprinkled throughout the ballet. But with such a full life to represent, how did Tindall decide what to include? ‘It was really difficult,’ he says. ‘But I hunted down Ian Kelly, who wrote the 2008 biography, Casanova: Actor, Lover, Priest, Spy, and I started there. We cherry-picked what we thought would represent him best, give an exciting theatrical experience, but most of all hopefully give the audience a different perspective of the man himself, while not forgetting that serial womaniser tag he has.’ (Kelly Apter)

If you’re going to take a big bite out of the dance world, it’s important to cut your teeth in the right place. London-based dancer and choreographer Botis Seva now runs his own company (the aptly named Far from the Norm) but began his career with Tony Adigun’s superb hip-hop group, Avant Garde Dance. ‘Working with Tony, I learnt to be bold with my artistic choices and creative statements and to take risks to create whatever inspires me as an artist,’ says Seva. ‘It gave me the tools to harness the understanding of my body and the connection with music.’ Invited to create a new work with Scottish Dance Theatre, to sit alongside Anton Lachky’s fast-paced Dreamers (pictured) on the company’s spring tour, Seva began to reflect on society and the regimented daily lives people lead. The result is TuTuMucky, a piece which experiments with classical music and the hiphop genre, while exploring the way we’re shaped by the world around us. ‘My aim was to find beauty in simplicity and not be infected by the chaos,’ says Seva. ‘We’re constantly bombarded by so many messages on how we should create work or live our lives. So we need to find ourselves within this chaos, and once we've found that, there is peace and individuality. I want to disrupt and deconstruct everything we’ve been told as dancers and makers, and inspire other creatives to find their own pathways.’ (Kelly Apter)

BALLROOM

ANTON & ERIN: SWING TIME Caird Hall, Dundee, Fri 3 Mar; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 4 Mar; Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sun 5 Mar It’s a partnership that has lasted longer than many marriages. Although, according to Anton Du Beke, that may well be the secret to his 20-year connection with dancer Erin Boag. ‘Erin would probably say it’s the fact she married somebody else,’ says Du Beke with a laugh. ‘And I don’t think I can blame her for that.’ Instead, the duo has enjoyed a professional relationship that took them from competitive ballroom dancing to prime-time television via Strictly Come Dancing. About to embark on their ninth theatre show, Swing Time, filled with classic numbers such as ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ and ‘I’ve Got Rhythm’, Du Beke is the first to admit that Saturday night TV has done dance the power of good. ‘Before Strictly, nobody would have come to our show,’ he says. ‘Dance has always been at the bottom of the arts leader board, as it were. Ballet did its thing, then there was musical theatre, contemporary and street dance, and it was all a bit niche. But because of Strictly, those worlds have come together and it’s introduced new audiences to dance.’ Swing Time is a case in point, with Anton and Erin surrounded by musical theatre dancers, vocalist Lance Ellington and a 25-piece band. So when the two stars glide out dressed to the nines, ballroom has a chance to shine. ‘Our dancers are all from musical theatre, not straight ballroom,’ explains Du Beke. ‘Which I think is nice, because then when the ballroom dancing happens, it’s somehow a bit more special. And then we’ll have songs, duets and threehanders with Lance, because two hours is quite a long time just to do ballroom. It also allows me to be a bit indiscreet about people on Strictly: I think the audience enjoys that because it’s a bit of fun.’ (Kelly Apter) 88 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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THEATRE | Highlights

CUTTIN’ A RUG Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 8 Feb– Sat 4 Mar, citz.co.uk

PHOTO: ALASTAIR MUIR

HITLIST

MANIPULATE Travese Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 4 Feb, manipulatefestival. org Puppet Animation Scotland collates some world-class animation and puppetry.

The second play in John Byrne’s much-loved Slab Boys trilogy. See preview, page 84. Also King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 7–Sat 11 Mar.

TAKE ME SOMEWHERE Various venues, Wed 22 Feb–Sat 11 Mar, takemesomewhere. co.uk A celebratory festival of contemporary performance, taking place in spaces across Glasgow and building on the innovative and inspiring legacy of The Arches arts programme. See preview, page 84.

HAY FEVER Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 10 Mar–Sat 1 Apr, lyceum.org.uk Noel Coward’s classic comedy. DANZA CONTEMPORANEA DE CUBA Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 14 & Wed 15 Mar, edtheatres. com/festival A sizzling

triple bill of contemporary dance heats us all up. See preview, page 83. NORTHERN BALLET: CASANOVA Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Thu 23–Sat 25 Mar, edtheatres.com/ festival The Scottish premiere of Kenneth Tindall’s ballet. See preview, page 88.

THEATRE HIGHLIGHTS PHOTO: JASSY EARL

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by Adura Onashile, about a Nigerian nightclub attendant, working in the toilets of a fictional venue based on the Shimmy Club in Glasgow. Also Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 30 Mar–Sat 1 Apr.

GO DANCE Theatre Royal, Wed 1–Sat 4 Feb, atgtickets.com/venues/theatreroyal-glasgow A festival showcasing Scotland’s community and educational dance talent.

MADE IN INDIA Traverse Theatre, Thu 16–Sat 18 Feb, traverse.co.uk Satinder Chohan’s contemporary drama about three women who meet in a surrogacy clinic in Gujarat. See preview, page 87.

THE END OF THINGS CCA, Tue 7 & Wed 8 Feb, ccaglasgow.com Company of Wolves’ fourth original performance is a journey to the heart of letting go. See preview, page 87.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Mon 20–Sat 25 Feb, edtheatres.com Simon Stephens’ acclaimed adaptation of the darkly humorous book by Mark Haddon.

69 SHADES OF GAY! Òran Mór, Wed 8–Sat 18 Feb, oranmor.co.uk Raunchy new comedy from award-winning writer Stuart Thomas. See preview, page 87. RAMBERT Theatre Royal, Thu 9–Sat 11 Feb, atgtickets.com/venues/theatreroyal-glasgow Britain’s oldest dance company celebrates its 90th anniversary with a triple bill. ROMEO & JULIET SECC, Sat 11 Feb, secc.co.uk Ballet West present Shakespeare’s enduring tale of passion, murder and tragedy, danced to Prokofiev’s emotional score. HEADS UP Tron Theatre, Wed 22 Feb, tron. co.uk Multi award-winner Kieran Hurley weaves a picture of a city at its moment of destruction, asking what would we do if we found ourselves at the end of our world. Also Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 23–Sat 25 Feb. NOWHERE Tron Theatre, Sat 25 Feb, tron.co.uk A nod to Beckett, existentialism and surrealism, this theatrical experience explores parts of the theatre you may never have seen before.

THE RED CHAIR Tron Theatre, Fri 3 & Sat 4 Mar, tron. co.uk A contemporary take on folk and fairytale storytelling traditions, told in Scots. Sarah Cameron performs her own script. See preview, page 84. Also touring, see list.co.uk/theatre for details THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Mon 6–Sat 11 Mar, atgtickets.com/venues/ theatre-royal-glasgow Award-winning company Theatre Mischief present a play-within-a-play about an amateur dramatic society putting on a murder mystery production. LUCY MCCORMICK: TRIPLE THREAT The Glue Factory, Sat 11 Mar, thegluefactory.org The provocative performer (dubbed a ‘post-popular prodigy’) presents a trash-step dubpunk morality play for the modern world in which she is cast in all the main roles. WOLVES Tramway, Sat 18 Mar, tramway. org A new production from Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballet, performed by an inter-generational cast of children,

teenagers, old dancers, and professional artists. See preview, page 67. Also Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, Sat 25 Mar, beaconartscentre.co.uk

EDINBURGH CIRQUE BERSERK Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 7– Sun 12 Feb, edtheatres.com A largescale family circus show with jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, dancers, musicians and stuntmen. FISK Traverse Theatre, Thu 9–Sat 11 Feb, traverse.co.uk New work from celebrated theatre and puppetry company, Tortoise in a Nutshell. See preview, list.co.uk Also touring, see list.co.uk/theatre for details THE WINTER’S TALE Royal Lyceum Theatre, Thu 9 Feb–Sat 4 Mar, lyceum.org.uk Shakespeare’s tale of love, loss and reconciliation. Directed by artist Max Webster. See preview, page 84. EXPENSIVE SHIT Traverse Theatre, Fri 10 Feb, traverse.co.uk Fringe First winning play

SCOTTISH DANCE THEATRE: DREAMERS / TUTUMUCKY Traverse Theatre, Fri 3 & Sat 4 Mar, traverse.co.uk Double-bill from Scottish Dance Theatre choreographed by Anton Lachky and Botis Seva. See preview, page 88. Also Dundee Rep, Fri 10 & Sat 11 Feb, dundeerep. co.uk ANTON AND ERIN: SWING TIME Usher Hall, Sat 4 Mar, antonanderin. com Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag hit the road. See preview, page 88. Also touring, see list.co.uk/theatre for details LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Edinburgh Playhouse, Tue 7–Sat 11 Mar, atgtickets.com/edinburgh EastEnders’ John Partridge stars as Albin and Adrian Zmed as Georges in this Bill Kenwright production about drag artists and family values. JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT Edinburgh Playhouse, Tue 14–Sat 18 Mar, atgtickets.com/edinburgh Another Bill Kenwright production, this time of the Rice ‘n’ Lloyd Webber musical, with X Factor winner Joe McElderry in the starring role.

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VISUAL ART

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MARK WALLINGER MARK Turner Prize winner makes his mark in simultaneous Edinburgh and Dundee exhibitions

PHOTO: COURTESY THE ARTIST, HAUSER & WIRTH; CARLIER | GABAUER, BERLIN; GALERIE KRINZINGER, VIENNA

Making your mark is everything if you’re an artist, whichever side you’re coming from. It’s evident in this expansive body of largely recent work by Mark Wallinger, which runs parallel in galleries across two separate cities. Based largely around the 66 works that make up Wallinger’s id Paintings, the twin shows focus on a fascination with symmetry that led him to pursue a more instinctive and personalised line of inquiry than his more overtly politically driven works. That period arguably peaked with Wallinger’s 2007 Turner Prize winner, ‘State Britain’, a recreation of Brian Haw’s tented antiIraq protest outside Westminster. That the twice-his-height-sized paintings that resulted are literally handmade speaks volumes about where Wallinger is coming from today. ‘The id Paintings grew out of a series of works I call self-portraits,’ Wallinger says, referring to the group of paintings consisting of various iterations of the letter ‘I’. Wallinger found himself painting works by hand, alternating between left and right. ‘It was one of those rare moments when the penny dropped and something metamorphosed in a way where I could get a degree of symmetry. It was a way of creating in the moment so that every mark had its mirror image.’ Wallinger mentions Rorschach, psychoanalysis and Freud in an ongoing pursuit of the naked ‘I’ he is clearly relishing. ‘It has been rather pleasant,’ he says. ‘It’s nice to get to this age and still be able to feel this way.’ (Neil Cooper) ■ Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 4 Mar– Sun 2 Jul; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Sat 4 Mar–Sun 4 Jun.

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VISUAL ART | Previews & Reviews PAINTING

JOAN EARDLEY: A SENSE OF PLACE Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Two, Edinburgh, until Sun 21 May ●●●●●

Joan Eardley’s too-young death of cancer at the age of 42 in 1963 has wrapped a kind of tragic envelope around her life and work. Coming nine years after a major retrospective of her work at the Scottish National Gallery – the only two such exhibitions in nearly 30 years – this new show incorporates the twin subjects which really made her name and reputation: the poverty-stricken postwar children living in Glasgow’s Townhead district, which was later razed to make way for the M8 motorway; and the tranquil but violent North Sea land and seascapes of the small fishing village of Catterline, near Stonehaven. The exhibition literature makes links between the crumbling destitution of Townhead, where Eardley held a studio, and the sense of decline in the fishing industry while she lived in Catterline, and these enforce a tragic narrative alongside the facts of her biography (her own death as well as her father's suicide in 1929). Yet to see the work in person shouldn’t make viewers think of tragedy. Her paintings of Townhead’s children bear an almost spectral quality with their pale faces standing out, but they’re anything but unfriendly. If anything, there’s an innocence to Eardley’s group portraits that’s at odds with the grimy black and white reference photos which she and her friend Audrey Walker took, and which are also displayed here. An angelic, questioning innocence is captured in these stylised, cartoonish expressions, set against a grey uniformity of the real. In the village of Catterline, on the other hand, the natural tableaux she captured were fearsome and elemental, as bold swathes of blue, green, brown and white spoke of that landscape’s rawness. In each case, the strength of Joan Eardley’s connection with her subjects is humbling to the viewer. (David Pollock)

PHOTO: COURTESY OF GLASGOW LIFE

RETROSPECTIVE

GROUP SHOW

ALAN KITCHING: A LIFE IN LETTERPRESS

FORMS OF ACTION

The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Sun 5 Mar ●●●●● For six decades, the typographical work of Darlington-born Alan Kitching has blazed a quiet trail that’s given printed matter a visual identity which has defined its various times. To coincide with the publication of a lavishly illustrated 400-page monograph by John L Walters, this retrospective charts how a trainee compositor went on to create a canon that moved from Jan Tschichold-inspired modernist experiments to explosively reinventing letterpress while the rest of the world went digital. Kitching’s work has consistently channeled the vibrancy of its age, even before he combined skewed poetics and monochrome classicism for his poster advertising a screening of Peter Watkins’ film, The War Game, at Watford College of Technology. It was during his tenure here that he learned as much as he taught en route to producing a seminal manifesto, Typography Manual (1970), which the bursts of colour that define his later letterpress work all stem from. In between is a breathtaking panoply of broadsides, maps and polemic, all fired with the same dazzling and forensically crafted force. The result is a vital document that illustrates a very British form of DIY radicalism it remains a part of, turning words and worlds upside down as it goes. (Neil Cooper)

INSTALLATION

CLAIRE BARCLAY: YIELD POINT

CCA, Glasgow, until Sun 12 Mar

Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 10 Feb–Sun 9 Apr

‘For me there is no distinction between art and life.’ It‘s a view many artists in Glasgow will no doubt share with Viviana Checchia, the CCA’s public engagement curator. ‘It’s not about the when, where and what, but about how we approach society through art,’ she says, regarding Forms of Action. Glasgow has long been heralded as a place where artists are free to explore the boundaries of art, and much is made of the city’s prevalent ‘DIY culture’. But for once, it isn’t Glasgow-based artists who are the focus of a socially-engaged group show. While Forms of Action brings artists together from all corners of the globe, it’s clear that shared issues arise: in our globalised world, it’s not sufficient to look at problems only within our own society. This exhibition is an opportunity to see the different methodologies and tools used by artists seeking to make meaningful connections within their societies. A no-doubt turbulent 2017 is a good time for artists to declare their position as socially engaged practitioners. ‘Individually, we are not going to change anything huge, and we aren’t going to stop a war by ourselves,’ says Checchia. ‘But individual contributions can help society take a little step. I still think it’s important to keep on going.’ (Laura Campbell)

Claire Barclay thinks big. As we speak in her studio, three people manhandle a huge piece of canvas. When you take on Tramway 2 (one of the largest gallery spaces in Europe) you have to think big. ‘It’s by far the biggest volume of space I’ve ever worked with,’ says Barclay. ‘You make a thing and, even if it’s big, you place it in the space and it looks small. As a person who makes installations, creates immersive environments and moods, the challenge is how to do that when the space is so huge.’ In the last 20 years, Barclay has carved out an evocative niche as a creator of meticulous sculptural works which respond to their environments. For this show, she’s been casting concrete, sewing huge canvas forms, and working with manufacturers to create bespoke metal parts. Barclay is responding to Tramway’s post-industrial vibe with a series of sculptures which reference manufacturing, but juxtapose the industrial with the human scale. ‘The work is an eccentric take on things that would be familiar within a factory environment, mundane elements which might be overlooked. So something might remind you of a drivebelt, a sink, a stick to put bobbins on, but none of them really are. They are curious eccentric objects.’ (Susan Mansfield)

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VISUAL ART | Highlights

HITLIST

ALAN KITCHING: A LIFE IN LETTERPRESS The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Sat 4 Mar, thelighthouse.co.uk Major retrospective of one of the masters of letterpress typographic design. See review, page 92. FORMS OF ACTION CCA, Glasgow, until Sun 12 Mar, cca-glasgow.

Highlights | VISUAL ART

com An exploration of current international developments in socially engaged art practices. See preview, page 92. CLAIRE BARCLAY: YIELD POINT

Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 10 Feb–Sun 9 Apr, tramway.org Large sculptural works addressing the relationship between the human body and the industrial workplace. See preview, page 92. JOAN EARDLEY: A SENSE OF PLACE Scottish National Gallery

Of Modern Art Two, Edinburgh, until Sun 21 May, nationalgalleries. org A major overview of the short career of Joan Eardley (1921–1963), drawing on unpublished archival material and loans from private collections, and giving an insight into both her travels and her working methods. See review, page 92.

MARK WALLINGER MARK The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 4 Mar–Sun 2 Jul, fruitmarket.co.uk New paintings from the artist, painted simultaneously by each hand. See preview, page 91. Also at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Sat 4 Mar–Sun 4 Jun.

VISUAL ART HIGHLIGHTS Events are listed by city, then date. Submit listings for your event at list.co.uk/add

which our environment is transformed by urban and industrial growth.

Bernat Klein: The Colour Circle

SCOTTISH POTTERY: ART AND INNOVATION National Museum of Scotland, Fri 3 Feb–Sun 25 Jun, nms.ac.uk/ national-museum-of-scotland A small display bringing together items from the last 250 years of Scottish pottery, drawn from the museum’s collection.

GLASGOW KAMEELAH JANAN RASHEED: HOW TO SUFFER POLITELY (AND OTHER ETIQUETTE) Transmission Gallery, until Wed 15 Feb, transmissiongallery.org Work by Brooklyn-based artist and activist who explores how the policing of suffering, anger and responses to trauma and racialised violence are utilised as tools to maintain social order and oppressive systems.

RSA NEW CONTEMPORARIES 2017 Royal Scottish Academy, Sat 18 Feb–Wed 15 Mar, royalscottishacademy.org The RSA’s annual show of work by 66 graduates from the 2016 degree shows in art schools around the country, one of the art calendar’s most important showcases for emerging talent.

DISAPPEARING GLASGOW The Lighthouse, until Sun 19 Feb, thelighthouse.co.uk Images by photographer Chris Leslie of the rapidly changing face of Glasgow. THE ARTISTS OF THE WEST MIDLANDS: A NEW WORLD Project Ability, until Sat 25 Feb, project-ability.co.uk Work by disabled artists from the West Midlands, curated by Project Ability and Tanya Raabe-Webber. Featured artists include Rory Baird, Ross Prince, Mark Lloyd, Wendy Sutton-Lloyd, Alison Picknel and Krisstel Bentle.

in communication and the ways in which mainstream media perpetuate dominant ideologies.

OLIVIER LARIC Tramway, until Sun 19 Mar, tramway.org Solo exhibition by Berlinbased artist exploring historical and contemporary image economies.

ROCK AGAINST RACISM – PHOTOGRAPHS BY SYD SHELTON Street Level Photoworks, Sat 11 Feb–Sun 9 Apr, streetlevelphotoworks.org Images of cultural difference in the Britain of the late 70s and early 80s.

BERNAT KLEIN: THE COLOUR CIRCLE House For An Art Lover, until Fri 31 Mar, houseforanartlover.co.uk A major retrospective of the work of Bernat Klein, the first time his work has been shown in the west of Scotland.

TIME FOR ART IS 10! Tramway, Sat 18 Feb–Sun 19 Mar, tramway.org An exhibition celebrating ten years of Time for Art, which provides a space for people aged over 55 who wish to realise individual and collective art projects.

KIMBERLEY O’NEILL: CIRCUITS OF BAD CONSCIENCE The Telfer, Sat 11 Feb–Sun 5 Mar, the-telfer.com Work by Glasgow-based artist interested 93 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017

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EDINBURGH PETER RANDALL-PAGE: WORKS ON PAPER City Art Centre, until Sun 12 Feb,

edinburghmuseums.org.uk/ Venues/City-Art-Centre Works on paper based on mirror symmetry, created by letting ink flow over the paper by means of gravity. DAVID BLYTH, ALAN GRIEVE, DERRICK GUILD: ARCHIPELAGO Summerhall, until Fri 17 Mar, summerhall.co.uk New work from Scottish artists. BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2016 Scottish National Portrait Gallery, until Sun 26 Mar, nationalgalleries. org The best in contemporary portrait painting, selected from 2557 entries from artists in 80 countries. See review, list.co.uk FIREDAMP: REVISITING THE FLOOD Edinburgh Printmakers, until Sat 15 Apr, edinburghprintmakers. co.uk Installation exploring the ways in

THE COLLECTION SERIES: WORKS FROM A PRIVATE PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION & ALAN DIMMICK’S STUDIO ARCHIVE, 1977–2017 Stills, Sat 18 Feb—Sun 9 Apr, stills. org Works from the personal collection of photographer David Eustace, and images by Alan Dimmick.

DUNDEE OF OTHER SPACES: WHERE DOES GESTURE BECOME EVENT? CHAPTER TWO Duncan Of Jordanstone College Of Art And Design Cooper Gallery, until Sat 4 Mar, dundee.ac.uk/ djcad Contemporary art exhibition and rolling event programme looking at the contemporary relevance and cogency of feminist thinking on power. Featured artists include Conrad Atkinson, Anne Bean, Cullinan Richards, Rose English, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Margaret Harrison, He Chengyao, Susan Hiller, Alexis Hunter, Mary Kelly, Lucy McKenzie, Annabel Nicolson, Hannah O’Shea, Siôn Parkinson, Su Richardson, Monica Ross, Jo Spence, Georgina Starr and Linder Sterling. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 93

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24: LEGACY Corey Hawkins takes over from Kiefer Sutherland as the real time action thriller returns It’s tough replacing your lead actor. Kiefer Sutherland’s rough, gruff Jack Bauer was 24. A one-man army fighting to keep America safe. A man willing to bloody his fists, making impossible decisions with no compromise, while delivering all his lines in a menacing growling whisper. So Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton) has some big shoes to fill. A terrorist death squad is on American soil targeting US soldiers, out for vengeance after an elite squad of Army Rangers killed Sheik Ibrahim Bin-Khalid in Yemen. After the rest of his unit have been murdered, Eric Carter (Hawkins) has a big target on his back. Meanwhile, at the Counter Terrorism Unit, Rebecca Ingram (Miranda Otto) is preparing to hand over to new boss Keith Mullins (Teddy Sears) as she gets drawn into this latest conspiracy. There’s also a subplot involving a suspected teen extremist at high school and we’re assuming Ingram’s husband, Senator John Donovan (Jimmy Smits), will get dragged into the melee. The theme music is enough to set your heart racing. 24 is all about pace and unstoppable forward momentum, the quick cuts between the surveillance team at CTU and Carter getting down and dirty on the streets hyping the tension, opening hard and strong with multiple shoot outs and fist fights across the first episode. The real time concept imbues every scene with a sense of desperate urgency. Even with Sutherland gone, the format is so tight it still works. Hawkins is less angry and brutal but still makes for a lean, mean protagonist. It’s ludicrous, over the top and sometimes panders to right wing ideology (reinforcing an ultra-aggressive stance on foreign policy), however 24 is perhaps the most stupidly addictive and exhilarating show on TV. Of course we miss Jack but 24 is back. With a bang. (Henry Northmore) ■ 24: Legacy, FOX UK, Wed 15 Feb, 9pm. ●●●●●

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Previews | TV

HIGHLIGHTS SANTA CLARITA DIET Fri 3 Feb, Netflix The title is a cunning bit of misdirection. SCD is actually a cannibalistic horror comedy created by Victor Fresco (Better of Ted) starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. See list. co.uk for review. LEGION Thu 9 Feb, 9pm, FOX UK Offbeat X-Men spin off with Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens as either the world's most powerful mutant or an insane raving lunatic. See list.co.uk for review. THE WALKING DEAD – SEASON 7B Mon 13 Feb, 9pm, FOX UK Looks like Rick, Maggie, Carl and co are ready to take the fight to Negan. What could possibly go wrong? 24: LEGACY Wed 15 Feb, 9pm, FOX UK Kiefer Sutherland has gone but 24 lives on with more real-time, fast-paced, paranoid conspiracies threatening the free world. See review, page 94. GRIMM – SEASON 6 Tue 14 Feb, 9pm, W Sixth and final season of the cop / fairytale mash-up.

'MY WIFE THINKS I’M TURNING INTO ARTHUR’ Brian Donaldson catches up with the man behind Count Arthur Strong as the BBC sitcom returns for a third series

BROADCHURCH – SERIES 3 Feb (tbc), ITV Maudlin detective drama with David Tennant and Olivia Colman. Here's hoping the final season can reclaim the brilliance of the fantastic first series. GIRLS – SEASON 6 Feb (tbc), Sky Atlantic The last series of Lena Dunham's quirky drama about a group of friends in New York.

ount Arthur Strong has been a big part of Steve Delaney’s life since the 1980s. While at drama college in his 20s, Delaney was far removed in years from the curmudgeonly, pencilmoustached vaudevillian-esque thesp whose sense of who he thinks he is and who he actually is sparks off much of his comedy. A hit on stages and on your radio from the early 2000s (the Count has since upgraded from small rooms at the Edinburgh Fringe to spaces like Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre), his creation began to move towards the small screen when Delaney received an email from a fan with an impressive TV CV. ‘Initially he just contacted me saying how much he enjoyed the radio show, which I thought was brilliant,’ recalls Delaney of the first time he and Graham Linehan (creator of Father Ted, Black Books and The IT Crowd) hooked up. ‘So, we met to talk about Arthur, decided we’d like to work with each other and took it from there. People have said the BBC put us together, but that’s not the case at all: we got together and started work on scripts before anyone else got involved.’ That working relationship is now on its third series of the TV show which has taken Arthur and his creaky, overarching, malapropism-laden monologues and dropped them into an ensemble sitcom, largely set in a café. If having one of the top sitcom writers in the country as your right-hand man is deemed a coup, then being able to hire one of the finest actors in the land is a similar badge of honour. ‘That was on a level with Graham approaching me when Rory [Kinnear] came in to audition. He came in very early and we all looked at each other when he’d gone and said, “well, we really hope he does it”.’ And as the hapless would-be author Michael, Kinnear (star of Black Mirror’s ‘The National Anthem’, veteran of many a Shakespearean stage role and Bond movie), has certainly raised his comedy game: the elongated visual gag which ends the opening episode in this new series brings out another side of his acting armoury. Now that Delaney is steadily catching up on Arthur’s age, is there a moment when he might think that it’s time to cut himself off from the crabby count? ‘Originally, I was a young man being an old bloke, but now, well, my wife would have a different idea: she thinks I’m turning into Arthur anyway,’ muses Delaney. ‘I think Arthur can go on considerably longer and I’m nowhere near the point where I’m sick of him. He has become what I do. It answered a question I’ve been asking myself for many years: what did I train to be an actor to do? What’s hammered into you at drama college is versatility but the reason I’ve become successful is because I haven’t been versatile at all: I’ve been focused on small elements of one character.’

NINTENDO SWITCH Fri 3 Mar Brand new machine from Nintendo that aims to bridge the gap between home consoles and portable gaming with a heavy emphasis on multiplayer. Launch titles include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Just Dance 2017, Super Bomberman R and Skylanders: Imaginators. IRON FIST Fri 17 Mar, Netflix Marvel's fourth collaboration with Netflix, starring Finn Jones as the titular martial artist with mystical powers. ARRIVAL Mon 20 Mar, DVD/Blu-ray Superior sci-fi that isn't afraid to ask the big questions about life, time, destiny and the meaning of language.

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BACK PAGE FIRST&LAST SANJEEV KOHLI River City star and recent presenter of BBC documentary Wha’s Like Us?, Sanjeev Kohli will be back on the live stage as shopkeeper Navid in Still Game. For our q&a, he ponders crying, crime, karaoke and crosswords First film you saw that really moved you

A Hammer film called The Ghoul gave me nightmares for three years. At the end of Cinema Paradiso, I cried so much I was only 15% water. Clinically dead. Last lie you told

I was the only Asian kid in the St Winifred’s School Choir (there were no Asian kids in the St Winifred’s School Choir). First movie you ever went on a date to

It might actually have been Cinema Paradiso. It wasn’t really a date-date, it was a girl who was a friend who I fancied without her knowing. I’ll never know if she was more impressed by my sensitivity or repulsed by my tears and snotters. Last time you cried

Probably watching Up. It’s on about five times a year in our house, and that opening sequence gets me EVERY TIME. First thing you do when you’ve got time off work

Judging by my previous answers? Cry. And a LOT of my spare time is spent in TK Maxx and in various coffee establishments doing crosswords.

was. I whispered, ‘next to the exit. NO SUDDEN MOVES!’ Last time someone criticised your work

Some imbecile on Twitter. I love Twitter, but it’s crawling with people who have nothing to say with the means to say it. First song you’ll sing at karaoke

‘Dead Ringer for Love’. Last time you exploited your position to get something

First time you realised you were famous

I was semi-stalked in a Top Shop in London by a young guy. He asked me where my bodyguard

First crush

Julie in my primary one class. I let her catch me during a game of Kiss, Cuddle and Torture. Nowadays, that would be called Kiss, Cuddle and Rendition.

First three words your friends would use to describe you

Something long, like Iron Butterfly’s ‘In-A-Gadda-DaVida’. Really rip the arse out of it.

Last time you made an impulse buy and regretted it

The first time I bought skinny jeans (aged 39): I returned them two days later. The assistant asked, ‘can I ask what’s wrong

SAT 1 APR

Wearing chunky shoes with skinny jeans. I got community service. First person you’d thank in an award acceptance speech

Punctual, tardy, contrary.

NEXT ISSUE

Last crime you committed

I would NEVER use the line, ‘do you know who I am?’ Unless I’d actually had a head trauma and was suffering from amnesia. I was once given a bacon roll for free from a van, though, which should give you an idea of the stellar level of my celebrity.

Last time you were starstruck

I gibbered relentlessly at Peter Capaldi in the Apple shop in Buchanan Street. He’s probably still wiping off the spittle.

with them?’ I replied, ‘I’m what’s wrong with them’. I resembled an amputee spider.

Mum and dad. They worked their socks off to get me a good education and rolled with my unconventional career choices. Last song you’d have played at your funeral

Still Game: Live 2, The Hydro, Glasgow, Sat 4–Thu 16 Feb; River City, BBC One Scotland, Wed, 8pm. See list.co.uk for more of this q&a.

Scran and science are among the hot topics when we hit the shelves again across April and May. Our annual Eating and Drinking Guide will deliver the goods on where you should be dining and quaffing. The guide’s out on 19 April, but look out for an essential preview in our next issue. Meanwhile the Edinburgh International Science Festival (back on 1 Apr) explores the intersection of tech and science with the digital and creative industries – with added bangs, whizzes and pops.

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