Issue 571

Edinburgh Fringe names new boss

Edinburgh Fringe names new director

26 Mar 2007

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has named Jon Morgan (pictured), executive producer with Contact Theatre in Manchester, as its new director, following the resignation of Paul Gudgin earlier this year.

P Diddy Glasgow gig to go ahead

26 Mar 2007

Snoop Dogg has had his UK visa application rejected so is unlikely to go ahead with his Glasgow gig this Friday.

Comics - Captain Britain Volume 1

Chris Claremont & Herb Trimpe

14 Mar 2007

SUPERHERO It may have stemmed from a slightly cynical, ‘lets see if we can cash in on the British market with a thinly disguised take on Captain America’ but Chris Claremont may well be one of the greatest comics story tellers of his time (admittedly…

Comics - The Blackest Gnome

Malcy Duff

14 Mar 2007

ABSTRACT/SURREAL More dreams, schemes and half remembered memories from Edinburgh based cartoonist Duff. This, his 31st comic book is, according to the press notes, ‘inspired by the cancellation of the last black and white minstrel show in Scotland…

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ABC, Glasgow, Mon 19 Mar

13 Mar 2007

AVANT PUNK !!! don’t like to make things easy for themselves. Choosing a name that’s not just unpronounceable (‘Chk Chk Chk’ is the most popular method) but also un-Googleable (try it), was always likely to cause complications for one thing. Then…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

13 Mar 2007

The Wonderful World of Diisocia Anthony Neilson’s brilliant commentary on mental illness, looked at from the points of view of both the sufferer and those around her is as richly comical as it is moving. The NTS is to be congratulated on its revival of…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

13 Mar 2007

Thea Gilmore A country rock troubadour in the best sense, Gilmore’s a poet and album Harpo’s Ghost is dark, expressive beast. Now we know what KT Tunstall’s imaginary older, smarter, slightly twisted sister might sound like. King Tut’s, Glasgow, Mon 26…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

13 Mar 2007

Nick Evans: Rational Slab A group of large sculptures, developing themes and techniques which the Glasgow-based artist had developed whilst being artist at residence at Tate St Ives. The sculptures continue Evans’ examination of philosophically…

5 Reasons To Go See

Jackie Leven

13 Mar 2007

1 He’s an underground legend The 56-year-old singer songwriter from Fife has spent a lifetime on the periphery of various music scenes and genres, but has influenced generations. His 1971 debut, Control, is considered a psychedelic folk classic and his…

Also Released

13 Mar 2007

Premonition (12A) 96min (2 Stars) The deeply unemployable Sandra Bullock attempts to resuscitate her diseased career with this blatant but uncredited remake of Norio Tsurutu’s 2004 J-horror (based on Jirô Tsunoda’s manga series). For what it’s worth the…

Amazing Grace

(PG) 118min

13 Mar 2007

BIOPIC/DRAMA Amazing Grace tells the story of how William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) persuaded the House of Commons after a series of attempts to end the slave trade in the British Empire. Alas, the subject matter is far more interesting than the…

Augusten Burroughs

Possible Side Effects (Atlantic Books)

13 Mar 2007

SHORT STORIES It’s queerly satisfying to know that other gay men lead equally uninspiring and uninspired lives, where mopping up dog pee, checking on eBay bids and having bad dates are the highlights of the day. Augusten Burroughs’ new book, a…

Bad Jazz

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 21-Sat 24 Mar

13 Mar 2007

NEW WORK It’s hard not to feel a certain resistance to the term ‘play within a play’ these days. After over 20 years of those pieces which hide behind the terms ‘postmodern’ and ‘meta-narrative’ in order for members of the profession to talk about…

Body Parts 3

RSA, Edinburgh, run ended

13 Mar 2007

PERFORMANCE The essence of performance art is its unpredictability. From the medium’s rise in the 1960s and 70s with early shock tactics, such as artist Chris Burden’s infamous ‘Shoot’ where the artist was shot in the arm at close range, to work like…

Catch A Fire

(12A) 101min

13 Mar 2007

THRILLER/TRUE STORY Just a decade before South African State President FW de Klerk un-banned the ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations, and announced that Mandela would shortly be released from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl on 11 February 1990…

Ceilidh Culture

Various venues, Edinburgh, Sat 24 Mar-Sun 15 Apr

13 Mar 2007

ROOTS FESTIVAL Edinburgh’s Ceilidh Culture, the council-led celebration that runs for three weeks around Easter, brings together the city’s traditional arts under one umbrella. Eclectic sounds range from the percussion-driven dance grooves of the…

Climates

(15) 101min

13 Mar 2007

DRAMA/TRAGEDY Written and directed by the Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Climates charts the breakdown of a relationship between a middle-aged university professor Isa (played by Ceylan) and his younger girlfriend Bahar (the director’s real-life…

Esma's Secret

(15) 95min

13 Mar 2007

DRAMA The past haunts the present in this coming-of-age drama from Bosnian writer-director Jasmila Zbanic, which won the a prize at last year’s Berlin festival. The film’s original title Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams refers to a Sarajevan suburb…

Europe

Dundee Rep, Wed 4-Sat 7 Apr

13 Mar 2007

REVIVAL Reviving a play that is old enough to merit revisiting but too young to be called a classic carries a certain risk. What seemed timely and topical a decade ago might now seem tired and trite. The remarkable thing about David Greig’s Europe…

Exposure - The Sounds

Exposure

13 Mar 2007

Like Debbie Harry in a dance-off with Roxette, this sexy Swedish pop-punk band set tongues wagging with last year’s synth-heavy hit, ‘Tony the Beat’. Their debut, Living in America, established them in the States, and Pharrell Williams and Quentin…

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait Of Diane Arbus

(15) 121min

13 Mar 2007

BIOGRAPHY/DRAMA Director Steven Shainberg broke plenty of taboos a few years ago with his sado-masochistic love story Secretary, and he’s clearly been emboldened to create an even more outré romance in Fur. It’s hard to imagine, however, that the…

Hitlist - The best film releases

13 Mar 2007

Old Joy Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Will Oldham, plays ageing stoner Kurt in this seamless, minimal Brokeback Mountain-ish tale. A tiny joy. See review . Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 23-Thu 29 Mar only.

Hughie

The Arches, Glasgow, until Sat 17 Mar

13 Mar 2007

NEGLECTED CLASSIC An ageing New York gambler lords it over a luckless hotel night clerk, spinning unlikely tails of his continuing prowess in gambling and womanising. Both the gambler and the hotel have seen better days. Such is the scene in this…

Ice Cream Dreams

Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 28-Sat 31 Mar

13 Mar 2007

NEW WORK When writer Martin McCardie, currently best-known for his work on Channel 4’s Shameless, was approached to write a play set during the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars of 1983, he resisted the ready-made plot of drug-dealing and unsolved murder. ‘I…

Interview - Katrina Brown

Alexander Kennedy talks to Katrina Brown, who retu

13 Mar 2007

Alexander Kennedy Why did you become involved with The Common Guild?