Issue 581

Tales from Earthsea

1 Aug 2007

The familiar Studio Ghibli look is there, but Tales From Earthsea, based on the books by writer of speculative fiction Ursula K Le Guin, is directed not by the great Hayao Miyazaki, but by his son Goro.

Naked Portrait

1 Aug 2007

In contrast with the ‘nude’ figure in western art history, the naked portrait still manages to present a sometimes shocking and raw view of the sitter’s personality that reaches beyond their public façade.

Different strokes

1 Aug 2007

Having written one of the UK’s finest ever sitcoms, Sean Lock is back pounding the beat on the stand-up stage. Brian Donaldson talks to the man who has finally left bitterness behind

Tony Blair: The Musical/Tony! The Blair Musical

1 Aug 2007

You knew it was coming! More colourful than Derry Irvine’s wallpaper, more expensive than a peerage, but a bit less fictional than the Weapons of Mass Destruction. Yes it’s the musical version of old Pinocchio’s political life. Or two versions, in fact…

Into The Hoods

1 Aug 2007

One of the undisputed hits of last year’s Fringe is making a welcome return to Edinburgh.

5 Questions - Lucy Porter

1 Aug 2007

Fast becoming a Fringe staple, Lucy Porter will this year invite us into her Love-In. Here, she gets all intimate with our limp Q&A.

Picture perfect

1 Aug 2007

From international stars like Andy Warhol and Picasso to Turner Prize winners and home grown talent, Alexander Kennedy finds rich pickings in the Edinburgh Art Festival

Psister Psycho

1 Aug 2007

The path to true love never runs smooth, but it’s a bumpier road than usual in unconventional love story Psister Psycho. ‘The eponymous villain is a psychotic arms-dealing lesbian robot nun,’ says Danielle Ward, who last year performed…

The Diana Years

Sky One, Sun 5 Aug, 9pm

1 Aug 2007

As the tenth anniversary of Diana’s violent death roars into view, the memorial overload is being cranked up on TV and in the papers. Amid the raft of paperback biographies, we’ve even had a couple of novels which dramatise her death.

5 Questions - The Black Seeds

1 Aug 2007

Its not as if we need convincing that New Zealand is anything other than a prime exporter of general hedonism to the UK, and The Black Seeds, a low-slung reggae soul outfit whose feelgood party music fails miserably in making us think otherwise.

Show girl

1 Aug 2007

Ex-art student Candie Payne became the most promising young pop singer in the country ‘by happy accident’. The happiness, it transpires, is all ours. Her debut album, I Wish I Could Have Loved You More, is an immaculate, cohesive 21st century spin on…

Part of the furniture

1 Aug 2007

It’s the kind of thing any band could have dreamt up on a boozy night after a gig. ‘Instead of playing our guitars and drums,’ one musician would say, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we all played one big instrument?’ Everyone would agree and, of course, they…

The Last Breath

Denise Mina

1 Aug 2007

Bookended by two brutal slayings, this third novel in the Paddy Meehan series does everything possible to suggest that Denise Mina remains one of Scotland’s finest crime writers.

Hitlist: Festival Art

1 Aug 2007

The best exhibitions in the Edinburgh Festival

Hippo World Guest Book/Longwave

Festival Fringe

1 Aug 2007

When Chris Goode called his company Signal to Noise he was thinking about the nature of communication. The two shows he’s bringing to the Fringe this year are a case in point.

Natasha Wood: Rolling With Laughter

1 Aug 2007

Talking to Natasha Wood is a bit like having a conversation with Rory Bremner. Answering even the most straightforward questions, she’ll shift from her bra salesman dad’s doughty Nottingham accent to the gushing California-speak of a Hollywood dating…

Perth

1 Aug 2007

The title isn’t where this Singapore film is set; it’s simply the city in Australia that our central character dreams of moving to, a place without the corruption and poverty of his immediate surroundings.

The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit

1 Aug 2007

There are lots of monsters appearing at this year’s Fringe, but none so ugly as this one.

Sounds of the City

Hey You Get Off My Pavement

1 Aug 2007

Fed up wading through the mud and the crowds at major music festivals? Karin Goodwin gets the lowdown on an innovative alternative and finds there is a whole lot going on in Glasgow this summer

Fuerzabruta

1 Aug 2007

With its mix of acrobatics, dance, theatre and club, Fuerzabruta is impossible to define. Claire Prentice visits South America for a sneak preview. The DJ whacks up the volume on the decks and suddenly the whole audience erupts. Fifteen hundred people…

Just an illusion

1 Aug 2007

Ask most people what they think of magic, and you’re likely to be greeted with snorts of derision. The British public’s perception of stage magic is still recovering from the glitter-festooned nightmare of spinning plates and disappearing rabbits that…

Dizzy Heights

1 Aug 2007

Being a cult figure in a beloved sci-fi sitcom hasn’t harmed Hattie Hayridge’s career. Doug Johnstone catches up with her. Just don’t mention Red Dwarf. Actually, it’s not a problem, mainly because Hattie Hayridge is such a laid-back character. A more…

Punch Lines

1 Aug 2007

Jim Jeffries isn’t the only comic on the receiving end of trouble from their audience. Brian Donaldson compiles some tales of terror. At a late-night Spank! show, Andrew Lawrence (pictured) foolishly challenged a heckler to a duel. As Lawrence unpopped…

Glasgow Smiles Better

Hey You Get Off My Pavement

1 Aug 2007

Don’t want to spend August sitting in front of your TV? You don’t have to, as Karin Goodwin brings you some of the weird and wonderful events taking place in and around Glasgow this month

The battle for hearts & minds

1 Aug 2007

Steve Cramer goes behind the headlines to preview a selection of Fringe shows exploring terrorism, war and the media