Ron Butlin

Scottish Opera - Five:15

28 Feb 2008

Think opera, and it’s usually think big. At 15 hours in total, for instance, the four operas that make up Wagner’s Ring are very definitely tipping the overblown end of the scale. Proving that the genre doesn’t always have to be of such towering…

In Process and Great Debates

The Scottish Writers’ Centre's events are keeping the country's literary talent in the spotlight

9 Jan 2012

When it comes to getting the literary community ablaze with conversation or putting scribes under the microscope, the Scottish Writers’ Centre seem to have it down to a fine art just now. In Process is their monthly series of events in which a writer…

Five:15 in twenty:10

14 May 2010

The state of the economy is never far from the headlines these days, but as an opera subject it is somewhat unexpected. Not so in Scottish Opera’s latest batch of five short new operas. For the third year of the company’s bold commissioning strand…

Valentine's Day: Love letters to Edinburgh

3 Feb 2010

Dear Edinburgh. We love you. We sincerely do. You’ve given so much to us over the years, we felt we just had to say something – as did some of your more well known inhabitants. Here, an assortment of Edinburgh’s finest list the people, places and things…

The Sound of My Voice

A dark and powerful piece of entertainment

24 Aug 2009

This revival of an acclaimed two-hander from the Citizens Theatre has lost little of its power. Adapted from Ron Butlin’s novel by director Jeremy Raison, it tells the story of a biscuit company executive’s descent into alcoholism. The punishing…

Last Word - Ron Butlin

19 Jun 2008

First record you ever bought ‘Nutrocker’ by B Bumble and the Stingers. A pioneering example of fusion – rock’n’roll meets Tchaikovsky. Still a landmark of tasteful desecration. Last time you were chatted up Last Saturday night! It was after I’d…

The Sound of My Voice

5 Jun 2008

ADAPTATION Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 7 Jun Most people live a life torn between the conformities of consumerism and some more primal urge for happiness, yet we only really notice this schism when a person goes off the rails. One such…

Jeremy Raison - The Sound of My Voice

8 May 2008

Perhaps it’s merely a coincidence, but it seems somehow appropriate that the Citizens’ Theatre production of The Sound of My Voice should premiere exactly 40 years after the Paris disturbances of May 1968. For this great outcry was not about a lack of…

Alistair Findlay (ED) - 100 Favourite Scottish Football Poems

29 Nov 2007

POETRY 100 Favourite Scottish Football Poems (Luath) When it comes to transferring the beautiful game into the arts sphere, all we can see is a litany of own goals. Can you remember a half-decent football film? No, Escape to Victory doesn’t count…

Ron Butlin - The Sound of My Voice (1987)

100 Best Scottish Books of all Time

1 Jan 2005

After writing favourably reviewed yet largely unnoticed novels and poetry for the best part of three decades, 55-year-old Ron Butlin has the power of Irvine Welsh's popularity muscle to thank for his recently acquired and rightful status as one of…