Kirstin Innes

Dot504: Mah Hunt

Acclaimed Czech dance company bring duet to 2011 Edinburgh Fringe

DOT504 made its Fringe debut in 2008 with Holdin’ Fast, a woozy, delicate work about desire, with six young dancers tumbling and fondling under showers of glitter and old Persian carpets. The company returned by popular demand in 2009 with the darker…

Mission Drift

The TEAM achieve the huge, soaring size of their ambitions

The TEAM (Theatre of the Emerging American Moment) don’t deal in the small. Since their Fringe debut in 2005 with the Richard Nixon-fixated solo Give Up! Start Over!, their chaotic, rambunctiously-expressed subject matter has been myth-making factory of…

Dance Marathon

Sweat-slicked endurance test

At three hours in, the fatigue has begun to show. As per the First Rule of Dance Marathon, we’re all still moving our feet constantly, but it’s descended to a listless, obedient shuffling. A room full of sweating strangers, inhibitions completely lost…

Alma Mater

Immersive, lovely look at childhood innocence and loss

There’s been so much recent chatter about the use of digital technology in theatre that you can practically hear the inevitable Luddite backlash grinding up already: don’t let ‘em drown out this tiny, beautiful ghost story. Using – at face value – just…

Whistle

Extraordinary true-life tale

It’s easiest to just come out and say it: when Martin Figura was nine, his father killed his mother. Almost 50 years later, Martin’s on stage in front of us, still overwhelmed at times, but working through things; almost as a by-product, it seems, he’s…

Clare Plested: Vegas, Jesus and Me

Nicely observed impressions from adorable lady but comedy is patchy

Ever wondered what Barbara Nice was like at 30? Clad in animal print and great shoes, the glam half of Fringe vets Plested and Brown tells the story of her Vegas wedding, aided by a big box of Pinot. It’s touching, with some nicely observed impressions…

Ahir Shah

Stars in his eyes

Ahir Shah is 20, pretty, and used to write for Skins while his posters for Astrology have him doe-eyed and holding a sparkler. These may well be the chief reasons that he’s not quite reaching the audience his set needs. Not to worry, though, as he’s got…

Federer Vs Murray

Gerda Stevenson’s play about conflict gets timely revival at 2011 Edinburgh Fringe

‘You don’t often get a chance to do something over again in theatre,’ says Gerda Stevenson, ‘to go back, once you know the text and feel comfortable with it. It’s a great opportunity.’ Stevenson’s play Federer versus Murray originally ran for a week…

Agnes and Walter (A Little Love Story)

A Walter Mitty-inspired dance performance that reclaims the power of daydreams

Poor old Walter Mitty. Since James Thurber published the Secret Life in the 1930s, his name has become synonymous with deranged fantasising. However, a newly-established dance company has decided to rescue him from the sniggers of history. ‘Something…

Dance Marathon - Edinburgh show where audience provides the action

3-hour long participatory show inspired by They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

It’s over three hours long, inspired by that celluloid study of Depression-era desperation They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, and you, the audience, provide the majority of the action. Doesn’t sound like a great night out on the surface, but Dance…

Robert Burns: Not In My Name reclaims Scottish bard from tourism

Kevin Williamson on Burns' radical poetry to Edinburgh Festival 2011

So, you think you know Robert Burns, eh? Tartan-edged poetry for shortbread tins and corporate haggis suppers? Well, Kevin Williamson, founder of 90s publishing punks Rebel Inc (Children of Albion Rovers) has decided to change your mind. His new…

The Edinburgh Festival 2011 shows creating new kinds of audience interaction

Are you sitting comfortably? Not for long

Oh Fringe audience, you poor, beleaguered souls. Herded in and out of cramped venues, besieged by flyer-happy teenagers and bankrupted by increasingly stretched ticket prices, now you also have to provide the entertainment. Terrible, isn’t it? This…

Pilot

Flatrate's podcastable open mic/radio show takes place at CCA, Glasgow, Thu 21 Jul

How to describe Pilot? An open mic night? A live radio show? A arts community get-together? ‘I suppose it’s really just like making a radio show in a rowdy bar,’ says Colin Chaloner of Flatrate (who run open mic night Initial Itch, as well as…

The best Scottish websites

The top 30 websites made for and by Scots

When putting together this list, we weren’t necessarily looking for the biggest or the best-known cultural websites in Scotland. We were looking for unique and interesting ideas, cleverly realised and lovingly maintained on the web. This might mean that…

Neighbourhood Watch: Leith, Edinburgh

A beginner's guide to the capital's port town

What’s it like? It’s Leith. If you’re an Edinburgh List reader, it’s very likely you live there. Glossy bars, Michelin-starred restaurants and warehouse conversions squaring off against cobbles, pint’n’pie pubs and Hibees. Vibrant, community-focused (it…

400 Women - Tamsyn Challenger interview

Edinburgh Art Festival 2011 show inspired by tragic events

For the last couple of decades of least, the gallery-centred world of contemporary art has been a largely apolitical space, with the popularity of conceptual and often oblique work tending to overshadow that of artists engaging with or responding…

Edinburgh International Magic Festival 2011

Paul Wilson and Xavier Mortimer among highlights of second annual festival

Eyes may have been rolled and fezzes shrugged last year when yet another Edinburgh International X Festival was announced (‘we’ll like this,’ residents thought, ‘but not a lot’). However, magician Kevin McMahon, now presiding over his second year as…

Neighbourhood watch: Newington, Edinburgh

A guide to the ares of the Scottish capital dominated by Edinburgh University

What’s it like? Okay, we’ll get the inevitable out of the way first. There are a lot of students living in Newington. And while we know some of our readers aren’t that keen on students, their presence does imbue the area with a certain bounce and life…

Scotland's biggest ever Refugee Week celebrates the 60th anniversary of the signing of the UN Refugee Convention

This year, Scotland’s ever-expanding programme of films, performances, music events, exhibitions and club nights celebrating the contribution that refugees have made to our society is marking a very important anniversary: it’s 60 years since the UN…

Election night entertainment - Unholyrood, Welcome to the Hotel Caledonia and Mayfesto: It's a Dead Liberty!

Perhaps injustices tend to hit harder when they’re closer to home; perhaps there’s just more meat; but periods of Tory government do tend to galvanize our satirists and create new relevance for political theatre. You may have noticed stirrings…

Neighbourhood Watch: Partick, Glasgow

A guide to your local neighbourhoods

Partick, Glasgow What’s it like? The bit of the salubrious West End that still feels properly Glaswegian: cool café bars, delis and boutiques sitting tooth by rough-shaven jowl with classic boozers, betting shops, greasy spoons and pound…

Reel Festivals: Syria and Lebanon

Films from the Middle East at this year's events include 'Every Day is a Holiday' and 'Zabad'

The team behind 2009’s Reel Afghanistan and Reel Iraq in 2010 have decided to focus their attention on Syria and Lebanon this year. For the uninitiated, the format is simple: in an attempt to bridge cultural understanding, the festival of films…

No Lights, No Lycra: the dance-in-the-dark craze hits Glasgow

As a wise man once said, you can’t start a fire without a spark. However, now you can go dancing in the dark, as the No Lights, No Lycra craze has finally arrived in Glasgow. Starting in Melbourne in 2009 and spreading worldwide soon after, NLNL is a…

Edinburgh International Science Festival highlights 2011

Lego robotics, mini jungle safaris and wind turbine workshops

Ah. Science. No, not the teensy rapper from the 2005 Big Brother house (we at The List are nothing if not timely), although perhaps it does suffer from a similar image problem. Organisations such as the Glasgow Science Centre and the Edinburgh…

The rough guide to Portobello, Edinburgh's seaside

Neighbourhood Watch: The best bits by the beach

What’s it like? An utterly charming, slightly wonky area of Edinburgh, characterised by the city’s only beach and a very distinct, anti-corporate local community ethos. Formerly the holiday destination of most Central Belters, a lack of investment in…