MUSIC
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
THE Charlatans were recently announced as joining Mark Ronson, Basement Jaxx, The Fratellis, The Cuban Brothers, Sasha, Hot Chip, Honeyblood and Prides in playing Carnival Fifty Six, a new music festival taking place on August 12 and August 13 at Camperdown Park, Dundee. As well as mores than 100 artists performing across six stages, there’s live comedy, tastebud-tickling food and drink, and a “VIP Secret Garden experience”. Co-headlining the Sunday with Rudimental, The Charlatans’ new record Different Days has been praised as one of the outfit’s best albums yet and features contributions from Johnny Marr, Paul Weller and author Ian Rankin. Festival director Craig Blyth says: “The Charlatans are one of the greatest festival bands of all time and we couldn’t be happier to be announcing them as a Sunday headliner. This show at Camperdown will be the first opportunity to hear the new album, hailed as their greatest work in 20 years.”
Aug 12 and 13, Camperdown Park, Dundee, day tickets from £55, weekend tickets from £105. www.carnivalfiftysix.co.uk
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
RUN entirely by local volunteers, Stowed Out Festival, which takes place on August 25 and August 26 in the village of Stow in the Borders, is punching above its weight with a great music line-up featuring The Van T’s and Emme Woods, two young acts recently taken by Creative Scotland to the Great Escape festival in Brighton as “Scottish bands to watch”. Also featuring are The Little Kicks, Orkestra Del Sol, The Youth and Young and The Boy With The Lion Head, as well as a stage offering spoken word, traditional Indian dance and workshops on circus skills.
Aug 25 and 26, Stow near Galashiels, tickets start from £12. stowedoutfestival.org.uk
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THEATRE
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
TEN years after its first production by acclaimed Chicago ensemble theatre company Steppenwolf, Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County (above) will be Andrew Paton’s first production as new artistic director of Dundee Rep. Also a major film featuring Meryl Streep and Ewan McGregor, the tense Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning family drama will be created with the Rep’s own resident ensemble.
Aug 29 to Sep 16, Rep Theatre, Dundee, tickets £12 to £25. Tel: 01382 223 530. www.dundeerep.co.uk
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
ZINNIE Harris’s compelling drama Oresteia: This Restless House, about three women who are forced to confront the consequences of their violence, returns to the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. Premiered there last year as a trilogy of plays, and now presented as one epic event, Harris’s bloody revenge tale was awarded Best New Play and Best Director at the 2016 Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland. A contemporary take on an ancient Greek drama that has survived two and a half thousand years, it stars Pauline Knowles as the vengeful Clytemnestra. As well as the Citizens run, it will be performed at Edinburgh International Festival from August 22 to 27 for a limited run of six performances. See eif.co.uk/oresteia
Aug 15 to Sep 9, Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, £24 to £30, concs available. Tel: 0141 429 0022. www.citz.co.uk
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VISUAL ART
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
AS part of their 150th birthday celebrations, Dundee’s McManus Art Gallery and Museum present a major new exhibition by Glasgow-born photographer and artist Calum Colvin (above).
Titled Museography: Calum Colvin Reflects on The McManus Collections, the exhibition features photographs Colvin has positioned within the gallery spaces, which comment upon, and relate to, selected permanent displays at the McManus. In the gallery spaces, Colvin reflects upon Dundee and its place in Scottish, British and world culture, and uses elements relating to the landscape, history and the people from early times to the 20th century. Colvin says: “Having such a close relationship with the city over many years, I am very pleased to see my images integrated into this collection of artefacts and artworks, which tell and re-tell the story of Dundee and it’s people.”
Until Oct 29, McManus Art Gallery and Museum, Dundee, free. www.themcmanus-dundee.gov.uk
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
IN an exhibition titled Cleats, Blocks and Kicks, sports photographer Neil Paterson presents a collection from his nine years covering shinty . Presented at the Eden Court Theatre’s gallery space in his Inverness hometown, the exhibition features images of local players embroiled in ferocious competition in black and white. A fast, furious and sometimes gruelling game, Paterson describes shinty as “without doubt one of the hardest sports to photograph”.
Until Aug 31, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, free. www.eden-court.co.uk
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FILM
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
DRAWING on the popularity of their debut last year, pop-up cinema Cinema Yurt will return to Doune The Rabbit Hole this month (see festivals), as well as touring other festivals and events in Scotland later in the year such as Pollokshields Festival of Light. Run by Cinemor77, a social enterprise which aims to bring people together through cinema and filmmaking, Cinema Yurt will be in Lismore on August 11 to August 13 to deliver a mini film festival co-produced with local community cinema, Lismore Lumia.
Aug 11 to Aug 13, Lismore Lumia, Lismore. cinemor77.com www.isleoflismore.com
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
THE first Ironstar International Short Film Festival, which showcases submissions from independent filmmakers from Scotland and around the world, takes place at Dundee Contemporary Arts on August 6. Aiming to provide local audiences with the chance to see exciting new short films, while giving filmmakers a platform to showcase their work, the festival will feature Fast Eddie, a portrait of Eddie Lafferty, a well-known busker who’s been playing the harmonica in the city for almost 50 years.
Aug 6, DCA, Dundee, 8.30pm, £5, £3.50 concs. www.dca.org.uk www.facebook.com/ironstarshortfilmfestival
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
A FILM which couldn’t be more timely after the Grenfell disaster, Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle (above), which is narrated by actress Maxine Peake, reveals the failures that have led to a chronic shortage of social housing in Britain. Following his excellent Sleaford Mods: Invisible Britain director Paul Sng explores the neglect, demolition and regeneration of council estates across the UK.
Aug 28, Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, 6.15pm, £9.50, £7.50 concs. glasgowfilm.org
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FESTIVALS
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
AS well as a great music line-up featuring Liars, BMX Bandits, Paws, Sage Francis, Happy Meals, Roddy Woomble, Songhoy Blues, Jenny Hval and Mersault, Doune The Rabbit Hole, which takes place near the Lake of Menteith in Stirlingshire, features spoken word, water sports, family activities and food and drink. There’ll be wild swimming in the lake – Scotland’s only natural freshwater lake – yoga, axe-throwing competitions, knitting and crocheting. Dog and child-friendly, the festival’s family camping area is quietly sited away from the hurly burly of the late-night events, including a DJ set from former Snooker world champion Steve Davis who will play, in his own words, a set of “trippy, psychedelic sounds and prog bangers”.
Aug 18 to 20, Lake of Mentieth, Cardross Estate, Stirling, tickets from £22 to £129.50 www.dounetherabbithole.co.uk
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
ANNUAL hot air ballooning event the Strathaven Balloon Festival, which takes place on August 26 and 27, combines the spectacle of hot air balloons with family fun activities, events and games, including a raffle for one person to win the gift of a balloon flight, weather permitting. Organisers of the festival, which is run by volunteers and is not a commercial event, wish attendees to note that they do not provide pay-for balloon flights for members of the public due to the prohibitive costs of necessary insurances.
Aug 26 and 27, John Hastie Park, Strathaven, free, donations welcome. www.strathavenballoonfestival.co.uk
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BOOKS
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
NATIONAL columnist and historian Michael Fry (above) visits Waterstones Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow to talk about his new book The Launch Of Glasgow. Giving insight into the complexities of the city from its founding in the sixth century, when residents pushed back the Romans, through the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, it aims to show the city’s rise, fall and potential rise again and how its citizens have survived bombs, demolitions and de-industrialisation with their humour intact.
Aug 9, Waterstones, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, 6.45pm, free but ticketed. Tel: 0141 332 9105 www.waterstones.com
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
IT’s been a long time coming – 16 years in fact – but according to those who have read it, Bernard MacLaverty’s new novel Midwinter Break was worth the wait. Based in Glasgow, the acclaimed Northern Irish writer, playwright and scriptwriter visits Waterstones Sauchiehall Street to read from and talk about the book, which depicts an elderly couple remembering their past and facing up to the future. Fellow author Colm Tóibín recently described the novel, MacLaverty’s first since 2001’s Anatomy School, as “a work of extraordinary emotional precision and sympathy … by an artist at the height of his powers”. Some are calling it his masterpiece.
Aug 10, Waterstones, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, 7pm, free but ticketed. Tel: 0141 332 9105 www.waterstones.com
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