The List Issue 775

Josie KO

Marjolein Robertson

Fallachan

Helen Mirren

Scottish Ballet

Zarina Bhimji

Mary Lattimore

Simon Armitage

Take Me Somewhere

Myra DuBois

Sufjan Stevens

Killers Of The Flower Moon

Electronic siblings on dogs, decks and docking

” Acts of ritual that create solidarity

Brothers are doing it for themselves this issue. Gracing our cover are the Russells (Tom and Ed) who maintain a fine tradition in electronic music for collaborating male siblings (see Orbital and the Menendez Brothers for previous examples; the Cuban Brothers, though, are disqualified). They may be a decade apart in years, but the family dynamic seems in perfect harmony when these Welsh wizards take to the decks as Overmono. And we also chat to the Parkinsons (Lee and Adam) who record Two Mr Ps In A Pod(Cast). This pair of teachers have some startling stories to tell and share as they take that pod onto the road. Those Gallagher guys (Liam and Noel) have a B-sides album out next month, but that would have been forcing it to bring it forward. Maybe wait and see what happens with our November issue.

This month heralds a new Travel section in the mag. With more people heading out and about and putting the pandemic firmly behind them, we thought the time would be ripe to stretch a little further afield ourselves. So in this opening foray, we check out the delights which Albania has to offer, chat to comedian Ria Lina about her favourite holiday memories, and drop in on some permanent attractions in the central belt.

Autumn is traditionally a hectic time for new albums, books, games and TV shows, so it’s been a tricky task picking and choosing what to cover. But we landed on some beauts with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage’s modern take on Hansel & Gretel, a new record by innovative harpist Mary Lattimore, the final series of Sex Education, a bizarre sounding new small-screen offering from South Korea called Bargain, a rebooting of 1984 with Sandra Newman’s Julia, and the Twin Peaks-esque video-game follow-up to Alan Wake. We also carry a review of the new album by Sufjan Stevens whose sad health news broke shortly before we went to press. We wish him well.

Brian Donaldson EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS

PUBLISHING

CEO

Sheri Friers

Editor

Brian Donaldson

Art Director

Seonaid Rafferty

Sub Editors

Paul McLean

Megan Merino Designer

Isabella Dalliston

Writers

Becca Inglis, Brian Donaldson, Carol Main, Claire Stuart, Danny Munro, David Kirkwood, Dom Czapski, Donald Reid, Emma Simmonds, Fiona Shepherd, Gareth K Vile, Haneen AlEid, Isy Santini, James Mottram, Jamie Pettinger, Jay Thundercliffe, Jo Laidlaw, Kelly Apter, Kevin Fullerton, Lucy Ribchester, Megan Merino, Murray Robertson, Neil Cooper, Paul Dale, Rachel Ashenden, Rachel Cronin, Rebecca Crockett, Sean Greenhorn, Suzy Pope

Social Media and Content Editor

Megan Merino

Senior Business Development Manager

Jayne Atkinson

Online News Editor

Kevin Fullerton

Media Sales Executive Ewan Wood

Digital Operations & Events Manager

Leah Bauer

Events Assistant

Eve Johnston

HELEN MIRREN

Photo by Keith Valentine

mouthpiece

As online community radio station EHFM marks five years on air, director and station manager Jamie Pettinger celebrates its role as an incubator for new talent in Edinburgh while arguing for more reliable funding

When we started EHFM in 2018, our plan was to build a radio station to house Edinburgh’s overspill in musical talent: a digital venue free from the threat of closure that could also join the dots between the city’s various creative worlds in a way that a traditional bricks-and-mortar venue isn’t as able to do.

Five years on, the result is something I can’t quite fathom. The station has grown arms and legs; it’s become an umbrella under which so many of the creative souls of Edinburgh and beyond can gather under. We’re a place for newcomers to find like-minded people, we’ve helped kickstart the careers of numerous DJs and musicians in the city, and our existence has also forged countless collaborations.

Perhaps naively, what we didn’t expect was the value we’d end up having as an independent media outlet. Over the years we’ve given space to artists and collectives to promote their work when nobody else would cover it. We’ve worked with youth groups across the city and hosted workshops with high-school media-studies classes; often these groups turn to us having had no success even getting an answer from the country’s established broadcasters.

Outlets like ourselves, our Glasgow counterparts (Radio Buena Vida, Clyde Built Radio) and free street press (like the one you’re reading now) exist as part of a creative ecosystem. Grassroots artists rely on our coverage to sell

In this series of articles, we turn the focus back on ourselves by asking folk at The List about cultural artefacts that touch their heart and soul. This time around, Danny Munro tells us which things . . .

Made me cry: The song I keep on returning to whenever I feel worse for wear is ‘Daring Night’, a sprawling and beautifully understated outtake from Van Morrison’s 1982 album, Beautiful Vision. Like most things I listen to, I discovered it on Flo Dill’s breakfast show on NTS radio, and though it’s not on streaming services, you can find the full collection of Beautiful Vision outtakes on YouTube (provided you’re willing to put Morrison’s dodgy views on covid to the side).

Made me angry: There were several brilliant Michael Parkinson clips doing the rounds in the wake of his death, my favourite being his conversation with George Michael following the singer’s arrest for ‘lewd behaviour’. Of course, the ever-engaging singer made light of the grim situation and spoke as openly as ever, but the short clip served as a frustrating reminder of all the unjust, draconian nonsense he had to put up with in his life.

Made me laugh: Action Bronson’s recent Tiny Desk concert is not only my favourite of the genre in recent years, but a perfect example of the way he infuses his infectious sense of humour into everything he does. Can’t recommend it enough.

Made me think: The second series of The Bear was probably my favourite TV experience since I watched The Sopranos in lockdown, and it made me think about how working in a kitchen would be my absolute worst nightmare. Yes chef!

Made me think twice: Moses McKenzie’s debut novel, An Olive Grove In Ends, left me slack-jawed on several occasions and still pops into my head many months and several books later.

tickets and build an audience, not to mention for the dreaded post-project impact reports. But it seems that while there is funding for artists, there is little thought put into the rest of the infrastructure which holds that work up.

The independent press also acts as an incubator for individuals making their start in journalism and broadcasting. However, due to the nature of funding, these are often unpaid roles. I am keenly aware that because of this, the stories we tell and the people telling those stories are not as diverse as we want them to be. Including the most marginalised people in a meaningful way often takes time and money that outlets like ours don’t have. Who, then, becomes the next BBC reporter and Guardian editor if this is how they make their starts?

I am really hopeful for the station’s future, and going forward we want EHFM to properly represent the plurality of voices in Scotland’s capital, creating a city we can all be proud of. To do that, however, we need stable sources of funding. If the last five years have taught me anything, it’s that there is a seemingly endless supply of talented, hungry young people who want to make their voices heard, and we want to be able to provide a viable future for them.

 EHFM broadcasts 24 hours a day on ehfm.live; their fifth birthday party is at Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Saturday 7 October.

playLIST

Fill your ears with the sweet sounds of our October issue, including songs by cover stars Overmono, as well as Bob Dylan, Kylie, Usurper, Olivia Rodrigo, Ezra Furman, Sufjan Stevens and many more . . .

Scan and listen as you read:

head head2

MEGAN

Cheating death has been the subject of myths and stories since the dawn of time; not too many of them end happily. In the case of new podcast The Immortals, that elusive fountain of youth comes in the form of blood plasma, specifically its exchange from a young, healthy donor into an older person. Sure, it has some very preliminary scientific backing from Harvard biochemists who say anti-ageing procedures like this are likely to be more mainstream within five years (thus far they’ve only been tested on mice). But for billionaire Bryan Johnson, that’s not soon enough. He’s using this procedure to take blood plasma from his son (as well as donating his to his own father) in a desperate and, may I reiterate, not clinically tested attempt to reverse the natural ageing process. Of course we’d all want to live long and healthy lives, but a quest to live forever displays an entitlement and greed only possessed by . . . well, billionaires. So if opting in for eternal life means inhabiting the earth with Johnson and co, I’ll be shuffling off this mortal coil when nature intends.

from the archive

We look through The List’s 38-year back catalogue to see what was making headlines this month in decades gone by

On our furthest journey into The List’s past to date, we arrive in the mag’s founding year of 1985. Only the second ever issue to hit shelves, this cover was graced by The Big Yin who was returning to Scotland (in the wake of some smelly tabloid press) to perform at Edinburgh Playhouse and Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition Centre. We also spoke to punk legends Siouxsie And The Banshees about their lasting success, as well as diving into the third instalment of Mel Gibson’s Mad Max  Head to archive.list.co.uk to read our past issues.

We sit Megan Merino and Kevin Fullerton down in front of a contentious bit of current culture and ask them to write about it. This month, they let us know exactly what they think about Silicon Valley billionaires experimenting on themselves in a bid for immortality

KEVIN

As a pretentious 16-year-old, I wrote a vampire novel in which bloodsuckers remained eternally young physically but mentally deteriorated at the same rate as a human being. Every vampire over the age of 150 was trapped in the inescapable fog of senility while their younger counterparts acted as live-in carers for them, wheeling fresh human victims into their front room in the manner of a helpful relative programming their gran’s VCR. The book was crap, but it points to a fear I’ve had since I was young: what if all the knowledge and skills I’ve developed over the years fade from me in a fetid heap of brain-farting decrepitude? If these eternally odd tech bros, tedious though they are, can chuck an extra century or five onto my life and guarantee that my mind won’t degrade, then sign me up for whatever magic pill they’re hawking. They could even scrap my scrawny Scottish body and plonk my brain in a jar. Anything to pack a few more experiences into this strange experiment called life.

PICTURE: UNSPLASH / RENATO MARQUES

1 hour guided tour

HALLOWEEN TOURS

Step down into the darkest period of Edinburgh’s history...

Pet sounds

They may be a decade apart in age, but brothers Tom and Ed Russell are on the same wavelength in their guise as electronic duo Overmono. In the wake of a hit debut album and deep into their US tour, Becca Inglis spoke to them about stolen records and emotional vets

When Overmono released their debut album at the beginning of this summer, the duo’s first instinct was to follow it up with a track so ragged that it would never have fitted on Good Lies. ‘I remember reading years ago about how to recreate the sound of a blownout speaker,’ says Ed Russell. ‘It’s got a really specific sound. It’s raspy. You hear the air ripping through it. We were like, let’s do a bassline that has that sound.’

The resulting single, ‘Blow Out’, is a mile-a-minute track, propelled by its dizzying mix of thudding bass, percussive synth and a spliced rap sample. It aptly demonstrates the genre-splintering which Overmono specialise in, drawing from Ed’s breakbeat background as Tessela, and his brother Tom’s techno alias, Truss. When we speak, they’re in the US studio where that track was finished before it debuted at this April’s Coachella.

It’s since become a mainstay of their sets, which have blazed a trail across the festival and club circuit; a gratifying result for the two brothers, who previously felt disenchanted by dance music’s proclivity for tribalism. ‘Unless Ed put a breakbeat in his tracks, his fanbase didn’t want to know,’ says Tom. ‘If I didn’t put distorted kick drum on my tracks, mine wouldn’t either.’ It was a far cry from the anything-goes attitude that defined Overmono’s youth in rural south Wales, removed from the micro scenes which dominated larger cities.

Growing up in Monmouth, over an hour’s drive from the nearest record store, Tom and Ed learned to make their own fun. Tom set up a night in the local pub (complete with luminous string hung from the ceiling to mimic lasers) where his friends could share music every Saturday. ‘It meant a lot to people back then,’ he recalls. ‘The only other thing to do was have a few beers, get a kebab and have a fight.’ In summer, they pooled their resources for a generator and hosted parties in the local quarry. ‘It was a naive time but looking back I feel privileged to have had that space to be into everything,’ Tom continues. ‘Handbag house, garage, trance, hardcore, whatever . . . we filtered it all.’

Ed became fascinated by the ‘alien’ noises drifting from his older brother’s bedroom. ‘Tom had turntables and loads of records, and I’d hear the music through the walls of our house,’ he says. When he was ten, Ed held a stall in the car park next door to raise funds for some decks. Tom came down to support the cause, only to find his own CDs on sale. ‘I got enough money to buy turntables, but then didn’t have any to buy records. Whenever Tom was out, I’d go into his

PICTURE: SIENNA GRAY PICTURE: ROB JONES

room and steal his.’ Yet there was no actual sibling rivalry. Aged 13, Ed sat Tom down in the pub and grilled him over everything he knew about mixing. ‘From then on, we became super tight,’ he says. ‘I was hoovering up everything from Tom.’

The brothers returned to this remote setting years later in search of a detox from their ‘hemmed-in’ careers in London. Packing as much gear as they could, they drove to a cottage in Wales, where they let loose for a week. ‘That was really liberating,’ says Ed. ‘I remember one day there was a massive storm. We’re looking out over this amazing scenery and writing tunes with a huge woozy rolling synth.’ Listening to their recordings on the drive back, it became clear they had hit on something unique. They drew up a list of dream labels, with XL at the top. ‘They were into it,’ says Ed. Overmono have replicated that set-up several times since, venturing as far as the Isle Of Skye to create music together. In the studio, they fall naturally into complementary roles, with Tom layering trance-adjacent melodies over Ed’s chopped breaks and tweaked vocals. One thing they tend not to repeat, though, is their creative process. ‘Pure chaos it is . . . always,’ says Tom. ‘Whenever we get in a studio, it’s about trying to be as carefree and playful as possible.’

‘We always want to feel like we’re moving forward,’ adds Ed. ‘Let’s not get too stuck in our ways. Let’s keep switching it up. It keeps it exciting to be like, “what if we plug that into that?”’

Samples form a fundamental backbone to Overmono’s sound, gleaned from the depths of Bandcamp and pitched into a bittersweet tone. Unusually, they have a preference for sampling newer music; another example of irreverence towards unwritten rules. ‘There was one forum called Dogs On Acid,’ Ed says. ‘There was a rule there that you’re only allowed to sample something if it’s over 15 years old.’ Ed took that as a gospel for years. ‘Then you’re like, hang on a minute, why?’ he says. ‘You realise, just do what sounds good.’

PICTURE: JAKE DAVIS

‘The same sample sources that so many people have used over the years have a nostalgic quality,’ adds Tom. ‘We don’t want to make music that sounds like it’s been made 20 years ago.’

Doberman dogs have also become inseparable from the brothers’ aesthetic. ‘99% of the time when you see a Doberman in an image, they’ve got their ears pricked up and their tails docked,’ says Tom. ‘That’s human involvement. They’re made to look mean.’ There’s a comparison to be made between the dogs and the brothers, each embracing their natural state and disrupting expectations. ‘A vet came up to us after a gig last year, and she was actually tearful,’ Tom continues. ‘She’s like, “thanks so much for not putting Dobermans on the cover with the ears and docked tails.’’’

The live show is where Overmono come into their own, combining visuals, shedloads of gear and a propensity for improvisation. With so much activity onstage, there’s a feeling the brothers could lose control at any moment with a missed cue here or an accidental bongo loop there; it’s something they happily lean into. ‘We have the chance to play our tracks in different ways,’ says Ed. ‘Maybe an early version would be a bit raw on the radio, then it gets finessed.’ Tracks heard in new contexts, in front of crowds of thousands, are reforged in situ then finished in the hotel, fuelled by the performance’s afterglow. ‘So much of our music ends up coming from those times,’ continues Ed. ‘You’re sitting in bed until 5am working on a beat, then you’re like, “we’ve got to get up in an hour for the flight.’’’

With no signs of their output slowing down, talk of the next album is already afoot; but Overmono are currently enjoying the freedom of downtime. ‘The direction at the moment is pretty much everywhere,’ says Ed. ‘We’re writing everything from super gnarly, blown-out stuff to very melodic.’ When the time does come, Overmono will head for another cottage in the wilderness. Where they choose to go from there remains to be seen.

Overmono play SWG3, Glasgow, Friday 13 October.

A week on a beautiful Inner Hebridean island might sound like heaven to many. But for artist Josie KO, the prospect provoked real anxiety as she approached a residency on Eigg. Rachel Ashenden caught up with KO to find out about her time there and how she aims to explore uncharted elements of Black Scottish cultural history

Bursting onto Scotland’s art scene fresh out of her Painting And Printmaking degree at Glasgow School Of Art, Josie KO’s sculptures are unmistakable in scale and style. Combining a self-declared ‘unrefined’ aesthetic with humour and gothic undertones, KO interrogates the duality of being Black and Scottish, a major provocation for her since relocating from London and making Scotland home. She spends a lot of time daydreaming and probing the gaps in Black Scottish histories to conjure up imaginary stories which lurk in-between, turning them into sculptural portraits of make-believe characters who become ‘like family’ to her.

Since the Alternative Degree Show in 2021, which saw a graduate-led programme of exhibitions in Glasgow, KO’s creative output has been immense. This year alone, her larger-than-life sculptures took centre stage in Edinburgh at the Royal Scottish Academy’s New Contemporaries show and Fruitmarket’s Poor Things exhibition. With her rising cultural popularity in Scotland, she was awarded the Bothy Project’s Visual Arts Scotland Residency to explore the first suspected presence of Blackness in Scotland.

Before heading to Eigg for the week-long residency in September, an overwhelming anxiety overcame KO. Accustomed to the busy suburbs of London and noisy vibrancy of Glasgow, this trip marked the first time she’d lived off-grid. The bothy, which could be swallowed whole by some of KO’s sculptures, is set against a steep escarpment overlooking a string of snow-dipped mountains on the nearby island of Rum. She jokes that she was half-expecting to emerge as a ‘crazy woman . . . with a beard and a walking stick!’ So, she cheated a little bit, sharing the first few days with fellow artist and friend, Emma McAndrew D’Souza. This balance still allowed KO to address her discomfort with aloneness, which she purposefully enhanced through her

No woman is an island

>>

residency reading material: Arrangements In Blue by Amy Key, a memoir which uses Joni Mitchell’s album Blue as a cipher for finding fulfilment as an eternally single person. The colour blue is integral to KO’s artistic practice. ‘I found a line about “fir gorma” in the book Staying Power: The History Of Black People in Britain and my imagination ran wild,’ says KO when asked about the focus of her residency. She explains that ‘fir gorma’ translates as ‘blue men’ and originates from an Irish precolonial account of the first suspected presence of Blackness in Scotland (in the Inner Hebrides, no less). Historians understood that this blueness of the visual descriptor was comparable to the shimmering hues of a raven’s feather, hence why it has been associated with Black identity.

While she speaks confidently about the mythology surrounding fir gorma, she clarifies that she is not a historian and feels greatly liberated by this. Instead, this one line gave KO ‘a grounding in which I’m allowed to dream of Blackness in Scotland’. The residency’s transfixing setting granted her time to speculate about who might have traced the land before her. Eventually, this fir gorma-stimulated daydreaming will be translated into new works for a duo exhibition with Kialy Tihngang next year. Collaboratively, they’ll present an imagined ‘fir gorma material culture’ which takes a rich piece of Black Scottish cultural history into uncharted territory.

KO sees archives as sites of speculation and is interested in freeing materials from the imposition of ‘westernised ideals’. As she looks ahead at the task of fictionalising an archival account of fir gorma through sculpture, KO looks back to her past experience of working with the David Livingstone Birthplace museum in Blantyre as part of an exchange group. Livingstone, who was an antislavery campaigner in the 19th century, left behind an archive of objects accumulated from his travels, many of which tell stories about his African crews. KO’s colleague of East African heritage, who she fondly calls Auntie Jennifer, took one look at an object in the archive which was catalogued as a fruit bowl. Auntie Jennifer turned it upside down and it was transformed into a different object. ‘It just showed that while they’ve done all that research, a lived experience is much more valuable than imposing westernised ideals onto it,’ KO asserts. ‘It does make you think about how much in the archive is true.’ We conclude that archives should therefore always be open access and new interpretations of catalogued and uncatalogued objects should be encouraged.

Motivated by elevating neglected narratives, KO’s sculptural characters were born out of a frustration with the discipline she technically graduated in: painting and printmaking. As a student, she once scribbled a note in her sketchpad while staring at a portrait in a gallery: ‘I’m really frustrated that I only see one side of this woman. I want to see what she looks like at the back and at the sides.’ From that point, she turned to sculptures which invite onlookers to get daringly close and experience every angle. There is a palpable, familial-like bond between KO and her creations. If you haven’t had a chance to experience the vastness of her sculptures yet, there will be plenty of opportunities in 2024, including her first solo show at Govan Project Space in April. KO is an artist with a contagious level of selfdiscipline and vision, and her Bothy Project residency offered a rare chance to decompress ahead of a promising horizon full of exhibition opportunities.

JOSIE KO

UNESCO Week of Sound 2023

Sound is important, it affects all ages and permeates economic, environmental, societal, medical, industrial and cultural dimensions. It contributes to our individual and collective behaviour, helping to shape the relationships we form with others. The UNESCO Week of Sound (Monday 16–Friday 20 October) brings together a variety of stakeholders to discuss sound through a number of themes including hearing health, acoustics and the sound environment, recording and reproduction techniques, the relationship between image and sound, and musical expression and education.

What does 2023 sound like?

Perhaps it’s the murmur of crowds ambling again along streets once hushed by a pandemic. Perhaps it’s the diminuendo of birdsong as a climate catastrophe vibrates on our shores. Or else the politicised protest of those fighting for action. Perhaps it’s the daily wail of an air-raid siren as the long peace in Europe is threatened. Consciously or unconsciously, intentionally or unintentionally, we all make sounds. They all have an impact on the world around us. Our voices, our footsteps, our machines and yes, our music, all contribute to the sonic landscape of our world. We are equally all affected by sound or by its absence.

The way we experience sound is subjective. It depends on our individual preferences, our cultural background and our personal experiences. Sound can soothe us or unsettle us. It can bring us joy or drag us into despair. Our world is in flux, so too is its soundtrack. Through Bodies of Sound, the UNESCO Week of Sound will explore how sound gathers, summons, lands, diffuses. How sound affects, lifts, hurts. We will investigate the bodyhuman, natural, political and planetary - as an instrument. Of joy. Of pain. Of change. And then there is silence, the absence of sound, a presence of soundlessness. We will ask what silence offers, denies and creates.

Find out more about the UNESCO Week of Sound, running from Monday 16 – Friday 20 October, at www.weekofsound.scot

Wild and woolly

Originally earmarked for a 2020 debut that was scuppered by the pandemic, Leith Comedy Festival finally launches this month. Headliner Marjolein Robertson talks to Jo Laidlaw about sheep, Shetland and shaping your own future

Blame Phoebe Waller-Bridge for the all-pervasive notion of ‘a breakout Fringe’: the idea that three short weeks in Edinburgh can dramatically transform a performer’s life. While the dream no doubt keeps the keen and green pitching their metaphorical (and sometimes actual) tents, a somewhat more achievable, though undoubtedly less sexy goal is a Fringe where a few good things happen and a performer starts to get a little bit of traction.

Enter Marjolein Robertson, fresh from a successful run of her stand-up hour Marj, a lauded turn in Raymond Friel’s one-person play Me, Myself And Mary (Queen Of Scots), plus a few sessions spinning tales at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, just to keep things interesting. ‘It’s the best month of the year,’ she says. ‘You always get people saying, “how’s your Fringe going, are you looking forward to getting a rest at the end?” and I’m like, “no, I don’t want it to end!” But I was fortunate to have a Fringe where I was getting good audience numbers and I was enjoying my show, and I also had the play and the storytelling. It’s a dream: but the best part of it is that you just get to go and do what you want to do every day for an hour and bring people into your story. It’s magic.’

Anyone who has seen Robertson perform inevitably remarks on her love of storytelling. When asked if that’s the product of her Shetland upbringing, she’s delighted to delve into the oral tradition she grew up with, generously dismissing fears that this question itself is based on island-lore stereotypes. ‘No! I love that question, because when we’re raised in Shetland, especially being raised in the middle of nowhere, our folk creatures are everywhere . . .

there are always stories like, “watch oot for this and that creature”. Magic is ingrained and there are so many different bonny and beautiful creatures.’

While the pull of the central belt (and London) is strong for any aspiring performer, Robertson remains resolutely Shetlandbased, citing the power of the internet to help comedians connect with (and grow) an audience, wherever they are. But what about material? Is there much to write about in a place where, well, not much happens? ‘I love Shetland with all my heart. If it wasn’t for comedy, I probably would never leave. I love the nature and the community and the way of life. But it’s not quiet. There are people at your hoose all the time. I don’t get peace. Last night three folk turned up and I ended up helping with their sheep.’

Ah yes, the sheep. When scheduling this interview, Robertson said she’d confirm depending on the weather because she needed to work her sheep before a planned visit to London. When it’s suggested this isn’t quite a standard response to an interview request, she bursts out laughing. ‘I made a little bit of money this Fringe; I was really fortunate to be on at The Stand where you don’t make a loss, and my comedian friends are off on holiday

or buying new clothes. I came home and the brakes on my car went and a pipe burst in my hame. But to treat myself, I bought some plants, so I was planting up this wee section when my cousins arrived last night and I was like, “the sheep will eat this in two seconds” so I put them in the crö [sheep pen] and helped them do their work.’

It would be a mistake, however, to dismiss Robertson as some sort of manic pixie Shetlander. Notably, with no agent or manager behind her, she generates bookings herself and clearly obsesses over comedy in all its forms, quick to namecheck peers she admires and dissect styles and formats. She’s already started writing her next hour and spends much of her time travelling around to try out new material. ‘You spend your year writing the show during the day, going to open-mic nights to try material. There are days and evenings of work no one sees.’

Marj covered some difficult and personal subject matter (although ultimately with a joyful conclusion). ‘There was not one time on stage this Fringe where I didn’t get upset. I cried for basically 41 hours. I tried to write that show last year but I couldn’t do it; I wasn’t there emotionally, and I hadn’t looked on the situation and truly understood it yet.’ It’s a message she wants to share further, with hopes to take the show on tour. But before that, a headlining gala to launch Leith Comedy Festival beckons. ‘It’s amazing that they’ve put this on. I think Leith is such a strong community. I don’t know if it’s the Shetland in me, but every community deserves to have their own events that they can put their stamp on and have on their own doorstep. And you know, I love the Fringe because I’m gigging every day and I know what I’m doing, so to get booked in for this was a dream because you’ve got something really fun to look forward to.’

So, was this her fabled ‘breakout Fringe’? ‘I just really want to keep doing stand-up, tour Marj if I can, and develop some of these scripted comedy ideas that I’m working on whenever I get the chance between sheep work.’ Marjolein Robertson is keeping it real, but you do get the feeling the sheep will be pining for her attention before too long.

Leith Comedy Festival, various venues, Edinburgh, Friday 6–Sunday 8 October; Opening Night Gala, Leith Arches, Edinburgh, Friday 6 October.

3 Others At Leith Comedy Festival

MARA JOY

They’re simply making it up as they go along in this two-hour improvisation workshop led by Mara Joy, member of The Spontaneous Players. You’ll be on Whose Line before you know it . . . if they still make that nowadays.

n Duncan Place Community Hub, Edinburgh, Saturday 7 October.

FIONA HERBERT

Subtitled ‘An Evening Of Funny Stories’, this Leith Laughs event is led by Fiona Herbert (‘oral storyteller’) and Giulia Galastro (‘trainee clown’) with participants encouraged to tell a five-minute tale.

n Leith Dockers’ Club, Edinburgh, Saturday 7 October.

JAMIE MACDONALD

Headlining the weekend’s grand finale is Jamie MacDonald (pictured) who won a prestigious Grierson Award for his Blind Ambition documentary, with support arriving from Funny Women semi-finalist Kathleen Hughes. Proceedings are kept under control by compere Liam Withnail.

n Biscuit Factory, Edinburgh, Sunday 8 October.

PICTURE: MIHAELA BODLVIC

CELEBRATE THE SCOTTISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR AWARD!

WIN 2 x tickets to The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award ceremony at Stirling’s Albert Halls on Thursday 26th October!

The SAY Award has revealed the twenty outstanding albums on this year’s Longlist, including Paolo Nutini, Becky Sikasa, Brìdghe Chaimbeul, Joesef and more, showcasing the very best of Scottish music. We’ve partnered with the Scottish Music Industry Association to give away a pair of tickets to one of the biggest nights in Scotland’s music calendar.

Go to list.co.uk/competitions to enter and have the chance to win tickets to The SAY Award Ceremony

Ts&Cs - Over 18s only, prize is non-transferable and subject to change at The SAY Award’s discretion.

GAietY theAtRe hADDiNGtON CORN exChANGe

WeBsteR theAtRe GLAsGOW PAviLiON theAtRe

PORT OF LEITH DISTILLERY

Port Of Leith’s shiny new distillery opens to the public this month, in a major milestone for the whisky producers. Their vertical multi-storey distillery (gravity helps in the distilling process) will also be home to a top-floor bar with stunning views of the city and across the water to Fife, as well as regular behind-the-scenes tours and tastings. Their copper stills were installed earlier this summer; once fully in production they’ll have enough capacity to produce a million bottles of whisky a year, as well as looking after thousands of visitors getting up close and personal with the water of life.

(Jo Laidlaw)

n leithdistillery.com

eat & drink

Hidden store

Craig Grozier’s Fallachan Kitchen will soon take root in one of Glasgow’s most vibrant independent neighbourhoods. David Kirkwood finds that its emphasis will firmly be on the seasonal and local

To most Glaswegians, SWG3 is the collective of events spaces and studios near the Clydeside Expressway that takes in a gigantic main space as well as the smaller Galvanizers Yard and Acid Bar. You’ll most likely think of club nights, gigs, street-art festivals and the like. Well, now there’s a unique food offering taking up residence in one of the old railway arches nearby.

Fallachan (the Scots word for a concealed store) is the ongoing venture of Craig Grozier, well-established as a private-dining and consultancy operation going back to 2012. Throughout, Grozier has focused on working directly with growers, foragers, butchers and fishermen, towards putting rigorously seasonal, modern Scottish food on the table. With his new bricks-and-mortar establishment, the good people of Glasgow can experience this philosophy. ‘The space will allow us to diversify our offering and allow us to cook in a more publicfacing environment, which is something we have missed,’ he explains. It will also be the base for other elements of the business to continue.

There’s been some culinary presence in this area before, with Acid Bar hosting a rotating residency for Glasgow food outlets: currently bakers Cottonrake are following in the footsteps of TV chef Julie Lin’s Malaysian restaurant. In the build-up to opening in early December, Grozier has laid on a series of dining evenings called Fallachan Nights in that same space. Diners have enjoyed an eight-course tasting menu, including in-house charcuterie, Octomore whisky sourdough and the first of the season’s Borders grouse, with hedgehog mushrooms foraged by the kitchen team. Seasonality and locality are well-worn buzzwords, but at Fallachan the emphasis is striking.

Once they move into the arch itself, they’ll find a space that has lots of personality, with the quirk of trains passing directly overhead. But it’s not a locale with much footfall. Was this a concern? ‘We were looking for an intimate location that wasn’t too big or small,’ notes Grozier. ‘Could be an open kitchen and has a bit of character, which is actually quite tricky to come by.’

There are plans for lunch service at some point, but first the template will be similar to Fallachan Nights, principally pre-bookings with around six public nights a month. You can expect cookery classes and cocktail nights as well. Indeed, the drinks component of the Fallachan Nights series was as striking as the food, with concoctions such as So Fresh, So Green featuring Islay’s The Botanist gin. A sommelier talked the tables through their wines with Grozier doing the same with every course, while soul DJ Andrew Divine played vinyl 7”s at the side of the room. This is fine dining that’s both fancy and experiential. Welcome to the neighbourhood.

Fallachan Kitchen, Arch 15, 8 Eastvale Place, Glasgow, fallachandining.co.uk

Jo Laidlaw reports on the latest news and openings with bigname arrivals in Edinburgh and welcome returns in Glasgow

Edinburgh Cocktail Week has marked the beginning of autumn for five years now; we say that’s officially a tradition. One hundred bars from all over the city join the fun from 6–15 October, with Cocktail Village at Festival Square hosting 22 pop-up bars, food, live music and DJs; it’s free entry with a Cocktail Week wristband. There’s also a clutch of openings to celebrate, including Fat Hippo, The Botanist and Rosa’s Thai (who also opened in Glasgow last month). And if you want pizza news, the builders have finally moved out of 19 Blackfriars Street and Three Blind Mice have moved in. It’s a gorgeous spot for their pies and small plates.

In Glasgow, the gang behind Old Salty’s have launched JoJo Macs in St Vincent Street; majoring in grill skills, their burgers and lobster are the main events. The much-missed Wee Lochan has made a triumphant return, with the former head chef launching The Wee Lochan Kitchen in Dumbarton Road. They’re running right through the day with a particularly lush brunch menu.

Paul Kitching’s untimely passing left a huge gap in Edinburgh’s dining scene; chef Stuart Ralston will step into the breach at the former 21212 kitchen with Lyla, a seafood-focused fine-dining experience. Finally, if the autumn winds in the capital are making you all shivery, our reviewer was charmed by the warm hospitality and generous spicing at Haldi, a familyrun Indian bistro up Newington way. Alternatively, Edinburgh’s Whisky Festival rolls into Murrayfield on 14 October. And if that doesn’t warm your cockles, not much will.

side dishes

street food

We choose a street and tell you where to eat.

Suzy Pope heads to Morrison Street in Edinburgh where a short stroll finds Japanese, Italian, Greek and Vietnamese options rubbing shoulders

CHIZURU TEI

The interior is humble, but Chizuru Tei may just have the best sushi in Edinburgh. Seafresh fish is sliced for all to see at a classic sushi counter and presented in zoomorphic rolls, it almost seems a shame to eat. There are some satisfying sticky teriyaki and noodle dishes, and BYOB keeps the bill low.

FROTH & FLAME

The froth comes from locally brewed IPAs, or perhaps the foamy egg-white top of craft cocktails, and the flame is the wood-fired pizza oven at the heart of this warehousesized joint. Sourdough bases are topped with slices of steak, piquant salami and fresh sage, or an entire burrata. Pub-grub staples are on offer if pizza’s not your passion.

MILK

There’s an outpost at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and in Inverleith Park, but the original Milk stands proud here, where the coffee machine supplies a stream of West End workers. Home baking with plenty of vegan and gluten-free options supports a roster of sandwiches and avocado-topped brunch options.

OLA KALA

Part deli, part café, Ola Kala serves Greek pastries, mezze platters and fast, filling gyros. Honey-sweet walnut baklava and orange cakes doused in basil syrup are highlights from the adjacent Ola Orea bakery. With little table space, takeaway is king here, but service is fast so it’s rarely a long wait for a seat.

VIETNAM HOUSE

On nearby Grove Street, Vietnam House is a cosy lantern-filled spot for casual dining. Traditional crispy pancakes taste just like originals from the streets of Hanoi and salads are infused with chilli, lime and mint. Noodle soups and creamy curries provide heartier options for chilly evenings. The dated décor just adds to the charm.

Haldi

RESTAURANT USTA

It’s easy to spot Usta with its eye-catching array of hanging baskets, creating a riot of colours and cascades of foliage down its shopfront. Combined with similar treatment for sister venue Meze Meze next door, it’s an impressive sight. Inside there’s masses of rustic brickwork, lightened with plenty of knickknacks dotted around, including a large Islamic tile wall feature, reflecting the colourfully patterned flooring.

Billed as Mediterranean cuisine, there’s a heavy Turkish bent to the menu, with lesser sprinklings of Greece, Morocco and Iran. Then there are the burgers, with fillings where anything pretty much goes. A proper charcoal grill and oven oversees it all. Starters include excellent mushrooms, filled with cheese and pine nuts, grilled and submerged into a tomatoey iskender sauce. Succulent chicken wings dunked into chilli sauce are equally enjoyable.

Usta makes much of being the home of the shish burger: justifiably so. Large patties are skewered shish-style and cooked over coals, packing in the juices and adding lots of smoky notes. They’re at the pricey end of the burger scale, but they are huge, delicious and compelling, with a rugged brioche bun holding it all together. A half-dozen options riff on movies; the memorable Midnight Express (perhaps not Turkey’s best advert) featuring slices of sausage, grilled aubergine and feta.

Moussaka, ribs, shanks and tagines appear as mains, but the grill’s the star here, delivering fish, lamb and chicken dishes, plus kofte patlican kebab (a plateful of tasty foot-long kofta with grilled aubergine and asparagus, roasted veggies and mashed potato). Ekmek also abounds, a chunky, airy flatbread which is satisfyingly crisp on the outside. Benchmark baklava is dense, chewy, flaky goodness, while a potent Iranian ice-cream is heady with floral rose and saffron, topped with pistachio nuts. (Jay Thundercliffe) n 1024 Argyle Street, Finnieston, Glasgow, ustaglasgow.co.uk

COCKTAIL & FOOD PAIRING STIR

On the tours and in the bars at Johnnie Walker Princes Street, Diageo’s flagship visitor experience in Edinburgh, you’ll find a refreshing mission to embrace a broad spectrum of whisky drinking encounters, not least in offering whisky cocktails in preference to traditional, lip-tingling, neat drams. The latest addition to the experience can be found in the Explorers’ Bothy Bar, one of the venue’s two seductive top-floor bars, with a collaboration called STIR.

This sees a flight of four imaginative whisky cocktails paired with intricately designed amuse-bouches by chefs James and Maria Close from County Durham’s two-Michelin-star Raby Hunt restaurant. Getting food to pair with whisky can be a fraught business, but the chefs have met the challenge with a series of tiny but perfectly formed dishes; for example, a twist of crisp cos lettuce around a soft sliver of quail breast in caesar dressing, which appears alongside a vermouth and Caol Ila cocktail that’s first smoky then herby.

While there’s no sense in which the four mini servings constitute a meal or even really add up to a hunger-addressing snack, there’s an engaging narrative whisking you around not just Scotland’s distilling geography, but also a sophisticated array of ingredients, techniques, textural contrasts and global influences. At £48 per head for some sips and nibbles, it’s a bit of an indulgence that demands the willing suspension of disbelief, but it does also deliver a unique, multi-faceted taste experience in a memorable location. Just remember to make a dinner booking somewhere nearby for later. (Donald Reid)

n Explorers’ Bothy Bar, Johnnie Walker Princes Street, 145 Princes Street, Edinburgh, johnniewalker.com

Researched and compiled by The List’s food and drink team, our tipLISTs suggest the places worth knowing about around Edinburgh and Glasgow in different themes, categories and locations. This month we eschew Halloween to embrace the neonbright festivities and punchy carnitas heat that go hand-in-hand with Mexican celebrations around Dia De Los Muertos (Day Of The Dead). Here’s our selection of taquerias and taco joints where you can chase away the near-winter blues

Places for your Mexican fix

tipLIST

ANTOJITOS

Edinburgh Street Food, Omni Centre, Leith Street, antojitos.uk

This all-vegan place burst onto the Scottish street food scene in 2020, serving crispy fried banana blossom in soft tacos, and quesabirria with vegan queso and chipotle jackfruit. Now, Antojitos have a practically permanent pop-up at The Dog House in Newington and this more central spot.

THE BASEMENT

10a–12a Broughton Street, basement-bar-edinburgh.co.uk

A vast collection of mezcal and tequila gleams behind glass at this subterranean bar. Anything slow-cooked (carnitas and birria beef) make for flavour-soaked soft tacos and the picanha steak comes perfectly pink in the middle. The Margaritas are lip-smackingly salty and sour too.

BODEGA

14–15 Albert Place, ilovebodega.com

You won’t find any kitsch Mexicana adorning the walls at Bodega: this self-styled ‘modern taqueria’ has opted for minimalist pale pink and green. Taco fillings span continents with rich blue cheese sitting alongside buffalo chicken and tempura tiger prawns that zing with a sweet chilli and soy dressing.

EL CARTEL

1 Roxburgh’s Court, elcartelmexicana.co.uk

The most recent addition to the El Cartel miniempire, this branch in Roxburgh’s Court is a world away from the dinky Thistle Street original. Big and airy, there’s an undeniable buzz here as folk dig into the precision menu of fusion tacos, street eats and burgers. It’s a great option for big groups.

VIVA MEXICO

41 Cockburn Street, viva-mexico.co.uk

Sometimes you want your corn tortilla with a side of ‘classic’ rainbow-bright Mexican restaurant surroundings. Viva Mexico has stood strong on Cockburn Street for decades, offering a medley of more traditional flautas alongside Tex-Mex fare like crispy tacos, burritos and chimichangas.

BIBI’S CANTINA

599 Dumbarton Road, bibiscantina.co.uk

Out on the fringes of Partick, this neighbourhood Mexican has outlasted all others in town. Small, friendly and enthusiastic, Bibi’s has mastered the art of dishing out Tex-Mex classics (nachos, quesadillas, fajitas, tacos, Margaritas) in a jovial, welcoming diner at decent prices.

EL JEFE’S 1166–1170 Argyle Street & 219 Fenwick Road, eljefes.co.uk

With outlets in Finnieston and Southside, plus one in Edinburgh, you’re never too far from El Jefe’s lively take on Mexican dining. Billed as ‘tequila y taqueria’, expect plenty of both, plus cocktails, burritos, quesadillas and nachos. They also do a Tex-Mex version of the traditional British Sunday roast.

RAFA’S

Unit 3, The Hidden Lane, 1103 Argyle Street, rafasdiner.com

Being secreted away down The Hidden Lane hasn’t stopped Rafa’s becoming one of Glasgow’s top taco spots. There’s a strong street-food vibe within its tin-roofed shack diner, dishing out classics and twists like nacho cheese birria pizza.

SACRED TUM TACOS

522 Victoria Road, sacredtumtacos.com

Hand-pressed corn tortillas surround the usual suspects here, with lots of coriander and pops of citrus. Standouts are the fried fish with lemon aioli, and a lamb taco with little sweet pink onions and hot sauce. Takeaway only.

TOPOLABAMBA

87 St Vincent Street & 116–122 Byres Road, topolabamba.com

This popular city centre diner (with a Byres Road outlet coming soon) has been around for a while, serving a small plate/street food-leaning menu of Mexican faves (tacos, quesadillas, chimichangas). Sharing is key, from dunking chips into fundidos to enjoying ribs and wings.

BREAD MEATS BREAD

701 Great Western Road, breadmeatsbread.com

BMB is a survivor from Glasgow’s burger boom several years ago, thanks to dishing out sandwiches and sides that are a cut above, including the signature Wolf burger (with pulled pork).

CAIL BRUICH

725 Great Western Road, cailbruich.co.uk

Famed for bringing a Michelin star back to Glasgow in 2021 (after an 18year absence, chef Lorna McNee has retained that star with a tasting menu of local sourcing and culinary wonder.

HOTEL DU VIN BISTRO

One Devonshire Gardens, hotelduvin.com

Set in an elegant upmarket terrace, this well-known Glasgow restaurant is part of a UK-wide chain. But it’s dedicated to regional food, serving up classy bistro dishes, tasting menus and Sunday lunch.

KA PAO

26 Vinicombe Street, ka-pao.com

The Ox And Finch team explore panAsian cuisine in splendid surrounds. A small plate menu includes a sharing option for four-plus diners, offering a kaleidoscope of vibrant and exciting Asian aromas and flavours.

SIX BY NICO

358 Byres Road, sixbynico.co.uk

The latest outlet in town for Nico Simeone’s formula of a themed six courses rotating every six weeks. The brand is now UK-wide, thanks to solid cooking, playful dining and good value.

Antojitos

Rafa’s

Drinking games

Like an alcohol-soaked cretin with the muscle mass of a small child, Kevin Fullerton is spilling another drinks challenge onto these pages and into the void. This month’s challenge . . . find a celebrity wine that won’t make you want to die

Ashort drive from Los Angeles’ towering LAX Airport sits an apartment where I, one of The List’s most vulnerable journalists, am banished for six months of the year to entertain a parade of stars who beg me to review their latest projects. I reached the abode a few days ago to find three bottles of wine and a note reading, ‘Snoop Dogg, Kylie Minogue and Gary Barlow here. Review our celebrity wines or we’ll fill this place with Gary’s Poundstretcher songwriting until you go insane. We’ve locked the doors. Thx xxx.’

Shorn of my usual celeb companions, I began alco-courting Snoop Dogg’s Cali Red, which supposedly ‘embodies the timeless values of perseverance and redemption’. What Deputy Dawg delivers instead embodies ‘serviceable booze’ and ‘high acidity’, with a top note of fruit so strong it gives the experience a palpable weightlessness. Ip-Dipp-Doggy-Dogg won’t set the world alight with this foray into wine, but at least it’ll stop him making a follow-up to Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle (top tip: don’t google that reference on a work computer).

Next is bin-bag balladeer Gary Barlow’s Organic Rosé wine, a dreadful drink from a Marks & Spencer cardigan of a man. Gaz has trekked the globe to find a concoction that sits somewhere on the sniff-o-meter between ‘feet’ and ‘feet with bits of old food grated over them’, and fares no better on the taste scale. It’s also ‘organic’, but that phrase is patchier than Barlow’s financial arrangements.

Onto Minogue. A VHS of her early music videos was a mainstay of my childhood and I knew the dance moves to ‘The Loco-Motion’ off by heart, so I’m holding out hope she won’t forsake me like a grape-swigging Brutus. Thank our patron saint Pete Waterman that Kylie Minogue Rosé is passable, the kind of bottle you’d bring to a barbecue, share with pals and enjoy. Phew. With my review duties completed, the doors of my luxury apartment unlocked. I walked onto the porch to find Dogg, Minogue and Barlow staring back at me. Dogg and Minogue received a close embrace, before I declaimed, ‘et tu, Barlow’. And like a crumpled sad sack of a man, he fell to his knees and cried, his tears tasting better than the wine he had made me drink.

BAR FILES

Creative folks reveal their favourite watering hole

ACTOR PAUL MCCOLE

My favourite watering hole has to be The Star Bar on Eglinton Street in Glasgow. It’s the gateway to the Southside (if you’re coming from town) and home to the famous £4 three-course lunch (also long-time residency spot of Glasgow legend, the recently deceased Ken Manners, RIP). The guitar sign bearing his name is almost as big a Glasgow landmark as the cone on Wellington’s head. The booze is affordable (rare these days) and I always go for the Guinness which is very good indeed. The clientele ranges from locals to students to hipsters and everything in between, with a personal highlight being the karaoke nights. It’s traditional, welcoming and very, very real. The staff are amazing and I always feel at home in this Glasgow institution.

the recently deceased Ken Manners, RIP). The guitar sign

Paul McCole appears in A Play, A Pie & A Pint: The Sheriff Of Kalamaki, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Tuesday 3–Saturday 7 October.

Go trainby

IRREGULAR SLEEP PATTERN

This bold and colourful Glasgow-based sleepwear and bedding brand is ‘designed at the intersection of art and utility’, according to founders Jolene and Mil. Geometric patterns and bright block colours feature heavily in their designs, which are all created using certified organic cotton in SMETA-regulated factories in India. Spice up your bedroom with one of their fitted bed sheets or short suit and nightshirt pyjama variations, available in a range of sizes and patterns. Or if you’re feeling funky, rock their signature two-piece pyjama suits out and about, like well-known names such as comedian Joe Lycett and broadcaster Gemma Cairney. (Megan Merino) n irregularsleeppattern.com, @irregularsleeppattern on Instagram.

travel & shop

In the first of our new travel series, Rachel Cronin whisks us away to Albania where she explores the Balkan nation’s burgeoning and wallet-friendly tourist industry

wanderLIST: Albania

Albania is so much more than that place where Dua Lipa’s family are from. The Balkan country’s Middle Earthesque mountains, endearing medieval towns and crystal-blue beaches have made it the most up-and-coming European travel destination of recent years.

Flights to Albania go directly into its capital Tirana. The country’s least touristic and most industrial city, it’s still worth spending a first day there. Tirana’s cityscape is unique, abundant with newly built office buildings that create a stark contrast to its colourful apartment blocks. Food works out insanely cheap: you can grab a byrek (traditional pastry) for 50 lek (around 40p). I recommend the spinach one, which you’ll find everywhere. Main attractions in Tirana include the Cold War bunkers that were built under former dictator Enver Hoxha’s rule. It’s an idea to self-educate on the country’s harrowing history with communism before treating it like a playground.

Public transport feels very ramshackle. One chaotic bus journey involved my friends and I being escorted off the vehicle and into a random car, for reasons that remain unclear. Despite the element of confusion and uncertainty, we always got to our next destination easily enough. Berat is a perfect second stop if you’re travelling down the country from Tirana. This beautiful village is nestled in the mountains and feels

like a different universe from the capital. Discover the enchanting rock faces and pastel-blue currents of Osumi Canyon, which (of course) comes with its own mythical folklore. Visit the spot where, legend has it, the rock swallowed a runaway bride who prayed for a way to escape her husband. Swimming in the nearby Bogove Waterfall (it was colder than Finnich Glen, and this was in May) and cliff-jumping in the canyon are other activities for outdoorsy types.

A whistle-stop tour of medieval Gjirokaster is pleasant, but not vital, though its ancient castle and winding streets make it worth spending at least half a day. Just an hour south lies Sarandë, the star of Albanian holiday brochures. Its sapphire blue waters and icing-sugar sand make this seaside town the ideal beach getaway (for an insanely good price). Just an hour on the ferry from Corfu, it can even serve as a day trip from Greece.

It’s not just Albania’s incredible scenery and captivating history that enhance its potential as a European tourism hotspot. The people are overwhelmingly welcoming, proven by our elderly Airbnb hosts, who came up from their apartment downstairs to gift us freshly baked cakes for breakfast. If you haven’t been to Albania yet, it’s worth getting there before tourism blows up even further.

albania.al

on your doorstep

CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE

Sometimes it’s the things you can’t see that fire the imagination the most, leaving our minds to do some pleasurable heavy lifting. Which is why despite Edinburgh Castle being largely intact and replete with splendour, the capital’s other castle is perhaps more alluring. A partial ruin, but with enough bricks and mortar to conjure a sense of history, Craigmillar Castle was a safe haven for Mary Queen Of Scots in 1566 and a fascinating visit for us today.

TANTALLON CASTLE

Easily one of the best-located castles in Scotland, before you’ve even read about its chequered history, Tantallon’s clifftop position already gives it a dramatic edge (as seen spectacularly in a recent episode of Strictly). Built in the mid-1300s and besieged by all and sundry (including a cocky Oliver Cromwell in 1651), this East Lothian gem is a site of archaeological and architectural significance, and has cracking views for a picnic.

Go trainby

Step into hundreds of destinations across Scotland. scotrail.co.uk/ inspiration-hub

CROOKSTON CASTLE

Crookston may not be the largest or best maintained historic monument in Scotland, but as Glasgow’s only surviving medieval castle it’s most definitely special (and free to enter).

Built in 1400, and given a re-do in the 16th century, this unique ruin was designed differently to most other castles in the country.

Climb the stone staircase, and you’ll also be rewarded with an impressive view of the city from the rooftop. n For more on these castles, go to historicenvironment.scot

my favourite holiday

Comedian Ria Lina recalls memorable hols she had as a kid and in later life

The last family holiday I went on as a kid with my parents was to the Greek island of Chios when I was 15. I can still remember my dad driving our rented Jeep into the mountains and boldly ordering goat’s head (yep!) for lunch, and then balking when the waiter dug out the eyeball and force-fed it to him. I have fond memories of just living all day on the beach, and the mountains of chips we ate with mayonnaise because we wanted to appear sophisticated (while secretly yearning for ketchup). You can’t beat a holiday that is completely paid for by somebody else.

Fast forward 21 years to last Christmas, and my first proper holiday as an adult (defined as: I wasn’t working or visting family). I took my sons to Tenerife because I wanted sun and they were both studying Spanish at school. We stayed at Santa Cruz de Tenerife because it promised beautiful architecture for me, a beach for the kids, and garlic prawns for everyone. I loved it. Dinner at 10pm, once it had cooled outside, is perfect for someone like me who doesn’t start work til 8pm. The shallow beach with no risk of an undertow again suited the mother in me just fine (although I think the boys were secretly hoping for a shark sighting). I will definitely be going back, even though now it’s me who’s paying for it.

Ria Lina: Riawakening, Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, Wednesday 11 October; The Stand, Glasgow, Thursday 12 October.

Kelly Apter explores three castles in the central belt that are packed with drama and history

Tantallon Castle

Waste not, want not

Hand crafting delightful garments one at a time, Jen Byrne speaks to Megan Merino about her love of bold pattern, growing up in a recycling family and her hate of waste

Irish designer Jen Byrne has been creating one-of-a-kind slow fashion pieces from her Edinburgh studio since 2021. Contrasting prints and bright block colours are part of her brand’s DNA, insists Byrne. ‘Nothing is plain. Everything has to be multi-coloured or patterned.’ Florals, 70s geometric shapes and gingham pieces currently feature on her site, with the majority of fabrics sourced secondhand in charity shops or through donation.

‘Embroidered tablecloths generally become more romantic blouses. Then there’s [my signature] trousers with an elasticated waist that are really popular; I tend to use curtains for those because they hang really well and have a good structure,’ she explains. ‘I’ve grown up in a family that loves re-use. Everything would be repaired, whether it’s bikes or furniture in the house. My little workshop in my parents’ house has a table my dad made from a wardrobe, which was something else before that!’

While upcycling and sustainability are central to Byrne’s process (she also runs regular workshops to teach these skills), a new zero-waste project aims to eliminate excess fabric all together. ‘I’ve saved every tiny little scrap for two years and spent eight weeks just experimenting with different techniques on how to use them all up.’ Colourful scraps are now used to embellish t-shirts or to line trouser pockets, while ‘the properly shredded’ pieces can be quilted to make vests and accessories.

Every Jen Byrne piece is made by her own two hands so, understandably, stock is limited. A rotating selection of designs are available on her website and bespoke commissions, a particular love of Byrne’s, can be made on request. ‘It’s really nice to work with somebody when they come in with a vision. They instantly fall in love with a fabric and then we go through the whole process to create something for them as an individual.’

Shop for By Jen Byrne and check out all October workshops at byjenbyrne.com or @byjenbyrne on Instagram

shop talk

GODSHOT STUDIO

From niche fragrances to fine functional objects, everything at Godshot is selected with precision. Whether you’re looking for a gooseneck kettle to elevate your pourover coffee or some beautiful stationery, Godshot carries a range of brands where craftsmanship is king.

n 1143 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow, @godshot.studio on Instagram

28 LANGSIDE

This quaint shop promises good things for you and your home and boy do they deliver. Tapered candles in candy brights, cute

Claire Stuart shares three more independent wonders to visit, covering homeware heaven to venerated vintage

ceramics in splatter prints as well as gorgeous glassware can be found in this local gem.

n 28 Langside Place, Glasgow, @28langside on Instagram

HERMAN BROWN

This iconic boutique almost needs no introduction. Serving vintage lovers from Edinburgh and beyond since 1984, it should be on any vintage shopper’s bucket list when visiting the capital. Find statement garments from any decade, as well as fabulous accessories to complete any look.

n 151 West Port, Edinburgh, @hermanbrownvintage on Instagram

going out

EDINBURGH SPANISH FILM FESTIVAL

Celebrating its tenth anniversary with screenings across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Inverness, this year’s Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival features work from newcomers and a few classics by the masters, with a particular focus on Spain’s La Transición era to democracy between 1975 and 1982. A highlight in the contemporary cinema category is Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s 2022 contemplative drama Utama (pictured), which examines the impact of a drought in a rural Bolivian community. One real boon for cineastes is a rare showing of Carlo Saura’s Raise Ravens (1976), a dreamlike exploration of a young girl’s fantasy world textured with elliptical editing and the disconcerting backdrop of Franco’s Spain. (Kevin Fullerton) n Various venues, until Thursday 26 October.

MAKING A MOVE

Where else would you find two heavy metal bands trying to drown each other out or a solo opera featuring bespoke scents? At Glasgow’s Take Me Somewhere festival, that’s where. Gareth K Vile speaks to performers and producers about inclusion, innovation and internationalism

With a programme which speaks to Glasgow’s past record of hosting experimental superstars and looks to the future of performance, Take Me Somewhere has a reputation for curating provocative and innovative work. Based in Tramway, it welcomes artists from the city and across the world, with a strong presence of queer creators and artists of colour.

This year, we move from Goldendean’s exhibition Soft Vxnxs, which invites audiences to take some gentle time with a large-scale inflatable sculpture, through to Desire Marera’s electronica gig, and Anahit by Giorgia Ohanesian Nardin, an exploration of movement, language and physical geographies. Each event promises a celebration of art’s potential to articulate personal and social philosophies, and a counterblast to predictable and simplistic notions of creativity.

For artistic director LJ Findlay-Walsh, the key to the festival lies in its eclecticism. ‘We never work to themes; that is very restrictive,’ she says. Rather, there is a deeper sense of ambition. ‘We want Scotland to be the place to experience and create world-beating radical performance. We are interested in work that sits between genres. It all goes back to our mission: I really want worldleading artists to be here in Scotland.’ Historically, Tramway has hosted international companies who played with boundaries of what is possible on the stage. ‘We have a strong legacy, but we

Clockwise: Skunk Without K Is Sun, FORGED (in the heat of your embrace), Walking With The Ancestors In Joy And Healing, 'Breathe' by Goldendean, One Drop, NXSA

PICTURE: INDIGO KORRES

don’t have the same resources as mainland Europe,’ she continues. ‘We really think about having international work which speaks to local artists here, either because it is similar in form and content or because it really challenges the dominant preconceptions.’

Take Me Somewhere (its very name evokes a desire to be moved and to move forward) has an agenda to connect the dynamism of the Scottish scene to global currents. This is reflected in the organisation’s structure, combining the festival itself and The Centre Of Somewhere, a supporting programme of residencies. One such product of that programme is proxy (2.2). A bricolage of soundscapes, ideas, objects and movement, this is a collaboration between NXSA and Roby LE, and offers an invitation to a moment in ongoing creation.

‘It comes from a conversation I am having with myself and people and forms of knowledge,’ NXSA explains. ‘It’s a meditation on a particular area of my research.’ Aware of a responsibility to the audience and the work’s integrity, NXSA articulates the ‘necessity of finding the balance’ between ‘bringing the audience into the conversation’ and an artistic practice that ‘I make because it

is what I have to do, and that doesn’t rely on an audience being present. I am opening a door on something largely invisible becoming visible.’

This manifestation of thoughts as experience speaks to the festival’s spirit, and its relationship to the recent past. As Findlay-Walsh recognises, a legacy of radical performance has come from The Arches. That city-centre venue, through bold programming, support for emerging artists and two annual festivals, energised the Scottish performance landscape and introduced many of the artists who are now part of Take Me Somewhere. These include FK Alexander who will produce The Problem With Music, a textless work which features two metal bands playing simultaneously. Adventure and risk, but also nurture and engagement, is now part of the Take Me Somewhere ethos.

‘I believe if you create the right conditions for artists, you will be doing the right thing for audiences, and everything else will follow,’ says FindlayWalsh. But even the programme’s diversity recognises the spectator’s needs. ‘We are aware that not everyone has the same accessibility requirements. Some of our work can be loud and rumbunctious, almost like a club

environment, and some of it is very participatory . . . some people won’t touch that with a bargepole! But some is slow and contemplative.’

Findlay-Walsh has always been interested in innovation but in the last couple of years, she considered it as an access requirement, to have a broad base of forms that suits what different people want. ‘I’m making an opera for the first time in my life,’ says Louise Ahl, creator and performer of Skunk Without K Is Sun. Aided by its audio description, this is an opera that describes itself, and as expected from this maverick artist there is a twist: not only is the opera a combination of live solo and a prerecorded chorus, it uses another of the senses. ‘I have been thinking about accessibility and different ways to create narrative by not always using words. Scent is an ephemeral thing. Each act has its own scent, basically smells that I imagine are the actions. I am not saying what the smells are, as that would ruin it . . . you smell as you listen and see the work.’

Meanwhile, Ashanti Harris’ Walking With The Ancestors In Joy And Healing exemplifies the gentle end of audience participation. Harris frames the work as drawing on ritual, but one that looks at her own personal and cultural histories. ‘A dance to me is a lovely ritual, embodying history,’ Harris notes, commenting how the process of dancing simultaneously expresses the body of the dancer and those who danced before.

This work has emerged from Harris’ research during covid, where she developed a practice to share her work that didn’t break lockdown restrictions. ‘I was making soundscapes that were somewhere between a guided meditation and an instructional movement workshop, with a reading. It became a way of working that I loved, a joyful act of healing, like a ritual or sacred practice.’ And while the content includes some difficult histories of colonialism, Walking discovers a way to reclaim the past. ‘To embody your history in joy, like in carnival, is an act of healing; being joyful in the face of those histories is an act of resistance.’

Take Me Somewhere is a meeting between audiences and artists. Findlay-Walsh acknowledges that much of the experience comes from ‘conversations in the bar, or the embedded partnerships that come from the residencies, as well as in those performances that pull audiences together in acts of ritual that create solidarity.’ And while provocation and experimentation may drive the productions’ journeys, Take Me Somewhere revels in the possibilities of arriving in a new, inclusive and resonant place.

Take Me Somewhere, various venues, Glasgow, Friday 13–Saturday 28 October.

PICTURE: JOANA STAWNICKA

Clockwise from left: LJ Findlay-Walsh, Clarinda Tse, Desire Marea, FK Alexander

One of Britain’s most beloved actresses, Helen Mirren could also lay claim to being one of its most versatile. Think of her gangster’s moll in The Long Good Friday, her Prime Suspect detective Jane Tennison or that Oscar-winning turn in The Queen. To that list, you can add her latest role as former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in Guy Nattiv’s new film. Set across troubled times during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Golda is classic Mirren: fearless and ferocious. James Mottram chats to her about getting into character and the minefield of portraying real people

What intrigued you about playing Golda? Oh, gosh. I mean, so many things. The wonderful script that Guy presented, this dark, intense poem. It’s a poem about a person, but also about a conflict. And the challenge and danger of it; you’re laying yourself open to profound criticism. You could blow it terribly! She is a complicated character and an incredibly important character in history. We’re negotiating a bit of a minefield.

You’ve played Jewish characters before; did that give you confidence? I’ve been a Mossad agent [in The Debt]. You don’t get much more Jewish than that!

How did you feel wearing the make-up, the outfit, and chain-smoking those endless cigarettes? I felt like her, honestly. And when I looked in the mirror and I saw myself, I completely accepted it. It didn’t surprise me. It surprised me when I took it all off. And I remember, ‘oh, yeah, right. I actually looked like that.’ And that was to do with the intensity of the experience of filming it; the length of time. Obviously it took quite a long time . . . the make-up and especially the costume is incredibly important. And I was listening to Golda all the time. On my headphones, I was listening to her voice.

What was the biggest challenge in nailing the character? Two things: the voice and the walk. There was something so specific about Golda’s walk. And I don’t think I ever quite got there. But I really tried. There was an intention in her walk and a lack of vanity, a lack of consciousness that she went from this point to that point. And that was in her psychology, I believe, as well: ‘OK, I’m here, and I have to go there. So I’m going there.’ And she just went. It was not ‘should I go?’ or ‘what would they think about me if I go?’ or ‘what will I look like as I go?’ None of that. Also psychologically: ‘I’m going to America to raise money for Israel. I will go and I will raise money for Israel.’ And there was just such a simple directness about her; and for me, it was all in the walk.

Was it important for you to feel like you were showing the real person? Definitely. Of course, as with any of these roles, you can only ever be three-quarters (if you’re lucky) of what the real person is, because the real person is so much better at being them than you are. I felt this a little bit with Golda as

“

The real person is so much better at being them

than you are

well. When I did The Queen, I was very angst-[ridden] . . . I can’t be as she is. She is best at being her. Of course, she was still alive. But what relaxed me was I’m an artist and I’m doing a portrait. And it’s my artistic understanding of this person, the way a portraitist paints a portrait of a person and the artist themselves brings their own understanding to that person. And I thought, that’s what I’m doing. I’m just doing a portrait, my artistic portrait. I think that relaxed me as well with Golda.

Looking back, what do you see as key roles for you? Oh, you know, it’s not what I think of, it’s what other people think of. And obviously, The Queen was one of them. And I’m hoping Golda will be another. I loved doing the woman in The Duke; I absolutely loved that character. Every film was a different journey. Golda will be one of my most important journeys, I think.

You won an Oscar for The Queen in 2007. What did that represent for you?

You know sometimes you dream that you can fly? I dream that I can levitate. I’m standing, and then I suddenly just go up, and I’m up on the ceiling looking down, and I’m saying to everyone, ‘it’s easy! You just think and then you go up.’ It’s always a lovely dream. And winning the Oscar was a bit like that; a bit like dreaming I could levitate.

Golda is in cinemas from Friday 6 October.

3 TO SEE AT . . . EDINBURGH WOMEN’S FICTION FESTIVAL

You can just hear them now, can’t you: ‘where’s the Edinburgh men’s fiction festival?’ Oh, do be quiet. For readers who are interested in commercial, romance, historical and literary tales, this inaugural festival comprises a raft of intriguing events taking place at Morningside United Church over one evening and a full day. Launching proceedings are Sara Sheridan and Kim Sherwood (Friday 6 October) with as comprehensive an analysis as is possible in the time allowed of the history of women’s fiction covering those authors who are still widely read today.

The sub-genre of ‘witcherature’ is on quite a roll right now, and Anya Bergman and Stacey Thomas (Saturday 7 October) will be discussing their debut novels in this area, The Witches Of Vardo and The Revels, respectively. And closing the festival are two pals who also happen to be bestselling writers in the romantic fiction field. Jenny Colgan and Mike Gayle (Saturday 7 October) are in conversation about their long, unit-shifting careers. This will also be a golden opportunity to punt their current tomes with Colgan’s The Summer Skies and Gayle’s A Song For Me And You both featuring unlikely couples who may actually be meant for each other. (Brian Donaldson)

n Morningside United Church, Edinburgh, Friday 6 & Saturday 7 October.

Jenny Colgan

COMEDY MY COMEDY HERO

Paul Foot on Connie Booth

If I were given a ream of paper and a pen and threatened with a garden rake, I think I could probably write out all the scripts for Fawlty Towers from memory. I’ve always adored all 12 of those clever, hilarious, groundbreaking and timeless farces. For me, the hero of it is Connie Booth. I think there’s a widespread assumption that, although they are both credited as co-writers, it was John Cleese who came up with most of it, and she was a sort of sounding board. I bet it wasn’t at all like that, though. I’d like to think that Connie came up with all my favourite lines. The lines I like best are the ones no one else seems to laugh at and even the studio audience miss, like, ‘where do you think you are? Paris?!’ and ‘flying tart? No, it got off to a flying start.’

Which brings me to my favourite character in the sitcom. I love all Polly’s moments, like running around with a net, trying to catch a rat; dressing up as Sybil; and singing ‘I’m just a girl who cain’t say no,’ with that brilliantly uncommitted final note. Booth is such a fantastic and understated actor.

Adding to the comedy hero allure, as far as I’m concerned, is the fact that having co-written and co-starred in arguably the greatest character farce of all time (works that are so classic they feel almost like they were discovered rather than written), Connie Booth went artistically silent, joining the list of those who achieved greatness and then continued to live and breathe but created nothing; like Elgar and Sibelius. What I would like to say to Connie is one of the catchphrases from the show: ‘thank you so much!’

n Paul Foot: Dissolve, Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, Saturday 7 October; The Stand, Glasgow, Sunday 8 October.

MUSIC SCOTTISH OPERA: THE BARBER OF SEVILLE

As the nights draw in towards winter, audiences across Scotland can look forward to being cheered up by the return of Sir Thomas Allen’s colourful and funny production of Rossini’s The Barber Of Seville. In a genre where extremes of emotion are often weighted in the depths of despair or heady with passion, comedy can be a challenge to carry off. Building on the success achieved in his 2007 Scottish Opera production, Allen aims to bring even more of this opera’s comedy to the stage by presenting its revival in an English translation by Amanda Holden (no, not that one) of the original Italian libretto.

‘No matter how skilful or proficient the singers might be in another language,’ says Allen, ‘there’s no substitute for going into the English language. It gives a bigger spectrum and somehow everyone seems to relax.’ Purists may choose to disagree, but they may well be in the same vein as those Allen remembers from his Covent Garden days when there was resistance to the introduction of now-universal opera surtitles. ‘The reception to the humour is greater than in Italian,’ he says, ‘especially as the three Beaumarchais Figaro plays are works of utter genius. Every particular moment is understood in its creative context and the gist and spirit of the piece are captured to convey its storyline.’ Having played the role of Figaro (the barber, who is one and the same as the character in Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro), Allen is in the not-unique, but certainly unusual, position of singer-turneddirector. ‘The joy of it is seeing what you have in front of you and moulding it into something that’s coherent, using the tricks and skills everyone brings with them. It will be a stunning feast.’ (Carol Main) n Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tuesday 17, Friday 20, Sunday 22, Wednesday 25, Saturday 28 October; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Friday 3, Sunday 5, Wednesday 8, Saturday 11 November.

All the right noises

Photographer Zarina Bhimji’s new show casts an eye over her entire career. The Ugandan-born artist talks to Haneen AlEid about equality, beautiful sounds and the joy of sharing ideas

Inspired by the condition of things, Zarina Bhimji is interested in creating something beautiful. Her work has become a provocative string of observations which she has carried through different periods of her life. Now, this Ugandan-born photographer prepares for an exhibition, Flagging It Up, which will span her career from a 1987 phototext installation exploring resistance right up to her new film, Blind Spot

Attracted to colour and depth, Bhimji used a Leica camera when she shot the film in London this summer. ‘In particular, I had been interested in equality,’ she reflects, ‘and being able to speak, and being able to give a voice, and the difficulties of being able to speak freely or being accepted . . . or knowing what you’re feeling and not being able to speak because it’s hard to speak.’

She laughs as she reflects on her passion for sound. ‘I find sound pretty amazing, from the littlest sound to the largest sound you can make. That is something I find fascinating, mind-blowing.’

Bhimji’s expertise in installations, photography, film and sound have empowered her to make memorable art. She admits that she’s not interested in telling a specific story, and instead she draws inspiration from materials. In her work ‘Lead White’ she uses embroidery to explore emotions attached to womanhood, illiteracy and self-expression.

‘People often think that my work is autobiographical,’ she states. ‘But I think it’s not . . . I want to understand how the bit of greenery is growing in the wall and what feeling it has. What an amazing thing it is to do that; to have an idea and to be able to make it and show it to people. It is an honour in a way; I suppose it’ s my way of giving something back.’

Zarina Bhimji: Flagging It Up, Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, Saturday 28 October–Sunday 28 January.

Friday 20 October Lady Pank

Saturday 28 October Munya Chawawa

Saturday 4 November

Sunday 5 November Edinburgh Wedding Fair

Friday 24 November Dylan John Thomas

Friday 1 December

Friday 2 December Big Big Christmas Party

Tuesday 5 December The Darkness

Friday 8 December

Friday 9 December Big Big Christmas Party

Wednesday 13 December The View

Friday 15 December

Friday 16 December Big Big Christmas Party

Friday 29 December Skerryvore

o2academyedinburgh.co.uk

MUSIC USURPER

When their end comes this month, it will be almost 20 years to the day since Usurper first announced themselves to the world. That was when the duo of Malcy Duff and Ali Robertson joined forces to move beyond their tenure with the rumbling behemoth that was Giant Tank to do something a whole lot quieter. Working with dismantled instruments and what looked like a table full of car-boot sale detritus, Usurper mixed an array of off-kilter sound effects with goofy verbal exchanges that made for a kind of Zen art cabaret.

After two decades, Usurper’s Dadaist double act is pulling the plug on proceedings. To say cheerio, they have gathered the clans for That’s That Then, in which friends, conspirators and fellow travellers join forces for one last blowout. ‘I guess Usurper died of covid,’ says Robertson of the duo’s parting. ‘We came out the other end of the pandemic and it didn’t feel like something we wanted to continue doing.’

Duff concurs. ‘I've decided to concentrate fully on my cartooning,’ says the prolific creator of numerous DIY comic abstractions released on his own Missing Twin imprint. ‘I felt it was time to move on from Usurper and take more time at my drawing board.’

Usurper was sired from a desire to move on from formulaic bombast. ‘It was Ali’s idea to start Usurper,’ remembers Duff. ‘We had both become bored of playing in rock bands and wanted to do something different. We dismantled all the instruments we would usually play, and tried to celebrate the sounds you might miss out in those bands: plectrums running up and down the ladders of empty guitar necks, the creaking springs on a drum pedal. I began to picture playing a gig while walking along the street, a concert of picks in my pocket.’

As Robertson remembers, ‘at our very first show, we had no idea what we were going to do. It was a genuine experiment.’ This has remained the case ever since. While Usurper may be no more, Duff and Robertson will continue to bang their own respective drums.

‘Malcy has his comix and I have my duo Off Brand with Firas Khnaisser, the TFEH gig series, the Giant Tank label, and loads of other stuff to fill my days with,’

says Robertson. ‘And we both play with Sonic Bothy’s Learning Space group, so we still jam with each other regularly outside of Usurper.’

Duff will perform ‘from time to time, and I’m still developing some new “live comix”, performed comic books that I began making and performing in 2010. I feel very excited to see what we will both do next.’ (Neil Cooper)

n That’s That Then With Usurper & Friends, Summerhall, Edinburgh, Saturday 14 October.

DANCE BOY’S KHAYA

In Zimbabwe, ‘boy’s khaya’ means ‘servants’ house’. Bawren Tavaziva, artistic director of Tavaziva Dance, knows this because he grew up in one when his mother worked for a rich white family. In his latest work, the choreographer uses the servants’ house, tucked away behind the white master’s mansion, as a starting point to reflect on the legacy of colonialism. The work is choreographed and scored by Tavaziva himself, mixing traditional music and spoken word.

‘I grew up within the apartheid regime and have realised that it is not just in southern Africa or Zimbabwe; it’s all over the world,’ he says. ‘The work itself is really focused on that and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.’

Originally born in a rural village, Tavaziva was drawn early on towards a dance programme for under-privileged young people in the townships, where he learned traditional, ballet and contemporary dance. He then went on to dance for large companies in Africa and the UK, touring around the world, before settling back in Britain.

Choreographically, Boy’s Khaya reflects this culturally diverse dance heritage. Expect a contemporary fusion of muscular movement that veers between the fluidity and rhythm of traditional dance and the exactitude of balletic lines. (Dom Czapski)

n The Studio, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Saturday 7 October.

Discover this year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival programme

The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival returns to venues around Scotland from Wednesday 4–Sunday 22 October. From Edinburgh to Glasgow and Thurso to Hawick, events will explore a central theme of ‘Revolution’ through the mediums of music, film, theatre, performance art and visual art. With 180 different events to choose from, we’ve rounded up some highlights you won’t want to miss.

The festival kicks off with Manifesto (CCA, Glasgow, Wednesday 4 October), a day of exciting and thought-provoking theatre, live music, discussion, screenings and workshops interrogating the questions: What would a mental health revolution look like? And how do we start one?

New commissions include an immersive storytelling experience from poet Imogen Stirling and musician Sonia Killmann which updates the myth of Sisyphus to present-day Glasgow, and theatre-maker Skye Loneragan will give a work-in-progress performance of May Contain Nuts*, an absurd comedy about fictional depictions of mental illness and the need for verification. The headline gig from Hen Hoose, an all-female and non-binary songwriting collective, will boast live sets from some of Scotland’s hottest musical talent, Sarah Hayes (Admiral Fallow), Ray Aggs (Shopping, Sacred Paws) and SHEARS

The next day sees the launch of Rebirth & Revolution (ARC, University Of Glasgow, Thursday 5–Saturday 21 October), a unique exhibition and event series celebrating the life and legacy of renowned self-taught artist Mary Barnes in her centenary year. It was while undergoing regression therapy at Glaswegian psychiatrist RD Laing’s experimental community Kingsley Hall from 1965-70 that Barnes first discovered her artistic talent. Using her fingers to

create visceral oil paintings on the themes of crucifixion, resurrection, and her connection to nature, Barnes went on to become a widely exhibited artist and mental health campaigner.

A series of four events accompanying the exhibition will bring together experts from psychiatry, the arts and academia, as well as people who knew Barnes personally, to explore her work, her relationship to Scotland, and the radical potential of creativity to support recovery from mental ill health.

Bang in the middle of the festival is Moving Minds (Civic House, Glasgow, Sunday 15 October), a friendly and relaxed afternoon celebrating community and creativity. Alongside a zine-making workshop, photography exhibition and poetry reading, the event will feature an evocative set from Glasgow’s own queer choir QUOIR, the premiere of Bircan Birol’s new documentary we depend on each other which explores lived experiences of four women who migrated to Scotland, and music from singer-songwriter Raveloe Round off your festival experience at the Writing Awards (Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, Sunday 22 October). Hosted by Edinburgh Makar Hannah Lavery, this event will include readings of new writing on mental health around the theme of ‘Revolution’ by shortlisted writers, and a hypnotic stripped-back set from Glasgowbased singer-songwriter Jill Lorean

LET THERE BE LIGHT

After a lengthy gestation and construction period, the muchexpanded Scottish galleries at the National have finally swung open their doors. Rachel Ashenden talks to those behind this huge project about what the changes mean for art lovers and the way in which Scottish art is brought to life

Offering a fresh approach to experience the story of Scottish art, the new Scottish galleries at Edinburgh’s rebranded National Galleries Of Scotland: National are now finally open. After a complex, seven-year construction project, which involved creating an accessible entrance via East Princes Street Gardens, the National boasts ten new light-filled rooms. Doubling the space previously available, 130 historically important works of art are on show in the new displays; and, in combination with the rest of the gallery, 460 artworks can now be enjoyed for free.

During construction, curators across National Galleries Of Scotland (NGS) sites joined forces to reconsider how the story of Scotland’s art should be presented. The art on the walls has been curated thematically, rather than chronologically, according to chief curator Dr Patricia Allerston. And the place of women artists in historic Scottish art has been a priority, she says. The ethereal drawings of Glasgow Style pioneer Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, along with magnificently intricate scenes by Phoebe Anna Traquair are among the new displays. Additionally, Allerston points out that the redevelopment of the National has enabled innovative research and conservation projects which increase the profile of Scottish art ‘in the wider narrative of British art history’. This includes asserting the significance of William Bell Scott, ‘a much-neglected member of the Pre-Raphaelite group of artists’.

At the National, ‘Scotland’s rich history pops off the walls . . . with many incredible stories to be discovered of the nation’s past,’ says NGS director-general John Leighton. He added that some acquisitions are on display for the first time ever and some works have been brought out of long-term storage. When asked which artwork captivates him the most, Leighton picks a warming still life by Anne Redpath titled ‘The Indian Rug (Or Red Slippers)’. ‘At first glance, this will seem like an encounter with a popular and familiar artwork, a beautifully painted interior scene,’ he explains. ‘But what most people will not know is that there is another image, usually hidden out of sight on the back of the painting. This double-sided painting is now the first work welcoming visitors into the new galleries, with one side facing out and one facing in.’

Unique depictions of compelling Edinburgh characters on display emphasise the National’s place in the heart of Scotland’s capital, such as ‘Edinburgh Milkmaid With Butter Churn’ (about 1785–1795) by David Allan, one of the earliest known portraits of a Black woman by a Scottish artist. Part of a wider series of drawings of Edinburgh’s workers and city officials, this 18th-century watercolour portrait connects the city’s historic streets and vibrant cultural past with the present.

National Galleries Of Scotland: National, Edinburgh.

RFrom market leader to commercial wipeout, the spectacular rise and fall of the BlackBerry smartphone is captured in a major new film. Director, co-writer and actor Matt Johnson plus co-star Glenn Howerton chat to James Mottram about this hero to zero tale and the classic screen influences which colour their movie

ecently, we’ve had films about Barbie dolls, Beanie toys and Nike Air Jordans. Now it’s the turn of the BlackBerry, the must-have early 2000s gizmo that brought emails to your pocket and ruined our work-life balance forever. ‘Believe it or not, I never touched one before we started making this movie,’ says writer-director Matt Johnson. ‘I never touched a BlackBerry.’

Well, now he has. The curly-haired Canadian (2013’s The Dirties) co-writes, directs and stars in BlackBerry, a visceral telling of an Icarus-like tale of two Toronto tech-savvy friends, Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and Douglas Fregin (Johnson). The founders of RIM (Research In Motion), they see their invention go global, with the help of bullish businessman Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia fame), before crashing and burning.

Chronicled in Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s 2015 book Losing The Signal: The Untold Story Behind The Extraordinary Rise And Spectacular Fall Of BlackBerry, even now, it’s staggering to think how far this once-ubiquitous device has fallen. ‘The international market, specifically the Far East, became obsessed with BlackBerry,’ says Johnson. ‘And BlackBerry became a huge,

Matt Johnson

LAST CALL

huge product outside of North America.’ And then? ‘All of a sudden . . . gone, completely gone.’ After holding over 50% of the global smartphone market, poor decision-making and the rise of the iPhone meant that by 2016, RIM’s market share was 0%.

As the film shows, Balsillie’s dislike of the goofy nerd Fregin, who loves nothing more than playing video games and screening movies with his peers, kickstarted the friction. ‘He's dealing with the court jester that he can't fire!’ says Johnson. Howerton agrees: ‘He was not sadistic. I don’t think he got off on humiliating people. But he also had no patience. He couldn’t suffer fools at all.’

Like the power dynamics between Facebook gurus Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network, Johnson’s film becomes a case of the egos have landed. ‘In my opinion, there’s a true dignity to Jim Balsillie,’ the director says. ‘I don’ t disagree with anything he did personally or any of the things that he had to do to maintain the success that he tried to get, because I watched him and thought, “OK, Mike may not get him and Doug might really hate him. But Doug’s not realising that this guy is literally providing the structure by which they’re allowed to create his company.” And he’s doing it honestly.’ The real Balsillie was, by all accounts, a huge fan of

Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko from Wall Street, which appealed to Johnson immediately. ‘I’m always looking for film references in anything I do, because I love them,’ he says (Johnson also sneaks Raiders Of The Lost Ark into the movie: note the very final shot of a warehouse full of unsold BlackBerrys).

‘And I thought, “oh my god, this guy unironically loving Gordon Gekko is such a perfect place for Glenn to be thinking about this guy.” Because what’s so great about Gordon Gekko, even though he is a little bit of a caricature, is that he also has a sexiness about him.’

As he crafted one of the most enjoyable turns you’ll see this year, Howerton also took inspiration from another classic corporate shark: Alec Baldwin’s realestate salesman from Glengarry Glen Ross, the movie of David Mamet’s play. ‘That movie and the performances in it, and Alec Baldwin’s in particular, was actually a pretty massive influence on how I wanted to portray the character,’ says Howerton. ‘The catchphrase we used for my character through the whole film was, “great, what’s next? What’s next?” He was never satisfied.’ Or as Johnson puts it, ‘he never stops to enjoy’.

BlackBerry is in cinemas from Friday 6 October.

GOING OUT FURTHER AFIELD

Get yourself away from the central belt and out into various parts of Scotland where the cultural landscape is just as rich and varied. Among the highlights this month are a solo dance piece about the climate emergency, a comedian being pretty hard on herself, and a noirish British movie that lingers long in the soul

ABERDEEN

HEAR EYES MOVE

How does music move and what does dance sound like? Choreographer Elisabeth Schilling puts those two concepts together for a piece inspired by Hungarian composer György Ligeti.

n Music Hall, Saturday 21 October.

DAWN FRENCH

We’ve all made silly mistakes in life, and being an honest type, Jennifer Saunders’ comedy partner lays all her stuff out before the public to announce that Dawn French Is A Huge Twat. It’s a bold title, for sure.

n Music Hall, Thursday 26 October.

DUNDEE

SPUTNIK

‘New dance’ and ‘new voices’ are the order of the day with this showcase of Scottish Dance Theatre’s homegrown talent.

n Dundee Rep, Friday 20 & Saturday 21 October.

DEAD MAN’S SHOES

Shane Meadows’ seminal 2004 classic about vengeance in a small Derbyshire town features a typically intense central performance from Paddy Considine and a superb twist.

n DCA, Tuesday 3 October.

DUNFERMLINE

MARTI PELLOW

What else could the Wet Wet Wet lead vocalist have called his intimate memoir other than Pellow Talk? In this touring show, the smiley Clydebanker shows fans the man behind those songs.

n Carnegie Hall, Saturday 21 October.

INVERNESS

SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE & JASDEEP SINGH DEGUN

Indian and western classical music are brought together in this highly anticipated collaboration between the Leeds-based sitarist and Scottish

Ensemble which features interpretations of works by Hildegard Of Bingen and Terry Riley.

n Eden Court, Friday 6 October.

PERTH FARM HALL

Starring David Yelland, Forbes Masson and Alan Cox, this acclaimed play is based on true events when six German nuclear scientists were detained and bugged by Allied Forces as the war in Europe ended but conflict continued to rage with devastating consequences in the Pacific.

n Perth Theatre, Tuesday 3–Saturday 7 October.

STIRLING BURNT OUT

Penny Chivas’ solo dance-theatre piece looks at the climate crisis through the eyes of one Australian who wonders what is going on with all those bushfires.

n Macrobert Arts Centre, Wednesday 4 October.

Jasdeep Singh Degun (and bottom from left), Hear Eyes Move, Dawn French, Farm Hall

PICTURE: ROBERT LESLIE

PICTURE: MARC BRENNER

Celebrate spooky season at Paisley Halloween Festival 2023

Enjoy a spine-tingling blend of circus, music, dance and much more this October

We’ve reached the time of year when Paisley town centre undergoes a spellbinding transformation as the renowned Halloween Festival makes its grand return from Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 October, running from 5–9pm each evening.

Hailed as one of the biggest and best events of its kind around the UK, this three-day extravaganza promises to deliver enchanting street performances and eerie installations to get audiences into the spooky spirit. Paisley Halloween Festival is a free-to-attend event that attracts thousands of attendees year upon year. Set on a redesigned site, against a magnificent backdrop of the town’s 850 year-old Abbey, the surroundings tie perfectly into this year’s overarching theme, ‘Gothic Halloween’.

For the first time, the festival has been split into two distinct zones; the Halloween Trail Zone, a captivating oneway route around the historic Abbey home to Frank & McStein’s Fire Show, the eerie Spooky Bat Cave, and the mysterious Raven’s Realm; and a Live Performance Zone, situated by Paisley Cross where mesmerising acts like Spark! LED drummers and Pyroceltica will be joined by sword-swallowers, stilt-walkers, and community music and dance performances. Vampires will soar

through the air in aerial specialists All Or Nothing’s Halloweenthemed piece, while a funfair, Marshmallow pits and delectable array of street food offerings will also be available all evening.

This year’s festival, organised by Renfrewshire Council, is produced in partnership with globally acclaimed circus experts at Cirque Bijou and backed by EventScotland. Renfrewshire Council events manager Pauline Allan says: ‘Paisley Halloween Festival has grown over the years to attract thousands of people from across the country to experience everything Paisley has to offer. The event is a wonderful stage from which to showcase the many talented groups in Renfrewshire’s cultural scene, with young people getting the chance to perform beside and be inspired by professional artists.’

Come and join the fun by jumping on a short train journey from Glasgow to Paisley Gilmour Street station. For those arriving by car, free parking is also available.

Find out more about this year’s Paisley Halloween Festival at www.paisley.is

As a contemporary dance fan, there are certain expectations when you head along to the world premiere of a brand-new piece. Chances are it will feature a small cast, minimal costumes, no set, lovely lighting and a score defined by its emotional ambivalence: electro pips or, if you’re lucky, perhaps a flourish of tasteful strings.

It is a breath of fresh air then to witness the world premiere of Dickson Mbi’s wildly immersive and huge-inscale Twice-Born, a piece that breathes life into collective unconscious ideas of society, spirituality, care and ritual. London-born Mbi has a background in street and hiphop dance, and recently won this year’s Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement In Dance. Twice-Born was created as part of Scottish Ballet’s Next Generation campaign, supporting early to-mid-career choreographers, and it’s thrilling to see the freedom that has been given to Mbi’s ambitious vision. There are no boundaries here, either in imagination or in staging.

The piece takes place loosely over three acts, each rooted in a society with a woman at its head. Scottish Ballet principal Marge Hendrick begins crouched and clutching the side of an enormous mountain that forms the backdrop. Slowly she stretches up, summoning or honouring some higher force; huge rocks rise magically like black clouds into the air. When she is joined onstage by her tribe, they claw and prowl their way into circles and straight formations. Clad in Debbie Duru’s warrior-like costumes (arm cuffs and cross-strapped vests), they move with unified chest pulses, or flicker their fingers in little detailed gestures. Even if we can’t interpret these symbols, we have the sense their movements mean something to them. Hendrick commands her troupe with gravitas, but we can also feel the cost to her. At one point she is left alone on stage, screaming into the void.

Eventually one society falls and another rises from its ashes, but this time its masked matriarch is all alien liquidity and cunning head flicks. She oversees a chilling parade of men, covering their faces with giant rocks and yanking around women like dolls. But it’s the sacrifice and resurrection of dancer Rishan Benjamin, propelling us into the third act, that heralds Twice-Born as something extraordinary.

dance of the month

Scottish Ballet’s latest double bill brings together two wildly different and strikingly original pieces. Lucy Ribchester is swept off her feet by work that stretches boundaries

There are echoes of The Rite Of Spring in the terror and panic of Benjamin as she tries to escape her fate. Unlike Stravinsky’s unforgiving vision, which ends with the death of its protagonist, here, once Benjamin has been laid out in a loving funeral tableau, she takes a single, magical breath. Her body almost bends in two with the force of it, and it creates a moment of pure theatrical catharsis. Benjamin is a powerhouse performer and she carries the final act brilliantly, leading her community into snaking patterns and earth-shaking triumphant drills.

Mbi has created an exhilarating, epic piece which leaves you feeling that you could be watching the work of another Pina Bausch or Akram Khan or Matthew Bourne, or any of the modern choreographers who have turned contemporary dance into a superstar medium, knitting together artistic rigour with accessibility and broad appeal. It’s to Scottish Ballet’s credit that they have enabled the full breadth of his vision to come alive, complete with tumbling meteors, flying dancers and a magnificent filmic score which Mbi himself composed.

As a brisk, exquisite aperitif, Cayetano Soto’s playful 15-minute ode to equestrian delights, Schachmatt, opens the show. Soto is a very different choreographer to Mbi, irreverent and poised, carefully teasing his dancers into chorus lines and coquettish duets on a crisply drawn, giant chess board (the title translates as ‘checkmate’). Soto himself designed the costumes: khaki playsuits and ties, knee-high socks and dressage hats that flirt with fetish.

The Fosse-like sharp edges of his choreography are pleasingly jarring when recontextualised against the torchsong soundtrack for sweeping Spanish and Cuban boleros. Several of the tracks Soto has chosen for his score have been featured in Pedro Almodóvar films, and the piece has crossover with the Spanish director’s vision: sexy, surreal, striking, dancing an almost impenetrable line between humour and seriousness. It’s an evening that leans into the rewards of allowing pure creativity free rein, whatever form that might take.

Scottish Ballet: Twice-Born, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Friday 20 & Saturday 21 October; reviewed at Theatre Royal, Glasgow.

ART RACHEL EULENA WILLIAMS Hair And Body lllll

Explosively colourful yet gently playful, this solo exhibition of new multimedia works by artist Rachel Eulena Williams is slow to find its footing. Several abstract circular paintings are striking at a distance but upon closer inspection, elements of their execution appear slightly rushed. At the heart of this DCA show is an inviting swing installation titled ‘Swing Protective Style’. This is where the exhibition gains momentum (although, understandably, not too much: a sign on the nearby wall asks us to keep our feet in contact with the ground). Offering a space for quiet contemplation, the swing’s braided ropes sprawl beautifully to the floor.

The macramé of ‘Swing Protective Style’ is said to ‘recall hairstyles, adornments and accessories’. In unison with ‘Colour Relaxer’ (another textile installation adorned with hand-sewn circles), the exhibition’s subtle narrative emerges for us to grasp. An understated short film concludes proceedings. Despite it being the artist’s first venture into film, the intersecting footage of hair braiding with clips of her craft practice is both gripping and intriguing. Overall, the exhibition’s tempo soothes the soul, but it lacks full impact to linger in our minds for long after exiting the gallery. (Rachel Ashenden)

n Dundee Contemporary Arts, until Sunday 19 November.

MUSIC

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD lllll

‘Ello!’ hams John Lydon, returning to the stage after he and the rest of Public Image Ltd have ploughed through a glorious rewind as far back as 1979’s Metal Box record, alongside songs from their recently released End Of World album. By Lydon’s account, the gap since their last one has been ‘eight years of fucking misery for all of us’.

Sporting a long coat and ornate vintage tie, Lydon looks and sounds every inch the music-hall Dadaist provocateur. With lyrics perched on a music stand, he unleashes his guttural declamations over bassist Scott Firth and drummer Bruce Smith’s pounding rhythms and guitarist Lu Edmonds’ torrent of jaggy metal shards.

Having set the scene with album opener ‘Penge’ (a backhanded guide to the south-east London suburb of the song’s title), the dub echo bass and drums of ‘Albatross’ from Metal Box is a spacey and still startlingsounding creation. Similarly, the knee-jerk snarl of their new record’s ‘Being Stupid Again’ segues into the queasy swirl of ‘Poptones’, as Edmonds makes Keith Levene’s original guitar patterns his own.

On ‘Death Disco’, Lydon howls like a wounded bird of prey. Part showman, part grumpy old man, throughout a thrilling ‘Flowers Of Romance’, his voice is laced with undisguised venom. ‘Memories,’ he deadpans, introducing the song of the same name, ‘we’ve all got ’em. Let’s see if I can remember them.’

Lydon’s patter is a treat. There are digs against ‘socialist council bins’, and, on ‘Shoom’, which ends the main set, a mass singalong of ‘fuck off’ is aimed at Lydon’s former Sex Pistols comrades, Steve Jones and Paul Cook. For the encore, that ‘ello!’ of course gives way to PiL’s self-titled theme song. A dark ‘Open Up’ follows, with a triumphal ‘Rise’ provoking a mass chorus of ‘anger is an energy’. ‘We will never let you down’, Lydon declares as a parting shot. He means it, maaan. (Neil Cooper)

n Reviewed at O2 Academy Edinburgh.

of the month

Killers Of The Flower Moon is the latest movie from legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, with acting giants DiCaprio and De Niro taking centre stage. Emma Simmonds praises this impressive and engrossing thriller which explores the murders of Osage Native Americans in the 1920s

Greed and bigotry fuse with fatal consequences in this epic adaptation of David Grann’s 2017 non-fiction book from cinematic maestro Martin Scorsese and co-screenwriter Eric Roth. A simmering, 1920s-set crime thriller imbued with a Wild West flavour and quiet fury, over three-and-a-half (largely justified) hours, it tells the terrible tale of the Osage Indian murders.

Leonardo DiCaprio is our weak and weasily protagonist, Ernest Burkhart, a former army cook who returns from war and is warmly welcomed by his seemingly benevolent uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro), a pivotal and, it transpires, dangerously ambitious figure in the burgeoning town of Fairfax, Oklahoma.

At the suggestion of his uncle, Ernest enters into a relationship with Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), a member of the Osage Nation who, along with her fellow tribespeople, owns the rights to oil discovered on their land. The film exposes the murderous plot to rob them of those rights, eventually uncovered by Bureau Of Investigation agent Tom White (played here by a typically excellent Jesse Plemons).

A few filmic flourishes aside, Killers Of The Flower Moon is a restrained and focused look at the mercilessness and sense of superiority of a group of white men and their demented, ruinous pursuit of money, persuasively described by Mollie as a sickness. Scorsese takes time to fill in the cultural context, as Ernest learns about the Osage tribe’s history and we witness various rituals.

The hatred these white folk feel for Osage people is palpable, and Scorsese’s film conveys great sadness for what transpired, part of a toxic history that still colours America’s political and social landscape to this day. The casting of Scorsese stalwart De Niro (appearing in his tenth film for the director) in the chief antagonist role works unsurprisingly well, with the menace we know the actor is capable of lurking behind his more avuncular modern-day screen persona.

There are some quibbles. If the meat of the film is impossible to tear your eyes from, the slightly gimmicky postscript leaves things on a bit of a strange note. And there’s some wisdom in making us feel the discomfort of being aligned with a deeply compromised, sometimes despicable central character; but whether or not it reflects the reality of those times, sidelining and somewhat silencing Mollie proves frustrating.

It’s yet another plum role for DiCaprio, who cycles through avarice, cowardice and regret, though in their scenes together, Gladstone matches him with her gentle gravitas and understated agony. Ultimately, it’s an impressive, characteristically sophisticated achievement from Scorsese. Told with due care and craft, Killers Of The Flower Moon is an engrossing, satisfyingly enraging spin on a story that deserves to be better known.

Killers Of The Flower Moon is in cinemas from Friday 20 October.

FILM TYPIST ARTIST PIRATE KING (Directed by Carol Morley) lllll

The Lady In The Van meets Thelma & Louise as one of Britain’s best and most underrated filmmakers, Carol Morley (Dreams Of A Life, The Falling), trains her lens on Audrey Amiss, an artist who was unappreciated in her lifetime. It’s a fun, fictionalised tale which sees the Sunderland-born Amiss take a road trip with a beleaguered mental-health professional on a pie-in-the-sky quest for artistic recognition; the film’s title comes from Audrey’s own description of her occupation as printed in her passport.

‘I used to be in the kitchen-sink school of realism, but now I’m avant-garde and misunderstood,’ Amiss (Monica Dolan) informs psychiatric nurse Sandra (Kelly Macdonald), who has been checking in on her for years and seems to be reaching the end of her tether. The two share a final hurrah when Audrey cons Sandra into driving her from London to Sunderland.

This is assuredly entertaining stuff as Amiss disrupts a yoga class, kicks off in a café, crashes a historical re-enactment, terrorises a hitchhiker, and misrecognises people constantly. Morley notes the artist’s ability to find beauty in everything, showing her being transfixed by a fake bloom and hotel art, and poetically describing a crisp. The versatile Dolan attacks this rare lead role with vigour, relishing the chance to get stuck into a proper ‘character’, and she’s well matched by Macdonald, a seasoned voice of reason.

Morley’s script beautifully balances the light and dark. There’s an irreverence to much of the film’s approach, in keeping with similar odd-couple movies. But there’s no shortage of poignancy, with the filmmaker refusing to shy away from Amiss’ challenges and trauma, and keeping things visually lively by punctuating proceedings with her powerful art. It’s fittingly chaotic and very funny, yet feels genuinely celebratory too. (Emma Simmonds)

n In cinemas from Friday 27 October.

THEATRE SEX EDUCATION XPLORERS (S.E.X)

(Directed by Mamoru Iriguchi) lllll

Nobody wants to be 14 years old. And certainly nobody wants to be 14 years old and sat in a sex-education class. But Mamoru Iriguchi’s bizarrely funny play informs an audience of teens and adults alike on all manner of sexual wonders. Brought to life by Independent Arts Projects, it presents an unorthodox sex-history workshop that universalises queerness and gender fluidity in a way we could have only hoped for at that age.

Iriguchi’s sex scientist and his plucky young sidekick Sam teach us about the evolution of sex and reproduction, ranging from pre-historic asexual amoebas to sex-changing clownfish. Before ‘the Dark Ages of The Binary’, most living creatures could selfreproduce (granted, this was hundreds of thousands of years ago, but you get their point). The duo’s genius use of props (with no lack of costume changes) combined with their Doc and Marty dynamic creates an hour of construct-destroying hilarity.

But Sex Education Xplorers (S.E.X) is more than just a biology lesson. After Iriguchi’s scientific explanation, Sam chimes in to remind us that sex is not just about reproduction. Their explanation of sex as a way to have fun and explore intimacy leads us into a wider discussion on queerness and gender beyond the binary. While their older colleague lives happily with his husband, Sam points out that trans and non-binary folk are still struggling for rights and recognition. This disjoint between older generations of gay people, and young trans and queer folk is beautifully touched on without taking focus away from the play’s educational core. The S.E.X team even hand out zines made by former audiences to continue the conversation after their informative and eye-opening workshop. (Rachel Cronin)

n Dunoon Burgh Hall, Tuesday 3 October; Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, Wednesday 4 October; reviewed at Platform, Glasgow.

PICTURE: KAT GOLLOCK

THEATRE DRACULA: MINA’S RECKONING (Directed by Sally Cookson) lllll

The feminist philosophy that drives this production’s celebratory finale is deeply rooted in the script’s adaptation of a familiar text. By claiming a power traditionally assumed by men, women are able to escape the oppression of patriarchy and work towards new ways of being. Yet it is only in the second act that Morna Pearson’s script escapes from the source novel and brings together themes of emancipation and vampirism to a thought-provoking conclusion.

The first act of Mina’s Reckoning is bound heavily by Dracula’s plot points, and the initial setting (an asylum for women) does not take on its rich symbolism until Mina confronts the notorious villain and usurps his abilities. A consistent set of solid performances (although Dracula never quite takes on a convincingly sinister allure) set up the drama, but its structure falls back on the source novel and lacks melodramatic bite as suggested by its material. The male characters are sketched out through their lurid misogyny, Mina is suitably capable and independent, and the first act seems to settle for a reverent, if occasionally mischievous retelling.

Once Dracula has revealed his savagery, however, and the men attempt to exclude Mina from their heroic war against evil, the action becomes intriguing. Dark scenography conjures the murkiness of the vampire’s twilight world, and sudden, spectacular splashes of video design offer a vivid theatricality; meanwhile, Danielle Jam’s performance as Mina is energetic and charismatic. Balanced between a populist remake of Dracula and something more bracingly political, Mina’s Reckoning is an uneven pleasure. Drawing together an archaic fear of female sexual or intellectual power, a cerebral reimagining of the metaphor of vampirism, and an incomplete transfer of the story to Scotland (and into a poetic Scots), it emerges from a sluggish beginning to a lively ending.

(Gareth K Vile)

n Dundee Rep, Thursday 5–Saturday 7 October; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Wednesday 11–Saturday 14 October; reviewed at Theatre Royal, Glasgow.

FILM DALÍLAND

(Directed by Mary Harron) lllll

Director Mary Harron’s latest offering is part biopic, part Almost Famous rehash. Dalíland follows starry-eyed fanboy James Linton (Christopher Briney) as he gets a job working for the now-ageing Salvador Dalí and is initiated into the art world. He embraces the mythology surrounding this man, eagerly joining the other artists and acolytes who follow him, and finally coming to know the real Dalí.

Dalíland is for the most part fairly derivative, and some moments are positively cringeworthy, such as the flashback in which he gets the idea for his most famous painting, ‘The Persistence Of Memory’. You can’t help but wonder if a different protagonist might have given the film a bit more substance, Linton being such an everyman that he feels utterly empty.

Nevertheless, Dalíland manages to paint a compelling portrait of Dalí and his strong but dissatisfied wife, Gala (Barbara Sukowa). This is in no small part thanks to Ben Kingsley’s affecting performance. His Dalí is childlike, dependent on the fawning of those around him, but ultimately in love with the past. The performances alongside the subtly beautiful cinematography make it difficult not to sympathise with Dalí and Gala’s yearning for lost youth. (Isy Santini)

n In cinemas from Friday 13 October.

PICTURE: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

OTHER THINGS WORTH GOING OUT FOR

If you fancy getting out and about this month, you won’t be stuck for choice: there’s a new movie helping mark 50 years of a classic horror, a week which celebrates the sounds around us, and a scarily good clubbing weekender

ART FROM WHERE I STAND

A new exhibition of prints and multimedia pieces which explores the relationships between India and Scotland. Among the featured artists are Shiva Nallaperumal, Claire Barclay, Anupa Gardner and Sushanta Guha.

n Edinburgh Printmakers, Sunday 1 October–Sunday 3 December.

COMEDY

ESTHER MANITO

Esther Manito is furious. That would have made for a pretty accurate title of her new touring show but she’s gone with the equally potent Hell Hath No Fury, as she rails against the internet, attitudes to ageing and a coat rack.

n The Stand, Edinburgh, Wednesday 18 October; The Stand, Glasgow, Thursday 19 October.

FILM

THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER

With William Friedkin’s landmark chiller now celebrating half a century, the time seemed right

for its original star Ellen Burstyn to appear in the franchise for the first time since 1973. This one also features Ann Dowd, EJ Bonilla and Leslie Odom Jr.

n In cinemas from Friday 6 October.

MUSIC

WEEK OF SOUND

This UNESCO event looks at the sonic landscape around us, including the sounds we all make, with talks, workshops and concerts featuring the likes of Amit Chaudhuri and Xenia Pestova-Bennett.

n Edinburgh College Of Art, Monday 16–Friday 20 October.

YOUNG FATHERS

The Mercury Prize shortlisted trio have been firing on all cylinders this year and these sold-out gigs represent the live finale to a heavy (heavy) year.

n Barrowland, Glasgow, Monday 23 & Tuesday 24 October; Usher Hall, Tuesday 31 October & Wednesday 1 November.

TERMINAL V HALLOWEEN TRILOGY

Spooky times call for sensational sounds as this

weekender across two stages includes the likes of Ben Hemsley, Nina Kraviz, Big Miz, 999999999, I Hate Models and Aisha.

n Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, Friday 27–Sunday 29 October.

THEATRE DISCIPLES

From Rachel Drazek and Ellen Renton comes this performance which considers community, power and faith, and has been devised by an ensemble cast of women and non-binary people which places oft-neglected stories into the foreground.

n Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thursday 5–Monday 9 October.

NAE EXPECTATIONS

Gary McNair has teamed up with Charles Dickens (kinda) for this fresh look at a stone-cold classic which features a stellar cast including Karen Dunbar, Simon Donaldson and Gerry Mulgrew, and a dash of gallus spirit.

n Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thursday 19 October–Saturday 4 November.

Esther Manito (and bottom from left), Terminal V, From Where I Stand, The Exorcist: Believer

Warmduscher Wu-Lu

ForestSwords LYNKS

Chubby&theGang FatDog

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TheoBleak

BeckySikasa

ButchKassidy

CameronHayes

GentlyTender

NaimaBock

Unschooling TheItch Wooze

4th

LostMap Takeover

LOSTMAPPRESENTS:

FirestationsWeirdWave

VictoriaHume

November2023

partyAfter-

AnoraqRubyGaines

LastFormerChamp Boy

CarsickMachine Charlie

WaterTheWifeGuysofReddit

O.ByFantasticMan Liveset

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staying in

BOILING POINT

For those who have burned through The Bear and are pining for more searing heat of a fictional but all-too real commercial kitchen, help is at hand. After the one-take scorching claustrophobia of its 2021 movie, Boiling Point arrives on the BBC for four no doubt unbearably stressful episodes. Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Ray Panthaki, Izuka Hoyle and Steven Ogg all try to keep a lid on it as their characters navigate the chaos and competition of Point North restaurant. (Brian Donaldson)

n BBC One from Sunday 1 October.

PEA BRAINS •stsacdop podcasts•

Two Mr Ps In A Pod(Cast) is required listening for educators and parents alike. Isy

S‘how and tell tends to be the most revealing part of the school day,’ explains Lee Parkinson, one half of the teaching duo known as the Two Mr Ps. Propelled by the incredible popularity of their podcast, Two Mr Ps In A Pod(Cast), he and his brother Adam will be embarking on their new Show And Tell Tour in October, where they will be sharing classroom stories from teachers across the UK. ‘Some of them are absolutely amazing, shocking and disgusting all rolled into one,’ says Adam. ‘Children like to share, or overshare I should say,’ adds Lee. ‘It’s educational, in a way, for parents to know what to keep secret so it doesn’t get shared at school.’

After a wildly successful debut tour last year, the Two Mr Ps hope to make this one bigger and better than ever. ‘We want to give people a night to switch off, to laugh and reminisce, and we want to bring our kind of humour,’ says Adam, who feels that he and Lee’s close relationship is one of the major draws for audiences. ‘It’s one of the big building blocks of the show. Lee’s the older brother. He’s very sensible, he’s got his head screwed on, whereas I’m the younger brother who’s gotten away with a lot.’

‘In other words,’ jokes Lee, ‘I wanted to go on tour and our mum said, “that’s fine, but you need to take your younger brother with you.”’

But there’s more to the Two Mr Ps than just being funny; it’s also about helping teachers. ‘No one’s perfect. We all have those occasions where things don’t go the way we plan, but if we can have a bit of a giggle about it, it helps things along the way,’ says Lee. Much of his individual work (from TikTok to television appearances) has been focused on drawing attention to the difficulties faced by teachers and support staff across the country, and his passion for education is evident as he speaks.

‘Teaching should be the best job in the world, but unfortunately it’s become a job that isn’t as valued, appreciated or as celebrated as it should be. What we’re trying to do is highlight what an incredible job teachers and support staff do.’ And brother Adam concurs: ‘especially with the state of education right now, we just want to bring a bit of light in the darkness.’

n Two Mr Ps In A Pod(Cast): The Show And Tell Tour, Glee Club, Glasgow, Sunday 15 October; all episodes on Apple, Acast and Spotify.

BINGE FEST

alphabetical column on viewing marathons parks on S for a second round

Our

When it comes to dysfunctional families, US TV may not quite have a monopoly on them but they certainly portray such psychodramas well. An integral part of the late 90s/early 00s prestige television era, Alan Ball’s Six Feet Under (NOW) gave us the Fishers, a clan of undertakers who dealt with a fresh corpse each episode while trying hard not to die inside thanks to a mile-high set of neuroses and hang-ups. The five-season drama made stars out of Michael C Hall and Peter Krause, and had a closing five minutes as jaw-droppingly emotional as anything broadcast before or since.

Exhibit B on the awful families front, Succession (NOW) is back in the spotlight with a certain Australian-American mogul sort-of ceding a bulging media empire to one of his delightful offspring. The Roys were every bit as messed up as the Fishers (or Murdochs) and provided many moments of epic cringe: the Roman/Gerri ‘affair’, boar on the floor, and, of course, Kendall’s rap. (Brian Donaldson) n Other S binges: Seinfeld (Netflix), Smack The Pony (Channel 4), Shetland (BBC iPlayer).

Santini talks to the brothers behind the show about sibling dynamics and shining a light on the increasingly difficult work of teachers and support staff

Harping on

Mary Lattimore came to the harp early. She started playing aged 11, essentially joining the family business as her mother was a harpist in North Carolina’s Asheville Symphony Orchestra. Lattimore herself was a member of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra but fell away from serious practice when she moved to Europe to work as a nanny, renting a harp by the hour simply to keep her fingers limber.

Returning to the States in her mid-twenties, she became harpist for hire on the fertile Philadelphia indie scene, playing with the likes of Kurt Vile, Jeff Zeigler and Steve Gunn. ‘It started to feel like my own when I had played on a number of records and you can tell that it’s me,’ she says. Over the past decade, a succession of her own albums have followed, mostly released on Brooklyn’s Ghostly International label, on which Lattimore bridges the gap between classical practice and impressionistic reveries, often inspired by art and books.

Her latest release, Goodbye, Hotel Arkada, takes its name from a favourite Croatian haunt, and for Lattimore it evokes ‘the concept of things not being the same anymore and trying to preserve the feeling of a place before it goes away, kind of like a prenostalgia. All of my music is a time capsule but some of the songs in this were from around the time of covid when it felt like the world was rapidly changing and a little bit out of control. Maybe I have a need for controlling the story a little bit and this is my way of encapsulating the time and holding on to it before it fades.’

The album is a beautiful, mesmerising, comforting valediction, suffused with airy vocals. Not Lattimore’s though. ‘I cannot sing at all really,’ she says. ‘But I love listening to the human voice, so making the harp breathe in and out like a voice or making a single clear melody like a voice would sing is my way of singing.’

Lattimore is now based in Los Angeles, where her melodic talents are in demand for scoring and soundtrack work, but anywhere she tours she is a committed ambassador for the harp.

‘I want to make the harp feel approachable to people who might want to try it out and show that it’s not a precious museum piece,’ she says. ‘It is unfortunately a very expensive thing to play but you can make it work if this instrument is really calling to you. You can play something simple on the harp and it sounds beautiful. It’s a fun way to express yourself that can keep you company throughout the years, and I encourage anyone to try it.’

Goodbye, Hotel Arkada is released by Ghostly International on Friday 6 October.

It might not be considered the most hip of instruments, but Mary Lattimore is bringing the harp’s beauty to new audiences. She chats to Fiona Shepherd about her latest album, making the harp (literally) sing and encouraging more people to give that instrument a go

first writes

In this Q&A, we throw some questions about ‘firsts’ at debut authors. For October, we feature Dann McDorman, author of West Heart Kill, a genrebending murder mystery where the body count mounts at a hunt club

What’s the first book you remember reading as a child? One of my earliest memories is of my mother, bookless, trying to get me to sleep by recounting Beowulf. Kind of a messed-up thing to tell a kid at bedtime, but I loved it.

What was the first book you read that made you decide to be a writer? In middle school, I wrote an ill-advised sequel to the famous (in America, anyway) short story ‘The Lady Or The Tiger?’ The whole point of that story is that there is no answer to the question of the title, but I wrote one anyway.

What’s your favourite first line in a book? ‘Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice,’ from One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Like gazillions of people around the world, I have that sentence memorised.

Which debut publication had the most profound effect on you?

The Hobbit. That book soon catapulted me into a decades-long obsession with The Lord Of The Rings. At bars in college, I would win beers by proclaiming I could draw the map of MiddleEarth on a napkin from memory, which is as nerdy and as romance-alienating as it sounds.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up on a writing day? Drink coffee. Then drink more coffee. Then maybe a bit more. Race to the bathroom. Pound on the door if one of the kids is in there. Then retreat to the porch to write.

What’s the first thing you do when you’ve stopped writing for the day? After a productive day, I bounce back into the house as a bright, witty, engaging person. But on a day when every word turns into a cliché and the characters land as flat as a piece of paper, then I’m an irritable, self-absorbed, petulant ball of self-pity.

In a parallel universe where you’re the tyrant leader of a dystopian civilisation, what’s the first book you’d burn? In the 1984 vs Brave New World dystopian dichotomy, an evil Dann would definitely opt for the latter approach. Though I would update the tactics. Who needs soma when you have social media?

What’s the first piece of advice you’d offer to an aspiring novelist? My path to publication involved failing miserably as a writer for the first half of my adult life, then giving up entirely for the second half, then using a global pandemic as an opportunity to try again. I’m not sure that’s replicable, even if someone had the desire to do so. Donald Barthelme’s response to a similar question was to advise folks to study the entire history of Western philosophy, which seems pretty good.

West Heart Kill is published by Raven Books on Thursday 26 October.

GAMES ALAN WAKE II

On its release in 2010, the original Alan Wake caused quite a stir. An Xbox 360 exclusive, it followed the nightmarish exploits of a horror writer trapped in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Featuring a novel episodic structure, it wore its influences proudly, specifically Twin Peaks and the expansive work of Stephen King. A short follow-up game (Alan Wake’s American Nightmare) was released two years later to little effect, and it’s taken all this time for developer Remedy to release a full sequel just in time for Halloween.

The new game returns to Alan’s plight (he’s been trapped in an alternate dimension, a situation not dissimilar to the premise of Twin Peaks: The Return) while adding in a new playable character, FBI agent Saga Anderson. The first game’s slightly odd combat mechanic (you first need to focus light on ethereal enemies in order to make them vulnerable to attack) returns, although following the blistering success of the recent Resident Evil games, Alan Wake II is pitched more as survival horror than action adventure. The original game was lauded for its meta-narrative presentation, atmospheric setting and, for the time, spectacular graphics. If Remedy can refine the experience for modern systems, then this could be a fitting sequel. (Murray Robertson)

n Released on Friday 27 October on PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S.

Illustration by Rachael Hood

future sound

Our column celebrating new music to watch continues with the rootsy songwriting of TikTok star NATI., who talks to Fiona Shepherd about cultural sensitivities and finding fame via social media

Everyone’s hustling in the crowded marketplace of TikTok but social media fairytales do come true for a select few artists: just ask sea shanty star Nathan Evans, singer-songwriter Katie Gregson-MacLeod, and now Fife-based dynamo NATI., who became an overnight sensation in her late twenties at a point when she was in danger of falling out of love with music.

‘During lockdown, you were either buying a hot tub or you were on TikTok,’ she says. ‘I didn’t have a garden so I went on TikTok and started doing Scottish traditional songs, then some modern stuff, some Motown. People took to it so well that I thought, “why don’t I play something that I wrote?” and I’ve been seeing where it went ever since.’

Where it went was to the ears of one of her favourite artists, Newton Faulkner, who duetted with her on TikTok, then invited NATI. to join him in an online concert and later in person on two tours. Having first found an audience virtually, she was then able to meet her fans in person, opening for the likes of Tide Lines and Simply Red, closing the River Stage at this year’s TRNSMT, bossing it in the US at the Dressed To Kilt event, and on her own headline tour.

‘There was no airs and graces with me,’ she says of her online appeal. ‘People maybe thought I was approachable and it didn’t really change when I met them in person; that chemistry and bond is still there.’ But with great visibility comes great responsibility and her original stage name Nati Dreddd (a childhood nickname derived from her birth name Natalie and her parents’ love of the Bob Marley song ‘Natty Dread’) was hanging heavily, and she recently decided to drop the Dreddd and rebrand.

‘There are two reasons,’ she says, ‘the main one being the culture connotations which it may have. It doesn’t matter the innocent, harmless place it came from or the fact that it’s spelled differently: when you say it out loud it sounds like a phrase from a culture that doesn’t belong to me and I would never want somebody of that culture to come to my shows and be misled (and even more so offended or upset), so in good faith I didn’t want to keep the name. Also it’s hard to spell and when you try and shout it on Alexa it cannae find me!’

Suitably streamlined, she is now preparing to release her debut EP under her new moniker. Older is a snapshot of her rebirth and growth as a musician over the last two years, bringing together a themed collection of her rootsy, catchy Scot-pop songwriting.

‘The whole story centres around ageing and everything you learn (good, bad, ugly, tragic and beautiful) about getting older,’ she says. Analysing the tracks on the EP, NATI. explains: ‘all the songs were written last year as I was approaching 30. “Older” is the birthday party, “Stay” is the break-up, “5 More Minutes” is the “fuck you” anthem, “Open Road” is starting again and “Ashes” is acceptance: what you see is what you get.’

Older is released on Friday 20 October; NATI. plays The Caves, Edinburgh, Sunday 10 December.

TV FRASIER

Never look back, they say. In the arts, that ethos is almost anathema given the constant revivalism in theatre, endless film remakes, and TV shows being brought back sometimes after decades when it felt sensible to leave well alone. Can anyone truly say that the reboots of Reggie Perrin, Sex And The City, This Life, Dallas and 24 even matched the quality of their forerunners, never mind surpassing them?

OK, there’s maybe one, but when Seinfeld produced its first material for a decade, it was purely as a plot device within Curb Your Enthusiasm’s seventh season, with Elaine, George and co only getting back on that neurotic horse to provide a fresh set of storylines for Larry David to exploit. And then there’s Twin Peaks which, despite having a whole slew of its original cast back in the game, largely eschewed much of the charm and aesthetic of its halcyon 90s era to strive for a legacy that was (would you believe) even more perplexing.

Which brings us to Frasier. Off our screens since ‘leaving the building’ in 2004, Kelsey Grammer has brought the band back for another shot at sitcom immortality. Except, well, none of the other stars will be among the regular credits. No Niles, no Daphne, no Roz (other than a mooted cameo), no Eddie (RIP), and sadly no Martin (actor John Mahoney also having passed away). With the setting shifting away from Seattle and back to Boston where we first encountered Frasier Crane in Cheers, it’s clear that this is, as Grammer has insisted, the character’s ‘third act’. Only a joyless trailer has been released into the world to date, with this reboot already sounding like an idea that should have never been allowed back into the building. (Brian Donaldson) n Starts on Paramount+, Friday 13 October.

In this column, we ask a pod person about the ’casts that mean a lot to them. This issue, it’s writer, broadcaster and ex-MP Gyles Brandreth, who talks to famous people about first memories and experiences in his new podcast Rosebud

my perfect podcast

Which podcast educates you? Joanna Lumley has a brilliant podcast, which she makes with her husband, the composer Stephen Barlow, all about classical music. It’s called Joanna Lumley And The Maestro. I’m pretty clueless when it comes to classical music; I’m usually too busy talking to listen to any. So this podcast is 100% educational for me.

Which podcast makes you laugh? I’ve got a new one for you, now. Elis James, Tom Craine and Chris Scull, who are three amusing people, have a great new podcast called Oh What A Time . . . , which is about history but is funny (which is a bonus). I love history and I love laughing, so this is the perfect combination.

Which podcast makes you sad or angry? I don’t like feeling sad or angry. Can I answer the next question, please?

Which podcast is your guilty pleasure? Is there a Bargain Hunt podcast? There should be, I’d listen to that all day long; it’s my favourite show. My podcast guilty pleasure is Tea With Twiggy. A cup of tea with Twiggy, what could be more pleasurable than that?

Tell us someone who currently doesn’t have a podcast but totally should I think Queen Camilla should have a podcast. She’s a fascinating person, highly intelligent, and passionate about literature and poetry. She’d host a fantastic literary podcast. In fact, next time I see her, I’ll suggest it to her!

Pitch us a new podcast idea in exactly 25 words Bargain Hunt: The Podcast. It’s only four words, but it’s a surefire hit.

New episodes of Rosebud available weekly on Apple Podcasts.

album of the month

Sufjan Stevens may have long reneged on his notentirely-serious series of concept albums highlighting each of the 50 states of the US but at least Illinois, his breakthrough dispatch, is now being adapted as a stage musical. Meanwhile, Stevens racks up diverse albums and collaborations on alternative themes, including ballet soundtracks, 2020 mood suite The Ascension, the movieinfluenced A Beginner’s Mind recorded with labelmate Angelo De Augustine, the sprawling instrumental catalogue Convocations, and a New-Agey collection Aporia recorded with his stepfather and label manager Lowell Brams, of Carrie & Lowell fame. Don’t fancy any of these? Another work will be along soon enough. In fact, anyone hankering after Stevens’ autobiographical singer-songwriter craft is directed towards new album Javelin, a home-recorded repository for his elegantly anguished lyrics and DIY creativity.

Accompanied by a 48-page book of art and essays, this is a collection which satisfies in scale, and also in intimacy, as Stevens builds his poetic confessionals from the earth up to the heavens, with divine choral interventions from backing singers adrienne maree brown, Hannah Cohen, Pauline Delassus, Megan Lui and Nedelle Torrisi. Lui and Cohen are heard to clamorous effect on

album opener ‘Goodbye, Evergreen’, a track which begins softly with Stevens’ trademark breathy vocals but quickly builds to an indie pop catharsis. There are desolate sentiments expressed but a brightness to the music.

The sweet chorale returns to dance around the front-porch picking of psychedelic troubadour number ‘A Running Start’. Stevens’ poetic lyrics have the ring of romance but one song later he is finding dramatic ways to paint himself unattractive, asking ‘Will Anybody Ever Love Me?’ (‘for good reasons, without grievance, not for sport’), the imagery (self-flagellation, cleansing, purging) in contrast to its gentle country-folk sigh.

There is a sense of resignation on recent single ‘So You Are Tired’, a piano and strings piece on which Stevens wrestles with the idea that he is not wanted anymore, and he comes round to a similar mindset on ‘Shit Talk’, an eight-minute break-up note featuring The National’s Bryce Dessner on guitar. As on the title track, there are bursts of violent imagery (‘our romantic second chance is dead, I buried it with the hatchet’), but the music is rich, layered and even soothing as it comes to rest on the mantra ‘hold me closely, hold me tightly, lest I fall’.

Arguably, this would have been the place to leave Javelin but Stevens instead chooses an intimate finish with a strippedback cover of Neil Young’s ‘There’s A World’, divested of the original’s orchestral oomph, and even its melody, in favour of delicate picking and sighing vocals.

Javelin is released by Asthmatic Kitty on Friday 6 October.

The prolific and prodigiously talented singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens returns with new album Javelin. Fiona Shepherd rates it as a collection that satisfies in its scale and intimacy

BOOKS SANDRA NEWMAN Julia (Granta Books) lllll

Nearly three quarters of a century after 1984 was first published, Sandra Newman offers readers a fresh, feminist take on the dystopian classic. This time the story is told from the perspective of Winston’s lover, Julia, referred to disparagingly in Orwell’s tome as ‘only a rebel from the waist down’.

1984’s Julia never felt like a real person, but rather an object for Winston to lecture and project his sexual fantasies onto. Her lack of internal life seemed more like an uncritical assumption than an artistic choice. In Newman’s imagination, however, Julia is not stupid but a survivor, looking for human connection as well as sex. She too faces moral conundrums and dreams of a better world, but also understands things that Winston cannot. In other words, she is a full person, and is just one of the many characters into which Newman breathes new life.

Where other modern feminist retellings ring false, Julia consistently enriches Orwell’s original. Through Julia’s eyes we see the manifold ways Party oppression affects women: Inner Party wives mysteriously get vaporised when they reach 30, Party officials regularly commit acts of sexual assault, and women are constantly suspected of ‘sexcrime’. Julia manages to answer the questions that have long plagued female readers without ever feeling on-the-nose or didactic. How might getting changed in front of telescreens affect women’s relationships with their bodies? How might a pregnant woman cope with the idea that the Party could take her baby away?

While Orwell’s novel was something of a political treatise dressed up as fiction, Julia takes a more human look at what it might really be like to live under such a regime. Equal parts hopeful and bleak, Julia is an excellent companion piece to 1984 and a great dystopian novel in its own right. (Isy Santini)

n Published on Thursday 19 October.

TV THE FIRM (BBC Scotland/BBC iPlayer) lllll

Coming face-to-face with the law is probably the last place anyone wants to be, but director Iain MacAulay breaks open the courtroom doors for an up-close (and maybe too personal) look. Following some of the top lawyers at renowned Glasgow law practice Aamer Anwar & Co, The Firm attempts to cut through the legal jargon and find the human stories beneath.

We are invited into early mornings, long hours and tearful testimonies experienced by those working at the very top of the legal profession. Together with his specialist team, Anwar tackles racial prejudice within the police and prison deaths (and that’s just episode one).

This eight-part documentary series is at its strongest when it delves into Scottish law, navigating mountains of legal documents and revealing the dedication needed for the job. At times we are almost uncomfortably close; in one scene, the wracked sobs of a bereaved family member fill an inquiry room. It’s a striking moment that highlights the bond between lawyers and their clients.

But inconsequential scenes meant to make lawyers relatable undermine some of this work. Running late after suit shopping between meetings, and bickering with colleagues: it’s all meant to appeal to a wider audience but only serves to give this factual series unnecessary reality-TV undertones. The Firm is insightful, but it misses the mark by compromising its razorsharp focus for filler that tries to show lawyers are (sometimes) people too.

(Rebecca Crockett)

n Starts on Sunday 8 October.

ALBUMS MAPLE GLIDER I Get Into Trouble (Partisan) lllll

The second album from Tori Zietsch aka Maple Glider is a collection of haunting folk-pop that delves into her religious upbringing, sexuality and dialogues around consent, while also looking forward, with a new birth in her close family.

Zietsch’s lyrics swing between knotty and raw throughout. In songs such as ‘Dinah’ she tackles religion with an almost-childlike naivety, singing ‘I’ve been in the church making sure no one’s looking up my skirt’ to the most poppy melody on the album. In ‘Two Years’, her vocals slink around the music, as the tempo shifts abruptly, reflecting her relationship uncertainties. In other instances, she is more direct, exclaiming ‘my bank account’s not healthy and neither is my sex life’ in ‘FOMO’, while in ‘Don’t Kiss Me’ she builds a sad but defiant rage against predatory men. The latter is an obvious standout on the album and, as strong as it is, it also feels like a missed opportunity to really use her voice to create an emotional wallop.

I Get Into Trouble is a very good folk-pop album. Taken on their own, each song is charming and evocative of Zietsch’s distinctive persona. While it would have been great to hear her take this project to the next level with slightly more complex music to accompany her vocals, it’s hard to argue too much with a collection of songs this accomplished. (Sean Greenhorn) n Released on Friday 13 October.

TV SEX EDUCATION (Netflix) lllll

When Sex Education began in 2019, few people would have guessed that some members of its young(ish) cast would eventually become the new Doctor Who (Ncuti Gatwa), Emily Brontë (Emma Mackey) or be larking around in Barbieland (Connor Swindells, plus Mackey and Gatwa again). But four years later, and with some of its actors stretching reality a tad by still playing high-school kids, the time had definitely come to say farewell to Laurie Nunn’s frank and funny comedy-drama.

With Moordale Secondary being shut down, Otis (Asa Butterfield), Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood), Ruby (Mimi Keene) and Eric (the twice aforementioned Gatwa) have been relocated to Cavendish Sixth Form College, an educational haven for wellness and respect where gossip is banned and a Technicolorclothed acceptance of difference is demanded. This series will never have been a particular favourite of the alt-right (what with its laser-focused intention to pursue as much diversity and inclusivity as possible) but the Daily Mail/GB News brigade will literally puke themselves silly at every single scene here. Having obliterated the nation’s youth for their ‘woke’ fundamentalism, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to them when a key writer for that constituency chucks almost every shade of identity into the mix for this final salvo.

While it does straddle that tricky line between mass representation and self-parody, most characters get their moment in the Welsh sun, while behind the façade, seemingly ‘perfect’ individuals are seen to be flawed and (get this) all-too human. Each storyline may get wrapped up too satisfactorily for some, but the last couple of episodes ride a delicious wave of emotional momentum. (Brian Donaldson)

n All episodes available now.

From early childhood, we’re taught where our fictional allegiances should lie. Who to root for, who to dislike, with precious little backstory to base those conclusions on. Hansel & Gretel is a great case in point; the Brothers Grimm made it very clear that the poor woodcutter and his two children were worthy of our sympathy, while the stepmother and the witch were not. To see this wellworn tale elevated beyond caricature and populated with three-dimensional characters would be reason enough to love it. But poet Simon Armitage and illustrator Clive Hicks-Jenkins give us many more besides.

First, there’s the book itself, a gorgeously constructed hardback filled with dynamic typography that plays with colour, formatting and space. Hicks-Jenkins’ artwork is equally colourful and engaging but, more than that, his interpretation of Armitage’s words comes with its own layer of complexity, holding your eye longer than the average illustration. As a package, it’s a thing of beauty that deserves to be left out on a table for guests to run their hands over; and to find itself giftwrapped under many a Christmas tree this December. Aesthetics aside, for they will only take you so far, Armitage’s words are an absolute treasure trove. The crux of the original Grimm story is still here, but with an injection of

book of the month

humanity and empathy so strong that it almost feels like a new tale. Billed as a ‘darkly glittering fairytale for grown-ups’, it’s certainly not nursery fare but neither is it the strict domain of adults. For the message here is a strong and important one: people do extreme things in extreme circumstances. And just as nobody puts their child on a flimsy dinghy if the land they’re leaving behind isn’t a more terrifying proposition, no one takes their children into the woods and leaves them if the alternative isn’t somehow worse.

There’s no flimsily drawn wicked stepmother in Armitage’s version, just two parents living in conditions that provoke genuine empathy from the reader. Here, an unnamed country is stripped of its assets by an ever-changing regime that never really evolves, leaving its residents poverty-stricken, fearful and desperate. ‘Where there was once a village, there was mainly rubble,’ writes Armitage, setting the scene and describing a homeland too many people in war-torn lands know all too well. But the sun and moon swap places and life goes on, and it is this resilience that Armitage captures most acutely. A heartbreaking yet hopeful story that bears repeat readings again and again.

Hansel & Gretel: A Nightmare In Eight Scenes is published by Faber on Tuesday 3 October.

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has picked a Grimm fairytale, removed its caricature baddies and plunged it into a bitter warzone. The result, finds Kelly Apter, is a heartbreaking story that still manages to be filled with beauty and hope

PICTURE: PETER JAMES MILLSON

ALBUMS JOHN CARPENTER Anthology II: Movie Themes 1976–1988 (Sacred Bones Records) lllll

There’s only one John Carpenter. Rightly feted as an auteur of ‘raw, fantastic and spectacular emotions’ by the French, this filmmaker’s legacy and genius is yet to be academically assessed. In time though, his first half dozen features (Dark Star, Assault On Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York and The Thing) will be studied and eulogised alongside the canons of his heroes John Ford and Howard Hawks. Carpenter is also a gifted composer and has been releasing compilations of his remarkable score work since 2015. Anthology II excavates and sequences some of the most iconic pieces of music from his extensive filmography, all newly recorded with his musical collaborators Daniel Davies (son of Dave Davies from The Kinks) and Cody Carpenter (John’s son). From the eerie, pulsing synths of ‘Chariots Of Pumpkins’ from Halloween III to the bombast and futurism of ‘69th St Bridge’ from Escape From New York, things get off to a rollicking start. There are Eastern-inspired motifs and electro dynamism in ‘The Alley (War)’ from 1986 masterwork Big Trouble In Little China. The ante is then upped with the rock rebellion of ‘Wake Up’ from They Live. Carpenter’s gift for minimalism and repetition is put through its paces with ‘Julie’s Dead’ from Assault On Precinct 13 and ‘The Shape Enters Laurie’s Room’ from Halloween II. This is sparse synth-driven dissonance at its most effective, before things get apocalyptic with ‘Love At A Distance’ from Prince Of Darkness, and ‘The Shape Stalks Again’ from Halloween II Possibly the most interesting tracks are the ones that lean into ambience like ‘Fuchs’ and ‘To Mac’s Shack’ from The Thing, and ‘Walk To The Lighthouse’ from The Fog. Ethereal, odd and isolating, they are a mere diversion before the big finale. Iconic and instantly recognisable, ‘Laurie’s Theme’ from Halloween is all menacing piano with no let up. This lovingly produced and presented collection of sonorous soundscapes from a true master deserves a place on any serious collector’s shelf. (Paul Dale) n Released on Friday 6 October.

TV BARGAIN (Paramount+) lllll

Did Squid Game kickstart your penchant for South Korean survival dramas? Then Paramount+ are here to supply your newest hit of stylish Korean thrillers with Bargain. This shock factor-fuelled miniseries by Jeon Woo-sung is a fresh adaptation of an award-winning short film of the same name. Sleazy men are lured into an organ-trafficking ring under the ruse of buying sex from underaged girls. In a remote motel, the slimy businessmen are auctioned off body part by body part (while still alive).

A hierarchy between fake sex workers, proposed pimps and mysterious big boss is evident from episode one. But a devastating earthquake causes this fragile system of power to crumble, leaving chaos, gore and savage backstabbing to ensue. A classic suspense-thriller feel is created as we move through each episode in real time, never catching a glimpse of the world outside. Scrambling for money, power and survival, all laws are tossed out the collapsing motel’s window. This is like Lord Of The Flies, but instead of starting with innocent schoolboys, we begin in a black-market auction for human organs. How much worse can it get?

This dystopian wasteland needs some serious setting up for an audience to have a clue what’s going on, but soon after we’ve come to terms with the rules of this backwards world, it starts to implode. With six half-hour episodes, the programme moves at an entertaining pace, but some effort is required to keep up with the plot (especially its characters’ incessant double-crossing). Some of the translation in the English subtitles could be considered clunky, but that doesn’t take away from this refreshing show’s impeccable style. It’s quick and funny at times and sickeningly gory at others. A jazz-influenced soundtrack creates the feel of an old-time New York detective story; a notable style choice that kicks Bargain’s overall originality and atmosphere up several notches. (Rachel Cronin)

n All episodes available on Thursday 5 October.

GAMES THE CREW MOTORFEST (PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S) lllll

Ubisoft’s The Crew series is a strange beast. While the first instalment joyously aped the ‘cops and robbers’ theme of the Need For Speed franchise, its criminal element was dropped entirely from The Crew 2 which changed lanes to more closely follow Xbox’s Forza Horizon, a phenomenally successful series about unbearable dude-bros competing in car festivals across the world. The Crew Motorfest skews closer still (the clue’s in the title) and it generally succeeds. Most importantly, the car handling is superb. It takes real skill to strike a balance between the various controls while navigating the highways, byways, winding roads and back alleys of its beautiful map, a scaled-down representation of the Hawaiian island of O’ahu. Races are tense and often quite long, and it’s easy to misread the road ahead when under pressure. Thankfully, the now-ubiquitous rewind button can help undo the most egregious slips (and it’s a lifesaver should you sneeze while approaching a bend).

Motorfest is a real looker, at least when cruising between races when it’s possible to safely look at the surroundings. While it lacks some of Forza Horizon’s presentational flair, it at least reins in some of that game’s irritating excesses, such as showering you with cars and prizes at the end of every encounter as if you’ve won the lottery. The game’s ‘playlists’ neatly change up the environment, such as a series of Japanese events featuring night-time races bathed in a delicious blue neon glow. Its negatives are also the sins of Forza Horizon: excruciating banter from AI opponents, a vexatious AI sat-nav, and a pervading sense of automotive fetishisation that will test all but the most ardent petrolhead. But right now, these issues are baked into this relatively nascent genre, and The Crew Motorfest is a strong contender for the lead. (Murray Robertson) n Out now.

PODCASTS CHAMELEON: GALLERY OF LIES (Campside Media) lllll

In season six of Campside Media’s con-themed podcast, journalist Bijan Stephen delves into the life of German art dealer Helge Achenbach. Described throughout this series as ‘the most famous criminal you’ve never heard of’, the six episodes explore Achenbach’s humble childhood in Düsseldorf, his work in making Germany’s art market a global player, and the series of greedy mistakes that led to his imprisonment.

As host, Stephen is the glue holding together a series of interviews with Achenbach and a handful of supporting characters. Having this much time with the story’s protagonist feels unusual for an investigation of this nature. Instead of building an ominous picture of the ‘baddie’, we get to hear from the horse’s mouth about his difficult upbringing and interpersonal relationships, including with the late German billionaire Berthold Albrecht who Achenbach infamously defrauded.

Although this access is journalistically commendable, it comes at a cost. Not only do we hear arguably too much of Achenbach’s unreliable narration, but his accounts dictate the structure of episodes, leaving Stephen’s segues (and thus a listener’s understanding of the plot) constantly a few paces behind. Undoubtedly ripe for long-form exploration, issues with structure and script mean Gallery Of Lies doesn’t quite squeeze enough out of this juicy tale. (Megan Merino)

n New episodes released weekly on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

•stsacdop podcasts•

OTHER THINGS WORTH STAYING IN FOR

A packed month of things to do indoors include the rebooting of an all-time classic album, a book that wonders why we even listen to music, and a TV drama which sensitively approaches one of 20th-century Britain’s most notorious killing sprees

ALBUMS ROGER WATERS

It’s the album Floyd fans have been either salivating over or utterly dreading, as their somewhat outspoken former member releases his ‘redux’ of The Dark Side Of The Moon

n Cooking Vinyl, Friday 6 October.

BOOKS JHUMPA LAHIRI

Roman Stories features various narrative strands all set in the Italian capital as many of that city’s inhabitants are brought together by this Pulitzerwinning writer.

n Picador, Thursday 12 October.

MICHEL FABER

In Listen, the Under The Skin author moves into non-fiction territory, considering how and even why we listen to music, taking in biology, age, illhealth and ideas of what is considered ‘cool’.

n Canongate, Thursday 19 October.

GAMES

MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2

Peter Parker and Miles Morales return for some exciting new escapades as Web Wings allow you to zip across NYC in order to beat Venom.

n Sony, Friday 20 October.

METAL GEAR SOLID

Volume one of the Master Collection has players infiltrating enemy fortresses across the globe and features a variety of terrific bonus content such as the original version of Snake’s Revenge

n Konami, Tuesday 24 October.

PODCASTS

THE BIG FLOP

Sure, we all love a marvellous success story. But what do we love just as much? That’s right, a massive fail. This pod features disasters such as a hugely expensive Broadway show, a theme park calamity, and the salient tale of Crystal Pepsi.

n Wondery+.

TV THE LONG SHADOW

Fortunately this drama has been deemed respectful by some family members who still mourn the victims of Peter Sutcliffe. David Morrissey, Daniel Mays, Katherine Kelly and Toby Jones star in this tense seven-parter.

n ITV1, Mondays.

GHOSTS

The loveable spooks are back with an awkward start as the weirdest April Fool’s Day ever takes a turn.

n BBC One, Friday 6 October.

OLD DADS

Bill Burr, Bokeem Woodbine and Bobby Cannavale star in this comedy about a middleaged guy and his two middle-aged guy friends who struggle to come to terms with an everchanging world. Spoiler: could be great or awful.

n Netflix, Friday 20 October.

Old Dads (and bottom from left), The Long Shadow, Michel Faber, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Opening 6th October

back

Self-proclaimed actress, singer and empath Myra DuBois is heading out on tour to meet her legions of ‘AdMyras’. In our Q&A, the South Yorkshire siren talks about her deep connection with big cats, high-kicking around Europe with Bonnie Langford, and why a certain EastEnder gets her all fired up

THE Q& A WITH MYRA DUBOIS

Who would you like to see playing you in the movie about your life? Who do you think the casting people would choose? I think the obvious choice for the role of ‘Myra DuBois’ in the inevitable biopic of my life story would be me, Myra DuBois. Don’t get me wrong, Meryl has the range, I’d never say she doesn’t. But she’s also of a vintage, and I have a beauty that’s ageless.

What’s the punchline to your favourite joke? ‘That’s poor for four’. And I shall offer no further context.

If you were to return in a future life as an animal, what would it be? A leopard. Without a doubt. Leopard print is the national dress of Northern women and as such I’ve a deep connection to them. And who knows, maybe in the peculiar circularity of the cosmos, I’d end up as a pelt on the back of a Northern woman!

If you were playing in an escape room, name two other people (well-known or otherwise) you’d recruit to help you get out? Like in many other scenarios in life, I would have two members of my staff get me out. According to the brief of the question, I believe that falls under ‘otherwise’, but I couldn’t name them in print. That’s not data protection, by the way; I just don’t know them by name.

When was the last time you were mistaken for someone else and what were the circumstances? I think you’ll find I’m the sort of personality for whom other people are mistaken for, and not the other way round.

Which famous person would be your ideal holiday companion? Well, I think it’s about time television gave me and my close and personal friend Bonnie Langford our own travel show, frankly; just me and our Bon high-kicking round the continent. Telly execs, if you’re reading this, contact me direct.

Describe your perfect Saturday evening? On stage in a gorgeous theatre somewhere lovely, with the beaming faces of my needy public gazing back at me with gormless affection.

When were you most recently astonished by something? The number and quality of these questions.

What’s the best cover version ever? It’d be crass for me to say outright but I will mention that people forget that my version of ‘Why’ is originally by Annie Lennox. I suppose mine is now the definitive.

Whose speaking voice soothes your ears? Patrick Trueman of EastEnders. The hairs on my neck go up, and so do my legs.

Tell us something you wish you had discovered sooner in life? That long-form Q&As are rarely, if at all, ever actually read by the ticket-buying public.

If you were a ghost, who would you haunt? Someone lovely. A haunting is supposed to be a punishment isn’t it? But sorry, if it’s my spectral aura that’s hanging round someone for the rest of their remaining life, it could at least be someone nice to look at.

If you could relive any day of your life, which one would it be? I think it would be when I appeared in the school play at the Rotherham School For Gifted Girls. It was the nativity, and I wrote it, and it was (I must say) quite brilliant. I played the Angel Gabriel. And Mary. My sister Rose played Joseph and the Donkey. We used a leather shammy for the Christ Child. It was very moving.

Tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people? I’ve never performed anything by Shakespeare. Yet.

When did you last cry? I cry often and on command to illustrate to an audience how endearingly vulnerable I am on stage.

If you were to start a tribute act to a band or singer, who would it be in tribute to and what would it be called? I’d work under the name ‘Self-AdMyra’ and it would be a tribute to myself.

What tune do you find it impossible not to get up and dance to, whether in public or private? I’m a sucker for the ‘Time Warp’. Those first few bars have me jumping to the left and stepping to the right quicker than Keir Starmer.

As an adult, what has a child said to you that made a powerful impact? As a general rule, I have no communication with any member of the Child Community. What they get up to behind closed nursery doors is their business, but I don’t want to see it out on the street.

What’s the most hi-tech item in your home? My sister Rose recently had a Smart CPAP machine fitted. I’ve told her all she’s doing is sending her snoring data to Elon Musk and the Russians, but she just won’t listen.

What’s a skill you’d love to learn but never got round to? I’ve no regrets. I found peace with my own skillset long ago. As we say in the business, for those little tasks you just can’t do, there’s staff.

By decree of your local council, you’ve been ordered to destroy one room in your house and all of its contents. Which room do you choose? Our Rose’s quarters. The CPAP machine is louder than she is.

If you were selected as the next 007, where would you pick as your first luxury destination for a spot of espionage? Ingoldmells. It’s a very select Skegness.

Myra DuBois: Be Well, The Stand, Edinburgh, Thursday 12 October; The Stand, Glasgow, Saturday 14 October.

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hot shots

There are over a thousand hidden waterfalls across Scotland but the Walks And Waterfalls app will allow you to unlock all those delights. With OS mapping, digital leaderboards and geolocation, the app also alerts you to wild swimming spots. Head over to walksandwaterfalls.com.

A giant middle-finger statue made of bespoke $100 bills suddenly appeared in the financial district of the City Of London just at the very moment that Dumb Money (the story of how Wall Street was bested by some regular folks) was being released in cinemas. Coincidence? Bet your bottom dollar it wasn’t.

For old-school (or new generation) fans of Imani, Fatlip and Slimkid3 aka The Pharcyde, the wait for new live shows has been a lengthy one. Hip-hop tunes such as ‘Passin’ Me By’, ‘Runnin’’ and ‘Drop’ will be a fluid South Central LA brew inside Edinburgh’s Liquid Room on Thursday 26 October.