The List Issue 759

INSIDE

GLASGOW & EDINBURGH EVENTS GUIDE MARCH 2022 | ISSUE 759 LIST.CO.UK

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THE BATMAN JENNI FAGAN IRA GLASS HANNAH GADSBY THE NINTH WAVE DERREN BROWN

WE SPEAK TO THE FUTURE SOUND OF SCOTLAND

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BEMZ

GLASGOW GOES FESTIVAL CRAZY IN FILM, COMEDY AND DANCE

CONTENTS

FRONT Mouthpiece

6

Zara Janjua takes Spotify to task

My New Hobby

8

Rachael Fulton scales the heights

FEATURES Amplifi

18

Scotland’s sonic pioneers

Jenni Fagan

23

Seeking justice for historical wrongs

EAT DRINK SHOP Locavore

28

Tasty new dawn for sustainability

Aperitifs

31

Getting you in the mood for grub

Blunt Knife

32

Shop that supports the marginalised

GOING OUT Glasgow Film Festival

37

African stories on screen

Lena

46

From opportunity to tragedy

Glasgow International Comedy Festival 52 Hitting back from the c-word

The Worst Person In The World

61

Oslo trilogy finishes with a 5-star flourish

STAYING IN Marvelous Mrs Maisel

“ 11 It suddenly became absolutely terrifying ROBERT PATTINSON ON BEING THE NEW BATMAN

69

The 1950s funny girl is back

The Ninth Wave

72

Glasgow indie-poppers clear their heads

God Of War

74

Video game that’s manna from heaven

BACK Derren Brown

77

From Russian Roulette to 20 Questions

Hot Shots

78

Van Gogh comes alive in Edinburgh

COVER PICTURE: ANDREW LOW

March 2022 THE LIST 3

WELCOME

CONTRIBUTORS Well, that was a weird two years. Who would have thought in March 2020 when the final touches were being lovingly applied to issue 758 that we’d have to wait all this time to feel the rush of looming deadlines, the panic as that picture you were sure you had saved was nowhere to be found (and the WeTransfer had expired weeks ago), and that word you’d written hundreds of times just seems like utter gobbledygook right now. The joys of print journalism.

But we might never have reached this point of coming back at all. The gates could have closed on us several times over these last precarious 24 months, but there are a lot of resilient, determined and resourceful people at The List whether they were barely in the door when the pandemic struck or had been in with the bricks for decades. Thanks to them, this magazine is set to plunge headlong into a new era.

So, here we are talking and writing about art and culture again instead of musing on Wuhan bats and lockdown inconsistencies and social distancing (OK, we’re still talking about all that a bit and probably will be for some time). It’s a wonderful and slightly surreal feeling to be asking readers to check out our coverage of The Batman, now with Robert Pattinson in the role of an increasingly flawed Dark Knight; Jenni Fagan’s novel Hex with its devastating indictment of 16th-century witch trials; and Amplifi, a new series of gigs (co-curated by our former Editor Arusa Qureshi) showcasing new and bold Scottish music including our cover star Bemz.

There are also articles about the Glasgow Film Festival, podcast guru Ira Glass, game-changing stand-up Hannah Gadsby, Scottish indie-pop band The Ninth Wave, and a Q&A from mind-bending showman Derren Brown, with everything in the mag written by a combination of new folk on this block and those who have been round it several times.

We dedicate this issue to the memory of Lucy Munro, our beloved Art Director who sadly passed away in 2020. A constant source of fun (that laugh!), stories, inspiration, the office soundtrack and bottomless reserves of patience (believe me, I’m very grateful for those), Lucy was a dynamic and supportive presence at The List for almost 20 years, helping it grow and making it look glorious. With this relaunch issue, I hope we do her proud.

Brian Donaldson EDITOR

PUBLISHING CEO Sheri Friers Editor Brian Donaldson Art Director Seonaid Rafferty Designer Carys Tennant Sub Editor Paul McLean Writers: Becca Inglis, Brian Donaldson, Carol Main, Claire Sawers, Daniella Theis, David Kirkwood, Deborah Chu, Emma Simmonds, Fiona Shepherd, Gareth K Vile, Gemma Murphy, James Mottram, Jay Richardson, Jay Thundercliffe, Jo Laidlaw, Katherine McLaughlin, Kelly Apter, Kevin Fullerton, Laura Menéndez, Lizelle Bisschoff, Lorna Irvine, Lucy Ribchester, Lynsey May, Mark Fisher, Megan Merino, Murray Robertson, Rachael Fulton, Rachel Cronin, Sean Greenhorn, Stewart Smith, Suzy Pope, Zara Janjua Social Media and Content Editor Megan Merino Business Development Manager Jayne Atkinson Affiliates Manager Kevin Fullerton Digital Operations Executive Marianna Van Orden

PICTURE: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

23

JENNI FAGAN

4 THE LIST March 2022

Published by List Publishing Ltd 2 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh EH8 9SU Tel: 0131 623 3040 list.co.uk editor@list.co.uk ISSN: 0959 - 1915

55

HANNAH GADSBY

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Use of magazine content is at your own risk.

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THE GREATEST HITS

including TAKE ME OUT, D O YOU WANT TO, NO YOU GIRLS and more

OUT NOW

March 2022 THE LIST 5

MOU THPIE CE Zara Janjua gives both barrels to an influential music and podcast platform while wondering if we will ever be saved from James Blunt

Neil Young plays hardball with Spotify

OK, so we’ve been mean on another page about the dire Sex And The City reboot, but that won’t stop us raising a glass to Sarah Jessica Parker who celebrates her birthday on the 25th. Let’s hope she’s stocked up on candles as her hubbie Matthew Broderick has his birthday four days earlier. Hopefully ain’t nobody going to forget Chaka Khan’s big day which arrives on the 23rd while fellow popsoul legend Diana Ross gets the party hats out three days later. Quentin Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, some years ago on the 27th while Johnny Knoxville was born there too on the 11th! Sounds like an unbelievable coincidence, except that the Jackass guy’s real surname is actually Clapp.

You can see why he changed it. Any creative Scots with birthdays this month? Yep, Jon Fratelli (4th), James Robertson (14th), David Mach (18th), Gail Porter (23rd) and Ewan McGregor (31st, pictured right). Many happy returns to the lot of you.

Hello and good day to everyone. Except Spotify. I’m getting sick of big businesses refusing to take responsibility for their practices. It’s not so long since we had the same debate with social-media platforms as they morphed from hosts to publishers but claimed they were so big, the content so vast, that they could not possibly be held accountable.

But they’ll take the wonga, thanks very much. It’s like being too posh to wash.

The streaming giant came under fire after concerns were raised over covid misinformation in The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. It features freewheeling and often controversial conversations with a range of voices including virologist Dr Robert Malone, who made misleading claims about vaccines, prompting an open letter from 270 healthcare professionals urging Spotify to take action.

As people marked themselves ‘safe from Joe Rogan’ on Facebook, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and India Arie were among the artists calling for their music to be removed from the platform in protest. Plus, James Blunt threatened to release more music if Rogan’s podcast continued.

The last couple of years have been depressing enough, for god’s sake.

Spotify barely compensates artists for music-streaming as it is, chucking them 0.003%-0.005% of peanuts. But now a new movement is forming as artists and subscribers are voting with their feet. Just as violence is a language for some, money talks in business, so hit them square in the gonads Joni (they keep them in their wallets). Now in the eye of the shitstorm, they’ve removed 110 episodes of his podcast after a compilation video of the host using racial slurs went viral. He used the absolute Voldemort of words 20 times and compared a Black neighbourhood to a Planet Of The Apes movie.

Rogan was a social-media phenomenon with 11 million YouTube subscribers. In 2020, he was signed in an exclusive deal with Spotify for $100m. That’s Spotify not just hosting him but financially endorsing his content. Every time an episode is downloaded an angel investor gets his wings. Rogan has apologised, giving a school report-card response: he’ll ‘do better’.

Rogan is a lad-next-door with down-to-earth ‘authenticity’ and wants to offer both sides of the debate. So, should he be held to the same standard as journalists? Channel 4 News rakes in roughly 800,000 viewers per show while Rogan’s podcast was downloaded 190 million times in one month.

As Spider-Man reminds us, with great power comes great responsibility.

We shouldn’t be legitimising ignorant dumbasses in our thirst for balance.  Zara Janjua is a presenter, journalist, producer, filmmaker, writer and performer, zarajanjua.com

HAPPY RETURNERS 6 THE LIST March 2022

SCOTTISH PREMIERE FROM SATURDAY 26 MARCH

Les Colombes AT ST GILES’ CATHEDRAL

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by Michael Pendry

The Choir of St Giles’ Cathedral

Wings of Peace AN EVENING OF CHORAL MUSIC

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BRÌGHDE CHAIMBEUL & AIDAN O’ROURKE

02 Rachel APR

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Newton

(solo-acoustic)

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March 2022 THE LIST 7

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RE

TR

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SWEET TWEET

In a Twitterverse full of negative topics to discuss (disputed parties, royal scandals and big storms, to name but a few), comedian Rosie Jones cut through the noise with her sharp wit and put the whole damn thing into perspective

my new hobby Rachael Fulton hits the heights with a spot of bouldering ‘All the gear, nae idea’ was historically my approach to bouldering.

I’ve collected climbing shoes and chalk bags in recent years from wellmeaning pals, all keen to support a pastime I claimed to have, but never seemed to practice. While outdoorsy friends scuttled across Grecian rock faces, nimble as spider crabs, I sat at home writing ‘bouldering’ under ‘hobbies’ on all job applications and dating profiles.

This year is different. Chalk out and snug shoes on, I’m ready to fulfil my free-solo fantasies in the comfort of Glasgow’s Prop Store.

Bouldering involves short-burst, adrenaline-fuelled challenges, incorporating physical strength with problem-solving. You compete against yourself, relieving any team-sport performance pressure, and improve with every challenge.

Once your palms are blistered from dangling off walls, you can sit back and observe the pros, manoeuvring effortlessly across the holds.

Five sessions in, I’m not quite Grecian spider-crab level, but can now write it on my CV guilt-free.  Rachael F ulton is a fiction writer, media trainer and journalist; rachaelfulton.com

PER

SPE C

TIVE

I LIKE IT LIKE THAT

BY PETE RODRIGUEZ

AND JUST LIKE THAT

If the popularity of Encanto’s ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ is anything to go by, the world is obsessed with the syncopated sound of Latin pop. But instead of playing the Disney number on repeat, revisit this boogaloo album from the 1960s that gets to the root of montuno magic.

Despite this show’s catchy montunocontaining theme song and a mass desire for the iconic foursome to make a comeback, the Sex And The City reboot has flopped more than . . . well, you know.

As every episode descends further into madness, the original series seems more appealing.

bring it back

get it gone

Stuff we’d love to see return and things we wish would quietly exit 8 THE LIST March 2022

Thursday 19 May

The Charlatans Tuesday 14 June

Beck Monday 14 March

Wednesday 20 April

CHVRCHES

Porter Robinson

Saturday 19 March

Saturday 23 April Sunday 24 April

Bongo’s Bingo Monday 21 March

Jake Bugg Monday 11 April

Sean Paul Friday 15 April

Bongo’s Bingo Sunday 17 April Monday 18 April

The War On Drugs

Big Big Gin Festival Monday 02 May

Bad Boy Chiller Crew Monday 09 May

Gary Numan Friday 13 May

Jo Whiley’s 90s Anthems Tuesday 17 May

Wednesday 22 June

Jessie Ware Monday 08 August

The Libertines “Up The Bracket” 20 year anniversary tour Saturday 22 October

The Enemy O2 Academy Edinburgh 11 New Market Road Edinburgh EH14 1RJ o2academyedinburgh.co.uk

MARINA

March 2022 THE LIST 9

T H A N K YO U A

s many of our readers will know, The List hasn’t taken a physical form in two years.

After a tough 2020, The List Ltd sought to sell the publishing operations and focus on its data business, which left the future of publishing hanging in the balance.

That was until a few strong-willed people banded together to help protect and rebuild the 37-year-old legacy that is The List magazine.

At the tail end of last year, a CrowdFunder was launched to help the magazine get back on its feet in 2022. And just 48 days later, 262 glorious people contributed to help raise £27,261.

This has gone into paying journalists, building a new website, and securing permanent jobs, which has given The List, its team, contributors, participating artists and organisers a new lease of life.

So this is a massive thank you for allowing us to continue championing Scottish arts and culture after what can only be described as a cataclysmic couple of years for the sector.

But as genuine as that thank you is, just saying it feels insufficient.

It’s only right that each and every person who donated should be on the pages of this ceremonious issue, as without them, it wouldn’t be possible.

Malcolm Innes Neville Lawther Emily Henderson Jemima Levick Keren Nicol France Sca David Wilson Mark Wilson Ivor Newlands Siân Bevan Rory McGinley James Byrne Leslie Cockburn Emma Walker Edward Hyer Zoe Weir Grant Mack Miss L Zelli Joanne McGilway MM Adam Coulson Minotaure Lorna King Vicky Pearson SJS Abrahamsson Fiona Carr Shai Reshef Rebecca Travis Karen Brown Rona Cornwall Stephanie Osborne Alison R Bowden Lindsay Defesche Daniel Saunders Claire McDade Peter G Ranson Oonagh O’Brien Keith Davies Georgia Royes Gareth Beedie Robin Mackenzie Hodge Inma Vázquez Losada Gwen Bedey Rachel Marshall Siobhan Walsh Ian Hogg John Quin Marie Christie Claire Gardner Jamie Sutherland Ronan Dempsey 10 THE LIST March 2022

Svetlana McMahon Gav Gordon-Rogers Janet Grant Miss R L Colwell Angela Cairns Jean Mary Knowles Pauline Mahon Sha Nazir Caroline Bysh Andy Merry Jenny Mungall Jennifer Crichton Christopher Behr Juliet Tweedie Kirstin Innes Ely Calderwood Gary Sullivan James Smart Simon Williams Emma Pirie Susan White David Riddell Doug Johnstone Claire Squires David Allardice Chris Pilley Eilidh Dunnet Tracey Reilly Keith Findlater Graham Mitchell Emma Lennox Catriona Macdonald Jemima Levick Jen Collins Catriona Lynch RM Hubbert Edward Hyer Julia Hall Alison Petch Murray Robertson Vicky Crichton Fiona Squires Claire Mackenzie Stephen Charles Allen Nigel Robertson May Ferries Darren Jeffery David Pollock Charlotte di Corpo Julie Meyer Katie Kerr

Deryck Aubrey Nema Dean Tom Birrell Niall Walker Darren Shaw Hamish Kilgour Vicki Clark Gregor McElvogue Hobbes Hannah Graham Caroline Gorham Job de Roij Robert Muir Lucy Brown Euan Fraser Damian Currie-Mullan Jenni and Richard Guy Paul Murphie Justine Watt Melissa Gunn Emma Bathgate Geraldine Boylan Mr J M Agnew Rachel Cree Antonia Ritchie Stuart & Susan McLean Edward, Gillian, Abbie and Lewis Down Ashley Davies Laurie Macmillan Sandy Ross Iain De Caestecker

Stephanie Middleton Lisa Maslanka J Karen Brown Dylan Cole Pam Aldred The Tates Janine Greener Judy Faulds Colin Newton Gilly Bain Pete Brown Jo Laidlaw Chris Knox Isla Aitken Cara Sulieman Colin Renton Amanda Mungall Dougie Cameron Gordon Robertson Mark n Cousins Neil Jamieson Colin McIlquham Jakob Van den Berg Elizabeth Burchell Jackie Stewart Roisin Reilly Simon Platt Chris Hunt Tracy Griffen Heather Peebles Laura Leslie-Campbell Mixup Media Limited

Hazel Johnson Laura Tulloch Niki Boyle Peregrine Lloyd Jane Ewing Burnett Richard McGarvey Kate Tunstall Darcie Tanner Caroline Smith Louisa Finch Elizabeth McRae Keith Watson Linsey Shields Craig Johnston Anne Law Helen Blackburn Andrew Palmer Suzy Pope Krista MacDonald Thomas Auchter David Crompton Janice Macgregor Sheena Skinner Sarah Reddie Duncan Forbes Sarah Cuthbert-Kerr Damian Harney Smart Advice Limited Gillian Milne Claire Allan Marianne Frederick Mike Kelly Scott Henderson Laura Laidlaw Trevor Thomson Multitude Media The Somers Family Frank Maguire Elizabeth Cowan Mrs Jacqueline Reid Kate Newton Rachael Lindsay Joseph Blythe Gordon McIntyre Mino Russo Brian Ferguson Lorna Burt Keith Chandler Chris Timms Martin Eckersall Fiona van der Vossen

‘Mon ‘e ‘Ton Frances Sutton Rachel Walker Alan Cumming Susanna Beaumont Ruth Webber Keith Davies Lesley Jones Thom Dibdin Paul McLean Lesley Lawrie Kate Gibb Susan McColl Keith & Marion Newton Leisha Wemyss Alan Morrison Nigel Billen David Thomson Andy Wilson Charlie Charlton Jacqueline Morley Gilles Robel Michael Ellis Gilly Bain LeftField Bistro David Low DoortoDoorDelivery. co.uk MobilityScooterHire Edinburgh.co.uk Samantha Robertson Sam Gough James Seabright Stephen McCranor Lila Rawlings Scott Leckie Peter Proud Alan & Penny at Unique Events Ltd David McBridge Lauren Stewart Michelle McLeod Baillie Gifford Adelaide Fringe Rory Steel Kathleen Gibb Canongate Books John Doe Morna McLelland Scottish Ballet Jaclyn Dunn March 2022 THE LIST 10

THE BATMAN

ROBERT THE

BRUCE Robert Pattinson dons the cowl as Batman sweeps back into cinemas.

James Mottram speaks to the stars and director of this latest chapter in an increasingly sombre superhero series as Bruce Wayne goes from Gotham City’s saviour to something much darker

N

ext to James Bond, there probably isn’t a character in movies that causes more excitement than Batman. Created by Bob Kane, DC Comics’ Dark Knight (the alter-ego of millionaire Bruce Wayne) is forever the justice-seeking vigilante of Gotham City. If there was a scale for superheroes, he’d be at the point marked ‘brooding’. Which might explain why director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) was drawn to grunge icons Nirvana as he was figuring out a way into his new movie The Batman.

>> March 2022 THE LIST 11

THE BATMAN Gotham villains: (top) an unrecognisable Colin Farrell as Penguin and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone

12 THE LIST March 2022

‘I was listening to “Something In The Way”,’ he says, referring to an ominous track from the band’s seminal album Nev ermind. ‘That was a breakthrough for me. The Bruce Wayne that I saw was sort of Kurt Cobain, but like a fighter, and [I was] seeing him as being someone who was haunted.’ He imagined Wayne like the Nirvana frontman, sitting alone, jamming in his living-room, amps turned up. ‘And he was kind of addicted.

Except in this case, the drug he was addicted to was being Batman.’

The message was clear: this was not going to be George Clooney ‘Bat nipples’-era Batman, but something more sinister. When Reeves read B atman: Y ear O ne, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s graphic novel, he was struck by the representation of the character in his early years. ‘He was kind of a drifter, almost like Travis Bickle,’ he says, nodding to Robert De Niro’s anti-hero from Martin Scorsese’s Taxi D riv er. Similarly, Todd Phillips’ 2019 Oscar-winner Joker also drew from that film in depicting the origins of Batman’s greatest nemesis.

With all this brewing, as a graffiti-strewn Gotham formed in his mind, Reeves began to think about casting his Batman. Already out of the picture was Ben Affleck, who had played the character in the Zack Snyder-directed B atman v Supe rman: D awn O f Justice (2016) and Justice L eague (2017), and had originally planned to direct the character in his own standalone adventure. But as he backed out, Reeves began considering an unexpected choice: Robert Pattinson.

‘I’ve been thinking about Batman for years,’ admits the 35-year-old British actor when we speak over Zoom. ‘I don’t know why. It was completely out of reach.’ Truth be told, there’s nothing in Pattinson’s back catalogue that suggests he was right for a superhero movie. His only real blockbuster territory had been Twilight, the vampire series that made him a star. After that, he’d been on a wild ride with arthouse auteurs like Claire Denis (H igh L ife), Anton Corbijn (L ife) and Antonio Campos (The D ev il A ll The Time).

‘After Twilight, he did a very unexpected thing, which was to just concentrate on giving very, very interesting performances with interesting filmmakers,’ notes Reeves, who was particularly struck by Pattinson’s nervy turn as the amateur bank robber in the Safdie Brothers’ intense 2017 film G ood Time. ‘He’s an incredible chameleon. What’s amazing is he can play so many different things. And almost always, he’s totally different.’

While Pattinson was about to venture into the mind-blowing world of Christopher Nolan’s backwards-set brainteaser Tenet, Reeves didn’t know how the actor felt about fronting another blockbuster behemoth.

But Pattinson simply couldn’t say ‘no’. ‘As soon as he pitched it to me, I just knew. It was very, very right,’ he says. The responsibility of taking on a character played so perfectly in the past by Michael Keaton and Christian Bale only really struck him afterwards. ‘You feel like you’re inheriting a mantle,’ he adds. ‘Then it suddenly becomes absolutely terrifying.’

>>

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Welcome to Scotland’s Wild Atlantic Islands March 2022 THE LIST 13

THE BATMAN

He wasn’t the only one who realised just what it meant doing a Batman movie. Zoë Kravitz, no stranger to iconic franchises after featuring in M ad M ax: F ury Road, recalls the moment it was finally announced she was playing Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. ‘Every person I’d ever met in my entire life called me or emailed me or texted me. It was like my birthday on steroids. It was the first time I’d gotten a part that was exciting to other people, not just to me. It was a big deal to other people.’

Around them, Reeves assembled a cast-iron selection of character actors: Andy Serkis as Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth; John Turturro as crimelord Carmine Falcone; Jeffrey Wright as lawenforcer James Gordon; Peter Sarsgaard as District Attorney Gil Colson, a new character to Gotham. Then there was Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/ Riddler; far from Jim Carrey’s wacky villain seen in 1995’s B atman F orev er, Reeves fashioned him closer to the Zodiac Killer, a real-life murderer who terrorised 1970s San Francisco.

It’s Riddler who begins leaving clues for Batman, an enigma that will lead him into Gotham’s underbelly (which includes Penguin, played by an unrecognisable Colin Farrell) and into a story of corruption that ties into his own family. ‘In other iterations of the story, he truly believes that he can actually change the fate of Gotham. And in this, he doesn’t really,’ explains Pattinson. ‘Not only is he dismissed by pretty much everyone, the people of Gotham are just as scared of him as they are of the criminals.

That’s kind of where we’re starting.’

While this film will tap into the idea of Batman as the World’s Great Detective (a legend once emblazoned across DC Comics covers), it’s also a character study. Take his relationship with Kyle. ‘I think they’re both outcasts in different ways,’ says Kravitz. ‘I do think they believe in the same thing, which is justice. What their solution is, I think, is quite different. But this is two people who have felt really alone their entire lives, and both have a lot of anger and had a really hard time connecting to anybody. Then this person enters their lives. And it’s almost like looking at a mirror, but you also want to punch the mirror and break it.’

It all adds up to a film that feels more like David Fincher’s serial killer mystery Se v en and its follow-up The G ame than a Batman film. For Pattinson, it marks a radical departure and a role far more physical than he’s used to. Even that famous Batman growl took work. ‘I’ve never really had any vocal training . . . so I was kind of inventing my own exercises,’ he grins. ‘But yeah, it’s hard. When Christian Bale was doing it, I remember him saying he lost his voice all the time. And it’s very, very difficult to not lose your voice.’

For Reeves, it was essential that Pattinson found that vocal rhythm, to convey the anguish so often obscured by the imposing black costume.

‘You’re meant to feel, emotionally, for Batman in the cowl,’ he says. ‘Rob had to play through the cowl. Often Batman can become a cypher, and he’s just like an incredible image: “wow, he’s so striking”. In this case, you needed to see him in many moments where he was in a freefall; where he was supposed to have power but suddenly he was terrified.’

How will audiences take to Pattinson as Batman, reconfiguring the character to his most bleak, his most confused, his most alone? The actor has no idea. But after a pandemic-delayed shoot (one that even filmed at the Glasgow Necropolis in February 2020), Pattinson now understands what the character means to so many. Even the costume left others breathless. ‘It has such an elemental power; it connects to something really, really deep in people.’ The cowl is his now. The justice can begin.

The Batman is in cinemas from Friday 4 March.

(Above) Matt Reeves puts Robert Pattinson in the frame; the Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love of Gotham City?

14 THE LIST March 2022

THE BATMAN

C AT POWER

I

n the DC Comics, a leather-clad feline fatale was conceived as a way to attract more female readers as well as offering titillation for the male gaze. With Zoë Kravitz starring as Catwoman in Matt Reeves’ version, we look at the liveaction interpretations of this character in film and TV, tracing her feminist credentials from the 1960s to now.

The I ndependent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey notes the importance of who has been responsible for her depiction.

‘She is the creation of men and a creature of fantasy; this heightened femme fatale who’s all flirtation, and mostly no emotional commitment. She’s been objectified to an extreme, frequently passed down from male creator to male creator. But there’s always been room within the character for reinterpretation and reclamation, by the women who see themselves in Catwoman’s playfulness and independence; and also the actresses who transformed the character through the force of their personality.’

Singer Eartha Kitt was the first Black actor to take on this role, in the third series of 1960s-TV B atman, and has stated that she played the character like a cat (‘independent and unpredictable’). Kitt’s vivacious performance and pronunciation made her a camp icon, and she was embraced by the audience for her political beliefs and LGBTQ/Civil Rights activism. Missing was the sexual innuendo from the preceding crafty versions played by Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether. They humorously toyed with Batman, signalling the comic origins of using sexuality to manipulate adversaries.

It’s difficult to claim Catwoman as a purrrfect example of feminism (what is?) but the 1960s interpretations reflect female empowerment of that time, incorporating battle-of-the-sexes plots and showing her as a criminal mastermind in charge of her own empire and multiple male stooges. ‘Catwoman has been around so long in so many forms that you can find versions of her that represent a whole range of depictions of womanhood,’ observes novelist and critic Kim Newman. ‘Though she’s been a male and female fantasy figure, she’s very rarely been a feminist.

A key aspect of feminism she’s almost never represented is sisterhood; though when she was represented as a bisexual dominatrix, she did have a girlfriend/sidekick who became Catwoman for a while.’

As Zoë Kravitz suits up as the all-new Catwoman, Katherine ‘Kat’ McLaughlin considers whether Selina Kyle is a true feminist icon or just another patriarchal symbol of domestication

>> March 2022 THE LIST 15

THE BATMAN

In Tim Burton’s B atman Returns, Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle/Catwoman leans into the duality of the character. Her arc recalls the revenge fantasies of office workers in feminist comedy 9 To 5 (minus the sisterhood) as she embarks on a solo mission to wreak vengeance on a homicidal, sexist boss who views women as disposable.

It’s the most complex film version of Catwoman as a working-class anti-hero, rejecting the patriarchal system and owning her sexuality.

Halle Berry was inspired to take on the role in Pitof’s Catwoman as a way to carry on Kitt’s radical version, but the film was critically mauled and bombed at the box office. Its intentions to target the cosmetics industry, unobtainable beauty standards and ageism were sorely underserved with an origin story that ignored the comic books and married it with tired romcom tropes.

Christopher Nolan isn’t especially known for writing good female characters, and The D ark K night Returns is no exception. Anne Hathaway’s jewel thief is a Robin Hood figure who is shown as an equal to Batman. There are hints of her bisexuality, in a relationship with Juno Temple’s character, but the film’s conclusion regresses to 1950s comics standards, with a happy ending suggesting she has domesticated Batman. So far, Matt Reeves has revealed that his Catwoman will be getting her own origin story beside ‘a Batman Kurt Cobain’. Maybe Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman will draw inspiration from Hole’s ‘Celebrity Skin’, offering a deeper examination of Hollywood and the seedy side of LA. 

MICHAEL KEATON

Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), The Flash (2022)

GROWL QUALITY: CAMP FACTOR: EMO STREAK: WAYNEABILITY: BEATING UP BADDIES: BAT BANTER:

6 7 5 9 8 10

CONCLUSION: Ignore the Nolan fanboy in your life: Tim Burton’s Batman films are the best adaptations of the source material.

Keaton’s Bruce Wayne is confident but unassuming, a moneyed geek whose intensity is only an armoured suit away from the psychopathy of the criminals he’s fighting. The only actor to straddle the silliness and seriousness of the character with ease.

Some are high-camp spandex botherers, others have the goth-tinge of a crimefighting Robert Smith. But which silverscreen Batman from 1989 to now is king of the caped crusaders? Kevin Fullerton plays judge and jury

VAL KILMER

Batman Forever (1995)

GROWL QUALITY: CAMP FACTOR: EMO STREAK: WAYNEABILITY: BEATING UP BADDIES: BAT BANTER:

3 8 5 4 6 6

CONCLUSION: Unmoored after Tim Burton’s reign, Gotham’s resident mugger-hitter entered a new era of high-camp nonsense with Kilmer blanding his way through its Day-Glo noir aesthetic.

He evokes the charisma of an awkward teen in a Halloween costume as he moons over his love interest (Nicole Kidman’s Dr Chase Meridian) with his Wayne an insipid bore.

W AY N E ’ S W O R L D

GEORGE CLOONEY

CHRISTIAN BALE

Batman & Robin (1997)

GROWL QUALITY: CAMP FACTOR: EMO STREAK: WAYNEABILITY: BEATING UP BADDIES: BAT BANTER:

Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

3 8 3 9 5 5

CONCLUSION: An awful Batman for a dreadful film.

Clooney’s charm and loin-warming handsomeness make him an engaging Wayne, but he’s reduced to a personality vacuum whenever he dons The Dark Knight’s armour.

We wouldn’t want to be rescued by this Batman, but we’d attend every party he threw at Wayne Manor.

16 THE LIST March 2022

GROWL QUALITY: CAMP FACTOR: EMO STREAK: WAYNEABILITY: BEATING UP BADDIES: BAT BANTER:

8 2 8 9 8 5

CONCLUSION: Bale brings brooding intensity to Batman and rich-kid smugness to Wayne, networking his way through parties like a marginally less murderous Patrick Bateman. Marks deducted for his ridiculous growl, which sounds like an inebriate’s impersonation of Tom Waits.

BEN AFFLECK

Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Justice GROWL QUALITY: CAMP FACTOR: EMO STREAK: WAYNEABILITY: BEATING UP BADDIES: BAT BANTER:

9 2 9 9 9 4

CONCLUSION: Bulky like Mike Tyson and loaded with gadgets, this is a Batman built to withstand Zack Snyder’s boisterous cinematic universe. Here, Wayne drowned himself in envy and self-loathing, with Affleck excelling himself, his underrated acting creating complexity in between the INCREDIBLY LOUD fight scenes.

WILL ARNETT

The Lego Movie (2014), The Lego Batman Movie (2017) GROWL QUALITY: CAMP FACTOR: EMO STREAK: WAYNEABILITY: BEATING UP BADDIES: BAT BANTER:

10 4 8 3 8 10

CONCLUSION: Will Arnett does a funny voice and portrays Batman as the emotionally stunted oddball he really is. He may be a billionaire vigilante, but deep down he just wants to be loved. D’awwww.

FESTIVAL

GOVAN

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The Unknown © 1927 WBEI

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Ta i

ith

Made poss ible an | dh w ng

March 2022 THE LIST 17

FEATURES AMPLIFI

MAKING A NOISE Glasgow-based rapper Bemz kicks off our coverage of Amplifi, an exciting series of gigs in Edinburgh which highlight a vibrant array of new Scottish music. Having made it on to the 2021 Scottish Album Of The Year awards longlist with an EP called Saint Of Lost Causes, Fiona Shepherd discovers this Nigerian-born artist is actually a man on a mission

‘I

’m h a p p y w ith m y m u s ic b u t I w a n t to g ro w a n d d e v e lo p a s a n a r t i s t , ’ B e m z s a y s . ‘I ’ m n o t c o n t e n t y e t . I t ’ s t a k e n m e th e b e s t b it o f 1 2 y e a rs to g e t to th is p o s itio n w h e re I a m h a v i n g a n i n t e r v i e w w i t h The L ist. I t ’ s b e e n a l o n g t i m e c o m in g b u t I f e e l lik e I ’ m ju s t 2 0 % in to m y m u s ic c a r e e r.’

This proud and committed new dad can trace the roots of his rapping to the unlikely hip-hop locale of Stranraer, where he spent much of his teenage years. However, his story begins in Nigeria, where he was born Jubemi Iyiku, before his family moved to London. Following the death of his mother, Bemz grew up with his father and stepmother on a council estate where a sense of mission was instilled. ‘Life in London was difficult but at the same time beautiful,’ he recalls. ‘My dad did the best he could to make sure we didn’t go without, but obviously it’s tough with six kids in one house. We always had to persevere and get through. It taught me how to be independent and stand on my own in the face of adversity.’

Bemz nursed aspirations to be an English teacher and channelled his love of language into rap freestyling sessions at home with eldest brother Jerry, before his premature death.

‘I tried to emulate his swagger and the way he dressed, cos I thought he was the coolest guy ever. He was always there for me and made life a bit easier.’

Following the double blow of losing his mum and brother, he was sent to live with his aunt in Stranraer, a move he describes euphemistically as ‘very interesting to say the least. I went from being in an area where I was surrounded by different Black cultures (Jamaicans, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Sierra Leoneans) to one where there were only four or five Black people in my school and only a handful of Black families within the community. That was a big culture shock but after I settled in I realised that people are people and they do what they need to do to get by. It did have its eye-opening moments, but take away all the racism and all that stuff, and it was alright, man.’

Bemz sounds sanguine now but when pressed on the racist abuse he was subjected to, he recounts outright racial slurs and stereotypes including school rumours that he had stabbed someone or was a drug dealer. ‘I’m just a 14-year-old child: relax,’ was his response.

By the time he left school with a Higher in Music, he had started rapping in earnest, producing his first mixtape before moving to the marginally more hip-hop-friendly environs of Ayr to study sound production. Over the next seven years, he forged relationships with musical collaborators and developed his sound. ‘I’m a firm advocate for lyricism and I feel mine has got a bit better,’ he says. ‘When I started I was rapping about

18 THE LIST March 2022

the same old things: money, girls, blah, blah, blah. And none of it was actually true. Over the years, I swore to myself that I would stop making music like that and draw inspiration from my life to make music that I wanted to make, not music that I thought people wanted to hear.’

Bemz has warm words for his coastal stomping ground. ‘Ayr was fundamental in my story as a musician. In Ayr I took music just that little bit more seriously. I realised that I was willing to sacrifice a lot to make sure I got a music career.’ Inevitably, for an ambitious young rapper in the west of Scotland, all roads led to Glasgow; though further bumps in the road awaited him there. ‘I came to Glasgow with high hopes and dreams, only to be met with a little bit of resentment,’ he recalls. ‘There’s a whole lot more politics within the industry and it’s not as easy as just being in Glasgow. I knew I had a job to do which was to show people that I’m a talented individual who can be up there with the best of them.’

Collaborations with more established Glasgow-based rappers such as Kobi Onyame and Paque (both of whom feature on his acclaimed EP ‘Saint Of Lost Causes’) smoothed the way somewhat, and a support slot with The Snuts introduced him to a new audience. But in that DIY spirit which characterises so many areas of the Glasgow music scene, Bemz set up his own promotions company, M4, in order to mentor the next generation of rappers and create a more sustainable scene in Scotland; it works in much the same way as Ransom FA’s hiphop community was built from the ground up in Aberdeen.

‘I do draw a lot of inspiration and love from the Scottish rap scene,’ says Bemz. ‘See the youngers that are coming up in Scotland? They are going to be a problem, and that in itself is an inspiration. There’s a lot of talent boiling in Scotland.’

Bemz, meanwhile, is building on his latest EP, ‘M4’, on which he jousts lyrically with his contemporaries Washington, Chef and ID; though it is the solo closing track, ‘26’, with its dreamy house backing and thoughtful autobiography which stands out.

Next on the mission is a rescheduled headline slot at King Tut’s in May, his first festival appearance at this summer’s Riverside Festival and his live Edinburgh debut where he will perform at Amplifi. This new music showcase at the Queen’s Hall is curated by former L ist editor Arusa Qureshi (who recently published F lip The S cript, an exploration of women in UK hip hop) and blogger-promoter Halina Rifai. It’s all part of the sustainable plan. ‘I want to go that organic route. I understand it will take a bit longer but I’m OK with that.’

Bemz plays Amplifi, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Wednesday 6 April; M4 is out now via M4 Music.

When I started I was rapping about money, girls, blah, blah, blah; none of it was actually true

”

>>

March 2022 THE LIST 19

AMPLIFI

PICTURE: PLOY OTTESON

‘I

th in k th e liv e d e x p e rie n c e is th e m o s t im p a c tf u l to o l to h e lp p e o p le c h a n g e ,’ s a y s r a p p e r a n d p o e t B e e A s h a S i n g h . ‘I w a n t m e n to h e a r it a n d u n d e rs ta n d th e p e rs p e c tiv e o f a w o m a n in a ll th e s e s itu a tio n s in r e la tio n s h ip s .’ W e ’ r e ta lk in g a b o u t S in g h ’s d e b u t a l b u m F rom G irl To M en, w h i c h s h e r e l e a s e d m e r e w e e k s b e fo re b e in g n a m e d B e s t N e w c o m e r a t 2 0 2 1 ’s S c o ttis h A lte rn a tiv e M u s ic A w a rd s .

Moving between grime, softly sung ukulele numbers and spoken word, Singh narrates different relationships with men from throughout her life. Her lyrics touch on a desire for intimacy, complicated sexual encounters and muddy consent, most viscerally in ‘Boys’ where a partner spits in Singh’s face. Three years ago, the BBC documentary Spi t I t O ut showed Singh using her poetry to recover from a rape and its subsequent toll on her mental health. Since then, she and the film’s director Léa Luiz de Oliveira have turned Spit It Out into a charity, which explores how people can heal from trauma through creativity.

This work feels all the more critical now since Sarah Everard’s assault and murder.

‘Every conversation was around consent and the danger it is to be a woman and a minority,’ Singh says of the period that followed Everard’s disappearance. She describes her frustration, as a woman of mixed Scottish and Punjabi heritage, when it emerged that two Black women, Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, had disappeared the year before but with far less media coverage.

‘I’m glad there was an uproar,’ Singh says. ‘I’m pissed off that it had to be her that created that.

It happens daily. In India at the moment, there are Sikh women being gang-raped and murdered and paraded through the street. This obviously impacts me hard because it’s my family. But it’s not in the news here.’

Singh has channelled that frustration into her day job with Intercultural Youth Scotland, where she helps to nurture young people of colour’s creative talents. ‘I wish I’d had it when I was younger.

I wish someone had said that I could write, or pushed me to do that in a space with people that were like me. I didn’t have anyone like me.’ The value of this space lies not only in the confidence it can instil in its young people, Singh says, but also the greater visibility it generates within Scotland’s creative industries.

Her own nomination for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award is a case in point. This year, the prize acknowledged that diverse voices in Scotland have historically been excluded, and so removed its criteria that entrants’ parents must be born in Scotland. Creative opportunities are beginning to open up for Singh’s young charges, she says, but meaningful change still seems some way off. ‘The funding isn’t there to support young people of colour in the way it needs to be because they’re still seen as such a small part of Scotland.

Each culture and everyone’s upbringings are so different and they all need to be nurtured in different ways. There needs to be people with that lived experience to help them get to that place.’

Bee Asha Singh plays Amplifi, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Wednesday 16 March.

THE GOOD FIGHT

20 THE LIST March 2022

PICTURE: PAUL JENNINGS

A big winner at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards, Bee Asha Singh brings her powerful blend of poetry and rap to Amplifi. Becca Inglis discovers how creativity and campaigning has helped her battle back against severe trauma

AMPLIFI

sound artists PICTURE: PLOY OTTESON

Kevin Fullerton gives us an alphabetical snapshot of the remaining acts across three nights of Amplifi at the Queen’s Hall, from Paisley rappers to Ayrshire indie bands

PICTURE: PAUL JENNINGS

A iiT ee i s a young A eb r pl a udi t s f o r de but a l bum a w a r d s h or t l i s t i n 201.

B e yonc é , he r m us i c c ont s he he a r d gr ow i ng up, i nf A f r obe a t s ounds .

W ednesday 6 A pril. ha s a ed . T m os a w br 25 M

be e n a s t a pl e of t he S c c a de a s f r ont pe r s on of he B r i t i s h- I ndoe s ia n t r e c e nt l y c ol l a bor a t e d e a ke r s a s pa r t of t he H e ay .

a rtis t w hi c h m a s s i on a t he gos bi na t i on

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ot t i s h m us i c s c e ne O pe r a t or P l e a s e pr oduc e r a nd s i nge w ith C a rla J E a s nH os e c lo l e c t i ve

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f or a dn rt on, .

Brownbear are a laid-back indie outfit formed in Ayrshire who e s t a bl i s he d t he m s e l ve s a s up- a nd- c om e r s on t he r oc k c i r c ui t a f t e r t he r e l e a s e of t he i r de but a l bum W hat I s H ome? H a vi ng s ha r e d s t a ge s w i t h T he V i e w a nd M i c ha e l K i w a nuka , a s e c ond a l bum i s d ue out l a t e r t hi s ye a r .

W ednesday 16 M arch.

Clarissa Woods i s a L ondbor n S c ot t i s h- M a ur i t i a n r a pe r , singer, actor, dancer and model whose first EP ‘Honey I’m Gone’ arrived in 2021, gaining critical acclaim for its eclectic style and flawless production.

W ednesday 6 A pril.

Djana Gabrielle i s a F r e nc h- C a m e r oni a n s i nge r - s ongw rite r whose debut EP ‘That Very First Day’ established her soothing a nd m e di t a t i ve s ound.

I n 2018, h e r s e l f - i m pos e d c ha l l e nge t o w r i t e , r e c or d a nd r e l e a s e one s ong pe r m ont h l e d t o he r f e a t ur i ng a s a not a bl e a r t i s t on U S m us i c pl a t f or m N oi s e T r a de .

W ednesday 25 M ay . jayda is an alternative hip-hop artist 2020’s The L otus M ixtape be f or e j oi nobi na r y c ol l e c t i ve H e n H os e f or P a s s i ona t e pe r f or m a nc e m e e t s t hougt t he m one of t he m os t pr om i s i ng l i ve a ye a r s .

W ednesday 25 M ay .

PICTURE: APH

Loud hailers: (from top above) AiiTee, AMUNDA, Brownbear, Clarissa Woods (right from top) Djana Gabrielle, jayda, Paix, Washington

PICTURE: MICHAEL OZMOND

A MU NDA m or e t ha n B os s y L ove s ongw rite r j a yda a nd J W ednesday

de e n- ba s e d R & B L ov e D on’ t F all w I ns pi r e d by t he pa a i ns e l e m e nt s of us e d w i t h a c om

whose first album was ni ng t he f e m a l e a nd t he a l bum Equal iser. f ul l yr i c i s m t o m a ke c t s t o e m e r ge i n r e c e nt

P aix i s a m u l t i - di s c i pl i na r y a r t i s t a nd s ongw r i t e r w ho s pl i t s he r t i m e be t w e e n c ol l a bor a t i on a nd s ol o w ro ,k c ove r i ng j a z z , da nc e a nd A f r obe a t . A t t he s t a r t of t hi s ye a r s he r e l e a s e d E P ‘Healing I’, with a follow-up on the way.

W ednesday 16 M arch.

Washington i s a n up- a nd- c om i ng P a i s l e y r a pe r w hos e de but EP ‘Rookie’ earned him BBC airtime. Heavily influenced by U S r a p w hi l e s t i l l r e t a i ni ng hi s S c ot t i s h a c c e nt , t he Z i m ba bw e bor n 21- ye a r - ol d ha s m a r ke d hi m s e l f a s a young a c t w ith a distinctive sound and lyrical flow.

W ednesday 6 A pril.

March THE March2022 2022 THELIST LIST 21

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eddireader.co.uk 22 THE LIST March 2022

Now one of Scotland’s biggest festivals, independent Stirlingshire musical celebration Doune the Rabbit Hole is back with an incredible 2022 lineup from 14 - 17 July 2022.

The family friendly favourite, held on the Cardross Estate, returns this Summer with their biggest lineup yet including headliners Patti Smith and Band, multi-million selling Scottish artist Amy MacDonald, hot new band Yard Act, homegrown supergroup Belle & Sebastian and enigmatic duo Sleaford Mods as well as Scottish indie starlets Camera Obscura, rock legends 10cc, Teenage Fanclub and Velvet Underground founding member John Cale.

Festival party starters include huge rave era electronic acts 808 State and Orbital, as well as DJs Optimo (Espacio), Craig Charles, Eclair Fifi & Arielle Free. The festival also has the classics covered with Boney M and Baccara, whose Yes Sir, I Can Boogie is sure to get the Scottish crowd jumping. See dounetherabbithole.co.uk and the festival’s social media channels for updates.

The List has a pair of weekend tickets to give away, giving readers the chance to experience all of these great acts in a beautiful countryside setting as well as enjoy a whole programme of activities from yoga to talks and practical workshops.

To be in with the chance of winning, log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

What estate does Doune the Rabbit Hole take place on?

TERMS & CONDITIONS The prize is a pair of weekend tickets to Doune the Rabbit Hole festival taking place from 14 - 17 July 2022.

The prize is a pair of tickets only and does not include travel, accommodation or food. The prize is not transferable. There is no cash alternative. Usual List rules apply.

JENNI FAGAN

“ I write stories without limits ” Witch trials didn’t just happen in horror films or in 17th-century Salem. They were enacted in Scotland and led to a terror campaign on the likes of Geillis Duncan. In her new novel, Jenni Fagan recalls the injustice inflicted on this young woman and tells Lynsey May that a movement to clear her name will continue

W

PICTURE: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

hen Polygon approached acclaimed writer Jenni Fagan to be part of the Darkland series (a collection of books based on real or fictional accounts of Scottish history), she immediately knew the North Berwick witch trials would be her inspiration. The result is Hex, a powerful short novel that deftly conjures up a séance between two witches: Geillis Duncan on the night before her execution in 1591 and Iris, a contemporary witch. As Duncan’s clock ticks onwards, the two women enter into a tug-of-war of comfort and control, compassion and cleareyed anger.

To tell the story of a person who once lived and breathed is a great responsibility. Some writers wear that responsibility too lightly, but Fagan isn’t one of them. In taking Duncan, a maidservant accused of witchcraft by her employer, as her protagonist, she has created a nuanced and sweeping picture of a young girl tortured, abused and sentenced for the most spurious of reasons. Iris says ‘I’m not a tourist, Geillis. I’m not a visitor in a real person’s life.’ So too can you feel Fagan resisting the lure of spectacle or exploitation.

The complexity of Duncan’s character is conveyed economically and Fagan resists a simplistic view, even though the historical records we have paint a straightforward picture. She worked for bailiff David Seton, who interrogated and tortured the young woman until a ‘confession’ was forced from her. At the time, King James VI (who had recently published Daemonologie, a compendium on witchcraft lore) was undertaking a treacherous sea journey on his return from Denmark.

Sorcery was blamed for the storms and Seton found himself with the perfect excuse to please his king. He offered the mistreated and tortured Duncan up as a source of entertainment, forcing her to play a jaw harp (then known as a Jew’s Harp) in the monarch’s presence. As the first person on record to play that instrument, the details of Duncan’s fate are accessible to us now, where many others are not.

This is a wrong that Witches Of Scotland, a campaign to pardon these innocent people, is trying to address. In Hex, Iris says ‘I like to think about what would happen if the women of now went out to march for the women of then.’ The women (and men) of now are doing just that. The pair behind Witches Of Scotland, lawyer Claire Mitchell and writer-teacher Zoe Venditozzi, are raising the profile of this campaign through a series of governmental petitions as well as podcasts, which serve as a fascinating educational resource.

>> March 2022 THE LIST 23

JENNI FEATURES FAGAN

The idea was born when Mitchell was reading about witch hunts. Venditozzi explains that ‘she read one particular confession where the women said “is it possible for you to be a witch but not realise that you’re a witch?” and, knowing that torture was employed in Scotland at the time, understood it to strongly suggest that people were being tortured until they would say just about anything.’

The Witches Of Scotland campaign is focused on the fact that normal women and men (although overwhelmingly women) were accused of witchcraft with a complete absence of evidence while torture was heavily relied on to obtain confessions. What could an accused person say to save themselves? Nothing, but they could be forgiven for trying. This absurdity features heavily in Hex: ‘Bring upon a woman only shame. Make sure there is nothing she can say that could be taken as truth.’

In her novel, Fagan particularly excels in the translation of fact to fiction. ‘I write stories without limits,’ says the author whose 2012 debut The Panopticon was very well-received and later turned into a play which Fagan herself adapted for the stage. ‘I’m really harsh about making sure I have a strong foundation in the subjects I’m approaching. Then I’m free to write in a space that’s kind of beyond knowledge. Afterwards, I go back with a clear and critical eye.’

She also thinks there’s a lot to learn from these women’s stories and from the policymakers who exploited the law for their own gain then and whose malevolent influence continues to be reflected today. In contemporary Scotland, equality between the sexes is supposed to be a given. We feel that, as a society, we have evolved. But that assumption doesn’t leave us much space to question our experiences and, as Fagan points out, it can be something of an illusion that doesn’t serve men or women particularly well.

Reflecting and reassessing the stories of our past can be a conduit to future change and it’s through the efforts of today’s ordinary people that those from the past can be recognised as real humans with complex inner lives. As Iris says in Hex, ‘silence is complicity. Non-action is a form of approval,’ and later, ‘they would kill her rather than hear the truth that the people in charge are liars.’

Witches Of Scotland hopes to achieve an official pardon and apology for all of those accused and convicted of witchcraft.

The organisers would also like to see the construction of a national memorial to respect their memory. This campaign has gathered the support of many, including author Sara Sheridan whose 2019 book Where Are The Women? helped inspire Mitchell’s desire to draw attention to this significant moment in our history.

Fagan has contributed to this cultural discourse with a short novel wielding a heavy emotional punch. As all the best books do, it leaves the reader drawing parallels between the world depicted and the one they live in, and how they can continue to survive and thrive. The answer can be more modest than expected. As Fagan says ‘you don’t have to be able to do something big to change things. I do firmly believe that every tiny action can make a huge difference.’

Hex offers a perfect reminder that words have power. An accusation, a pardon, a work of fiction: all have the potential to change the course of a life or a moment in history.

Hex is published by Polygon on Friday 4 March; news on the Witches Of Scotland campaign can be found at witchesofscotland.com

24 THE LIST March 2022

PICTURE: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

Hextract JENNI FAGAN

This extract from Hex is chapter one, entitled Iris

The Panopticon

I was out in the Null. In perpetuity, it seemed, I was bodiless and formless until things began to appear. A row of oil-lit street-lamps.

A cobbled road sloping down. The moon a thin smile. City trees bending their boughs so far back! The winds, wild! Tall tenement buildings line the road to Castlehill.

A witch will die here in the morning.

I descend a full three levels below the city of Edinburgh into a lowarched stone corridor. A guard is nestled in a nook. He peers into the gloom. I need him to go, so I can come to you. Coalesce right next to his ear – whisper.

— Back out you go, into the Null, go on, your body is so heavy isn’t it?

— Who is that?

I don’t know how I know how to do this, but I do. I always have. I gently help his consciousness to separate from his body.

— It’s only dreaming . . .

I say it into his ear, low and over and over, until his eyes close and his head lolls. To be able to do something like this you must learn not to have those around you drink your energy. I have learnt the hard way. As a child I used to give away light like it was nothing. Those without it would fill themselves up with all that good energy like I was an eternal font. The purest light attracts the most impenetrable darkness. Great giant moths-of-death come flying for it at night. All across the world. They will smother any source until all they have left is an empty husk. I will pay a price for this. That is how it goes.

With shaking hands that don’t feel quite solid at all, I take off his boots, retch. (Can a spirit-dweller vomit? Yes, yes, yes, when a stench is this bad they can.) He has horned yellow toenails, thick and fungal. Throw his boots away down a tiny wee well. If he wakes he won’t get anywhere quickly. You need time to prepare, Geillis Duncan. They will execute you in the morning.

PICTURE: LOUISE CARRASCO

Strike a match!

We have so little time.

I must hurry now.

>> March 2022 THE LIST 25

XXX

XXX

HENDRICK’S GIN

UK BRAND AMBASSADOR SARAH BERARDI, FOR THE LIST FROM: NEW ORLEANS BASED: EDINBURGH It feels silly to say this sometimes but I really feel like I have found the most perfect job for myself in Hendrick’s Gin. I have a background in theatre and Hendrick’s is such a wonderfully whimsical and theatrical brand so it has just been such an easy fit. I love planning events and experiences for the hospitality industry. It is just the perfect blend of my two favourite things in the world.

Currently we are getting ready to launch our newest limited release gin from our Cabinet of Curiosities.

I always find these so fun because it just shows the talent and innovative brain that our Master Distiller Lesley Gracie has. I fangirl over her so, so much. Each new limited release gin is Hendrick’s Original plus something else. It is exciting so see where Lesley can push the boundaries and experiment with flavour. She is truly brilliant. Each new gin from our Cabinet of Curiosities is also a new chapter to experiment in. With Hendrick’s Lunar we got to play with the night time and the moon. Hendrick’s Midsummer Solstice was a flower power explosion. I am excited for everyone to see what we do next.

MY BRILLIANT DAY OUT IN EDINBURGH “It has been said that a Scotchman has not seen the world until he has seen Edinburgh; and I think that I may say that an American has not seen the United States until he has seen Mardi-Gras in New Orleans.” Mark Twain A wonderful day out in Edinburgh would be spent walking around the city during the day. In the late afternoon it would be heading to HEY PALU for a martini. They do a brilliant 50/50 Hendrick’s Martini with blue cheese stuffed olives that are TO DIE FOR. The snacks are fantastic as well. Proper Italian Aperitivo.

The service is absolutely next level too. This is easily one of my favourite hang outs in the UK. Then I would head to ELEANORE LEITH WALK. This is located in the Old

drinkaware.co.uk for the facts 26 THE LIST March 2022

Little Chartroom (same company). The service and food is outstanding. Wines are paired perfectly to every dish and I’m still thinking about the oysters I had there.

They have this dessert they call Tiramu-choux, and I don’t even normally like desserts but this was just wow!

I would then end the day in my local NAUTICUS. They recently worked with Hendrick’s on our Batch & Bottle Martini (which you can order online or at Nauticus). This is just amazing Scottish hospitality at its finest. They have an amazing selection of beer, drams, and cocktails. The service never disappoints and it honestly feels like you are at home. Do go and sample the Batch & Bottle martini there!

Critically acclaimed Glasgow restaurant Ka Pao is opening a branch in Edinburgh’s St James Quarter. The team behind the Ox And Finch in Finnieston opened their Southeast Asian eaterie in Glasgow’s historic Botanic Gardens Garage in 2020 and bagged a Michelin Bib Gourmand at the beginning of 2022. The Edinburgh outpost of Ka Pao will be serving their menu of small plates from a huge space up on the fourth floor, overlooking St James Square.

Expect dishes singing with the tang of nam pla and the sweetness of Thai basil (Ka Pao is a play on the Thai for ‘holy basil’) like vegan corn ribs, hispi cabbage, and sriracha and seatrout curry currently lauded on the Glasgow branch’s menu. It’s the kind of place where zingy, craft cocktails sit alongside photoperfect plates and the decor is sure to be on point. (Suzy Pope)

EAT DRINK SHOP

KA PAO

EAT

DIFFERENT STROKES ‘W

It may be continually expanding but social enterprise Locavore is not compromising on standards or ethics. Founder Reuben Chesters tells Jo Laidlaw that his thriving business points towards a whole new way of thinking about the food industry

e’re trying to prove that it’s possible for things to be different.’ So says Reuben Chesters, founding director of Locavore, the social enterprise that’s championed local, organic food for the past decade. His new Dalry Road venue (their fifth store but first opening in Edinburgh) is a bright yellow, well-stocked supermarket with an attached café that’s due to open in spring. The shop is impressive enough, but a peek behind the dry-goods dispensers reveals an audacious plan to totally reshape our broken food system.

‘What we’re doing suits lots of people,’ explains Chesters.

‘Some are drawn in by the local, organic angle, some really care about zero waste. It’s a great place for veggies and vegans, but we also stock a small amount of local, organic meat.’ Every new customer brings them a step closer to system change.

‘We’re trying to scale up to build an alternative food system; getting larger means we get to do new things.’

Those ‘new things’ include growing their own produce, including purchasing farmland in Philipstoun near Linlithgow; a wholesale arm connecting them with growers at scale so they can do things like buying 50,000 tins of tomatoes at once; and a kitchen producing prepared food like pesto, carrying the local/ organic flag firmly into the land of convenience food. And when lockdown stretched their well-established veg-box scheme to capacity, they persuaded a farm to convert 25 acres to organic, at a time when hospitality closures meant a real threat to the farm’s viability.

28 THE LIST March 2022

Yet when asked if lockdown has really changed the way we think about food, Chesters is measured. ‘2021 has been mixed. 2020 saw a shift, but I said at the time it was more of a road diversion. We’ve used the last two years to do a lot, but we had most of that planned out before.’ Still, his belief that change is possible remains unshakable. ‘We’re trying to be affordable and convenient, with everyday groceries that people need. We do that by not compromising what makes us good.’

Like for like, he claims to beat the supermarkets on price.

But the difference is that every single Locavore product is organic, local wherever possible, created without plastic, and fair. ‘Supermarkets sell stuff dirt cheap because someone isn’t getting paid properly or the environmental standards aren’t as good as they can be.

We can’t cut that stuff. What we can do is be larger and have more branches, and that brings price efficiencies.’

It all translates into a careful reimagination of how a different system could work, product by product, store by store. ‘Buying milk by the 50-litre churn and selling it from a milk machine saves tonnes of plastic.

But that also supports a small Scottish organic farm which is pioneering how we work with cattle with regenerative grazing that builds up soil carbon and takes carbon out of the atmosphere.

That’s huge.’ And proof, if proof were needed, that things that are different are indeed possible.

Locavore, 118–126 Dalry Road, Edinburgh, glasgowlocavore.org

Jay Thundercliffe reports on the latest news and openings while sizing up a Lanarkshire food trail

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side dishes

We choose a street and tell you where to eat. David Kirkwood picks out some delicacies and delights on Glasgow’s Pollokshaws Road

EAT

he rumour that’s been rumbling for a while about seafood specialist Crabshakk opening another spot in Glasgow looks set to solidify. After the original trailblazed in thenunfashionable Finnieston in 2009, the new restaurant is set to serve up more crowd-pleasing maritime treats in the handsome Botanic Gardens Garage on Vinicombe Street. Another opening sees Cathcart welcome a sister branch for Dennistoun favourite East Coffee Company.

In Edinburgh, after The Little Chartroom sailed off into new premises at the old Martin Wishart cookschool, chef Roberta HallMcCarron has opened up Eleanore in its diminutive place. Named after her family’s boat, the new spot is doing inventive small plates, singing with seasonal Scottish produce and global influences.

The chains are chugging into town as well, with arrivals due from Filipino chicken-fryer Jollibee on Edinburgh’s Princes Street, followed by a Sauchiehall Street branch in Glasgow. Also opening in the west is multi-cuisine buffet operation Cosmo in the St Enoch Centre, while Fat Hippo is beefing up its burger stand at Edinburgh’s Lane7 with a full-size diner coming soon to St Vincent Street in Glasgow.

After the lockdowns we’ve endured, anybody champing at the bit to do some chomping on a trip should check out the new trail from recently launched food group Lanarkshire Larder. The 48mile journey across South Lanarkshire runs through a fertile region whose heritage is heavy with food and drink (as demonstrated by Scotland’s oldest bakery, the 200-year-old Alexander Taylor in foodie haven Strathaven), and in recent years all manner of artisan producers have been popping up. With nearly 30 highlights, including UNESCO heritage site New Lanark, the trail offers everything from farm shops selling their own beef, artisan cheesemakers and local dairy ice-cream operations, to gin distilleries galore, and craft breweries big and small. There are plenty of options for settling in to eat out as well, with an impressive range of fine-dining hotels, inventive bistros and crafty cafés.

street food

RANJIT’S KITCHEN Ranjit Kaur has been unassumingly serving Punjabi homestyle veggie delights since 2015. The dhal of the day always has a remarkable depth of flavour and dishes display all sorts of skilful uses of paneer, potato and chickpea. Samosas are just that little bit more balanced, with spiciness playing out in long, fruity waves.

LOBO Modern combinations of North African, Spanish and Italian flavours bounce off each other in a small-plates setting. Roast fennel, radicchio, mozzarella, orange and hazelnut form a punchy salad, while yoghurt, tomato and a controlled touch of harissa enliven a gutsy wedge of slow-cooked lamb. A confident kitchen and a hip space.

CAFE STRANGE BREW/BRAMBLE In no way related, but between them they dominate the local brunch scene. Think myriad riffs on eggs baked, poached or shakshuka-d, pretty plates of pancakes, and nice uses of salsa and sweetcorn for plant-based diets. No bookings, just get your name on the list and they’ll call you when there’s a table. Both do a roaring trade in takeaway, too.

JULIE’S KOPITIAM Nowadays, Julie’s more likely to be found on the BBC Food page or at her new venture in the West End, but the original site continues to serve vibrant plates of Malaysian comfort food from behind its steamy windows.

Soulful curries of chicken or lentil are flanked by sides where humble ingredients are elevated by dashing combinations of spices and pickles.

KURDISH STREET FOOD Technically this is about ten metres off of Pollokshaws Road, but it’s always in the conversation for ‘best shawarma in the city’ so it earns a spot here. The lamb is juicy and pleasingly fatty, the chicken is maybe better still, and the falafel is fried to order: crisp then moist as you bite. You can sit in, but the takeaway is what makes it so popular.

Fat Hippo beefs up its operation in Edinburgh

March 2022 THE LIST 29

EAT

RESTAURANT

SEN

Opened in early 2021, Sen serves Vietnamese comfort food, primarily from the Nam Din province. Midnight-blue walls and a ceiling glowing with HoiAnese lanterns welcome you to the bijou space on West Nicolson Street while the scent of spices that have been sun-dried and brought back from Vietnam hangs in the air. You can taste the citrus tang of lemongrass in the salt and pepper squid starter which remains soft and tender on the inside and crisp on the outside.

Soft pork-belly cuts as though it’s been cooked for days, let alone hours, in the umami-rich caramelised coconut sauce. Salty, savoury and sweet all vie for attention in every bite. Pho (pronounced ‘fuh’) is a hearty medley of rich broth, rice noodles and filleted beef, which Sen sources locally from East Lothian farms. A distinctly Vietnamese addition, the pho here comes with the little stick of fried bread ubiquitous in the outlets of Hanoi, plus plenty of fresh mint, Thai basil and coriander to add to your liking.

Perhaps the star of the show is the duck lantern curry, where confit duck leg shows the French influence in Vietnamese cuisine and wheels of lotus root are a nod to the restaurant’s name (Sen meaning lotus). Chilli pulses pleasantly at the back of your throat and an aniseed sweetness lingers after a few bites.

An effort has been put into plant-based dining too with a dedicated menu for vegans and vegetarians just as extensive as its carnivorous counterpart.

There are summer rolls served with avocado, a green papaya salad that you’d see at any of Hoi-An’s food carts, and stir-fry vegetable pho which doesn’t feel like a compromise on flavour. Southeast Asia isn’t famous for its desserts but traditional Vietnamese drip coffee is on offer: just don’t expect to sleep after. Digesting with the slow sip of a lotus tea is the more sedate option. (Suzy Pope)  41 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, senrestaurant.co.uk

BOOK

A TASTE OF THE HIGHLANDS

For many food writers, the pandemic was a time to reflect, perhaps compile a Best Of collection. African-born Ghillie Basan, from her home in the Cairngorms National Park, had just started A Taste Of The Highlands, which is as much a travelogue filled with producer profiles as it is a recipe book.

As Basan notes, it’s been a tough time for the food business, and some of her stories fell along the way. What remains, however, is a deep delve into the richness of Highland life, exploring the many people that fill up our highly prized larder, from brewers, distillers and coffee roasters to cheesemakers, millers and stalkers. It’s a great leveller, too, with estate lairds alongside snack-van chefs, and master distillers with monks; plus there are portraits of chefs, whose clever ways with our produce make up many of the 100 recipes.

Breakfast to supper and everything in between is covered, including sections on curing and smoking, and gathering up the country’s wild foods. Classic Scots recipes are here (porridge, stovies, clootie dumpling), often given a reworking or as an added item from a featured producer. Meanwhile, global dishes utilise local flavours, from Highland beef pho to venison carpaccio with wild garlic, and pork vindaloo with juniper and bog myrtle. (Jay Thundercliffe)  Out now published by Birlinn.

30 THE LIST March 2022

TASTE TEST In our regular drinks column, Kevin Fullerton tries a few tasty beverages and lets you know exactly what he thinks of them. This month we need Kevin to talk about . . . aperitifs

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DRINK

f you’ve ever fancied being tipsy before you eat a big meal, then an aperitif is the drink for you. Designed to stimulate the appetite (or make you so squiffy that you’ll enjoy any meal put in front of you), these dry, bitter treats are high in alcohol percentage and loaded with summertime flavours. Each of the drinks here were consumed with ice cubes, a dash of tonic water and a variety of garnishes.

Coming straight from the supermarket shelf is Aperol (Morrisons, £16), a light and fruity Italian number that every human on the planet has seen at a barbecue. While it may have the name of an own-brand toilet cleaner and the orange hue of flat Irn-Bru, it tastes delightful. We can imagine nursing half a bottle of this over the course of a drawn-out summer’s day, revelling in its refreshing but undemanding taste in between helpings of burnt party food. It’s an unspectacular tipple but, like a hound who always sticks by your side, it’s reliable if you need to grab something quickly from your local offy.

Onto more decadent fare with El Bandarra Rosé (El Bandarra, £20.99), a high-end light aperitif produced in the heart of Barcelona which aims to replicate the sunshine vibe of the Catalan capital. Made with rosé grenache and macerated with fruits and spices, it’s got the kick of a mule; no mean feat with its relatively low 11% alcohol content. This one is like easing into a hot bath after a long day; once you acclimatise to the brittle flavour, it’s a smooth and relaxing ride.

If you’d rather swerve a hangover, then try High Point Ruby Aperitif (High Point, £19.99), a heavily spiced delight that’s non-alcoholic but as bitter and moreish as its booze-laden counterparts. Replete with a spicy tang and grapefruit aftertaste, it can go toe-to-toe with its competition and land a few crippling blows, boasting the complexity of a full-bodied wine. We’re far from soft drink territory with this one.

BAR FILES We ask creative folks to reveal their favourite watering hole

SINGERSONGWRITER EWAN MACFARLANE

My favourite bar in Glasgow would have to be The Pot Still on Hope Street. It’s a ‘nae airs and graces’ pub, and is first and foremost a whisky bar. They have over 800 whiskies from all over the globe. I’m a single-malt guy and the choice they have is mind-blowing. Whatever your favourite dram may be, chances are you’ll find it here.

Don’t get me wrong, they also have an impressive range of craft cask ales as well, but for me, drinking in The Pot Still is all about the whisky. To top things off you can order a belter of a pie to munch on with some mushy peas while slowly sipping your dram of choice.  Ewan MacFarlane plays Glad Café, Glasgow, Friday 25 March; his album Always Everlong is out now on Royale Stag Records.

March 2022 THE LIST 31

EAT DRINK SHOP

Edinburgh’s Blunt Knife Co offers opportunities for marginalised individuals to sell their crafts and wares. Deborah Chu hears from the owners on those little interactions that give them pride and joy in their work

CUTTING CREW

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32 THE LIST March 2022

n among the sober boutiques of Edinburgh’s Thistle Street is quite the sight for sore eyes.

Resplendent in Pepto pink and acid greens, Blunt Knife Co is a social enterprise, shop and event space dedicated to championing the work and voices of women and non-binary communities.

Helmed by Marian Blythe and Emma Sweeney, the pair speak to me via email about their long, covid-riddled road to opening and their hopes for the future.

Before embarking on Blunt Knife Co, neither Blythe nor Sweeney had a background in retail. ‘We’ve both worked in various areas of the arts and had the same frustration everywhere: women and non-binary people’s work being overlooked or seen as less valuable. We knew we wanted to change the focus, so it was a matter of figuring out how we could use the skills we have to do that most effectively.’

Walking into the shop, it’s clear that they’ve found their corner of the universe. The wall-mounted shelves are artfully chock-a-block with colourful totes, prints, planters and candles, all crafted by women and nonbinary makers. To the side, the bookshelves boast fascinating writing on feminist art and music, works in translation, queer anthologies, occult poetry and zines.

But let’s rewind two years. When they found a location, Blythe and Sweeney rolled up their sleeves and got grafting. ‘If we’d known how much work was involved in starting a business like this on a tiny budget, we probably wouldn’t have done it; but our naivety was a good thing.’

When it came to fitting out the shop, they did everything themselves, using borrowed tools and YouTube tutorials.

‘It was four weeks of physical exhaustion but it made opening the space so much more rewarding.’

The stage was all set to welcome shoppers in the latter half of 2020. Then, well . . . you know the rest. But Blythe and Sweeney agree that the pandemic’s many delays and disruptions gave them time to better plan how

their business would work and brought the importance of their mission into focus. Indeed, as the lockdowns wore on, it became clear that the pandemic’s toll on employment was disproportionately felt by women and marginalised communities. The very problem that drove them to open Blunt Knife Co was only getting worse.

‘One of the main challenges for people from marginalised communities when it comes to art is that creative expression is seen as frivolous compared to paid work, household tasks and caring responsibilities. But creativity can have an extremely positive effect on other aspects of life, particularly mental health and engaging young people. So it’s important to us to facilitate creativity as well as help people monetise their work.’

Blunt Knife Co finally opened its doors in late 2021.

As some life now returns to deserted high streets, being able to forge connections and advocate for a better world is what Blythe and Sweeney are most proud of on their journey thus far. ‘A dad came into the shop yesterday looking for a book for his teenage daughter who’s having a hard time navigating sexuality and gender. We had a good chat and he left with some fantastic Scottish LGBTQ+ writing. We have these kinds of interactions every other day and it’s incredibly encouraging for us, and certainly a point of pride in what we’re trying to do.’

Blunt Knife Co, 41 Thistle Street, Edinburgh, bluntknife.co

Each month we discreetly ask an individual to tell us all about the contents of their bag. Heather McDaid, co-founder of independent publisher 404 Ink, carries around a very literary set of items OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA

BY JULIA ARMFIELD I always carry a book on me on the off-chance I have a break; the current one is this by Julia Armfield, a gorgeous book that will inevitably be a book of the year when I finish it. panmacmillan.com

THERE’S A GHOST IN THIS HOUSE BY OLIVER JEFFERS

ELEANOR BOWMER PEN SET It is very basic to say how satisfying a good pen is but I got a set of these for my birthday and I just cannot move onto another. johnlewis.com

UNDERCOVER UK DIARY

What’s In The Bag?

I try to curb the volume of notebooks each year by buying increasingly useful ones, and this is the best I’ve had where I can basically squeeze my entire work/fun/parenting life into a single diary. etsy.com/uk

FOSSILS & FLORALS CO BOOKMARK I used to just use the many, many 404 Ink bookmarks I had to hand but Joelle designs such lovely items that her bookmark finally shoved my own company off the page. etsy.com/uk

LIBRARIES & ARCHIVES LETTERPRESS HEART NOTEBOOK My not-to-do-list notebook for random nonsense or projects I’m working on.

It’s got black edges, and is just very cool to look at, and there’s a whole set of beautiful designs to get. librariesandarchives.com

GET 4 0% OF F YO U R F I R ST 4 H E L LO FRESH BOX E S HelloFresh are on a mission to bring delicious dinners to folks at home that are easy to cook, fresh and delicious. Their handy subscription service means no planning, no shopping and no waste. Instead you receive everything you need to cook great tasting meals from an ever-changing menu of British classics, world cuisine, family favourites, balanced dishes and rapid recipes.

To give you a taste of HelloFresh, we’re offering readers one of the best Hello Fresh discount codes right now, enjoy 40% off your first 4 recipe boxes when you join their recipe box service. Tailor your subscription to suit you. Whether you want to receive recipes weekly, bimonthly or as a monthly treat, HelloFresh have got it covered.

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•The 4 x 40% discount will be applied to your shopping basket at checkout •Choose recipes from a weekly changing menu •Await your delivery of fresh ingredients •Cook with easy-to-follow steps •Eat •Repeat To claim your Hello Fresh discount head to HelloFresh, select your first week of recipes and the discount will automatically be applied to your shopping basket.

TERMS & CONDITIONS Hello Fresh discount code valid for new customers only. Pause or cancel anytime. Must be 18 or over. Once redeemed you will be signed up to a flexible rolling subscription. HelloFresh discount is valid until Thu 31 Dec. Cancellation and order deadline is Wednesday the week before delivery is due. One HelloFresh voucher code per customer and per household. The offer is not valid for gift or trial boxes. Valid for UK residents only (including Jersey and Guernsey), excluding Scottish Highlands Islands. HelloFresh cannot cater for specific dietary requirements. For full T&Cs visit Hello Fresh.

March 2022 THE LIST 33

SHOP

A spooky, fun kids book with translucent pages and ghosts hiding across a house. It’s so great that a two-year-old has pushed Peppa Pig books out of rotation, so that’s good enough for me. harpercollins.co.uk

shop talk Deborah Chu picks some enticing establishments to explore both on and off the high street EGG & CO

SHOP

Women-led business platform Egg opened the doors to their first physical space this January on the site of the former Scottish Design Exchange. The store will host a rotating variety of retail brands run by women, in addition to being a co-working and event space. Past and present businesses to nest at Egg & Co include handcrafted homewares by East Lothian artisans Village Green, ethically sourced alpaca knitwear from Blue Llama and Scottish sustainable activewear company Mardy Bum Active Club.  51 George Street, Edinburgh, weareegg.co.uk

PLANTMAMA Helmed by self-styled ‘crazy plant lady’ Emma Kelsey, PlantMama opened in the Merchant City late last year. Having started out as a pop-up in Kelsey’s garage when the pandemic started, PlantMama’s new and larger location stocks all the leafy foliage of your WFH dreams. The shop will also host plantcare classes in the evening for those still propagating their green thumbs.  70 Bell Street, Glasgow, glasgowplantmama.com

ARGONAUT BOOKS After the massive success of its December pre-launch pop-up, Argonaut Books looks ready to welcome readers on a more permanent basis from this month onwards. The community-based indie bookshop promises to bring a truly page-turning, genre-spanning reading experience to the bottom of Leith Walk.  11–15 Leith Walk, Edinburgh, instagram.com/argonautbooks

FESTIVAL

GOVAN

MUSIC

NORRIE MACIVER & THE GLASGOW BARONS

MARCH 19TH 7:30pm

old fruitmarket TICKETS : GLASGOWBARONS.COM

The Glasgow Barons are a Scottish Charity SC047454 and a Scottish Company SC564970

34 THE LIST March 2022

THE BLANKFACES The UK’s first non-profit fashion label opened a second location at the Buchanan Galleries in late 2021. With apparel designed by Glasgow’s homeless communities, The Blankfaces work to end stigma around homelessness and give a voice to those sleeping rough. All profits are given to shelters and grassroots charities across the city. The shop on Great Western Road has also begun hosting weekly coffee mornings every Monday, with cups of joe supplied by Dear Green Coffee and pastry delights from Cotton Rake.  Buchanan Galleries, Buchanan Street, Glasgow; 427 Great Western Road, Glasgow, blankfaces.co.uk

THIS IS NOT A CRAFT MARKET Run by upcycling social enterprise Rags To Riches, the market that’s clearly not a craft market returns for 2022. Taking place every third Saturday of the month, a revolving line-up of local makers will be hawking their screen prints, floral arrangements, textiles, homewares and more. Market day also plays host to a colourful programme of workshops for those looking to get crafty themselves.  The Deep End, 21 Nithsdale Street, Glasgow, instagram.com/ ragstorichesgla

Come discover

LANARKSHIRE LARDER

Our secret foodie destination is now on the map.

Download our food & drink trail here www.lanarkshirelarder.com

XXX

Johnnie Walker Princes Street is crowned by two bars, led by Head Bartender, Miran Chauhan.

The 1820 Bar captures the imagination of guests through a drinks menu that takes a seasonal approach first.

In addition to seasonality, the menu is also based off what a grocer may have had in their shop over 200 years ago, when John Walker founded his original grocer’s store, taking fruits and spices that would have intrigued their imagination and mapped out their approach to flavour.

MIRAN AN EXPERIENCE LIKE NO OTHER CHAUHAN

The second bar, the Explorers’ Bothy breaks down traditional whisky barriers of what you think a whisky bar should be. The space is full of colour, artistry, sculpture and the menus are also extremely playful.

IN A CITY LIKE NO OTHER

HEAD BARTENDER JOHNNIE WALKER PRINCES STREET A Day In The Life 8.30am I have a living alarm clock in the form of my dog, Talisker. No matter what my shift pattern, he is bang on the money when it comes to his morning walk. He is actually a big reason why I’ve been relatively successful. He is a fairly playful hound who loves an adventure, so I tend to take a banana and an energy bar with me round the hills, coastlines and parks around Edinburgh he likes to frequent. I am also a keen forager, a skill which I’ve been fortunate enough to bring into my role at Johnnie Walker Princes Street, so I like to pick up wild ingredients all year round from our walks every day.

BOOK NOw

10am

In true hobbit fashion, a second breakfast is needed. Usually, Weetabix or eggs with foraged ingredients (wild mushrooms a plenty just now) and a strong cup of tea. I check emails and handovers from the previous evenings service before making my to-do list. At Johnnie Walker Princes Street, we have two cocktail bars with very different personalities, an innovation and training space in the Johnnie Walker Learning for Life Academy and an events room, so there is a lot going on across our eight floors.

11am It may seem unusual, but my down time comes during the middle of the day. I tend to catch up

Keep reading to find out what an average day looks like for the person leading the world-class team.

reading articles in the hospitality industry whilst listening to a podcast or two.

It is really interesting to see, read and hear what other folk are doing around the world in other creative industries. I come from a Product Design background and am fascinated by people and businesses that have great creative philosophies. The bar industry also moves rapidly in terms of trends, so I like to keep myself informed and armed with potential ideas as we continue to establish ourselves on the exciting Edinburgh drinks scene.

12.45pm I make a light lunch, usually pasta and a piece of fish, and I make a bit extra to take into work – you can never guarantee when you’ll get to take a break on service, so it’s best to be prepared.

The dog then gets a second short walk before the dog sitter arrives and I head off to work.

we really wanted to bind that practice into a few upcoming serves. For example, we always have lots of spent oranges which we use the zest for garnishing things like old fashioned cocktails. As you can imagine we get through a lot of those!

We have a lot of exciting changes to our menus this year, and we’re looking forward to pushing the boundaries on sustainable practices behind the bar. R&D can take multiple days, and sometimes weeks to perfect, so its important to be thorough in the process.

We play around with ideas and serves, while catching up with the bar team. Bartending can be a mentally taxing job sometimes and it is important I feel, to make sure everyone is in a good head space with the support they need, whenever I can.

4.30pm I have an early dinner that I had prepped earlier to stock myself up for a busy service.

3pm

5pm-12.30am

Arriving at work, I usually head to the lab space in our Learning for Life Academy to meet with my senior bartenders. The space is part laboratory, part classroom where we have state-of-the-art equipment, and is a calm place for us to get to work on our new drinks offering.

This month we’re looking ahead to spring and all the incredible flavours and ingredients we can use in our bar over the coming months.

We have a strong focus on sustainability, and

Service begins – The best thing about this job is that no two days are ever the same. Meeting people from around the world and making their day is one of the reasons we do what we do.

Any breaks we do on service, I get a bowl of muesli and a cup of tea in me to keep me going.

1.30am I get home, take the dog round the block, and wind down with a dram or a glass of dry sherry.

For more information on Johnnie Walker Princes Street and to book your tasting experience,visit johnniewalkerprincesstreet.com

drinkaware.co.uk for the facts March 2022 THE LIST 1

GOING OUT

CHVRCHES The mighty CHVRCHES are in tour mode this month to support latest album Screen Violence, an energetic synth-pop masterpiece with the cinematic majesty of The Cure’s Disintegration and featuring some of Lauren Mayberry’s most powerful lyrics to date. These are songs layered with righteous anger and a blood-soaked horror movie aesthetic that’s never far from a perfectly crafted chorus or catchy melody. And, like all great albums, Robert Smith makes a brief cameo to howl about death.

CHVRCHES’ revitalised sound has translated to their live work where they’ve transformed from a slightly awkward trio who look stunned by their success to full-blown rock stars with swagger, verve and, in the case of Mayberry, wild and unrestrained dance moves. If you haven’t seen CHVRCHES live yet, there’s never been a better time than now. But be warned: with their newfound love of slasher movies, you might not make it out alive. (Kevin Fullerton) n Fat Sams, Dundee, Thursday 10 March; SWG3, Glasgow, Saturday 12 March; O2 Academy Edinburgh, Monday 14 March.

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OUT OF AFRICA

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The African Stories strand at this year’s Glasgow Film Festival shines a kaleidoscopic light on a continent’s prolific and innovative industry.

Lizelle Bisschoff delves into a programme of movies both old and new featuring specific tales and universal themes

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aking up a significant element of this year’s Glasgow Film Festival, African Stories celebrates a diverse and innovative branch of cinema with fresh takes on genre and multiple themes. History, culture, identity, art, socio-economics, sexuality and gender are just some of the broader subjects addressed in an impressive selection.

The ghost of colonialism haunts both Sarah Maldoror’s Sam bi zanga and Djaffar Gacem’s H eliopolis, set in Angola and Algeria respectively.

Guadeloupean-born Maldoror’s 1972 masterpiece has finally received its due with a glorious 4k restoration undertaken by the African Film Heritage Project. For decades, the only English-subtitled access to this pioneering classic was a 16mm print preserved in the New York Public Library. The restoration is a fitting tribute to Maldoror, who passed away in 2020.

Clandestinely shot and initially banned in Portugal, the film was Maldoror’s attempt to draw attention towards the brutality of that country’s colonial regime with a piece of activist and awareness-raising filmmaking. It finds a contemporary companion piece in Gacem’s sweeping, melodramatic H eliopolis (2020), in this case reminding us of France’s colonial atrocities in Algeria. These films present cinema as collective memory, in particular highlighting the sides of history often marginalised or simply ignored by the West.

For decades, African cinema has powerfully told the tragic, celebratory, joyful and quotidian stories of that continent, stories which are often misrepresented, stereotyped or simply forgotten in the West. Set in a tiny corner bound to be little-known to Western audiences, FinnishMarch 2022 THE LIST 37

PREVIEWS GOING OUT

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PREVIEWS

AFRICAN STORIES

Stories of Africa: (previous page) One Take Grace (from above left clockwise), I Am Samuel, Sambizanga, Good Madam

Somali director Khadar Ayderus Ahmed’s 2021 Djibouti-set drama The G rav edigger’ s W ife is a homage to love and family, as poor gravedigger Guled struggles against all odds to afford the healthcare his critically ill wife Nasra desperately needs. The film features slow, meditative scenes, evocative mise-en-scènes, and beautiful cinematography in ochre and sepia hues. Filmmaker Ahmed wanted to depict his community with dignity and compassion, a feat he accomplishes with great success.

Several of the films grapple with cultural, sexual and gender identity, most poignantly in Kenyan documentarist Pete Murimi’s I A m S amuel (2020) which depicts the struggles of Samuel and Alex, a same-sex couple fighting to overcome homophobia in their private and public lives. Meanwhile, South African filmmaker Lindiwe Matshikiza’s O ne Take G race from last year is an astonishing experimental documentary charting the traumatic but inspirational life of domestic worker and part-time actress Mothiba Grace Bapela through first-person digital storytelling, performance, improvisation, animation, poetry, music and silence.

Thematically linked to O ne Take G race is fellow South African Jenna Cato Bass’ G ood M adam (2021), perhaps the festival’s most surprising and exciting find. A new take on Black horror that shares a genealogy with films such as Jordan Peele’s G et O ut and Remi Weekes’ H is H ouse, G ood M adam features Mavis, a domestic worker trapped in South African suburbia whose livelihood is dependent on keeping her ‘good madam’ happy and healthy. A haunted house, dark domesticity, ritual, servitude and racism are some of the tropes in G ood M adam which also presents socio-cultural politics as horror.

38 THE LIST March 2022

Youth culture, art and creativity feature in veteran Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s Casab lanca B eats (2021), a heartfelt improvisational film about a group of Arab youths who find meaning and drive through hip hop, guided by their initially harsh but ultimately caring teacher Anas. Riffing on a narrative familiarised through Hollywood films such as F ame, D ead P oets S ociety and D angerous M inds, context here is everything, as North African politics, tensions between tradition and modernity, and the lingering effects of the Arab Spring form a powerful backdrop to this collective coming-of-age musical drama.

Creative expression and innovation reaches its zenith in Cathryne Czubek’s O nce U pon A Time I n U ganda, a 2020 documentary which depicts the unorthodox and, at times, plain wacky filmmaking world of Isaac Nabwana, a no-budget action-flick director. Nabwana is the creator of a local filmmaking industry dubbed ‘Wakaliwood’, named after Wakaliga, the run-down neighbourhood in Uganda where he produces his films.

Audiences at the Glasgow Film Festival are sure to be entertained and provoked by the innovation, depth and breadth of filmmaking from Africa represented by this snapshot. The films succeed in what we expect from the best of storytelling, bringing together the universal and the specific in authentic, relatable narratives and forms.

Glasgow Film Festival, Wednesday 2–Sunday 13 March.

Lizelle Bisschoff is senior lecturer in Film Studies at Glasgow University and founder of the Africa In Motion film festival.

‘It’s like having your face carved into Mount Rushmore’ Baltimore-born journalist, presenter and radio visionary Ira Glass is perhaps best known as host of This American Life, the hugely popular weekly podcast about everyday stories, which he co-created in 1995. As he prepares to entertain live audiences, Glass tells Claire Sawers about taking up professional dancing and his Simpsons moment Did you find more people tuned in to This American Life because of lockdown? We actually noticed a slight drop in our audience to do with

commuting habits. We’ve always been very popular on a Monday morning when people download things to listen to on the journey to work. That is a very particular ‘alone time’ that’s dipped due to working from home.

What other podcasts do you particularly like if you’re not completely sick of podcasts now? Oh yeah, I hate podcasts . . . ! I’m most jealous of,

PREVIEWS GOING OUT

and competitive with, a bunch of stuff on [New York public radio programme] Radiolab . The V anishing O f H arry P ace is a crazy story about an American music-industry pioneer. I liked The B omb er M afia by Malcolm Gladwell and the Exit S cam true-crime podcast too.

What was it like recording your voice for The Simpsons where you were heard on Lisa’s MyPod reading out a list of condiments? Being

asked to do that, well . . . it’s a bit like having your face carved into Mount Rushmore. The S impsons is a giant national monument. It feels like such a huge honour. It was better than any award I could win. The actual recording was fairly unglamorous; I just walked down the hall from where I normally record and sat in a room by myself.

Is it true that your storytelling style is influenced by musicals you loved as a kid? I’ve always really loved musicals, they were really formative

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Seven Things I’ve Learned: An Evening With Ira Glass, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Sunday 27 March.

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What advice would you give to your younger self? You can be bad and get good. I made a lot of mistakes; I really wasn’t a good writer or performer at the start. There was a lot of trial and error. I’d tell younger me it was all gonna be OK.

PICTURE: JESSE MICHENER

in my aesthetic with the story arcs and characters you really care about. I actually took up professional dancing in my 50s and toured. In one show, I told stories and danced with a dance troupe: a format that no one asked for. It was really fun.

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CLASSIC CUT: THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER Several years before he became a boy wizard’s mentor and she played one monarch after another, Michael Gambon and Helen Mirren were, respectively, a nasty East End gangster and his (understandably) cheating spouse. In the 80s and 90s, Peter Greenaway’s films were the ornate yin to Ken Loach and Mike Leigh’s social-realist yang, depicting power, creativity, sex and death in often lavish and vicious tableaux. The Cook, The Thief, H is W ife & H er L ov er had another unmistakable Greenaway trope, a throbbing orchestral score by Michael Nyman. Warning: it may partly be a musing on cuisine, but the film’s final scenes will make you glad you skipped dinner before entering the cinema. (Brian Donaldson)  G lasgow F ilm Theatre, Sunday 20 M arch.

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40 THE LIST March 2022

GOING OUT PICTURE: MORGAN SHAW

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GRAHAM COSTELLO’S STRATA

PREVIEWS

‘Glasgow is a brilliant city to be a musician,’ says drummer-composer Graham Costello. ‘For myself, coming up more in the DIY scene initially, it really drove home the power and chemistry of an actual band growing together. I certainly kept that with me when I got involved in the jazz scene and started STRATA. We rehearsed for six months before our first proper gig as a band.’ Featuring Harry Weir on saxophone, Liam Shortall on trombone, Fergus McCreadie on keyboards, Joe Williamson on guitar and Mark Hendry on bass, STRATA are the flagship band of the new Glasgow jazz scene, combining dynamic contemporary jazz with elements of post-rock, electronica and minimalism.

STRATA released debut album Obelisk in 2019, before returning last year with Second Lives. Costello had a complete album written and ready to take to his band in 2020 but then lockdown happened. ‘The recording session got pushed back, and by then I was just in a different place and the music I had written wasn’t right any more. So I wrote another album and that became Second Lives. To me, Second Lives is a more mature, concise version of the band. It’s raw; all live takes went straight to tape so it has that impulsive energy to it. There’s also time to breathe, there are more personal moments, and the biggest thing of all is that there is practically no improvisation.’

Live, however, the music will take on a different form. ‘It’s more evolved, expansive, and is its own entity; importantly it’s not just a rehash of the album. We’ve had our first rehearsals recently for this upcoming tour and so much of the vibe just fits like a glove. We’re all so psyched to return to the live stage.’ (Stewart Smith)  Websters Theatre, Glasgow, Friday 4 March; Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, Saturday 5 March.

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MUGABE, MY DAD & ME

PICTURE: JANE HOBSON

Mugabe, My Dad & Me is a solo show that investigates the impact of Robert Mugabe’s regime on the family of writer and performer Tonderai Munyevu. Accompanied by a Gwenyambira (female mbira player) and some of Mugabe’s speeches, Munyevu tells a personal story that nevertheless speaks about a time of immense political change in Zimbabwe.

Far from a simple autobiographical story or a bland commentary on that nation’s controversial post-independence president, Munyevu’s script explores complex questions of identity, the nature of home and colonial stereotyping. And while monologue is a familiar format, the mbira’s presence adds a ritualistic resonance to its narrative, both contextualising the performance within Africa’s diaspora and supporting Munyevu’s casual and charismatic style. Despite the horror of Mugabe’s rule, which deteriorated from initial optimism towards totalitarian oppression, Munyevu skilfully blends wit with serious political commentary.

The English Touring Theatre has a mission of reflecting on the hard-to-define notion of English identity, with particular emphasis on those stories excluded from Eurocentric visions. Mugabe, My Dad & Me speaks to their commitment, both expanding the idea of Englishness and merging dynamic dramaturgy with important social concerns. (Gareth K Vile)  Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Wednesday 23–Saturday 26 March.

March 2022 THE LIST 41

XXX

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Preheat your oven to 200°C. Halve the pepper and discard the core and seeds. Slice into thin strips. Zest and halve the lime. Halve, peel and thinly slice the onion. Peel and grate garlic (or use a garlic press). Keep a few sprigs of coriander aside for garnish, roughly chop the rest (stalks and all).

Drain the mozzarella and thinly slice.

Pop the red onion into a small bowl.

Add the red wine vinegar, sugar (see ingredients for amount) and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine and leave to one side.

CHICKEN TIKKA NAAN PIZZA

WITH SWEET POTATO FRIES AND MANGO CHUTNEY We’ve combined two of our customers’ favourite cuisines, Italian and Indian, to create a winning recipe for your next pizza night. The perfect ‘tear and share’ for a night in with friends!

30 minutes, Serves 2 1 Bell Pepper ½ Lime ½ Red Onion 1 Garlic Clove 1 bunch Coriander 1 ball Mozzarella 1 unit Red Wine Vinegar 1 pack Sweet Potato Fries 1 pot Ground Coriander

1 sachet Tomato Puree 1 pot North Indian Style Spice Mix 1 pack Tomato Passata 2 units Plain Naan 1 pot Mango Chutney 1 pot Nigella Seeds 1 bag Baby Leaves 280g Diced Chicken Breast 1 tsp Sugar 1 tbsp Olive Oil

Pop the sweet potato fries on a baking tray (with a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper) and roast on the middle shelf until golden, 20-25 mins. Turn halfway.

Place sliced pepper and diced chicken onto another baking tray. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle over the ground coriander, lime zest and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Roast for 10-12 mins until the pepper begins to soften and the chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the tomato puree, garlic

and curry powder to the pan. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring continuously then add the passata. Increase the heat slightly and reduce the sauce until thick and tomatoey, 3-4 mins.

Stir regularly. Once reduced, mix the chopped coriander into the sauce and remove from the heat. Season to taste.

When the chicken and peppers are ready, transfer to a plate and wipe the tray clean with kitchen paper. Pop the naans onto the tray. Spoon the tomato sauce on top and spread with the back of a spoon (leave space for a crust)! Divide the chicken and pepper between the naans. Lay the mozzarella slices evenly on top. Cook the pizzas on the top shelf until the cheese has melted and the edges are starting to colour, 6-8 mins.

In a large bowl, mix together half the mango chutney, the olive oil for the dressing (see ingredients for amount) and the lime juice. Once the pizzas are out, sprinkle over the nigella seeds, pickled red onion and remaining coriander sprigs. Dollop the remaining mango chutney over the top. Pop the salad leaves into the bowl with the dressing and toss to coat. Serve the salad and the fries on the side.

TERIYAKI GLAZED TOFU

WITH GINGER FRIED RICE

We love good Teriyaki Tofu with Ginger Fried Rice and this deliciously simple, chef-curated recipe doesn’t disappoint.

Time to bust out the pots and pans!

35 minutes, Serves 2 300ml Water for Rice 1 pot Star Anise 150g Basmati Rice 1 block Tofu 8g Plain Flour ½ pot Thai Spice Blend 1 Pak Choi 1 pack Tenderstem Broccoli 1 Garlic Clove ½ Lime 1 Spring Onion 1 pot Sesame Seeds 1 sachet Teriyaki Sauce 1 sachet Ginger Purée 50ml Water for the Sauce Pour 300ml of water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. When boiling, add ¼ tsp of salt and the star anise.

Stir in the rice, lower the heat to medium and cover with a lid. Leave to cook for 10 mins before removing from the heat (still covered) and

leaving to rest for 10 mins (or until ready to serve).

Meanwhile, drain and pat dry the tofu using a paper towel. Cut in half lengthways and then cut each half into 6-8 cubes. In a small bowl combine the flour and Thai spice and season generously with salt and pepper. Toss the tofu cubes through the flour until evenly coated.

Trim the pak choi then thinly slice widthways. Cut the tenderstem in half widthways. Peel and grate (or crush) the garlic. Zest the lime and cut into wedges. Trim the spring onion then slice thinly. Heat a large frying pan or wok on a medium-high heat. When hot add the sesame seeds, stirring regularly until lightly toasted, 2-3 mins.

Watch them closely to avoid burning.

Transfer the sesame seeds to a small bowl.

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42 THE LIST March 2022

Pop your pan back onto a medium high heat and add a glug of oil.

When hot, add the tofu and stir fry until crispy all over, 8-10 mins. Next, reduce the heat and carefully add the teriyaki sauce and 50 ml water, it’ll bubble vigorously so stand back!

Stirring constantly, cook until the sauce has reduced and the tofu is glazed, 2-3 mins. Once cooked, transfer the tofu and all the sauce to a bowl, cover with foil and set aside.

Wipe the pan clean.

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Put the frying pan back on a medium high heat, drizzle with oil. When hot add the tenderstem broccoli and stir fry until starting to brown, 2-3 mins.

Add a splash of water, cover with a lid or foil and steam fry until the broccoli is tender, 2-3 more mins. Remove the lid and add the ginger puree, lime zest, garlic and pak choi. Stir fry until the pak choi has wilted, 1-2 mins.

Remove the star anise from the rice and add the rice to the pan with the veg. Stir to combine. Season with a pinch of salt and squeeze of lime juice.

Constant Follower produce gorgeous acts of rehabilitation

GOING OUT

PICTURE: JANNICA HONEY

FUTURE SOUND We launch our new column celebrating music to watch with Scottish four-piece Constant Follower. Fiona Shepherd talks to leader Stephen McAll about creating songs of hope in the face of lingering trauma

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tephen McAll wrote his first album when he was 15 years old. The songs are long lost, not just to the proverbial mists of time, but in McAll’s memory. A serious assault in his teenage years left him paralysed, traumatised and with no recollection of his life before the attack.

‘I went from being top of the class in most subjects to not being able to do anything and that led to a depression that meant music was of no interest to me,’ says McAll. ‘I tried to cope with life like my friends were trying to cope with life, but I was so damaged that I couldn’t really integrate and it led to me trying to cope with other things like taking drugs and drinking.’

McAll, who now records as Constant Follower and fronts the four-piece band of the same name, is a good 20 years clear of the initial trauma and can speak with matter-of-fact calm about his experiences. But recovery was by no means assured until his family intervened and packed him off to his childhood bolthole on the Cowal Peninsula.

‘It’s right on the sea and the wind would be sideways in my face,’ he recalls. ‘But I’d feel so alive and there was nobody around to distract me. My body had healed but my mind was still broken and it was only through spending loads of time in nature that I was able to make sense of things.’ Inspired by Norman MacCaig’s poetry, McAll began to write and then put his words to music.

The second song he wrote became the first track on Constant Follower’s outstanding, fully formed debut album Neither I s, Nor Ev er W as, a gorgeous act of rehabilitation, produced to perfection by veteran Shimmy-Disc supremo Kramer.

‘What it’s saying to me is even when things are going quite wrong, there’s still hope and beauty around you,’ says McAll. ‘I used to have this scary recurring dream when I was standing in the middle of a huge room. A lot of the songs are this feeling of things becoming too big but pulling it back and telling myself that things are going to be alright.’

McAll is now based in Stirling, where he promotes concerts and forges links between local creatives, many of whom played on the album or contributed to an accompanying film. McAll may have never regained his lost childhood memories but he has managed to reconstruct the past using old photographs, family cinefilms and stories gathered from friends. ‘I think a lot of my memories are in that cinefilm colour bleed where the colours are all very warm. So that’s where my childhood memories are; they are all things that people have told me. You know it happened, but you don’t remember it.’

Constant Follower play Stereo, Glasgow, Wednesday 2 March; Neither Is, Nor Ever Was is out now on Shimmy-Disc.

March 2022 THE LIST 43

GOING OUT

ce • ‘It’s a song and dance show that’s purely about entertainment,’ says Du Beke, whose comedic responses during the mid-show Q&A are always as tight as the routines. But he and Boag know when to create numbers and when to step back and let choreographer/director Nikki Woollaston do her thing.

‘We’re very involved in all the ballroom numbers, but the rest of the show is absolutely down to Nikki,’ Du Beke continues.

‘She puts together all the ensemble pieces because you can’t do that when you’re actually in it. We tried that with the first show and learned pretty quickly that you need to be out front to do that. Anybody who thinks they can do it from onstage, well they’re either better than me at it or they’ve got three eyes.’

(Kelly Apter)  Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Saturday 19 March; Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sunday 20 March.

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PREVIEWS

While celebrities might have a pull on the nation’s heartstrings, it’s the professionals that hold Strictly Come Dancing together as they choreograph routines, make uncoordinated incomers look good and take home a much smaller pay cheque. But at least an ever-increasing number of them have carved out a secondary career on the road, touring shows that are high on glitz but with the talent to back it up. And, having appeared in the first-ever episode back in 2004, Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag are the undisputed prom king and queen of Strictly.

An onstage couple for 25 years, dating back to their days on the amateur circuit, Du Beke and Boag know how to please an audience. They’ve been touring the UK with sell-out shows almost every year since 2009, the latest of which is Showtime.

A tribute to icons such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli and more, it finds them backed by an ensemble of dancers, singers and a 23-piece orchestra.

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3 TO SEE AT . . . BARROWLANDS The Elvis industry is so vast, broad, long and wide that mash-ups were all too inevitable. We’ve had The Elvis Dead (a comedy show which synced tunes of The King with clips from horror classic The Evil Dead) while Elvana (Saturday 5 March) brings together (at last?) the lad Presley with Kurt Cobain’s band. If you always longed to hear ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ bleed into ‘Heart-Shaped Box’, then this might be the gig for you.

Should you attend either of The Fratellis shows (Thursday 24 & Friday 25 March) and spy Jon gently caressing his white guitar, it’s probably because that piece of equipment was the result of the band leader setting a challenge for a tech mate to build a ‘guitar that doesn’t exist’. Said tech pulled off that feat in matching Jon’s specifications and here we are. At this pair of sold-out gigs, his band will be giving fans the old hits as well as airing tunes from their most recent collection, Half Drunk Under A Full Moon.

Talking of guitars, Thundercat (Tuesday 29 March) can wield a mean bass one and he brings his Grammy-winning talents to the East End with tunes plucked from his most recent album, It Is What It Is. (Brian Donaldson)

44 THE LIST March 2022

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regularmusicuk March 2022 THE LIST 45

PICTURE: MURDO MACLEOD

Jon Culshaw and Erin Armstrong get fully prepared backstage for Lena

PREVIEWS

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Erin Armstrong had no idea who tragic singer Lena Zavaroni was when offered the role to play her in a new musical. The star of Shetland tells Mark Fisher that getting this true story out there will honour her memory

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n our age of X F actor celebrity, it’s easy to forget what a big deal Lena Zavaroni was. Back in the 1970s, this child star was a household name; not just in her native Scotland, but around the world. At the age of ten, the Rothesay girl became a fixture on O pportunity K nocks, and with a voice trained by singing in the family chippie, she won the TV talent contest a record five times. It was only to give other acts a chance that she stepped aside.

Belting out ‘Ma! (He’s Making Eyes At Me)’ with the gusty swagger of someone several times her age, Zavaroni performed for President Gerald Ford and the Queen, and shared a bill with Liza Minnelli and Shirley Bassey. She had several TV series in her own name, often appearing in the company of fellow child star Bonnie Langford.

It seems odd that the youngest performer ever to have a top ten album should have slipped from public consciousness, but if you remember her, it’s probably a clue to your age. Certainly for 26-year-old Erin Armstrong, Zavaroni meant nothing before she landed the lead role in L ena, a new musical about the star’s life.

‘I’d never heard of her, which is insane given how talented and well-known she was,’ says Armstrong. ‘My parents’ generation are like “yeah! How can you not know who she is?”

But not many people my age have heard of her.’

Having got up to speed, she’s determined to change that. ‘I want to do her justice,’ she says.

‘She means a lot to me now and there’s a lot to her story that people don’t know about.’

46 THE LIST March 2022

Armstrong is best known to fans of S hetland as Cassie, stepdaughter of Douglas Henshall’s detective Jimmy Perez. Recently home from filming the next series, she’s thrilled to be making her professional stage debut not only as an actor but also a singer. ‘They’re big boots to fill,’ she laughs. ‘She had an incredible voice in her 30s; she was discovered when she was only ten but this voice was coming out of her that sounded so mature. I’ve always loved singing, so it’s amazing to be offered the role.’

Armstrong is relishing the chance to learn from her fellow cast members, including D ead Ringers actor and impressionist Jon Culshaw in the role of TV host Hughie Green. ‘It’ll be really interesting to see how he approaches playing Hughie Green; he is a theatrical character but there are also darker tones there which Jon will capture brilliantly.’

Tim Whitnall’s script, she says, celebrates Zavaroni’s charm, reveals her off-stage gutsiness and also deals sensitively with her history of mental illness. The star’s death from pneumonia at the age of 35 followed a history of anorexia nervosa and depression. ‘The script is beautiful, poignant and sad,’ Armstrong notes. ‘We think it’s important to showcase that other side of her. We’re telling the truth about what she faced because that wasn’t always highlighted throughout her life.’

Lena, Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, Wednesday 16–Saturday 19 March.

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MY COMEDY HERO

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Steve Hall on Doug Anthony All Stars

PREVIEWS

It was 12 August 1993. I was a greasy little 16-year-old with tickets to see Australian troubadours Doug Anthony All Stars record their Dead & Alive show at the Ambassadors Theatre in that London. Two sweaty and magnificent hours later, I emerged a changed virgin. I’d never seen anything like it. To this day it remains the funniest show I’ve ever witnessed, and it’s probably the main reason I’ve ended up conkers-deep in a comedy ‘career’.

They were a riot of rudery, a festival of filth, a joyful jamboree of jokes. And they could sing like angels. Such energy, such adrenaline.

The audience refused to leave at the end of the recording, culminating in guitarist Richard Fidler threatening to throw himself from the Royal Circle unless people shifted. The atmosphere was pure playtime. For something nominally rude, it was completely inclusive; performers and audience in total harmony. I have a story involving pictures of me meeting The Muppets as a toddler which was specifically written trying to capture some of what I saw that night.

The All Stars reunion shows in 2016 and 2017 introduced their awesomeness to a new generation. Russell Howard and Steve Williams both messaged me immediately after seeing them in Edinburgh, delighted and freshly converted. The documentary about their return (Tick Fucking Tock) is a fantastic film, detailing how Tim Ferguson’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis led to their break-up in the 1990s, but also provided the impetus for their comeback. In recent times, I’ve been in occasional email contact with Tim, something my teenage self would be bewildered and priapic about.

If you’re reading this and have never heard of them, get yourself to YouTube as soon as possible. You’re in for a treat. Then after that you can look up my Muppets bit. (As told to Brian Donaldson)  Steve Hall & Steve Williams, The Stand, Edinburgh, Sunday 13 March; The Stand, Glasgow, Wednesday 14 March.

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INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL

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0141 212 3389 March 2022 THE LIST 47

PICTURE: DARKLAB MEDIA

MUSIC

GAVIN BRYARS

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Apologies if it’s indulgent to start a piece about Gavin Bryars with a personal flashback. Being part of a student performance of his ‘The Sinking Of The Titanic’ is, however, an experience never to be forgotten. Bryars is a composer with a creative imagination like no other and that particular piece is a classic of British experimental music, originally dating back to 1969.

The music for which he is probably best known now is ‘Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet’, written as a result of hearing and recording the voice of an elderly homeless man in central London singing the words of a gospel hymn. It was in tune but intriguingly out of time in such a way that worked for Bryars to put the unknown down-and-out’s tender song on a 13-bar loop. This formed the emotional basis of an orchestral scoring that the RSNO will play at this year’s Sonica Festival.

Worked through into a 25-minute version, it was subsequently expanded to over an hour featuring Tom Waits singing along with the unidentified homeless man’s original recording.

Bryars himself appears in Glasgow to conduct his iconic masterpiece. (Carol Main)  Tramway, Glasgow, Saturday 12 March.

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48 THE LIST March 2022

COMEDY

OXIDE GHOSTS: THE BRASS EYE TAPES

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Two things are apparent when considering Channel 4’s Brass Eye from the vantage point of 2022: it’s almost impossible to conceive how influential, visionary and downright hardcore the series was in 1997; and yes, there’s not a Clarky Cat’s chance in hell that it could ever have been made today. As though sensing the cultural temperature had altered, Chris Morris has barely uttered a satirical squeak in recent times, but having given us Brass Eye, The Day Today and Jam, he’s more than earned his moment of peace.

Directed by Michael Cumming (the man behind the camera of Brass Eye as well as more recent fare such as Toast Of London and King Rocker), Oxide Ghosts is a 100-minute edit from hundreds of hours of unseen footage and behind-thescenes shenanigans which offer a glimpse into the unique working practices of Morris and his loyal band of actors and producers. Will we discover exactly how he managed to get British entertainers and politicians to go in front of a camera and spout scripted drivel simply because they thought they were advocating a good cause (such as the banning of Cake, a ‘made-up drug’)? Or will that particular alchemy remain hidden forever? (Brian Donaldson)  Cameo Picturehouse, Edinburgh, Saturday 5 March; The Stand, Glasgow, Sunday 6 March.

Michael Cumming

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FILM

Homebound

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FrightFest returns in real life at Glasgow Film Festival for its 17th edition, showing a total of 12 scary movies over three days. Among the highlights is a UK premiere of supernatural chiller The Cellar, starring Elisha Cuthbert as a mother confounded by her daughter’s mysterious disappearance from the family home. Directed by Brendan Muldowney, the Irish filmmaker expands on his multi award-winning short The Ten Steps.

Christina Ricci, child star and goth muse to teenage girls everywhere after playing Wednesday Addams in the 1990s, is currently having a renaissance with her role in survival thriller Yellowjackets as perky sociopath Misty. She stars here in Monstrous as a woman who has recently fled an abusive husband with her young son. The international premiere of this creepy aquatic horror is directed by Chris Sivertson, who co-helmed All Cheerleaders Die with Lucky McKee. Following Censor, Amulet, Saint Maud and more, several critics have proclaimed that the future of horror is female, so it’s good to see feature debuts from women directors having their UK launches here. Mentored by Alice Lowe, Kate Dolan has made two short films, Little Doll and Catcalls, the latter inventively targeting sexual predators. With full-length feature You Are Not My Mother, Dolan delivers a smart Irish folk horror that burns with a fiery intensity as it explores family connections, sapphic attraction and mental health.

Lynne Davison was mentored by Rocks director Sarah Gavron, and for her feature debut she’s crafted a brutal demonic thriller. Mandrake sends its characters to hell and back in its startling depiction of motherly devotion. If creepy kids are more your thing, then Sebastian Godwin’s suspenseful haunted-house horror Homebound is sure to send chills up your spine. (Katherine McLaughlin)  FrightFest is part of the Glasgow Film Festival, Thursday 10– Saturday 12 March.

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March 2022 THE LIST 51

GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL

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Chuckle brothers and sisters: Nigel Ng, Fern Brady, Katherine Ryan, Richard Brown

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PICTURE: CARLA GULER

PICTURE: MATT CROCKETT

LAUGHTER IN THE DARK

Covid nearly crippled their industry but stand-ups have fought back alongside a resilient comedy community. Jay Richardson reflects on a scaled-down but determined Glasgow International Comedy Festival as fun officially returns to the city

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he Glasgow International Comedy Festival is dead, long live the Glasgow International Comedy Festival! After the city’s annual laughter gathering was brutally cut short in March 2020 by coronavirus, and entirely mothballed the following year, festival organisers the Scottish Comedy Agency announced last October that they were no longer staging the event, the pandemic having closed several venues and with everyone’s finances taking a battering.

Nevertheless, a few touring shows were still lined up after successive postponements. And in January, as restrictions eased, it was announced that the GICF was resurrecting itself for its third decade, with a programme full of top-notch performers from across the UK. Big names like Katherine Ryan, Stewart Lee, Jerry Sadowitz and Jack Docherty are joining acclaimed rising acts such as Susie McCabe, Fern Brady, Lou Sanders, Nigel Ng, Larry Dean and Jim Smith.

Alongside those comics are a wealth of upcoming local talent, such as Ashley

52 THE LIST March 2022

Storrie, Amy Matthews, Liam Farrelly, Connor Burns, Stuart McPherson and Richard Brown.

For obvious reasons, the international aspect of the festival is currently only an aspiration, more-or-less entirely encapsulated in the globetrotting yet London-based stand-up Ng. But it remains an ongoing ambition, maintains new festival director Krista MacDonald, who has been part of the GICF’s steering committee since it began in 2002, with the decision taken to ‘keep the lights on’ for a more modest, interim event.

‘We had conversations about postponing until next year,’ she says. ‘But it seemed important to give comedians stage-time they hadn’t had in 18 months, to give venues a turn they hadn’t had in that time, and audiences the laughs they’ve missed.

We’re trying to get everyone back in touch again and the priorities are different. We’re really keen to deliver a great festival but also to speak to the various stakeholders; everyone in the industry including artists,

producers, promoters, agents, venues, surrounding hospitality and media, and get a sense of what everyone needs from us to facilitate the recovery.’

Without a printed brochure, the upside of putting the festival together later is that it can be more flexible in terms of adding last-minute shows to its programme. More are still coming in, but at the relaunch there were already a not inconsiderable 97 shows to buy tickets for across 16 venues.

‘We’re realistic,’ MacDonald reflects.

‘Nobody is expecting an instantaneous recovery from the pandemic. And it would be a mistake to expect next year’s festival to be back up to the 2019 levels. Being mindful of things like the rising cost of living, we have a three-year plan to get it back to scale. But it’s also a new dawn.

We’re aiming to take the learnings from this period and make the festival resilient for the next 20 years. I’m optimistic.’

Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Tuesday 8–Sunday 27 March.

thread time S

PITCH IN

AMY MATTHEWS

We ask a performer to sell us their show in exactly 50 words Ever wistfully looked out of a rainy window and imagined you’re in the dramatic crux of a film? This stand-up show is for you.

Moreover, The Moon explores what it’s like to feel like the main character in your life when you don’t always feel like the writer of it.  The Stand, Glasgow, Sunday 20 March.

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March 2022 THE LIST 53

PREVIEWS

Sandra Collins: Show Me Everything, Compass Gallery, Glasgow, until Saturday 19 March.

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Daniella Theis speaks to Sandra Collins about her debut solo exhibition which features sewing, showing and curiosity

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omewhere ‘between myth, dreams and reality’, Scottish artist Sandra Collins’ work deals with themes of existentialism and the way we respond to an ever-changing world. After a forced rescheduling due to the pandemic, the artist’s first solo exhibition finally arrives at Glasgow’s Compass Gallery. The collection features delicate pencil drawings and paintings of people surrounded by shapes and objects. Yet, one distinct feature within Collins’ work is the use of thread, something which shouldn’t be mistaken for simple embroidery. ‘It’s not pattern,’ she insists. ‘It is drawing with the thread; it’s drawing from life onto the cloth.’

The pieces featuring in S how M e Ev ery thing are an extension of Collins’ previous work. After graduating from Edinburgh College Of Art, where lecturers encouraged the use of multimedia within her projects, she continued exploring the use of thread on different media, including stitching over faces in magazines. ‘I decided I wanted to branch out. Why couldn’t I draw the faces? That way, I could draw how I want them.’

However, Collins makes it clear that her pieces are not portraits.

Rather, her work is figurative, conveying personalities and emotions of everyone. ‘Quite a lot of my work is about what makes us who we are. It’s thinking about what we take with us in our heads. The sewing started coming out and being extensions of the head.

The thread just sort of took me.’

Collins’ work often connects visual art, metaphors, perceptions and serious themes. One piece, ‘Gallus Gallus Domesticus’ (a term also used to describe the common hen), is an interplay between the literal meaning of the term which gives this piece its name, and the visuals. ‘Who is the hen there?’ the artist asks. For Collins, the exhibition title conveys multiple meanings. ‘There are many strands to who you are as an artist and what your work is about. Nothing for me is about just one thing. Also, I’d like to invite curiosity and people to look at the surfaces and the colour.

Maybe I am saying “show me everything. How do y ou respond?”’

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o comedian relishes a silent room devoid of laughter. But there is a moment in Hannah Gadsby’s 2017 show Nanette, around the 59-minute mark, when that was exactly what she required; and received. At each date on her tour, a hushed quiet descended for several minutes as the Australian stand-up called back to an earlier anecdote, then dropped the loudest of traumatic truth bombs, sending entire audiences reeling. And if that’s what it was like for us in the comfort of our seats (or watching at home on Netflix), how was it for her?

‘I won’t lie, it wasn’t easy,’ says Gadsby. ‘That silence was really hard, and as a comedian my instinct is to break that tension; so it felt like an endurance event. Depending on where you saw it, you could have seen a show where I was incredibly vulnerable or sometimes I went in there really angry. So it was very much a live performance, and it took me a pandemic to get over it, to be absolutely honest.’

Five years and much processing later, Gadsby’s new book Ten S teps To Nanette: A M emoir S ituation is about to hit the shelves, while she herself is finally back on tour with B ody O f W ork. Billed as a ‘feelgood show’, she promises her audience a very different experience to her previous two outings. ‘With Nanette, I wanted to shake people. I wanted to punch them in the metaphorical guts.

Then with D ouglas, I wanted to reach inside people’s brains and just go . . . ’ (Gadsby breaks off briefly to

BODY TALK

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Australian Hannah Gadsby has gone from giving her audiences a short, sharp shake to offering them a warm hug. As a stand-up on the autistic spectrum, she tells Kelly Apter that being relaxed on stage is a natural state mime having a good rummage around inside a head) ‘ . . . and B ody O f W ork is a hug. I wanted to create a warm show and that’s not necessarily 100% easy because I am still me. But I want people to disappear into the hour and feel like they’ve been on a little brain holiday.’

Anyone who has seen Gadsby perform will know the following things about her: she’s not afraid to share deeply personal experiences (‘I’m very much in control of what I reveal and what I don’t’); she’s autistic; she’s passionate about art history (‘in autistic circles we call it a “special interest”’); and she fits the stage like a snug glove thanks, in part, to her neurobiology.

‘I’ve always been comfortable on stage. It took me a while to find my voice, work out how to write better, build shows and all that sort of stuff, but ultimately I’ve always felt comfortable. I think that has a lot to do with the place I am on the spectrum, the particular landing point; I don’t read frightening situations well. Standing in front of large audiences, with a huge potential to fail, is a classic scary place but my brain’s going “OK!” So I seem relaxed, and that’s half the battle when you’re on stage.’

Hannah Gadsby: Body Of Work, King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Monday 7 March; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Sunday 13 March; Ten Steps To Nanette: A Memoir Situation is published by Allen & Unwin on Tuesday 29 March.

March 2022 THE LIST 55

PREVIEWS

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56 THE LIST March 2022

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MUSIC

EMMAJEAN THACKRAY

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PICTURE: JOE MAGOWAN

One of the most exciting names in UK jazz is bringing her colourful fusion sound to Glasgow. The composer, DJ, singer and bandleader Emma-Jean Thackray is back, playing a selection of live shows around the UK following the release of her critically acclaimed 2021 album Yellow, which she put out on her own record label Movementt: is there anything she can’t do?

The Yorkshire-born musician is becoming a major player on the English alternative music scene. She features on the Blue Note RE:imagined album alongside Shabaka Hutchings, Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia and Jorja Smith, and is responsible for the brass arrangements on Squid’s debut album, Bright Green Field.

Thackray’s recent live EP release ‘Yellower Vol 1’ gives listeners a taste of her live work, but witnessing this student of jazz perform in the flesh is sure to be a unique and uplifting experience. Expect next-level chemistry between musicians, mind-blowing solo sections and unrepeatable improvised magic on the night. Her songs, including ‘Say Something’ and ‘Our People’, carry simple yet profound messages which, combined with notes of funk and psychedelia, have the power to unify crowds in rhythm and joy. (Megan Merino)  Broadcast, Glasgow, Saturday 5 March.

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KIDS

OI FROG & FRIENDS!

If you’ve become a parent in the past five or so years, chances are you’ll have at least one of the Oi Frog! books on your shelves. The hugely entertaining and successful series, by Kes Gray and Jim Field, is centred around animals only being allowed to sit on things that rhyme with their names, and has become a bedtime staple for its gentle, ridiculous wordplay. Now a brand-new stage show is taking Frog and his pals to the next level, weaving the concept into a 55-minute story with songs, puppets and plenty of silliness.

‘All of us in the creative team are parents and love the books,’ says composer Luke Bateman, who conceived the show alongside Emma Earle, Zoe Squire and Richy Hughes. The chance to turn their children’s favourite book into a live event was a dream come true for Bateman, although he points out he did have to defer to the highest authority when it came to the writing process. ‘My son (who was two and a half at the time)

listened to every draft of each song and if he didn’t say “again” we cut it from the show.’

The result is a piece of ‘chaos and mayhem’, which Bateman describes as ‘Just So Stories meets Animal Farm meets Monty Python’. It’s set at the Sittingbottom School For Animals on Frog’s first day, with the all-singing animals from the books brought to life as puppets, designed by Yvonne Stone.

It’s been a hit with audiences so far and has notched up an Olivier Award nomination for Best Family Show. But the biggest endorsement came when the original authors decided to use some of the show’s unique rhymes in their latest book. ‘We invented mosquitoes on burritos and otter sitting on a swatter. Both of these subsequently made it into Oi Aardvark!’ (Lucy Ribchester)  Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling, Friday 11 & Saturday 12 March; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Thursday 17–Sunday 20 March.

March 2022 THE LIST 57

PICTURES: LUCAS KAO

As Dance International Glasgow’s programme turns a spotlight onto identity and personal stories, Lucy Ribchester talks to Palestinian choreographer Farah Saleh whose new piece ensures we don’t forget about the refugee crisis

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hen the pandemic forced us into lockdown, dancers and choreographers, normally reliant on being in the same room to create work, were left particularly at sea. Scotland-based Palestinian choreographer Farah Saleh, however, was midway through making a digital-based dance installation and found that the pandemic brought some silver linings. ‘It worked wonderfully. Suddenly everyone was doing digital platforms and Zoom was there as well. In 2017 and 2018, I worked with Skype and over Messenger. Now we had an advanced digital platform.’

Saleh, who was born in a refugee camp in Syria and grew up in Palestine, was already ahead of the curve when it came to creating digital-based work. While most choreographers can bring dancers they want to collaborate with into the country from Europe and further afield, Saleh works specifically with those from refugee and migrant backgrounds, to whom an increasingly hostile UK government routinely denies visas. In order to continue her practice, she had long since turned to digital.

Her new piece, P A S T- inuous (referring to the ongoing situation in Palestine and the connection between the past and now) is showing as part of Dance International Glasgow before touring to Dundee and Edinburgh. Dancers from Berlin, Gaza and Nablus will all appear live via video link, while Saleh and dancer Jamal Bajali perform in person before the audience. All of the dancers are from Palestinian refugee backgrounds, and to create the piece they

58 THE LIST March 2022

scoured family archives (photographs, videos, oral testimonies) to excavate a language of gestures passed down through generations, connected to displacement and uprising. ‘What is the connection between my grandfather in demonstrations against the British mandate in the 1930s and my gestures today in Edinburgh?’ she says.

Saleh is determined to keep themes of refugeehood in the public eye, despite them dropping off the arts-scene radar. ‘It’s outdated already, as if the refugee crisis has evaporated or it’s resolved. It was just an artistic trend and then people forgot about it.’ Pitching some of her pieces to festival programmers recently, she was told that the subject of her work was no longer in fashion. ‘They were like “no, we did something on refugees two years ago. It’s over.” I’m insisting on both the form and the content because it’s very much still there. There are millions of refugees all over the world.’

But although technology can bring together the diaspora of Palestine’s refugees, creating digital work between continents still has its problems. ‘You will see how the quality of the internet and the image is very different between Berlin and Gaza,’ says Saleh. This digital inequality, she points out, is due to Israel’s embargoes on Gaza, which have disrupted electricity services for years. But ever seeking ways to create art from turmoil, Saleh has made the grainy quality of those images an integral part of the piece. ‘Technically speaking it’s a lot of work and sometimes it’s not easy, but on an artistic level, of course it makes sense to work with it.’

Farah Saleh: PAST-inuous, Tramway, Glasgow, Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 March; Dundee Rep, Tuesday 29 March; Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, Wednesday 27 & Thursday 28 April.

GOING OUT PICTURE: LOUISE MATHER

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THEATRE

JULIUS CAESAR Without giving away too much, Downie adds that this Julius Caesar is an irreverent production which crackles with life, tragedy and gallows humour. ‘We have an extraordinary cast bringing to life multiple characters; there are women playing men, storms, crowds, murder, love, revenge, friendship and war. It’s a rollercoaster ride, from first whisper of conspiracy to final catastrophe.’

In spite of a distinct directorial style, there’s an emphasis by Company Of Wolves on using some traditional techniques. ‘In this we’re harking back to the theatre of ancient Greece, where actors spoke, sang and danced. It’s not so much that we’ve decided to blur boundaries, but for us, each performance is unique. We have to be able to follow wherever the work goes.’ (Lorna Irvine)  Cumbernauld Theatre, Thursday 17 & Friday 18 March; Renfrew Town Hall, Friday 25 March; Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thursday 31 March–Saturday 2 April.

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MICHAEL PENDRY

Burns&Beyond has secured the first Scottish exhibition by artist Michael Pendry, with his installation Les Colombes being displayed at Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral after appearing in the likes of Munich, Salisbury, San Francisco, Jerusalem, Buenos Aires and New York. More than 2500 origami doves (colombes) will be suspended from the cathedral roof as the German multimedia artist aims to deliver a message of hope, humanity and new beginnings, something we all need while moving through 2022.

Sculpture, light and music unite to create an immersive experience with the cathedral. Light will accompany these origami figures, moving around the space and over the sculpture, making those birds seem almost alive. A sound cloud specifically composed for the installation will feature both the cooing of doves and a slight fluttering of their wings.

Among Pendry’s aims for this installation is to question the symbol of a white dove in the present day. Doves symbolise the Holy Spirit, which in his online portfolio he describes as ‘a very abstract term in our modern and hi-tech and consumer-oriented society’. But what meanings can such a symbol hold for a 21stcentury art installation? (Laura Menéndez)  St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, Saturday 26 March–Saturday 2 April.

March 2022 THE LIST 59

PREVIEWS

Scottish theatre group Company Of Wolves are always invigorating and unpredictable in their remit. What makes their work so interesting is that it blurs several disciplines to make it largely unclassifiable.

Julius Caesar is an iconic text of betrayal, politics and bloodshed that they’re bringing to the stage in typically idiosyncratic style, with a cast including Selina Boyack, Oat Jenner and Belle Jones.

As collaboration is such a key element of what they do, company co-founder and Julius Caesar director Ewan Downie explains the approach to this production: ‘it contains devised elements that have been created collaboratively by the cast, as well as from Shakespeare’s text. Our approach to the rehearsal is also collaborative and open. I want the work to be as alive as possible, and that means finding an approach to each moment that frees the actors to play, rather than binding their creativity within a preexisting concept.’

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Nan: The Movie (and bottom from left), Walt Disco, Dita Von Teese

HIGHLIGHTS

OTHER THINGS WORTH GOING OUT FOR We’ve covered a whole heap of events happening in Edinburgh and Glasgow this month, but there’s plenty more going on as the public once again fully embraces the concept of going out ART

A REMIX OF DAMAGE Delayed by the pandemic, this multi-disciplinary show features work by eight 2020 graduates from the MLitt Fine Art Practice.  Glasgow School Of Art, until Saturday 12 March.

BURRELL COLLECTION Five years and a £68m renovation later, the Burrell Collection is open to the public once again with a stronger emphasis on space and visitor-friendliness.  Pollok Country Park, Glasgow, from Tuesday 29 March.

COMEDY

JOE LYCETT This cheeky monkey aka the artist formerly known as Hugo Boss (don’t ask, just Google it) has more fun japes in store with More, More, More! How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett?  Edinburgh Playhouse, Friday 25 & Saturday 26 March.

TOMMY TIERNAN With Tomfoolery, the pioneering Navan comic will no doubt deliver another masterclass in meditative stand-up before veering into all-out preacher mode.

Classic Tommy, in other words.  Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Thursday 31 March.

DANCE

DANCE INTERNATIONAL GLASGOW A full month plus of UK and international dance including Suzi Cunningham’s tributes to both her grandmother and Mark E Smith, Abhinaya Dance Academy’s take on ancient Bharatanatyam traditions, and an outdoor event from THREE60.  Various venues, Glasgow, Tuesday 1 March– Sunday 3 April.

FILM

TURNING RED Pixar aim to get back on form in this tale of a 13-year-

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old girl who turns into a giant red panda when she gets stressed or excited, and which features the voices of Sandra Oh and James Hong.  In cinemas from Friday 11 March.

in demand down the years from the diverse likes of Brian Eno, Sinéad O’Connor, Paul McCartney and Nelson Mandela.  Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sunday 20 March.

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WALT DISCO

Josie Rourke goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, following up her direction of Mary Queen Of Scots with Catherine Tate’s movie about her foulmouthed pensioner.  In cinemas from Friday 25 March.

The convention-twisting Glasgow act (‘band’ doesn’t quite cut it) are set to unleash their debut album, so if you want to get ahead of this particular curve, here’s where to go.  St Luke’s, Glasgow, Wednesday 30 March.

MUSIC

THEATRE

SONICA

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Audiovisual delights are ten a penny in this Glasgow-wide festival featuring the likes of Solareye, Becky Sikasa, Alex Smoke, Kathy Hinde and Guillaume Cousin.  Various venues, Glasgow, Thursday 10–Sunday 20 March.

The Queen Of Burlesque does her thing in Glamonatrix with a show full of extravagant numbers and vivid costumes.  Edinburgh Playhouse, Wednesday 2 March.

NITIN SAWHNEY Launching his Immigrants album, the sequel to 1999’s Mercury-shortlisted Beyond Skin, this multi-talented musician proves why he has been

SIX A sensation since it stormed the Fringe in 2018, this musical insight into the ill-fated wives of Henry VIII is a treat for eyes, ears and souls.  Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tuesday 15– Saturday 26 March.

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Already a winner at Cannes and now in the running for Oscars, The Worst Person In The World marks the stirring climax of a notable Norwegian trilogy. Emma Simmonds celebrates an emotionally affecting movie that isn’t afraid to portray a young woman as both intelligent and impulsive

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ith a title that captures the self-flagellating feeling of being ashamed of your actions rather than suggesting that its protagonist is the devil incarnate, The W orst P erson I n The W orld takes a good look at the trials of a young, directionless woman. By turns irreverent and illuminating with some sadness along the way, it skips by delightfully, finding much to say about the complexities of love and life for a generation less wedded to tradition.

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Director Joachim Trier mixes irreverence with significance to stunning effect

It’s the fifth narrative feature from the Danish-born, Norwegian writer-director Joachim Trier and the third part in his Oslo trilogy, which began with his 2006 debut Reprise, followed by O slo, A ugust 31s t in 2011. Trier comes from a family of notable filmmakers: his father Jacob was a sound technician who worked on stop-motion smash The Pinchcliffe G rand P rix (1975) while his grandfather was Erik Løchen, known for experimental work such as 1972’s Remonstrance. The artform, it seems, is in his blood.

Trier isn’t afraid to experiment either, and The W orst P erson I n The W orld benefits hugely from its quirky telling; for all of its astuteness, there’s a sense of a filmmaker playing around and changing things up as required. Life is unpredictable, so why shouldn’t movies be the same? Trier and his screenwriting collaborator Eskil Vogt divide their film into 12 chapters of wildly varying lengths: some are merely brief or humorous interludes, others are significant episodes whose impact will be felt by our heroine for years to come.

The heroine in question is Julie (the magnificent Renate Reinsve, winner of Best Actress at last year’s Cannes), first introduced in a fun montage which shows this intelligent but easily bored young woman flitting from studying medicine to psychology and on to photography, and having her head turned by romantic encounters along the way. Eventually she settles down with older comic-book artist Aksel, played by the excellent Anders Danielsen Lie, a regular collaborator of Trier’s. Finding herself in the shadow of his success while she’s stuck working in a bookstore, Julie resists the pressure of having children with him.

After crashing a wedding on a whim, she meets Eivind (Herbert Nordrum) and the pair mischievously push the boundaries of what is permissible without being officially classed as cheating. Later, we see Julie struggle with her lack of notable achievements as she turns 30, while she continues to put off motherhood. Soon, we gain insight into her upbringing when we meet neglectful father Harald (Vidar Sandem) who has another family which he routinely puts first.

With its wild variety, introspection and sometimes emotionally exhausting ups and downs, The W orst P erson I n The W orld takes us on what feels like a real journey, remaining absolutely compelling every step of the way. In a role that spans the protagonist’s student days to settling into her stride many years later, Reinsve is incredible. This understated actress boasts an astonishing ability to communicate personal growth and life taking its toll; she’s equally believable as wide-eyed and weary, and shows herself adept at both the comic and dramatic material.

The film also contains some superb artistic flourishes with kudos to cinematographer Kasper Tuxen for his lovely, fresh lensing. In a fantastical touch, Julie puts the rest of the world on pause so she can do something impulsive and taboo, with Trier capturing the agony and ecstasy of this illicit love affair by combining a swooningly romantic orchestral accompaniment with guilty glances. A mushroom trip is depicted in humorous, provocative and mind-bending style, while things get pretty heavy as the director digs deep into fear and regret when one character receives some earthshattering news.

The cheeky, wildly exaggerated title might draw you in but it’s the film’s credibility, eccentricities and disarming little details that will keep you hooked. It explores the pressure we heap on ourselves to be perfect, and society’s expectation that women can have, or should even want it all.

This supremely enjoyable and immaculately constructed movie shows how hard it is to get your shit together, yet retains a hopefulness that, whatever life’s trials, things have the potential to work out in the end.

The Worst Person In The World is at GFT as part of the Glasgow Film Festival, Friday 4 & Saturday 5 March, and on release in cinemas from Friday 25 March.

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REVIEWS

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(Directed by Terry Johnson)

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(Directed by Clio Barnard) This intimate and beautifully observed film introduces us to two struggling souls. Shot and set in Bradford, it celebrates the city’s diversity while acknowledging its racial tensions, with Ali and Ava coming together against this vibrant and volatile backdrop. He’s a local landlord and former DJ from a Bengali family; she’s a white classroom assistant, single mother to four, grandmother to five. He’s played by Adeel Akhtar; her by Claire Rushbrook.

This is the latest feature from acclaimed writer-director Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant, Dark River) and, as ever, she comes at it from the left field. Her fourth film is a romcom slash social realist drama, boasting a refreshingly modern outlook and eccentric touches that can’t fail to charm.

Ali is a big, bouncing kid of a character, perpetually lost in the banging tunes he pipes through his headphones and always ready to help out or muck around with anyone.

Although masquerading to his family as a happily married man, Ali is separated from his wife Runa (lovely work from Ellora Torchia) who is still living in his house, an arrangement that pains him, with their lack of children another source of anguish. Ava’s gentle demeanour and genial personality hide the heavy toll of a hard-knock life. As this loveable pair enter tentatively into a friendship and then romance, her sweet smiles will floor you.

The complications of starting a new relationship with decades’ worth of baggage in tow are sensitively and invigoratingly explored in a moving yet often very funny film that's buoyed by gorgeous performances and an eclectic soundtrack. This middle-aged duo have retained their lust for life despite it all, and watching them share their passions and throw caution to the wind is wonderful. (Emma Simmonds)  In cinemas from Friday 4 March.

GOING OUT REVIEWS

Ronald Harwood’s script for The Dresser speaks to a distinctively English nostalgia for a theatrical past dominated by actor-managers and a time when British identity was built on self-sacrifice and repressed desires. In the shadow of Shakespeare (Matthew Kelly’s ‘Sir’ performs in King Lear) yet able to carve out its story through a resonance of the canonical tragedies, The Dresser is a gentle critique of the past that retains a warm compassion for its characters, in spite of their flaws, frustrations and selfishness.

Terry Johnson’s direction follows a similar English dramaturgy, allowing the script to guide this production: Matthew Kelly is given space to demonstrate his versatility, variously raging as Lear, revealing egotism in a relationship with his dresser Norman (usually played by Julian Clary but tonight by understudy Samuel Holmes) and chasing the ghosts of his ambitions. A naturalistic depiction of provincial backstage drama during World War II, The Dresser’s melancholic atmosphere occasionally exposes vicious conflicts hidden beneath genteel stoicism.

While the play does not flinch in the face of harsh truths, it combines a measured and subtle depiction of human relationships with an existential hopelessness, revelling in the power of theatre while recognising its pretence and anxiety. (Gareth K Vile)  Run ended; reviewed at King’s Theatre, Edinburgh.

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DESIGNS FOR LIFE As Deborah Chu discovers, Dovecot Studios’ comprehensive survey of William Morris wallpapers elevates the industry alongside the artist

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n his essay titled ‘The Lesser Arts Of Life,’ William Morris defends the decorative arts against its detractors, arguing that such a view was ‘to the injury of the community’. And moreover, that through his devotion to these arts, Morris was himself a ‘servant of the public’. To this 19th-century polymath, something that is beautiful, well-made and functional has the power to elevate the lives of both its maker and user. Nearly a century and a half later, The A rt O f W allpaper: M orris & Co takes up the baton to highlight the artistry and craftsmanship of Victorian wallpaper, as well as its vital public function.

Bringing together original samples of Morris’ work (many of which are exhibiting in the UK for the first time), as well as that of his contemporaries and successors, The A rt O f W allpaper presents a comprehensive view of wallpaper art, design innovation and global commerce from that period.

But while most surveys of Morris’ work focus on his close association with Burne-Jones, Ruskin and Rossetti, The A rt O f W allpaper is much more concerned with the ecology of craftspeople, printers and manufacturers that underpinned his output, both at home and abroad.

For example, much attention is given to the graft and technical innovations of Jeffrey & Co, the company that block-printed the Morris firm’s entire wallpaper collection until the mid-1920s, as well

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REVIEWS

THE ART OF WALLPAPER

as the influence that kinkarakawakami (Japanese leather paper) had on Morris’ style. Later rooms in the exhibition are dedicated to John Henry Dearle, the firm’s successor. Dearle, who started off as an assistant in Morris & Co’s showroom, would go on to produce many of the company’s iconic patterns, though these were often punted under Morris’ name, depriving Dearle of a legacy alongside his mentor. Overall, it’s an incredibly refreshing take on Morris’ influence on the wallpaper industry, one that deepens and complicates our view of the man and the cultural ferment of his times.

Today, you’d be hard pressed not to find a gallery shop that isn’t hawking Morris’ designs on notebooks and pencil cases and mugs. As is the fate of wallpaper, his patterns have become so ubiquitous that it’s easy to overlook their artistic value or what they were attempting to do. Morris’ radical assertion was that people are shaped by their material conditions, and that if those conditions are good, we are then given the best possible chance to live a good life. A fresh coat of wallpaper might not be able to do that on its own, but The A rt O f W allpaper certainly makes a convincing case for its enduring power.

The Art Of Wallpaper: Morris & Co, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, until Saturday 11 June.

PICTURE: BRINKHOFF/MOEGENBURG

KIDS

THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE

(Directed by Michael Fentiman)

Though the pandemic has been likened to a war effort, surely nothing from these past two years is comparable to the mass childhood trauma enacted on city children during World War II, when they were evacuated from their family homes and into the countryside. It’s no wonder, looking back at CS Lewis’ classic novel with fresh eyes (as this production, created in 2017 by Sally Cookson for Leeds Playhouse, does) that the Pevensie children, sent miles from the London blitz and cut adrift from everything familiar, needed a place to escape to.

That place, of course, is Narnia, discovered by the littlest Pevensie, Lucy (played with quiet steeliness by Karise Yansen) when she ventures through the wardrobe in the ramshackle house to which she and her three siblings have been sent. Many adults will have their own first memories of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. Where this production excels is in overriding those previous incarnations to create its own iconic reimagining.

Using puppetry and pageant-style ensemble staging (actors holding lights become floor lamps; a puppet train races across the stage from London to Scotland), director Michael Fentiman’s vision has a deceptive simplicity. And it’s one that forces you, like the Pevensies, to bring your own imagination to the creation of Narnia.

It’s also punctuated by some truly jaw-dropping set-pieces.

The production never shies from the dark themes, with war always at the front of our minds; be it their mother waving them off to ‘We’ll Meet Again’ or the recurrence of gas masks, tin helmets, fatigues and a Dad’s Army-style beaver. Brought to life by an outstanding cast of actors, musicians and puppeteers, this will surely beguile adults who know the book back to front, as much as it will dazzle children seeing the story played out for the first time.

(Lucy Ribchester)  Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tuesday 1–Saturday 5 March; reviewed at King’s Theatre, Edinburgh.

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Few comedians currently working in the UK seem to have the divisive effect of Nish Kumar. To some he is the high paragon of ‘woke’ comedy, preaching to the easily pliable left-liberal congregation who adore paying the BBC licence and can’t wait to stick on a mask. To others (the good guys), his work is a pinsharp commentary on the ills of modern Britain with the government and its various lackeys never far from his satirical sights.

Your Power, Your Control revolves around a moment in Kumar’s life when his opponents appeared to have the upper hand, throwing bread rolls at him during a charity gig (yes, a charity gig) for daring to exercise his free speech and critique the Conservative administration. This ludicrous incident was followed swiftly by death threats which eventually had him spiralling into a mental-health crisis and booking in sessions with a therapist.

Honest, brittle and powerfully funny, Kumar’s current touring show is just another example of his stand-up prowess as he commands his stage and taunts the posh seats, declaring himself (half-jokingly) to be the equal of Bob Dylan and Igor Stravinsky when it comes to rattling the complacent values of controlling elites. All this when his detractors (the bad guys, remember) claim, to their own embarrassment, that he is the establishment now. (Brian Donaldson)  Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, Friday 18 March; reviewed at Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh.

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RED ROCKET

Simon Rex turns in a supercharged performance as down-on-his-luck porn star Mikey Saber who washes back up in smalltown Texas beaten and broke, and has to beg his estranged wife, Lexi (Bree Elrod), to take him in. Director Sean Baker has specialised in affectionately depicting life’s outsiders in films like Tangerine and The Florida Project, but with this manipulative protagonist he’s not afraid to make us squirm.

Mikey is pretty funny on the face of it, but it’s not long before he shows his true colours, taking a sleazy shine to the cutely monikered Strawberry (Suzanna Son), a 17-year-old employee of the local Donut Hole. At the

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(Directed by Sean Baker) same time, he’s wheedling his way back into Lexi’s bed and re-establishing himself as a drug dealer. Rex’s manic energy contrasts appealingly with the often deadpan incredulity with which his character is greeted and the film’s understated indie charm.

Baker takes a tender, sympathetic approach to depicting a town on its knees, with substance abuse and poverty rife, and blends professional and first-time actors seamlessly, adding to the authenticity. Although there’s ample discomfort amid the hilarity, we’re never told what to think. (Emma Simmonds)  In cinemas from Friday 11 March.

MUSIC

SONS OF KEMET

London-based quartet Sons Of Kemet are key players in a family of hip, eclectic outfits giving jazz a good name among those who might not previously have turned on and tuned in, attracting an audience which encompasses young hip-hop fans, old punks and soul warriors. That crowd has only expanded in the last few years since the band signed to venerable jazz label Impulse! (once the home of John Coltrane) releasing the Mercury Prize-nominated Your Queen Is A Reptile and current album Black To The Future, and this Glasgow contingent is primed and ready to submit to their shamanic Afrojazz grooves.

Their multi-faceted sound is grounded by the double drummer action of Tom Skinner and Eddie Hicks, a gambit intended for extra propulsion rather than power. Most of the focus of this seamless set was on bandleader Shabaka Hutchings, who painted over their tribal percussion with his sonorous saxophone keening. However, there was also great excitement in the room as Theon Cross girded himself for a heroic shift on tuba, with the sight of this big beast instrument almost as impactful as its insistent bass blasts.

The compelling Kemet sound weaves irresistible Afro-Caribbean traditions into an urgent jazz-punk framework with Hutchings gliding between melodic, soulful legato passages and choppy soca rhythms.

For every tip of the hat to Fela Kuti, there was a hectic homage to postpunk fusioneers such as Blurt, Pigbag and Rip Rig + Panic.

Pacing the set like a DJ, Hutchings switched to woodwind for a lighter, trilling interlude with accompanying gentle, clacking percussion before returning to a saxophone sound deeper and dirtier than before. There was another brief let-up, a slower, languorous, low-slung interlude, and a popular, playful solo from Cross combining nimble delivery, rumbling bass notes and one long deep blast heralding a set which gradually became more about pace than dynamics. (Fiona Shepherd)  Reviewed at Òran Mór, Glasgow.

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(Directed by Jacques Audiard) Set in an unglamourous suburb of the French capital, this defiantly chic, comedy-infused drama takes a frank look at hook-ups and hang-ups in crisp black and white. Paris, 13th District is the ninth feature from the superbly unpredictable and talented director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, The Sisters Brothers).

Noémie Merlant is Nora, one of three protagonists looking for love in the modern age; the others are Émilie and Camille, played

by Lucie Zhang and Makita Samba, a pair who begin as flatmates and fall out when they stop sleeping together. With the options afforded by dating apps confusing things considerably, the trio don’t seem to know what they want, while a character played by Savages singer Jehnny Beth stirs things up further.

Soulful performances and sprightly direction combine for an enthralling, sometimes surprising experience. The screenplay is based on the stories of American cartoonist Adrian Tomine with Audiard collaborating alongside Céline Sciamma (whose Girlhood shares a similar setting and vibe) and Léa Mysius. If there’s a believability to the messiness, the film never becomes mired in realism and it’s thrilling to see this director, who turns 70 this year, keeping things as fresh as ever. (Emma Simmonds)  In cinemas from Friday 18 March.

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AILBHE NÍ BHRIAIN

An Experiment With Time

Imagine a room removed from time: still yet fluid, alive with the consciousness of the past, present and future. Or a world flooded with water and wild animals, restored to its uncultivated historic state in a post-apocalyptic era. This eerie atmosphere of climate anxiety is alluringly captured by Ailbhe Ní Bhriain’s new solo exhibition An Experiment With Time, named after the 1927 book of the same name by John William Dunne. The soldierturned-scientist’s research argued that all aspects of time exist simultaneously, but that humans experience them in a linear fashion. This is a concept that Ní Bhriain intricately entwines with her own concerns about global warming.

We’re lulled into a dream-like state on entering the gallery.

All is quiet but for a spacey score composed by sound artist Susan Stenger that quietly accompanies the films playing concurrently at both ends of this darkened room. Complex ideas are presented in an equally complex but not impossible-to-grasp way. We are shown human-made structures edited to appear

flooded, and a chameleon perched motionless among the wires and circuit boards of a long-forgotten museum.

Another room features three collages: faceless children stand in the ruins of civilisation where a dog is barking, the ground visible through a hole in its stomach. Black snail shells decorate the slabs of Irish stone surrounding us that echo the longevity of geology, a detail that beautifully encapsulates the artist’s heritage and idea of timelessness.

A third space almost resembles a museum, with mostly untitled prints lining the walls, but is a walk-in collage in itself.

The floor is littered with hand-shaped globes that seem to sink into the ground, conveying similarities to waterlogged images in her films. This Irish artist’s exhibition is a hypnotic collection that expertly draws attention to the looming threat of climate change.

It’s a clear danger that will merge the worlds of before and now into an inhabitable, flooded future. (Rachel Cronin)  CCA, Glasgow, until Saturday 19 March.

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GOING OUT Michael Clark (and bottom from left), Parasite, Lost Voice Guy

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HIGHLIGHTS

FURTHER AFIELD Glasgow and Edinburgh aren’t the only places hosting vibrant arts and entertainment across this month.

Here’s a bunch of top exhibitions, gigs, films, concerts and shows outside of the big two ART

RESOLVE: A CREATIVE APPROACH TO THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY Programmed by Fife Contemporary and curated

by Mella Shaw of Central St Martins, this exhibition has 12 designers and artists showcasing work made to reflect the circular economy.  Kirkcaldy Galleries, until Sunday 8 May.

COSMIC DANCER This exhibition delves into the process of Michael Clark’s collaborations with artists, designers, musicians and performers, providing a powerful insight into one of Scotland’s most remarkable creative minds.  V&A Dundee, Saturday 5 March–Sunday 4 September.

COMEDY

LOST VOICE GUY With Cerebral-LOLsy, the former Britain’s Got Talent winner has dropped his posh iPad voice for a more authentic Geordie tone.  Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, Monday 7 March.

FERN BRADY The Bathgate comic can’t be too far off world domination now and Autistic Bikini Queen might well be the tipping point.  Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen, Saturday 12 March.

KATHERINE RYAN In Missus, the UK-based Canadian stand-up considers not only why she ended up in an institution (marriage) she previously cared little for, but why she would end up hitched to her first love from back home.  Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermline, Friday 25 March.

DANCE

GIOVANNI PERNICE The Strictly professional dancer takes to the road with This Is Me, oozing natural charm and eyeopening choreography.  Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, Saturday 12 March; Albert Halls, Stirling, Wednesday 16 March; Whitehall Theatre, Dundee, Thursday 17 March.

FILM

HIPPODROME SILENT FILM FESTIVAL Affectionately dubbed HippFest, this annual celebration of the non-talkies returns with films about Shanghai, Mary Queen Of Scots and gender rebels.  Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness, Wednesday 16–Sunday 20 March.

PARASITE Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning black comedy is well worth a return visit as a poor family attempt to get ahead by means fair and foul.  Perth Theatre, Thursday 24 March.

MUSIC

CURTIS STIGERS The smooth multi-platinum selling singer and sax player delivers tunes from his Hooray For Love album.  Perth Concert Hall, Wednesday 16 March.

RSNO: TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO 5 Conductor Tianyi Lu leads the Royal Scottish National Orchestra through a pulsing and emotional symphony.  Caird Hall, Dundee, Thursday 24 March.

TALKS

STANZA With the refrain of ‘stories like starting points’, Scotland’s national poetry festival makes its valuable contribution to this Year Of Stories.  Various venues, St Andrews, Monday 7–Sunday 13 March.

THEATRE

THE CHILDREN Two retired nuclear scientists while away their lives in an isolated cottage by the sea as the world crumbles around them in Lucy Kirkwood’s acclaimed play.  Dundee Rep, Tuesday 1–Saturday 19 March.

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Wordle might have upset British players with the occasional Americanism, so humble apologies for anyone offended by that adjective bestowed upon a 1950s housewife-standup played by Rachel Brosnahan. Now in its fourth season (or series if you’re not happy either with the transatlantic derivation of that term), Amy Sherman-Palladino’s comedy-drama already has its characters trying to cope with more change while trying desperately to cling on to their own identity.

Music-hall comic Sophie Lennon (the redoubtable Jane Lynch) is in a mental-health facility after flopping with her serious-acting career; Abe ‘Papa’ Weissman (the equally brilliant Tony Shalhoub) has ditched his life as a maths teacher to become a flighty member of the New York commentariat; and comedy manager Susie Myerson (again, a peerless turn from Alex Borstein) is looking to expand her portfolio while not losing her best pal.

Mrs Maisel herself has just about come to terms with being dumped from a life-altering tour for performing material that was deemed too close to the bone. It’s all simply (sorry) marvelous . . . (Brian Donaldson) n Amazon Prime, new episodes on Fridays.

STAYING IN

THE MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL

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Married couple Cathy Cullen and Dave Corkery started their multi award-winning podcast in 2017 and since then have been attracting listeners who appreciate their enthusiasm and informed opinions on the latest film releases. They chat on the way to the cinema discussing their expectations, and on exiting the film record their reactions as they walk home. The resulting podcast is utterly charming and often hilarious.

The pair met through friends while studying at University College Cork nearly 20 years ago and were married ‘quite a while back’, according to Corkery. At their wedding, each table featured a quote related to love, from movies such as Dirty Dancing, Ghostbusters and Back To The Future. Speaking to them following the Oscar shortlist announcements (which Cullen says they ‘take with a huge grain of salt’), the couple talk of how happy they are for Danish animated docudrama Flee’s three nominations. ‘It’s beautiful,’ says Dave, ‘a powerful and personal story with broader implications on how we as a society can dehumanise people.’

They’re both perplexed at Don’t Look Up’s inclusion in the Best Picture category. ‘Is the Oscars trolling us?’ jokes Cullen. ‘We enjoyed it but I don’t think it deserves to be there. Tick, Tick…BOOM! isn’t up for Best Picture, but Don’t Look Up is? It’s madness!’ Meanwhile, Corkery chips in: ‘I don’t understand all the hate it received; I agree that it shouldn’t be on the list, but isn’t it the most important movie to talk about due to its subject matter?’

During lockdown, the couple had to adapt their format, watching films at home and adding TV into the mix, but they say the essence of their podcast will always be about a cinema experience. ‘Our podcast is a cinema podcast, it’s not a movie podcast,’ says Corkery. ‘It’s trying to capture that anticipation of walking to a movie, and then it captures that feeling when we leave the cinema with a partner or friends and instantly dissect it on your walk home.’

They’ve recorded episodes with the likes of performance poet and actor Scroobius Pip, as well as Chris Hewitt and Helen O’Hara from The Empire Film Podcast, emphasising a real community spirit at The Cinemile’s heart. ‘They said nice things about the podcast, so we invited them on and met for the first time at the cinema’, says Cullen.

‘We’re really excited to get back to that this year.’  Episodes are available at thecinemile.com

BINGE FEST

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Our alphabetical column on televisual viewing marathons returns with programmes beginning with the letter D

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In which a married couple record themselves while walking to and from the cinema. Katherine McLaughlin hears from this award-winning pair about bad Oscar choices and good wedding decor

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Sometimes the simplest concepts make for the best telly. Such as: let’s get some comedians tipsy and record them while they talk endless drivel about the past. Obviously, D runk H istory (NOW TV) had to be the title and among those finding their loose tongues can’t quite keep up with the truth are Romesh Ranganathan on Tutankhamun, Diane Morgan on Florence Nightingale and Joe Lycett on the Kray Twins. D eadwood (Amazon Prime) is one of those dramas that people will, from time to time, muse on whether it ended too abruptly or went out with a bang before it got stale. Either way, it’s an undeniable bundle of fun (apart from the bits that are unwatchably ghastly) with Ian McShane practically inventing cursing as the all-too perfectly named Al Swearengen while Timothy Olyphant’s Seth Bullock attempted to be a justice-abiding sheriff. (Brian Donaldson) O ther D bi nges: D erry G irls ( A ll4) , D aily Show ( NO W TV ) , D etectorists ( B B C iP lay er) .

FIRST WRITES In this Q&A, we throw some questions about ‘firsts’ at debut authors.

This month we feature Dantiel W Moniz, author of Milk Blood Heat which has been longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize What’s the first book you remember reading as a child? Besides picture books

like The V ery H ungry Caterpillar or The Rainb ow F ish, I think it was something by Roald Dahl. Maybe The B ig F riendly G iant.

What was the first book you read that made you decide to be a writer? I

think I’ve always been a writer because that’s how I engage with my own interiority and the surrounding world, but I don’t think there was one book that made me decide to be a writer, because that pathway hadn’t been reflected as a real possibility for me. I had to find support systems that allowed me to give myself permission to pursue my writing seriously. But W hite O leander by Janet Fitch did make me realise how it was possible to write, and what about.

What’s your favourite first line in a book? I don’t like to get hung up on favourite

anything (colours, books, moments), but a first line that really struck me and has stayed with me is this one from Antonya Nelson’s F emale Troub le, from the first story, ‘Incognito’: ‘You can live a second life under your first one, something functioning covertly like a subway beneath a city, a disease inside the flesh.’

Which debut publication had the most profound effect on you? Getting a story

into Tin H ouse magazine was really a moment when I thought ‘oh, you might actually be really good at this’. Or that it was possible for other people to think that way about my work.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up on a writing day? Take as long as possible to get to the desk, haha. That’s the day I decide I need to dust and that the floorboards are dirty and maybe I want to rearrange the furniture. It’s the day I get done all of the other work I’ve been putting off. I have to get through a certain amount of resistance before I’m ready to face the blank page, but once I’ve made the tea or coffee and lit the candle, and selected my playlist, and read a bit, then I can get going and sink into the work.

What’s the first thing you do when you’ve stopped writing for the day? Read it

back to see if the sentences are sitting right in their rhythms.

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Milk Blood Heat is published in paperback by Atlantic Books on Thursday 3 March.

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Lean into your own interests. So what if someone’s already written whatever you’re trying to write? They can’t do what you do. And that doesn’t need to come from a place of arrogance, but confidence. Write what you’re called to.

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What’s the first piece of advice you’d offer to an aspiring novelist?

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GRAN TURISMO 7

These days there’s so little difference between the latest Xbox and PlayStation that consoleexclusive releases are even more critical to either system’s long-term success. And so, following a delay from last year, racing simulation game Gran Turismo 7 could be one of Sony’s most important releases in 2022.

Since its debut 25 years ago, Gran Turismo has remained loyal to PlayStation, building an army of fans dedicated to its complex driving physics, its vast roster of licensed cars, and its extensive customisation and tuning options. While some players find its famously sleek presentation to be aloof and sterile, every edition has pushed its respective console to the limits, and GT7 is gearing up to be one of the best-looking racing games around.

Famously, the downside to the series’ collection of real cars is that damage simulation has always been heavily neutered (it’s long been rumoured that car manufacturers licence their vehicles to Sony on the condition that they’re not depicted as vulnerable). Proper damage physics is one of the series’ most requested features but Sony remains tight-lipped about this and many other details. However it turns out, here’s hoping that PS5 production can somehow keep up with demand. (Murray Robertson)  Released by PlayStation 4/PlayStation 5 on Friday 4 March.

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question because I hate the idea of being such a small, fearful person that I’m threatened by other people’s expansion or growth. Yuck and yikes to all that. That being said, I’d happily torch anything with Trump’s face on it because I hate to look at him.

PICTURE: MARISSA PILOLLI

In a parallel universe where you’re a tyrannical leader in a dystopian civilisation, what’s the first book you’d burn? Oh dear god, this is an uncomfortable

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The Ninth Wave are riding high as music-festival season looms into view.

Megan Merino reviews the Glasgow band’s second album and finds a sincere and creative take on the complexities of young adult life

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n September, we interviewed The Ninth Wave’s Haydn Park-Patterson when only a few singles from H eav y L ike A H eadache had been released.

The conversation revealed that this eclectic fourpiece with very different musical influences, weren’t interested in going over old ground for their new album. Nor were they particularly fussed about chasing any one signature sound or vision.

H eav y L ike A H eadache, the band’s second collection, fully delivers on those promises. Written, performed and produced by Park-Patterson, Millie Kidd, Kyalo Searle-Mbullu and Calum Stewart, the 15 tracks breathe emotional truth into stories about relationships, loneliness and mental health with musical range and lyrical prowess. A patchwork of indie rock, post-punk and bedroom pop manages to authentically communicate the chaos, excitement and psychological reality of life through the lens of a sentimental twentysomething.

After the lulling ‘Intro’, we’re greeted with the steady and uplifting kick drum of the single ‘Maybe You Didn’t Know’, before continuing the indie-rock mood for ‘Heron On The Water’ and ‘Hard Not To Hold You’, all sung by Park-Patterson. Despite their vulnerable and tender lyrics (‘I was born with a lump in my throat’/‘You could never give back what you stole, a heavy heart and a fractured soul’/‘I’d like to know when you’ve finished your thoughts, it’s not easy feeling helpless’),

the album’s first half takes on an anthemic quality, similar to parts of their 2019 debut I nfancy . By contrast, the industrial drill sounds and heavy battle drums in ‘These Depopulate Hours’ foreshadows the record’s darker second half, where themes of masculinity and abuse of power arise in songs such as ‘What Makes You A Man’ and album closer ‘Song For Leaving’. That lulling piano returns (and will again) to pull listeners out of the nightmare and into the album’s finest moment, ‘The Morning Room’.

Layered harmonies and production come to the forefront of this crescendo-filled song, and a clever use of silence (heard throughout the album to punctuate their loud and droney soundscapes) give the heavy words space to be processed. ‘Piece And Pound Coins’ brings us back into the world of indie rock but with more edge this time. Smashing bottle sounds accompany the lyric ‘push a pram over broken glass’ (reminiscent of Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’) which then leads into the title track, a visceral, hypnotising waltz which crosses into a ‘sad girl’ indie sphere.

Where The Ninth Wave succeed in remaining genre-less, they don’t always triumph in creating sonic cohesion. But what really binds their songs together is that place of sadness and sincerity from which they’re sung. Particularly poignant moments come from Millie Kidd’s raw lead vocals on tracks like ‘What Makes You A Man’, ‘Heavy Like A Headache’ and ‘Song For Leaving’. And it’s these deeply emotive moments that make H eav y L ike A H eadache the band’s boldest and most refined album to date.

Heavy Like A Headache is released by Distiller Records on Friday 18 March, and the band play Glasgow QMU on Saturday 19 March.

PICTURE: NEELAM KHAN VELA

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THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GREY

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MIDLAKE

For The Sake Of Bethel Woods (Bella Union) Midlake have always been around, even when they are not. Hitting the indie-folk scene just before it really got going, their 2006 sleeper hit ‘Roscoe’ was quickly overshadowed by even more slow-burning successes from Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes. Midlake’s presence has always been felt though, the band returning at increasingly irregular intervals to offer variations on the buoyant psych-folk that established them.

For The Sake Of Bethel Woods follows suit, arriving nine years after their last album. The band seem unburdened with not breaking any new ground, instead content to provide a gentle blanket for fans.

The album opens with ‘Commune’, which re-establishes the group through an opening line about having been ‘away far too long’, building from a single guitar to a lush full-band glow. Actual opening track, and lead single, ‘Bethel Woods’ comes crashing in soon after, throwing back to the rich and bombastic sound of their high-point collection, The Trials Of Van Occupanther.

The rest of the record, though, too often finds them returning to a familiar safety, despite flirting with knotty intricacy on ‘Glistening’ or spaced-out distortion with ‘Noble’. A prog-funk strut entitled ‘Gone’ is ill-fitting for a band who seem more attuned to melodic wistfulness, although they somewhat correct this uneasy error with ‘Meanwhile . . . ’, another strong song that harks back to their early work.

Midlake worked with an outsider producer for the first time on this album, and Grammy Award-winning John Congleton’s tender experimentation fits well with the band’s overall sound. For The Sake Of Bethel Woods is a solid addition to Midlake’s catalogue, presenting a band not quite reborn, but certainly rejuvenated. (Sean Greenhorn)  Released on Friday 18 March.

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Robyn (Dominique Fishback) takes over duties from Reggie, and a strong bond grows between her and Grey.

Mosley’s TV adaptation has ambitions far beyond showing how dementia can rob a person of dignity and identity, although it does that best and with deep sensitivity. It quickly becomes a fantasy adventure with interweaving plots about slavery, Big Pharma, a love child and several romances. A few too many overlapping memories are shoehorned into the science-fiction soap opera, but Mosley’s well-spun yarn is a morality tale with a big heart, navigated gracefully by Jackson. (Claire Sawers)  Available from Friday 11 March.

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Samuel L Jackson plays an ageing man living with dementia and given an experimental wonder drug that lets him regain his memories. The six-part series is an adaptation of noir writer Walter Mosley’s book, a sprawling, time-travelling treasure hunt where nonagenarian Ptolemy Grey tries to right several important wrongs before his life is over.

The opening episode is incredibly moving with Jackson’s eyes crumpled by the fear and confusion of dementia; his usual badass demeanour is replaced by a bewildered vulnerability as he cautiously lets his grandnephew Reggie (Omar Benson Miller) in to his apartment, a hoarder’s cave where he shelters, surrounded by beloved books. Teenager

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VICKY BAKER

Fake Psychic (BBC Sounds)

brilliant spooky coincidence, the kind that must have freaked out Keene in much the same way that Whoopi Goldberg’s fraudster medium got the heebie-jeebies in Ghost.

The depths of grief, delusion and faith that fuel the human desire to hear from loved ones after they’ve shuffled off this mortal coil are examined through interviews with fellow mediums. There’s also one talking head who explains the True Believer syndrome, a term used

by Keene in his book, which allows people to ignore often glaring evidence that they are being duped. (Claire Sawers)  All episodes available now.

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Lamar Keene was the go-to man in 1960s America if you wanted to speak with the spirit world. His likeable schtick and flash, white wardrobe helped him to coax grief-stricken relatives into parting with huge sums of cash which supported his spiritualist church services. But the séances were an elaborate hoax, as he revealed in his 1976 whistleblowing exposé The Psychic Mafia, which killed his own career at the same time.

Panorama and ex-Guardian journalist Vicky Baker (who worked on the BBC’s Fake Heiress podcast now showing on Netflix as Inventing Anna) had been digging for a similar con-artist story and struck on an intriguing nugget of gold with Keene’s book. Her sixpart series uses extracts from his fascinating memoir alongside new investigative research of her own to tell the story of a convincing charlatan eaten up with guilt later in life.

Some dramatised scenes verge on the cartoonish (a syrupy camp Keene is voiced by Edward Hogg), especially when the true story would have been bonkers enough without them. Much more successful is Baker’s retelling of her own private detective work where she tracks down living relatives, experts on the psychology of scams and, quite unexpectedly, a passionate parrot breeder.

The last two episodes accelerate with weird plot twists and a

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GOD OF WAR

(PC/PlayStation 4) Time has been very kind indeed to Sony’s ‘angry dad’ masterpiece which has unexpectedly come to PC almost four years since its debut. If your system can handle it, God Of War now looks better than ever, with support for unlocked frame rates and ultra-wide monitors.

The game focuses on father-and-son pairing Kratos and Atreus, two wildly different chips off the same block. Kratos is a former Greek God Of War, training his heir in the ways of combat across a formidable Norse landscape, while Atreus acts as the player’s proxy: a confused young lad struggling to make sense of a terrifying land filled with gods, giants and monsters. As a soft reboot of the series, it owes much of its success to The Last Of Us and Uncharted, particularly in its climbing and puzzle sections.

Where God Of War comes into its own is through its extraordinary combat mechanics, with Kratos’ Leviathan Axe one of the most satisfying gaming weapons ever. Presented as a single camera shot, the game is technically audacious with awe-inspiring backdrops, gigantic foes and detailed animation which brings real pathos to these characters. Among all the Sturm und Drang, it’s ultimately an intimate tale of familial bonding and a story that will stay with you long after it ends. (Murray Robertson)  Out now.

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Our favourite manic murderer is back as the fourth and final series of Killing Eve lands on BBC screens. Jodie Comer returns not just as Villanelle: she also appears to be Jesus.

Literally. Having rebranded herself Nelle, she’s turned to God for some peace in her life. However, fighting inner demons and an urge to kill only serves to show that taking the ‘Villain’ out of her name won’t be that easy.

At the third series finale, we were left wondering if Eve (Sandra Oh) and this beautiful monster had burned their bridges or whether they’d become the most unlikely of couples after an epic game of cat and mouse. And while Villanelle can’t seem to stay away from trouble no matter how hard she tries, she can’t seem to stay away from Eve either.

This season seems to be at a similar pace to before, a slow burner that effectively keeps tensions ratcheted up. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from prior episodes, it’s to expect the unexpected. But the big question remains: will someone eventually be successful in killing Eve? (Gemma Murphy)  Mondays, 9pm; episode one available on BBC iPlayer.

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GU BYEONGMO

The Old Woman With The Knife (Canongate) As is to be expected from a writer whose debut novel so successfully broke with convention (2009’s Wizard Bakery was the first South Korean young-adult novel to employ magic as a major plot device), The Old Woman With The Knife is a thriller with a difference. Who isn’t fascinated by what might become of a hired assassin lucky enough to reach retirement age?

Award-winning Gu Byeong-mo (translated here by Chi-Young Kim) delivers unexpected touches of tenderness within the brutal, exacting world of ‘disease control’. Hornclaw may look like a mild-mannered grandma, but is actually an experienced killer trying to retain an iron grip on her reputation as a founding member of her firm. The march of time is against her, as is a cocky young upstart Bullfight who delights in trying to get under her skin. Unfolding at a meditative pace, this thriller is unusual in quietly sucking the reader in, all the better to twist a tension-laden knife or undercut complacency with an emotional

moment. Complexities reveal themselves in good time and are well-balanced by the intriguing premise and characters.

The people Hornclaw is sent to assassinate are described as vermin; individuals who have slowly morphed from human beings into rats or insects, helping to paint our protagonist as an anti-hero we are happy to stick with as she carries out her assignments. Pretending to be an old busybody might be an impeccable disguise, but once she’s been rumbled, her age can surely only work against her . . . ?

Both the subject and wry, black humour are reminiscent of The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre, while it deserves those comparisons to Leïla Slimani’s Lullaby too. It is a delight to root for Hornclaw as she contemplates her place in the world, even when starkly reminded of the intricacies of her profession.

(Lynsey May)  Published on Thursday 3 March.

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STAYING IN Aldous Harding (and below from left), Bridgerton, Sonic Youth, Hannah Lavery

MORE THINGS WORTH STAYING IN FOR Just because everyone is having a ball as they head out to venues in town doesn’t mean you can’t grab a moment and stay indoors for your entertainment. Thankfully, much is happening in books, on screens and inside your ears

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SONIC YOUTH: IN/OUT/IN

CLAIRE ASKEW: A MATTER OF TIME

Fans of Thurston, Kim and co can rejoice as a rarities compilation is on its way with five tracks which were made between 2000 and 2010.  Three Lobed Recordings, Friday 11 March.

Harking back to the sweaty-palm days of 24, the fourth book in the acclaimed DI Birch series is a taut thriller in which our cop has just a single day to negotiate with a killer.  Hodder & Stoughton, Thursday 10 March.

ALDOUS HARDING: WARM CHRIS PJ Harvey cohort John Parish is on producing duties for this follow-up to the acclaimed Designer, which features appearances from Polar Bear’s Seb Rochford and Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson.  4AD, Friday 25 March.

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GHOSTWIRE: TOKYO One of the most anticipated games releases of the year, The Evil Within creators produce a more action-focused affair.  PC/PlayStation 5, Friday 25 March.

HANNAH LAVERY: BLOOD SALT SPRING

DEATH STRANDING

The debut poetry collection from Edinburgh’s Makar is here, and it’s nothing less than a meditation of where we are, exploring all the key ideas and issues of our times.  Polygon, Thursday 3 March.

The director’s cut of this post-apocalyptic world in which destructive creatures are now roaming the planet features the voices of Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux and Mads Mikkelsen.  PC, Wednesday 30 March.

TV

SHINING VALE With the new Scream movie now disappearing into the rear-view mirror (some naysayers might be glad about that), Courtney Cox is back on comedy-horror business with this series about a couple (Cox and Greg Kinnear) who move out of their cosy (well, cramped) apartment in Brooklyn into a Victorian mansion where things, you’ll be amazed to learn, start to get a little creepy. And then a lot creepy.  Starz, Sunday 6 March.

BRIDGERTON If you loved the grandeur of its first season as well as the mystery aspect about the society columnist’s true identity, you’ll probably go a bundle on more lavish costume fare. Adjoa Andoh, Shelley Conn and Nicola Coughlan are all back.  Netflix, Friday 25 March.

PICTURE: LOUISE MONTGOMERY

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QUESTIONS WITH DERREN BROWN

He’s played Russian Roulette, conducted séances and convinced an IT consultant that he was a ventriloquist’s dummy. Derren Brown is back with a closely-guarded show about ‘the pain and the beauty’ of life. In our Q&A, he tells us about escape rooms, 80s technology and Toblerone

Who should play you in the movie about your life? What a question! I’d be happy with any of

dogs. There’s a game of backgammon and an Old Fashioned in there somewhere, but I’m not getting a headache.

If you were to return in a future life as an animal, what would it be? My Beagle-Basset

If you were a ghost, who would you haunt?

the obvious choices: Stallone, Idris, Mirren.

cross, Doodle. She enjoys a better quality of life than I do and that’s saying something. No joke, I was eating beans on toast a week ago watching her tuck into a roast pheasant which hadn’t worked out.

Name two other people you’d recruit to help you get out of an escape room? I’d take

the team I found myself with last time I did one.

We’d been picked at random from a friend’s big birthday outing and, once inside, we realised that our group was an all-gay team. Not sure if that had happened on purpose, but after childhoods of never being picked for any teams, we were all delighted. We didn’t escape but by the time they had to let us out, we’d redecorated the room and left a quiche in the oven.

When was the last time you were mistaken for someone else? Back of a cab. Driver said

‘I know who you are, my wife likes you [don’t know why he needed to clarify that], what’s your name? Don’t tell me . . . ’ He wouldn’t let me tell him and was trying to guess for the rest of the ourney. Eventually I figured I’d put him out of his misery, so I said ‘it’s Derren Brown’.

His response ’no, that’s not it’. He thanked me for stopping his wife smoking so I think he thought I was Paul McKenna. I realise this is pretty loathsome, but a few years ago I dropped my own name to get a restaurant table in Soho.

At the end of the meal, the waiter said he was a big fan and asked sheepishly if I might sign one of my books that he had brought with him especially. f course I said yes, and he thanked me and headed o to get it. He came back after a few minutes with A ngels A nd D emons.

What’s the best cover version ever?

Jeff Buckley’s ‘Hallelujah’, obviously.

Whose speaking voice soothes your ears?

Alan Carr’s.

What most recently astonished you? How nice Toblerone is. All my life I thought I hated it.

Describe your perfect Saturday evening?

Paint a bit, write a bit, glass of wine in the garden, then on the sofa by the fire with the

Sally Morgan.

Which day in your life would you relive?

There was a chap at school who had a tough time; I was his friend for a while but eventually joined in with the piss-taking. He had a rough time after school as well. I’d want to relive the last day I saw him, but apologise for being a dick, give him a big hug and leave it on a different note.

destination for espionage? Florence. And it

would take me a long time to solve anything.

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? I love these questions! I’ve

got a room full of taxidermy, weird things in pickle jars and a bunch of awards. I’d let that go: it would be quite liberating.

Derren Brown: Showman, King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Friday 4–Saturday 12 March; Edinburgh Playhouse, Tuesday 3–Saturday 7 May.

What’s your earliest recollection of winning something?

I may have won something from The D andy comic for getting into their letters page. Maybe I’m imagining they gave out prizes for that.

Failing that, I’d have to skip to my university years where I acquired a number of ballroom dancing trophies for my famous cha-cha-cha.

Tell us something you wish you had discovered sooner in life? People really don’t

care about your sexuality. And Toblerone.

What tune do you find it impossible not to get up and dance to, whether in public or private? Probably anything by Diana Ross. At

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home, we dance a lot. In public, never.

Which famous person would be your ideal holiday companion? Tom Holland.

Tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people? I am barista-trained.

When did you last cry? With laughter the

other day, along with my partner, but I can’t remember why.

What’s the most hi-tech item in your home?

Home cinema. Other than that, I like hard buttons, old-fashioned intercoms and a sort of early 80s level of tech. The moment I’m told I can operate something from my phone my heart sinks.

What’s a skill you’d love to learn but never got round to? Playing the piano.

If you were selected as the next James Bond, where would you pick as your first luxury

Featuring a top-notch cast including Burnistoun’s Rab Florence, writing from Douglas Maxwell and direction by Cora Bissett, the musical stage adaptation of Orphans has hit written all over it. This National Theatre Of Scotland version of Peter Mullan’s 1998 film takes to both the high and low roads for a tour of Scotland throughout April.

Alan Partridge is back among us with his new live tour entitled Stratagem (you’ve got another month to work out what the heck that title might mean) while dynamic pop duo Wet Leg release their highly anticipated debut album.

Plus we’ll have various bits and pieces on summer festivals, Scottish Ballet, Van Gogh Alive, Douglas Stuart, Mitski and Maria Bamford.  Next copy of The List will be out on Friday 1 April.

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HOT SHOTS Van Gogh Alive comes to Edinburgh’s Festival Square having already entertained 8.5 million visitors in 75 cities across the globe. An immersive and spectacular treat, this is set to be not only the art happening of the spring and summer but perhaps the cultural highlight of 2022.

Glasgow boy James McAvoy makes a homecoming visit to perform at the Theatre Royal in Cyrano De Bergerac. Dubbed ‘Hamilton for Europeans’, the production features this loser-in-love but winner-at-words slamming his opponents in rap battles as he attempts to woo the true object of his lyrical desire through the auspices of another.

Wolf Alice enjoyed three sell-out dates at Barrowlands in mid-February. This image was taken while Storm Dudley was battering Glasgow outside, but for a couple of hours fans only cared for the tornado of tunes cascading from the stage as the 2018 Mercury winners whipped up a gig to remember.

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AN EXPERIENCE LIKE NO OTHER IN A CITY LIKE NO OTHER

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