Culture
Review: Jack and the Beanstalk, Aberdeen
★★★★★ The Panto is a festive institution in Aberdeen every year and this year it returned to His Majesty’s Theatre to tell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. With my best boo and ‘oh yes it is’ practiced, I joined my fellow theatre goers in the packed HMT to experience the colour and magic…
Read MoreReview: Castle of Light, Edinburgh
Edinburgh is celebrating its 900th anniversary with a spectacular light show at the capital’s castle. The celebration will light up Edinburgh’s skyline for the fifth year in a row and Fiona Tenneb headed to the iconic landmark to see the displays setting the Christmas season alight. Despite the chill in the air, the cold…
Read MoreLet there be light: The best of Scotland’s winter light fsetivals
Festivals across the country are bringing bright lights to the dark nights, and they make for top-notch photo opportunities. In our January magazine we shine the spotlight on some of our favourite pictures. From the rural woodlands of Beecraigs Country Park to the city trails of Aberdeen, Scotland’s light festivals are illuminating our long winter…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Fiona Watson: ‘As a historian I adored Hilary Mantel’s commitment to research and being faithful to the facts’
Fiona Watson on reading the Narnia books as a child, her favourite book of the year and being inspired by Hilary Mantel. The first book I remember reading: The one that springs to mind is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as I read all the Narnia books when I was nine or…
Read MoreStitched in time: 200 years of Scotland’s treasured textiles go on display at Dovecot Studios
Treasured Scottish textiles, many of which have never been on display before, will be at the centre of an exhibition at Dovecot Studios this year. An extraordinary collection of textiles held by the National Trust for Scotland spanning 200 years will come together for the exhibition, Stitched: Scotland’s Embroidered Art. After two years of painstaking…
Read MoreEverlyn Nicodemus: ‘This exhibition feels like the most important moment in my career’
Following a 25-year break from painting, Everlyn Nicodemus has unveiled a new series of artwork at the National Galleries of Scotland. More than 80 drawings, collages, paintings and textiles from the last 40 years of her career are on display at Modern One in Edinburgh. Everlyn champions a belief that creativity is a form of…
Read MoreElizabeth Newman, Pitlochry Festival Theatre: ‘Theatre will always be important to people’
‘Theatre will always be important to people, we will always need to tell stories to make sense of the world,’ says Elizabeth Newman. It’s a sentiment the outgoing artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre feels passionately about. And it’s easy to see why. During her six years at the helm, Elizabeth has brought innovative productions…
Read MoreWilliam Gillies: A fresh look at one of Scotland’s most important painters
William Gillies adored Scotland. One of the 20th century’s most influential artists, he often travelled around our wee nation sketching and painting, inspired by the landscapes around him. So it seems only fitting the latest exhibition of his work will take a tour around the mainland and to the Scottish islands this year, and into…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Mhairi Collie: ‘I have been an Outlander fan for a long time’
Mhairi Collie on being inspired by Alexander McCall Smith, not making it through A Little Life by Hanya, Yanagihara and her love of the Outlander series. The first book I remember reading: I think it would have to be an Enid Blyton – probably the Famous Five. I still remember all the different characters…
Read MoreCHRISTMAS AT THE BOTANICS RETURNS
Christmas at the Botanics has opened at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, bringing a new season of magical light installations. The annual light show is a calendar highlight for Edinburgh residents and tourists alike, and this year the illuminated trail promises both new light installations and old favourites, placing the beauty of plants to the…
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