PHIL CUNNINGHAM AND ALY BAIN will officially bring down the curtain on Eden Court Theatre as we know it on 4 June, the prelude to the theatre’s much discussed expansion and refurbishment. The doors will not open again until at least the very end of 2006, at which time they hope to be the proud owners of a new and very badly needed second theatre, new cinema spaces, a new foyer and improved backstage space for performers, among many other things.

This is a massive undertaking, and even Colin Marr confesses that nobody can give an absolute guarantee that the job will not run into unexpected difficulties or cost escalation. It will be a fraught period for the director and his remaining staff as they face up to the ongoing work on the building while simultaneously attempting to mount an Eden Court-in-exile programme of events in and around Inverness. We wish them well, and hope for the best of progress on this important development.

The closure of Eden Court and the cancellation of this year’s Highland Festival leaves the St Magnus Festival in pretty much sole possession of the artistic spotlight this month. Our man in Orkney, Alistair Peebles, will be reporting on the event, which runs from 17-22 June.

Our main interview this month is a chat with actress Tilda Swinton, a Nairn resident who maintains a film career that is international in extent, and encompasses both independent and what she thinks of as industrial (that’s Hollywood to you and me) film-making.

Elsewhere, we look at a forthcoming project in the Shetland Isles that brings together the not immediately obvious combination of opera with the local knitting and craft community. Still on islands, although this time western rather than northern, musicians George Burt and Raymond MacDonald reflect on their March project at An Tobar in Mull.

This month marks the second anniversary of the launch of the Arts Journal, and we are currently cooking up some ideas to revamp the look and layout of the site as we enter our third year.

Kenny Mathieson
Commissioning Editor

Kenny Mathieson lives and works in Boat of Garten, Strathspey. He studied American and English Literature at the University of East Anglia, graduating with a BA (First Class) in 1978, and a PhD in 1983. He has been a freelance writer on various arts-related subjects since 1982, and contributes to the Inverness Courier, The Herald, The Scotsman, The List, Times Educational Supplement Scotland, and other publications. He is the author of two books on jazz, Giant Steps and Cookin’ (both Canongate), and edited Celtic Music – A Listener’s Guide (BackbeatUK).