FIONA MACKENZIE finds Karen Matheson practising the art of reinventing herself.

HELEN SLATER casts a seasoned eye over Ashley Page’s radical transformation of the traditional Nutcracker tale.

KENNY MATHIESON finds Ireland’s MÍCHEÁL Ó SÚILLEABHÁIN in characteristically creative form ahead of a forthcoming Highlands and Islands tour.

ALLAN HUNTER at the movies. ALEXANDER PAYNE has established himself as one of the most beguiling directors in contemporary American cinema. Films like ‘Election’ and ‘About Schmidt’ have been marked by a wry humour and an acute understanding of human nature.    Those qualities are once again evident in the sublime ‘Sideways’, a plaintive salute […]

ROB ADAMS savours a major step forward for Caithness pianist and composer James Ross in the first of this year’s New Voices commissions at Celtic Connections.

Perth Theatre, Friday 14 January 2005

Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 12 January 2005

CATRIONA PAUL at the Movies. PAWEL PAWLIKOWSKI’s film won Best New British Feature Film at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival but it’s second time round for the director. Last Resort  took the same award in 2000. Whilst the first film focused on the life of a refugee woman coming to Britain, his latest feature places […]

CATRIONA PAUL at the Movies. WHAT’S SO incredible about The Incredibles? Here is a kids-adult crossover movie that loses the magic as it spreads its bets and plumps for wisecracks and family life over superhero splendour. A lot of adults enjoy going to kids’ movies. In the beginning, the idea may simply have been to […]

CATRIONA PAUL at the Movies. BASED ON the Jane Austen classic, this Anglo-Indian remake trades England for India, throws subtlety out the window and imports Bollywood splendour – complete with Miss World (Aishwarya Rai) in the lead role and singing and dancing galore. The result is a visually stunning but hollow film whose lead characters […]