Tolbooth, Stirling, 16 March 2013, and touring
“WE sacked Seamus (Fogarty),” quipped Pictish Trail Johnny Lynch when he and James Yorkston emerged together following the interval, “he didn’t sell enough […]

David Pollock talks to Euan Martin about the latest Right Lines project
THE LOCAL community centre, in popular imagery, is a traditional space which is under threat, a hub for people to congregate around and form […]

Tramway, Glasgow, 9 March 2013
THAT this show had only been initiated five days before within the rehearsal space of the Tramway, with three days for the vocalists to perfect their parts, made it all the more […]

David Pollock investigates the National Theatre of Scotland’s Ignition project in Shetland
ALTHOUGH a large-scale theatrical project which attempts to use the length and breadth of the Shetlands as its stage and […]

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 5 February 2013, and touring
THE repertory success of My Name is Rachel Corrie around the globe can surely be attributed to a number of factors, not least its impetus as a piece of drama […]

RISING star of Gaelic song Julie Fowlis has one overriding memory of her time as a student at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic-language college at Sleat on the Isle of Skye whose contribution to the cultural life of […]

David Pollock reports on a major outreach project focusing on the contemporary Gaelic diaspora
ALTHOUGH it had its detractors at the time, the first national Year of Homecoming in 2009 was deemed such a success […]

Various venues, Ullapool, 21-22 September 2012
REGARDLESS of who the organisers book to appear every year, Loopallu is a special festival.

COME the end of September, Ullapool still catches the last scraps of […]

“John O’Groats is part of the English language,” says Carol Gunn quite simply. “The journey from John O’Groats to Land’s End is recognised wherever you go in the English speaking world.”
HER problem, however, is […]

Axolotl Gallery, Dundas Street, Edinburgh, until 30 November 2011 IN REVIEWING a group show at a commercial gallery, it’s often hard to find a thematic through-line beyond the fact you’re viewing a bunch of works which have become available at once. At least in selecting the work of a variety of artists over different media who are […]

ECA Tent Gallery, Edinburgh, 21-28 October 2011 TIMED to coincide with the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2011, this linked exhibition and storytelling performance have both been compiled by Stornoway wordsmith and sailor Ian Stephen, whose voice runs through each of them. At Edinburgh College of Art’s gleaming new Tent Gallery, S…[Read more]

Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, 16 October 2011 THE existence of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Scottish Studies’ archive isn’t common knowledge, and only the fact that Emily Roff of Glasgow promoter Tracer Trails used to study there has brought about this eye-opening project. Once you’ve been made aware of it, though, this newl…[Read more]

EVER since it earned its own degree-awarding powers in 1994, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow has borne in mind its Gaelic-speaking constituency of students. THAT was the year they first offered the choice of writing a dissertation in Gaelic, for example, and since then their course in Scottish traditional music has meant […]

Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, until Saturday 16th April 2011 IT’S A shame this capital showcase exhibition of artists connected to Ullapool’s RhueArt Gallery should only be on display for so short a while, because there’s such a wealth of work here that a relatively lengthy visit or even a repeat viewing might be deserved. However long you have to […]