Macphail Theatre, Ullapool, 15 March 2012, and touring.

Writer Hamish MacDonald discusses his new play for Mull Theatre, currently on tour.

Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, 23 September 2011, and touring.

Village Hall, Lochinver, 31 May 2011.

These columns have struck a rather pessimistic note of late, and there is a bit more of that to come below, but what better antidote to the gloom over the parlous state of arts funding than a bit of Laurel & Hardy, courtesy of the late Tom McGrath and Mull Theatre.

Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, 26 March 2010, and touring

Pavilion, Rothesay, Isle of Bute, 21 August 2009

AS DAVE SMITH’s cartoon reminds us, if it’s August it must be the Edinburgh festival extravaganza again. Kicking off right at the end of July with the Jazz Festival and taking in the full razzmatazz of the International Festival, the Fringe and the Tattoo, it will be a month of colourful mayhem amid the uncollected rubbish in the capital.

Mull Theatre, Isle of Mull, 18 April 2009, and touring

Mull Theatre, Isle of Mull, 18 April 2009, and touring