The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
AROUND TOWN
Tower Tours
The Signal Tower Museum, Ladyloan, Arbroath, DD11 1PU, 01241 435329.
Fri May 20, noon; Sat May 21, 1pm, free. Climb the dramatic spiral staircase and visit the tower room with guided tours available. angus.gov.uk
My Last Supper: One Meal A Lifetime In The Making With Jay Rayner
Perth Theatre, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5UW, 01738 621031.
Sun May 22, 7.30pm, £21.50. Imagine you are about to die. You have one meal left. What are you going to have? It’s the question award-winning restaurant critic, Masterchef judge and writer Jay Rayner has been asked most often by audiences across the UK. It happened so often that he decided the time had come to investigate the concept of the last supper and why it intrigues us so. horsecross. co.uk
The Japanese Gardens At Cowden & Stirling Day Trip
The Japanese Garden At Cowden, Dollar, FK14 7PJ, 01576 203874.
Wed May 25, 9am-8pm, £35 Includes entry to gardens and lunch. At the turn of the 20th century, Scottish adventurer Ella Christie returned home from a trip to the Orient, inspired to build a Japanese Garden. Enjoy a guided tour of the historic Japanese Garden and newly restored woodland walks, which once connected Ella Christie’s home, Cowden Castle, to Sha Raku En
(the place of pleasure and delight). cowden-garden. myshopify.com
Cultural Connections: Stitching Stories
Alyth Library, 23 Airlie Street, Alyth, Blairgowrie, PH11 8AH, 01828 632731. Thu May 26, 5.30-7.30pm, £5. Come along and learn how to quilt, make new friendships and discover the amazing historical story of local traveller Belle Stewart. culturepk.org.uk
FAMILY
Big Kid Circus
Montrose Links, Traill Drive, Montrose, DD10 8SW, 07766 552211.
Fri 20-Sun 22 May, 10am8pm, £8.99. Big Kid Circus brings us MAYHEM, a new show full of excitement for the whole family and loads of surprises to keep everyone on the edge of their seats. bigkidcircus. co.uk
Django’s Journey: Children’s Classic Concert
St John’s Kirk, St John’s Place, Perth, PH1 5SZ, 01738 633192.
Sat May 21, 2.30pm, £13 (children £6.50). From the vibrant colours of India to the pyramids of Egypt, through the countryside of Eastern Europe and the cobbled streets of France and Spain, join our intrepid band of travelling musicians and their jazz-loving pet, Django, as they explore gypsy jazz and all of its influences with a jampacked hour of toe-tapping tunes and family fun. stjohns-kirk.co.uk
Kids’ Dens: Lego Club At Cupar Library
Cupar Library, Duncan Institute, 35-35 Crossgate, Cupar, KY15 5AS, 01334 412285.
Tue May 24, 3.30pm, £2. Learn new skills, meet new people and most importantly have fun as you construct, create and chill out. onfife.com
Blast Off!
Perth Museum And Art Gallery, 78 George Street, Perth, PH1 5LB, 01738 632488, until Sun May 29, Mon, Thu-sat 10am5pm, free. Step out of the museum and into space as a cosmic playscape will leave you floating above the Earth, walking on the Moon and playing in the stars. Created by Perthshire design studio Fun Makes Good, Blast Off! is an intergalactic interactive zone that will surround you with giant murals of planets, where both children and adults can build, dress up, read, and spacewalk together through the galaxy. culturepk.org.uk
Space: Fact And Fiction Perth Museum And Art Gallery, 78 George Street, Perth, PH1 5LB, 01738 632488, until Sun May 29, Mon, Thu-sat 10am-5pm, free. When it comes to outer space, what is fact and what is fiction? This exhibition features replica props from some of our favourite television shows and movies, inviting visitors to ponder the question of alien life and what they really know. culturepk.org.uk
MUSIC
Jools Holland And
His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5HZ, 01738 621031.
Fri May 20, 7.30-10.30pm, £40. King of boogie-woogie, Jools Holland delivers an energy-fuelled show featuring Gilson Lavis, Eddi Reader, Ruby Turner and Louise Marshall. horsecross. co.uk
March Into Pitlochry Pitlochry Town Hall, West Moulin Road, Pitlochry, PH16 5DR.
Fri 20-Sun 22 May, 6pm, £27-£64.80. Music festival returns with more than 20 performances across two venues. marchintopitlochry. co.uk
Rêverie: The Life And Loves Of Claude Debussy Perth Theatre, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5UW, 01738 621031.
Fri May 20, 7.30pm, £21.50 (children £11.50). Created in 2012 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Claude Debussy, Rêverie is the fourth biographical programme of composers’ words and music to be compiled and scripted by pianist Lucy Parham with this one featuring Tim Mcinnerney as narrator. horsecross.co.uk
Perthshire Brass
St John’s Kirk, St John’s Place, Perth, PH1 5SZ, 01738 633192.
Sat May 21, 11am, free. An upbeat hour-long concert with Perthshire Brass in the outdoor plaza. Enjoy popular and traditional brass band music, favourites from movies and musicals and music you wouldn’t normally expect to hear from a brass band. st-johnskirk.co.uk
Showaddywaddy
The Webster Memorial Theatre, 64 High Street, Arbroath, DD11 1AW, 01241 435800.
Sat May 21, 7.30pm, £25. The Greatest Rock & Roll Band In The World is a bold statement but
Showaddywaddy has lived up to that title for the last four decades. Formed during the 1970s in Leicester, they’ve sold more than 20 million records and toured the globe. angusalive.scot
Met Opera: Lucia Di Lammermoor
Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, St Andrews, KY16 9LA, 01334 475000.
Sun May 22, 2-5.30pm, £10-£20. Soprano Nadine Sierra takes on one of the repertory’s most formidable and storied roles, the haunted heroine of Donizetti’s Lucia Di Lammermoor, in an electrifying new staging by Australian theatre and film director Simon Stone, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. byretheatre.com
Roddy Woomble
Beat Generator Live, 70 North Lindsay Street, Dundee, DD1 1PS, 01382 229226.
Sun May 22, 7pm, £19. Ayrshire-born singer who came to prominence as the frontman in indie rock band Idlewild does his solo thing. beatgenerator.co.uk
Siobhan Miller And Rura Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5HZ, 01738 621031.
Sun May 22, 7pm, £23.50. A double-bill concert featuring award-winning singer-songwriter Siobhan Miller with her six-piece band, followed by one of Scotland’s most popular folk-based bands RURA. horsecross.co.uk
Tenebrae: Queen Of Heaven
St John’s Kirk, St John’s Place, Perth, PH1 5SZ, 01738 633192.
Mon May 23, 7.30pm, £21.50-£35. Award-winning choir Tenebrae return with a performance featuring the richness of Verdi and Grieg juxtaposed with the serenity of Gregorian chant, and a 16th-century setting of Ave Maria. st-johns-kirk.co.uk
Tommy Smith Solo Saxophone
St Ninian’s Cathedral, North Methven Street, Perth, PH1 5PP, 01738 621031.
Tue May 24, 8pm, £16.50 (children £11.50). A presence on the international jazz scene since his teenage years, when he toured internationally with vibes virtuoso Gary Burton’ Whiz Kids Quintet, Tommy Smith has gone on to record with the definitive jazz label, Blue Note and work with myriad jazz greats including Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, John Scofield, Randy Brecker and Jack Dejohnette. horsecross.co.uk
Horse
Dundee Rep Theatre, Tay Square, Dundee, DD1 1PB, 01382 223530.
Wed May 25, 7.30pm, £20 (£9-£17). A glorious celebration of the 30-year anniversary of classic album The Same Sky. dundeerep. co.uk
BBC Big Band: The Music Of James Bond...and Beyond
Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5HZ, 01738 621031.
Wed May 25, 7.30pm, £27.50 (children £11.50). The internationally acclaimed BBC Big Band are joined by special guest vocalists Emer Mcparland and Iain Mackenzie in a unique concert celebrating the music of perhaps the world’s most iconic movie franchise:horsecross.co.uk
Opera Bohemia: Madama Butterfly
Perth Theatre, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5UW, 01738 621031.
Thu May 26, 7.30-9.30pm, £22.50-£27.50 (£20.50£25.50). Opera Bohemia, Scotland’s professional touring company, brings us an intimate chamber version of Puccini’s masterpiece. horsecross.co.uk
Rock’n’roll Jam Night Twa Tams, 79-81 Scott Street, Perth, PH2 8JR, 01738 580948.
Thu May 26, 7.45-11.45pm, free. Join The Kingfishers for a night of classic rock’n’roll with guest performers encouraged. thetwatamsperth.com
THEATRE
Rapture Bites: A Number By Caryl Churchill
Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, St Andrews, KY16 9LA, 01334 475000.
Fri May 20, 1-2.30pm, Pay What You Can £12/£10/£8You’ve made a really bad mistake in life. Is it possible to start over? Caryl Churchill’s powerful drama considers the damage parents can do to children, explores the question of nature versus nurture, and asks whether any of us can truly escape our past. byretheatre.com
Sunshine On Leith
Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Port Na Craig, Pitlochry, PH16 5DR, 01796 484626. Fri & Sat May 20 & 21, 8pm, £16-£39. Originally staged at Dundee Rep in 2007, the heart-warming Sunshine On Leith sees the return of service members Davy and Ally from war overseas, only to be confronted with civilian life filled with relationships, blind dates and new responsibilities. And tunes from The Proclaimers. pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com
Friends! The Musical Parody
Perth Theatre, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5UW, 01738 621031.
Sat May 21, 4.30pm, £31.50. This takes a hilarious look at the TV phenomenon that ruled the 90s and became a cultural institution. Friends! The Musical Parody follows the lives of six wacky twentysomethings and goes back in time to celebrate and poke fun at some of their most iconic moments as they navigate the pitfalls of work, life, and love in 1990s Manhattan. horsecross.co.uk
Thunderstruck
Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5HZ, 01738 621031.
Mon & Tue May 23 & 24, Mon-fri 7.30pm, £21.50 (children £11.50). This is an international award-winning production concerning the legacy and mythology of a Pitlochry bin man, who flew beyond the summit of his art and changed Scottish music forever by defying established tradition and pushing to the absolute edge of what was possible. horsecross.co.uk
Wedding Singer The Musical
Whitehall Theatre, 12
Bellfield Street, Dundee, DD1 5JA, 01382 434940. Wed & Thu May 25 & 26, 7.30pm, £10-£30. It’s 1985, and rock star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey’s favourite wedding singer. He’s the life of the party until his own fiancée leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. whitehalltheatre.com
Jack Dean & Company Presents Jeremiah
Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, St Andrews, KY16 9LA, 01334 475000.
Wed May 25, 6-8pm, Pay What You Can £12/£10/£8. A raucous, rebellious gig theatre show which tells the incredible true story of the much-misunderstood Luddite rebellion through rap, song, and live music. byretheatre.com
The Bookies
Dundee Rep Theatre, Tay Square, Dundee, DD1 1PB, 01382 223530, until Sat May 21.
Fri 7.30pm; Sat 2.30pm & 7.30pm, £11-£24 (£11-£22). Michelle, Pat, John (staff) and Harry (punter) spend their days in a rundown Edinburgh bookies. One day things take an unexpected turn and Pat wonders if it’s odds-on he’ll lose his job. Bad things happen to bad people, they say; and as the tensions rise and accusations fly, the mystery deepens. dundeerep.co.uk
An Evening With Muriel, Doris And Friends
Dibble Tree Theatre, 99a High Street, Carnoustie, DD7 7EA, until Sat May 28, Tuefri 7.30pm, £9-£10. Two of Alan Bennett’s dramatic monologues, Soldiering On and Cream Cracker Under The Settee’, plus some light entertainment, fills an evening at Dibble Tree Theatre. dibbletree.com