KIDS
Events are listed by city, then alphabetically by activity. Kids Listings compiled by Ellie Carr.
Outdoors
Activities and Fun
I Star Gazing llight Clyde Muir‘shicl Regional Park. Muirshiel Centre. Derek Parker (01505) 614791/842803. Sat 24 Feb. 7.30pm. A starry. starry night for all the family. spotting stars. counting constellations and perceiving planets.
Activities and Fun
I National Beached Bird Survey Details nearer the time from Malcolm Porteous. 447 0539 (evenings). The Young ()rnithologists Group makes its annual visit to survey beached birdlife along the shore from Cockenzie to l.eith. A team of older members will be required on the day.
Indoors_
Activities and Fun
I Saturday Art Classes with Chrome Yellow St Margaret's Church. 351 Kilmarnock Road. contact Janet. 644 4019 or Jenny. 423 6170. livery Sat. 2—4pm. £3 per session. Age 5 upwards. Craft activities and formal art tuition.
I Drama Workshops Transport Museum. 305 2747. Sat mornings from 25 Feb. Ages 9—1 1. Get on your bike and travel through history with this new series of practical drama workshops exploring the theme of bicycles. from the very first ‘boneshaker’ to 21st century motorbikes. Booking in advance is advised.
Exhibitions
I llobert louls Stevenson 1850-1894 Scotland Street School (Ground Floor Gallery). 429 1202. Until 26 Feb. Mon—Sat. 10am—5pm; Sun 2-5pm. Free. The life and times of Scotland's own Robert Louis Stevenson. with a special emphasis on Treasure Islam] and Kidnapped for the little ’uns. In addition to the exhibits there will also be regular daily showings of films relating to Stevenson and regular fifteen-minute readings from his most popular works. Also look out for intrepid songwriter Ewan McVicar. who leads a sea-faring singsong for all on 26 Feb. 2.30-3.30pm (open sessions. no booking required).
Theatre
I Saturday Puppet Shows Scottish Mask and Puppet Theatre. 8—10 Balcarres Avenue. Kelvindale. 339 6185.
The Adventures of Pirate Pete Sat 25 Feb. 2pm. £2.50 (£1.50). Ages 3-10. The
SO The List 24 Feb~9 Mar 1995
Drambule’s brand image, Highland dress, tartan tea shops in Fort William - these are a few of writer A. 1.. Kennedy’s least favourite things. After researching the historical facts behind the myth of Bonnie Prince
1 Charlie and the 1745 ‘rebellion’ for
3 schools series The Year of the Prince, ‘ Kennedy has developed a very low
‘lt’s a dreadful subversion of the national dress,’ she says. ‘That’s what occupying powers do - they take over a culture, cheapen it and make it their own.’
The storylines for this drama/ documentary hybrid were written by Kennedy after spending a month immersed in histories of the period. The action is set near lnverness as the Hanoverians root out the remaining pockets of Jacobite resistance after the rout at Culloden.
That this can be seen as civil war is implicit in Kennedy’s dramatic reconstruction, and the modern-day parallels with Bosnia’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ are spelled out in the documentary sequences at the end of
tolerance for the trappings of tartanry.
Year of the Prince: showing 1745 as civil war each programme.
Kennedy regards the rising of 1745 as the crucial point at which Highland Scots became separated from their culture. The issue is identity, with the point hammered home by giving several of the characters lines in Gaelic and no subtitles. ‘It comes through clearly that it wasn’t that accidental,’ she says. ‘lt’s like the campaign to get rid of the native Americans — there was a huge succession of betrayals. Before this I hadn’t seen the clarity of the connection between the Jacobites and the Highland clearances.’
This is low-budget television-making, but The Year of the Prince manages to pack the ‘facts’ into a watchable drama with a proper storyline, rather than simply a set of educational set- pieces. ‘What I didn’t want was for it to be in any way anti-English or black and white,’ says Kennedy. ‘lt’s important when looking at history that nobody is not human.’ (Eddie Gibb)
The Year of the Prince starts on Tuesday 28 February at 9.25am on 8802.
Amazing Mr Bones Travelling Theatre in a knock about show with songs. games. custard pies. magic and ofcourse. puppets. The Adventures aj'Punk and Suzy Sat 4 Mar. 2pm. £2.50 (£1.50). Age 5 plus. Dr Dink and his amazing ‘Two Potato Circus’ provide a frantic. fun-filled show .ofclowning. music and puppetry. film I Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (U) Kids Club. Cannon. Clarkston Road. Muirend. 637 2641. Sat 25 Feb. 10.30am (doors open 10am). £1.60 (kids and adults). Early movie from Caroline Thompson. whose film adaptation of Black Beauty is now on nationwide release. featuring a bevy of cute. furry animals and not much else. Fine if you're up for a movie-length version of the Andrex advert. I The Mask (PG) Jim Carrey is the timid
batik clerk transformed to a rubber faced. elastic limbed. whirlwind superhero when he chances apon an ancient mask with powers to realise the wearer's wildest action adventure dreams.
EDINBURGH Exhibitions
I Animal Magic National Museum of Scotland. Chambers Street. 225 7534 (ext 219). Opens 25 Feb. then Mon—Sat. 10am—5pm; Sun noonw5pm. All ages. Free. A new exhibition with an animal theme that‘s bound to attract those younger visitors. Animals in paintings. statues. coins and adverts from all over the world will be featured. including familiar faces like Paddington Bear and Maisie the Cat. Special storytelling sessions will also be available to nurseries and creches. book in advance with the
I Star Trek: The Exhibition City Art Centre. 2 Market Street. 529 3993. Until 7 May. Mon. Tue and Sat 10am—5pm; Wed-Fri 10am—9pm and Sun noon—5pm. £3.50 (£2 kids/con); family ticket £9. Earth's biggest ever Star Trek exhibition is now well underway and awaiting your visit. so get down there and sample the delights of Trekkiedom. from original models from both the feature films and series. to costumes. props. photographs. illustrations. video clips and lots of hi- tech. hands-on fun for all the family. film
I North (PG) Filmhouse. Lothian Road. 228 2688. Sat 25 Feb. 2.30pm. £2.50 (£1.50). Elijah Wood and Bruce Willis star in this movie about eight-year-old boy North. who becomes the ultimate runaway by divorcing his own parents but has a little trouble when it comes to finding suitable replecemeuts.
I West Side Story (PG) Filmhouse. l.othian Road. 228 2688. Sat 4 Mar. 2pm. £2.50 (£1.50). Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise‘s lavish screen version of the classic Bernstein/Solidheitn Broadway hit musical that transposed Romeo and Juliet to the streets of Manhattan's Upper West Side. and the tensions between two all- singing. all-dancing teenage gangs.
OUTSIDE THE CITIES
Activities and Fun
I Birds and Bugs Week Kelburn Country Centre. Ayrshire (01475) 568685. Until 26 Feb. 11—5pm. £1.75 (£1). Various activities involving birds and bugs at the Kelburn Centre throughout the mid-term break. Children will have the chance to make bird homes. bird seed cake and their own weird and wonderful bugs in ‘Bug Crafty‘. Outdoors. follow the ‘Bug Trail' and find out what it’s like to be a bird on the search for food.
I Tiny Toon Adventures: Volume One (U) An 80-minute extravaganza from those Children‘s lTV cartoon favourites. the Steven Speilberg presented 'Iiny Tmms gang. in this volume. Hollywood classics get a Toon-style remake with hilarious results in New Class Day; Kan Ducki; Tmms Take Over and What Makes Town Tick. (Warner Home Video £5.99)
I Tazmanla: Volume One (U) Another bumper cartoon fest from Warner Bros, this time featuring eight of the best from that What's Up Doe favourite. the turbo- boosted ‘Tazmanian Devil’. firing on all cylinders for 80 minutes ofTaz-manic action. (Warner Home Video £5.99)
. KIDS’ BOOKS
I Black Beauty The spin-off has begun. With the major new Warner Bros film version of Anna Sewell’s classic novel now on nationwide release. Penguin Books are making the most of the hype with three new publications featuring that best loved filly of children’s literature: a re-issue of the original Black Beauty. :1 new novelisation taken from the film, and — to make sure you’ve been paying attention — a Black Beauty Quiz Book. (Penguin books £2.99. all editions)