BECK’S FUTURES Visual art awards from the brewer that has already raised a glass for Scotland-based artists such as Toby Patterson, Rosalind Nashashrbi and Roddy Buchanan
FIFA WORLD CUP Scotland won't be playing, so for some it'll be time to go out and buy the national strip of lririrdad 8. lobago or whoever else f‘rigland are up against.
WEST END FESTIVAL It's the tenth anniversary of this culture fest so the tail feathers and headdresses in this year 's (Blasgow carnival Will be bigger than ever.
CANNES The Céte D'Azur is swathed in red carpet and A-Iisters fOrgo the sunshine to spend hours watching the parade of fake tan and frocks. Oh. and a bit of cinema.
BARD IN THE BOTANICS There wrll be iambic
MARY KING’S GHOST FEST Among the highlights of this Edinburgh spookfest. there's a whisky tasting which features malts from haunted distilleries.
pentarneter amid the petunias in Glasgow's Botanical Gardens. as Glasgow Rep celebrates the work of Shakesrxzare,
Testing times
Steve Cramer welcomes what can only be called the year of the NTS, and poses some questions about its funding.
here can really only be one subject for a theatre preview for 2006. Now that all the debate, ballyhoo and launch parties are over. we’re within a couple of months of the first solid product of the National Theatre of Scotland. It must be a nervous time for Vicky Featherstone and her crew. for a vast amount of proof will be sought in the eating of this particular pudding. The Home events. which will occur all over the country in February, have already been discussed in this issue. in the shape of NTS director of new work, John Tiffany’s guest column (see page 10). There‘s been plenty to celebrate in what looks an
BRIAN MCMASTER (Aug) The Edinburgh International Festival director bows out with a
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new opera by Stuart McRae and a world premiere of a play by theatre's Midas, Anthony Neilson.
TAKE THAT (Apr) Some may want them back for good. but a Robbie-less Tl’ are more likely to slope off with tails between their hairy legs.
20 THE LIST 5—19 Jan 2006
ingenious programme. geared toward new and
exploratory work. but also covering a range of
areas from revivals of classics to youth work. The press reception has been ovemhelmingly positive.
and rightly so. No doubt. over the coming year
there will be ups and downs. but what can‘t be faulted is the intelligence of the mix of work. and the variety and quality of the ideas behind it.
But there are also still questions to be answered. and the whole of 2006 will open these queries. but will be unlikely to resolve them. The first and most important of these has little to do with the ingenious work done thus far by lr‘eatherstone and her team. It is about funding. The NTS was
j history. And if anyone disagrees. Tony will be coming to find you.
CATHERINE
v TRAMELL (Mar) Sharon Stone's return as the
icepick-happy lady is
3 expected to be the turkey of the year and will hopefully bring an end to Basic Instinct.
.3; TONY SOPRANO (summer) The final series (well. it's a series in two long parts) will bring to an end the finest TV show in
initially funded from an underspend of the Scottish lixecutive budget. and its resources over the next couple of years are guaranteed. Further ahead. there isn‘t as much clarity about where the money will come from. It is absolutely crucial that the NTS. as a commissioning body. should never be allowed to eat into the existing allocation of resources for the rest of the theatre community.
It‘s in the interests of both the National and the rest of the theatre community that this should not be allowed to occur. for the primary function of the NTS is to seek out the talents within the existing theatre community. Should the community he allowed to atrophy because of resources diverted to the NTS. then this body would no longer have a reason to exist. no matter what the quality of the work. So for all the
celebration. let‘s remember that we
“i z 1‘ ' ‘ Etiiirth‘ 15:32.13: CAN'T BE infrastructure in order to produce WORK AND THE
excellence both in local companies and the N'I‘S.
The other question is more to do with lr‘catherstone’s philosophy of theatre. Her stated aim of producing ‘a director’s theatre’ is what might most interest the observer. Scotland‘s greatest strength is certainly its writers. while the number of theatre actors that made The Lisr's Hot l00 also indicates our abilities on this level. ()n the other hand it's an adage among critics that we don't have the same strength in directors. While Featherstone and 'l‘iffany are great assets in this regard. and the use of such directors as Dominic Hill and Tony Cownie on the NTS programme indicates that we do lllll‘t‘ splendid directors. after you name perhaps a dozen Scottish directors the cupboard looks a little bare. So perhaps the biggest test of the NTS will be whether we can build strength in this regard. Time will tell.
And a highlight of the year ahead? Well. three different participations by Anthony Neilson as writer and director would certainly be mine.
Six people who have one last chance to remind us how much we’re going to miss them
SNANE DANIELSEN mark his final year with (Aug) The Edinburgh some big names. International Film Festival ‘
FRED SANDBAOK 3 (Mar) This artist committed suicide in 2003, a few days after creating the ‘perfect’ installation of his work near New York. Now the Fruitmarket in Edinburgh is showing some of his finest work.
artistic director hopes to