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vibrant 1500-capacity venue which has already played host to the likes of Travis, Martha Wainwright and Jarvis Cocker. (DP)
28 Kenny Glenaan CINEMATIC SPECIALIST
The great white hope of the Scottish social realist film tradition delivered on his promise this year with his award- winning cinema debut feature Summer, a tale of friendship and grief in an ex-mining community featuring Robert Carlyle in his strongest performance in years. Best of all, Glenaan is currently working on two new film projects with the great Scottish writer James Kelman. (PD)
32 John McCusker SCOTS ROOTS LYNCHPIN
One of the UK’s leading fiddle players, the 35-year-old McCusker has been involved in two high-profile projects this year. The first was Before the Ruin, an album by the folk supergroup of Roddy Woomble, Kris Drever and McCusker; the second, Under One Sky, a touring big band performance of varying folk styles featuring Woomble and Julie Fowlis among many others. (DP)
31 Gerard Butler HOLLYWOOD HEARTTHROB
Screen hunk Butler proved his acting chops this year in a diverse selection of roles. He did it for the kids as the ‘world’s greatest adventurer’ Alex Rover in Nim’s Island opposite Jodie Foster. He did it for the fellas as petty gangster One Two in Guy Ritchie’s real estate thriller RocknRolla and he more than did it for the ladies in Ghost-style romancer PS I Love You. Now that’s what you call an all-rounder. (PD)
30 The Picture House RESURRECTED VENUE #2
After populist nightspot Revolution closed its doors and a brief rebranding as Gig ended in failure, September saw the old Caley Palais on Lothian Road restored to its former glory. A £4.5m investment from national venue chain the MAMA Group has created a
28 THE LIST 11 Dec 2008–8 Jan 2009
Williams’ lesser-known works, plus a bio-play and tie-in film screenings, all over town. In doing so he reinvented the festival and showcased the playwright’s continuing relevance. (KI)
23 DC Jackson WRITER ON THE WALL
After increasingly big successes with his lunchtime plays at Oran Mor, this year young Scottish playwright DC Jackson branched out all over the UK. His brilliant touring production The Wall with Borderline, picked him up huge acclaim and a nomination for the Saltire First Book Awards, and he’s spent much of the year working as Pearson Writer in Residence at the Royal Court in London. (KI)
22 Martin Wishart CULINARY STARGAZER
For any high-profile chef, a bit of empire building is always on the agenda. In the last 12 months Michelin-starred chef Martin Wishart kept things local when he established his Cookschool in Leith, released his first cook book and opened a second restaurant within Cameron House on the shores of Loch Lomond. (DR)
27 Jackie Wylie SUBTERRANEAN ARTS
SUPREMO
Former Arches gaffer Andy Arnold’s battered old bovver boots were big shoes to fill, but so far Wylie, whose appointment in July made her the youngest artistic director in Scotland and one of only five women in the role, has kept Arnold’s punk rock spirit strong in the venue, with an innovative Arches Live programme and plans for future revolution. (KI)
26 Fiona Bradley GLORIOUS GALLERIA
Consistently varied and persistently strong, the Fruitmarket’s programming has this year been outstanding with Bradley at the helm. Established international artists and bold academic group shows have been handled with the same confidence the gallery exhibits towards up and coming Scottish talents. Their show by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller was arguably the most critically acclaimed show at this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival. (RD)
25 William Chambers THE CAT WITH THE HATS
In January, William Chambers was a shop assistant making gorgeous hats to commission for friends. Come December, he’s the winner of Vice magazine’s Creative 30, a designer in residence at Che Camille, one of the most in-demand milliners in the country, and Roisin Murphy wears his specially-designed hats on stage. The very definition of a Good Year, we reckon. (KI)
24 Steven Thomson GALVANISING GLASGAY
2008 was the 15th anniversary of Glasgay’s birth, and the 25th anniversary of Tennessee Williams’ death, and it was celebrated in suitable style. Cannily combining the two, artistic director Steven Thomson programmed seven productions of
29 A year in the life of . . . Andy Arnold ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, TRON THEATRE
‘After nearly a lifetime at the Arches I assumed that that it was a difficult place to establish but even more difficult to leave when we had achieved so much. However, the move to the Tron has been brilliant for me. I feel totally re-energised and want to create new work as if time is slipping away, which, of course it is.
My plan from day one has been to re-establish the Tron as a working theatre company and to develop a busier programme of activity and a heady sense of creativity. I think that’s now starting to happen. I began rehearsing my first production, The Drawer Boy, in my second
week on the job here last April, and have since staged the world premiere of Six Acts of Love in September and a Tennessee Williams season of five short plays during the Glasgay festival. We now have a regular programme of shows in the Changing House, and music, comedy and theatre in the old Victorian Bar — including the brilliantly mad Manifesto Kabaret with Tam Dean Burn. On more and more occasions all these performance spaces will have shows happening on the same night, which creates a great atmosphere throughout the place.’