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ARTS AND CULTURE NEWS COVERED IN TWO MINUTES Ashley Paige is to leave Scottish Ballet
Channel Hopper
Dispatches from the sofa, with Brian Donaldson
n Winston Churchill once described Labour’s postwar deputy PM Herbert Morrison as a mix of ‘genius and venom’. A lot worse has been said about Morrison’s grandson Peter Mandelson, the Prince of Darkness (aka the Dark Lord) and key architect of New Labour who came back from the political wilderness twice to orchestrate his party’s recent, ill-fated general election campaign. Perhaps realising that his time at the forefront of UK politics was about to come to a brutal end, he rather generously allowed documentary filmmaker Hannah Rothschild unparalleled access in the eight months leading up to May’s vote for Storyville: Mandelson – The Real PM? (BBC4, Tue 23 Nov, 9pm).
The character that emerges is a brazen personality and shrewd operator who is caught after the first leaders’ debate poking much public fun at his yacht-sharing buddy George Osborne while criticising Gordon Brown behind his back for not being able to get his tie straight. The only moment when Mandelson is vaguely threatened with being upstaged arrives when Alastair Campbell sweeps into the picture to half- jokingly castigate Rothschild for her choice of subject. As the former business secretary says farewell to his loyal staff, we jump a month ahead with Mandelson looking wiped out, having just finished penning his inevitable memoir. A self-confessed workaholic, he appears bereft: where do master manipulators go when they have no one left to manipulate?
CLUBS Briefing kicks off in style this fortnight with news that deadmau5 has announced he’s to host an official aftershow party for the Glasgow date of his UK Winter Tour at the O2 Academy in Glasgow, on Fri 17 Dec. You can even check it out from home as it will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 1, and boasts names such as Calvin Harris, Pete Tong, Annie Mac, Zane Lowe and Skream & Benga. Tickets for the party are on sale now and can be found at www.ticketweb.co.uk. In other clubs news, the Hogmanay announcements are coming thick and fast, with news of a New Year’s Eve party with David Vunk and Photonz at La Cheetah Club, Glasgow on 31 Dec. See www.rubadub.co.uk for early bird tickets. The Bongo Club in the capital have also announced plans for a Headspin-meets-Mumbo Mumbo stand-off, with support from We Got Soul. COMEDY It may be still some way off, but tickets for the Glasgow International Comedy Festival have been selling well, so much so that both Russell Kane (Fri 18 Mar) and Craig Campbell (Wed 30 Mar) have been moved from Oran Mor to the larger Garage venue. Those already smart enough to have pocketed tickets for the shows can use them at the new venue.
slightly less certain. Following SB HQ putting out a press release earlier in the month saying that artistic director Ashley Paige would be stepping down next year, Paige’s agent later went on to release his own statement saying the artistic director was leaving ‘with great sadness and regret’, and had hopes for a new five-year contract. F I L M Still no word from the Edinburgh International Film Festival about who will take over when artistic director Hannah McGill steps down, though the EIFF have announced they intend to put tickets on sale earlier to help boost sales. Watch this space for more information.
MUSIC Celtic Connections’ cup ovefloweth this fortnight with the announcement of more shows for next year’s hooly. Look out for a night of Celtic and electronica collaboration, co- curated by Sushil K Dade/Future Pilot AKA, on 28 Feb 2011, as well as a new commission by Hollywood composer/electronica artist Craig Armstrong and PJ Moore. THEATRE Big congrats to Dundee Rep Ensemble who picked up Best Musical Production for its critically acclaimed musical Sweeney Todd at the Theatrical Management Association (TMA) awards.
DANCE Here at List Towers we’re really very excited about the news that Matthew Bourne, in collaboration with the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, is to return to the city with a new dance theatre adaptation based on the William Golding novel Lord of the Flies. Over at Scottish Ballet, things look VISUAL ART And finally, there are celebrations at the Edinburgh Art Festival following news that Robert Wilson is to be the new Chair of the Trustees. Wilson and his wife Nicola established the fantastic sculpture park Jupiter Artland at Bonnington, just outside Edinburgh, in 2008.
Oh, Mandy
8 THE LIST 18 Nov–2 Dec 2010