30 DUNDEE REP THEATRE THE TAY TODAY
With Andrew Panton at the helm, Dundee Rep’s recent successes include a barnstorming revival of The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil and Grid Iron’s Crude, a site-specii c exploration of the oil industry. It’s also the home of Scottish Dance Theatre, 30 years old this year. (LI)
29 EDINBURGH FOOD STUDIO
COME DINE WITH THEM
This ‘restaurant and food research
hub’ aims to keep food interesting. It certainly does that, with events in 2016 such as Three Simmer, combining seven courses with poetry, and The Plagiarism Dinners, which merged eating with theatrics (exploding cake, anyone?) (RM)
28 FREIGHT BOOKS PRECIOUS CARGO
Freight Books had a spectacular year of releases, among them Lara Williams’ Treats and Dorothy Alexander’s The Mauricewood Devils. Plus, they were big players in XpoNorth’s Twitter-based pitching event, encouraging and fostering new Scottish literary talent. (KS)
27 BLOODY SCOTLAND RED ALL ABOUT IT
Tartan noir is having a bit of a moment right now, and Bloody Scotland is at its forefront. 2016’s programme featured crime-writing heavyweights such as Mark Billingham, MC Beaton and Nicci French. The festival also launched the inaugural William McIlvanney prize, which was won by Chris Brookmyre. (RM)
26 SCOTT GIBSON ALIVE AND KICKING
Alongside Richard Gadd, Glasgow’s Scott Gibson completed a double Scottish victory at this year’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards for the very i rst time ever. His Best Newcomer-
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N O S D L A N O D O J :
O T O H P
32 THE LIST 3 Nov 2016–31 Jan 2017
P H O T O :
C O U R T E S Y T H E A R T S T A N D P E T Z E L ,
I
N E W Y O R K
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winning Life After Death was a few-holds barred, gag-heavy trip into some awkward medical experiences. (BD) consolidated their mighty live reputation with shows at Glastonbury and across the UK. (DP)
25 COLM MCCARTHY 22 GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL
PRESENT AND CORRECT ART HIGH ROLLER
Following a string of directorial TV credits including Sherlock, Doctor Who and Peaky Blinders, Colm McCarthy delivered The Girl with All the Gifts, which our reviewer called ‘a visceral and surprising sci-i horror’. Next up it’s Krypton, a Syfy series set on Superman’s home planet. (NB)
24 DIVE FALL GUYS
The LGBT+ collective had a successful Fringe with the likes of Christeene, David Mills and Desiree Burch gracing their stage. Add to this the regular club nights, collaborations with like-minded peeps, and involvement in Luminate, and that’s a good year for the Dive fam. (KS)
23 BOSSY LOVE
IN CHARGE They have a two-year track record behind them, but this was the moment
that Amandah Wilkinson and John Baillie Jr (formerly of Operator Please and Dananananaykroyd, respectively)
The seventh instalment of the biannual visual art festival – and second under director Sarah McCrory – featured 78 exhibitions and 50 events, bringing in artists including Monika Sosnowska, Akram Zaatari, Cosima von Bonin and Emily Mae Smith, and utilised inventive new spaces such as Kelvin Hall and the RollerStop rink. (DP)
21 GREG MCHUGH GOING COMMANDO
In the guise of alter-ego Gary Tank Commander, Greg McHugh brought some much-needed levity to the May election and expertly teased out a surprising amount of humour from the Scottish party leaders. Three nights at the Hydro in October coni rmed that his character is still i t for duty. (MR)
20 THE ART SCHOOL PICTURE THIS
Since its 2014 refurbishment, The Art School has established itself as one of Glasgow’s most vital and inclusive spaces. A key venue for touring acts, it’s also home to some of the city’s i nest underground club nights and LGBTQI+ events. (SS)