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29 RORY MCCANN WESTEROS WAG
In a very patchy season of Game of Thrones, McCann was consistently a highlight. The insults and quips remain a delight, but there’s depth there now. The Hound is one of the few with a genuine character arc, and McCann sells it brilliantly. (SH)
28 GLASGOW WOMEN’S LIBRARY SHELF LIFE
Glasgow Women’s Library is dedicated to educating and supporting women. Their new festival, Open the Door, celebrated women writers from across the centuries. A push back against male-dominated literary events, it’s just one example of the great work being done by GWL to promote women. (KS)
27 BE CHARLOTTE SURVIVAL INSTINCT
From launching her ‘Heart of Survival’ EP to touring across the UK and Europe, collaborating with Scottish Opera for #OperaPassion day and working with Help Musicians UK to inspire the next generation of musicians in schools across the country, it’s been a big year for Charlotte Brimner. (KS)
26 SIOBHAN WILSON MARCHING IN
After signing to Song, by Toad Records, Siobhan Wilson released her album There Are No Saints to immediate acclaim. Her heartbreaking voice and stunning lyrics led to Album of the Day on 6Music, and Wilson won the Green Man rising contest, earning a main stage slot at the festival. (KS) 34 THE LIST 1 Nov 2017–31 Jan 201
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25 HIDDEN DOOR SPACED OUT
Although the striking Leith Theatre was the star of the show, this year’s edition of the pop-up Edinburgh micro-festival deserves credit for thinking to use the space and making every inch of it work so well as an evocative home to a week and a half of music, art, theatre and i lm. (DP)
24 LEITH THEATRE STAGE PRESENCE
Both the triumphant Hidden Door festival in June
and August’s hugely popular Neu! Reekie! event in celebration of the Trainspotting movie’s 21st anniversary revealed this careworn two-tier 1932 theatre to be one of Scotland’s best live spaces. It has to be restored fully as soon as possible. (DP)
23 SMHAF MIND GAMES
With discussion around mental health more current than ever, the newly renamed Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival stepped up in 2017 with an excellent and involving programme of more than 300 countrywide events, including newly commissioned