What's On Scotland 26 Jan-2 Feb: Manipulate Festival & more
Manipulate Festival kicks off this upcoming week, with an unparalleled programme of puppetry and visual theatre across Edinburgh. Elsewhere, a sluggish exhibition opens at Sett Studios and Independent Venue Week launches across Scotland
A circus retelling of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, robots that transform into dancers, puppets navigating the changing set of a funeral home…it can only be Manipulate Festival, Scotland’s only festival dedicated to puppetry, visual and physical theatre and dance. Spread out over venues across Edinburgh, including Summerhall, Traverse Theatre and Fruitmarket, the gorgeous programme includes performances, screenings and even a silent clown workshop, all taking place between 1-11 February.
It's hard to pick favourites amidst such gorgeous offerings, but we're very excited about Pickled Republic, a surreal theatre cabaret about, uh, pickles, Ruins, a choreographic piece exploring ecofeminist Donna Haraway's ideas of rupture, collapse, and assemblage, and the animation programme, including a screening of the 1973 classic Fantastic Planet. Browse the full programme on their website and find tickets for individual performances there.
Sluggish
Sett Studios, Edinburgh. 26 Jan-4 Feb
An immersive world of uncomfortable and whimsical sculptural works, Ot Pascoe and Joel T Davidson's group exhibition Sluggish is, on the surface, an exploration of slug species which gives way to a broader exploration of how we find physical comfort and joy in the uncanny. Image: Ot Pascoe.
AMPLIFI
The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh. 31 Jan, 8pm
AMPLIFI continues with a new season in this now not-so-New Year. Kicking things off is a stunning triple bill: Malaysian singer-songwriter Belly Rachel (pictured), Glasgow-based multi-instrumentalist Samantha Maya, and Edinburgh-based bedroom pop singer Ria Andrews. Image: Courtesy of artist.
Independent Venue Week
Various venues, Scotland, 29 Jan-4 Feb
Independent Venue Week is back with a host of gigs in all your favourite scrappy, DIY venues. Find the likes of electronica-infused band Acolyte at Broadcast at Galashiels’ MacArts or Scottish rising stars Azamiah and Nikhita co-programmed by Summerhall and EHFM. Image: Courtesy of artist.
Beagles + Ramsay: NHOTB & RAD
GOMA, Glasgow. Until 28 Apr
50 large scale wooden figures in bright neon clothes populate the gallery spaces of Glasgow's GoMA, in this groundbreaking collaborative exhibition that transforms the gallery into a flagship store, exploring consumerism, the fashion industry, and the politics of public space. Image: Beagles & Ramsay.
↪ Soul Jam with Rosehips
Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh. 27 Jan, 11pm
Sneaky Pete's monthly, no-hold-barred, down and dirty disco night enters its 15th year this year. Head to their first of 2024 for a Saturday dance session with Glasgow-based DJ and community radio star Rosehips. Image: Courtesy of Sneaky Pete's.
→ CLR Theory
The Glad Cafe, Glasgow. 26 Jan, 8pm
Celtic Connections continues over in Glasgow – find local outfit CLR Theory in The Glad Cafe with their dreamy brand of harmonising vocals and string and synth arrangements, with support from Edinburgh-based blue artist Nicole Cassandra Smit.
→ Floorshow
Nice 'n' Sleazy, Glasgow. 26 Jan, 11pm
For something a little more moody, drop by Nice 'n' Sleazy for Floorshow, a night of unending Gothic requiems, post-punk and synth pop curiosities and grimy industrial beats, headed up – appropriately – by Graveyard Shift.
