The Skinny Zap (6-12 Feb): Manipulate, Sacred Paws + more
In this week's events round-up, Manipulate Festival returns, gigs from BABii and Sacred Paws, a new multi-sensory club night and more
Let's get physical, physical, with the return of Manipulate Festival. The 2025 edition of Edinburgh's festival of puppetry, performance, visual theatre and film is upon us, taking over venues across the city from 12-15 Feb.
Among the highlights is Cartography, a maze of intimate performances designed for the small groups who will wind their way through the Fruitmarket warehouse from performer to performer (12 & 13 Feb).
For work that's right on the cutting edge, check out Snapshots (12 Feb), a night of experiments and works-in-progress across Manipulate's various artforms. The lineup includes new work from Jordan & Skinner and Disaster Plan, Shotput (pictured), and deaf artist and performer Craig McCulloch, whose piece Nightmares was devised with a full team of deaf creatives.
Get the full details on this year's Manipulate festival at manipulatearts.co.uk
LUNCHTIME READING:
Active Listening with Dundee Radio Club
Dundee Radio Club launches with an event at the Keiller Centre and a 48-hour broadcast this weekend; get up to speed with the new community radio project with this chat with co-founders Su Shaw and Becca Clark. Photo by Ibi Feher.
Sacred Paws performing Strike A Match in full
Tolbooth, Stirling, 8 Feb, 7pm
Ray Aggs and Eilidh Rodgers perform their excellent Scottish Album of The Year Award-winning record from start to end, in the first of a series of shows celebrating albums from across the history of The SAY Award. Support from Glasgow slacker rock supergroup Former Champ. Photo: Margaret Salmon
neurons
Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh. 8 Feb, 11pm
The debut outing for a brand-new multisensory club night at Sneaky's, with DJ sets from Iris Pertegaz (pictured) and Noodle, and a special light installation from Shankar Saanthakumar, with all profits from the night going to mental health charities.
BABii
The Hug and Pint, Glasgow, 11 Feb, 7pm
Not one but two chances to catch avant-garde pop star BABii this week – they bring the genre-blending hyperpop of new album DareDeviil2000 to Glasgow on Tuesday, then do it all again at Sneaky Pete's the following night. Support from Glasgow synth-pop ace Possibly Jamie.
The Lighthouse + Fierce Salvage Glasgow Launch
GFT, Glasgow. 6 Feb, 7.30pm
Celebrate the launch of Fierce Salvage – a collection of stories, poems and memoir that provides a snapshot of Scotland’s queer community – with a screening of Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse, plus readings from authors Eve Brandon and Heather Parry.
↪ Goner by marikiscrycrycry
Tramway, Glasgow. 8 Feb, 7pm
Presented in collaboration with experimental theatre festival //BUZZCUT//, this choreographic piece by Malik Nashad Sharpe, aka Marikiscrycrycry, builds on his work in horror-infused performance to establish a Black tradition of horror in a live context, through the mysterious and dark figure of the Goner. Photo: Maria Baranova
→ One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This: An evening with Omar el Akkad
Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh. 12 Feb, 7pm
Egyptian-Canadian author Omar el Akkad's first non-fiction book looks at what it means to offer hope and resistance in trying times, drawing on his experiences reporting on wars and protest movements across the West. This launch, with the team from Lighthouse Books, doubles up as a fundraiser for a family in Gaza.
→ Chris Cantrill: Easily Swayed
Monkey Barrel Comedy, Edinburgh. 12 Feb, 7.30pm
Chris Cantrill brings back his Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated show for his first solo tour – it's a sweet, hilarious hour of stand-up that's part reflections on male relationships and the perils of early middle-age, part cape-based rural hijinks.