Royston Maldoom OBE Retrospective and Gwen's Place and Ray Winstone

EDINBURGH CHOREOGRAPHIC PROJECT presents

Royston Maldoom OBE Retrospective

Following an extremely successful collaboration in 2013, the Edinburgh Choreographic Project presents an evening of modern dance devised by the international choreographer Royston Maldoom OBE.

Black Earth 

this haunting music composed by one of Turkey’s best-known classical composers Fazil Say, choreographed originally for the Ballet San Marcos in Lima, Peru in 2011.


The Confession of Isobel Gowdie 

set to Scottish composer James MacMillan’s dynamic score, “The confession of Isobel Gowdie” is dedicated to the memory of the last woman to stand trial for witchcraft in Scotland in 1662.


Adagietto No.5 

the slow movement of Mahler's 5th Symphony, was Royston’s first attempt at choreography, originally presented at a Royal Ballet Open Workshop in the mid seventies.


Hook

Created for Ballet San Marcos in Lima, Peru, Hook is a very energetic, light hearted work redesigned for Edinburgh Choreographic Project’s Tour. It is set to the music of Graham Fitkin, from his album of the same name.


Edinburgh Choreographic Project is known for its high caliber of dancers. Through connection with the widest possible communities, it aims to bring an awareness, understanding and enjoyment of contemporary dance.

1st Nov Lochgelly Centre, Fife, 7.30pm 01592 583 303

4th Nov The Platform Easterhouse, 7.30pm 0141 276 9696

6th Nov The Space, Dundee, 7.30pm 01382 434 940

7th Nov Craignish Village Hall, 7.30pm 01852 500 746

9th Nov Cottier Theatre, Glasgow, 8.00pm 0141 537 5825

10th Nov Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, 7.30pm 01475 723 723

11th Nov Aros, Skye, 7.30pm 01478 613 750

14th Nov Nairn Community Centre, 7.30pm 01667 453 476

15th Nov Aberdeen Arts Centre, 7.30pm 01224 635 208

Canongate presents
Sexy Beast + Q&A with Ray Winstone
GFT
9th October 7pm £12

Famous for his uncompromising roles, Ray Winstone is the nation’s favourite “hard man" and a beloved British icon. To launch his autobiography, Young Winstone, Canongate have partnered with independent cinemas across the UK to show one-off screenings of two of his most celebrated films, alongside interviews with the man himself.

Sexy Beast was cited by Total Film as one of the top 15 films of all time and arguably Winstone's most acclaimed film to date. In it he plays "Gal" Dove, a happily married retired thief dragged back into London's underworld by a former associate psychopath Don Logan, played by Ben Kingsley who won an Oscar for best supporting role.

At this exclusive event, Ray will reflect on his early life and reveal how growing up in the working-class East End of London and a rebellious adolescence led him to become one of the most charismatic actors of his generation.

Mental Health in Theatre

Until I get a better idea, I still believe that the importance of theatre is in its potential for providing a public discussions about serious issues -  I end up writing four reviews of Wonderland because, regardless of the end product, it took on a Big Issue and tried to present different approaches to it. There is something about the nature of performance as a communal experience, too. But that is even more ill-defined.

One area that theatre has consistently flubbed, however, is mental illness. Plays do exist that are sympathetic, or accurate, in their treatment of mental illness - especially in the last few years, there has been an effort to reach out to sufferers to allow  their experience to be reflected. Unfortunately, a fairly rich tradition exists - thanks Shakespeare for the "mad people" in King Lear - that is either viciously unkind or plays it for laughs. Even now, it's more common to find that mental illness is the motivation for a character's bad actions than it simply being a fact of their life. 

This is probably a reflection of  a social attitude seen in the law, where mental illness can be a defence akin to diminished responsibility. And so, I am enthusiastic about  the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, now occupying much of Scotland (October 1 -24).

Much of the festival features community orientated shows - which fall outside of my critical remit, until I develop a satisfactory way to  discuss them. It does have plenty of professional theatre and film: Vanessa Coffey's Piece of Mind uses dance to interpret the voices of bipolar, the Johnny Cash biopic gets a screening, alongside Lars Von Trier's Melancholia. In the Old Hairdressers, My Sister by Scandal Theatre gets physical and Liz Lochhead is joining a plethora of speakers  for a day of workshops, readings and exhibitions.

Frankly, the whole festival is too big for me to preview: it's tough to pick highlights. But every year, it presents a forum for the discussion of one thing that society has rarely understood. The recent death of Szasz, which led to obituaries that recalled his pioneering attempt to get a philosophical handle on mental health - and the controversy he caused -  reminded me that society hasn't even got a reasonable definition of it.