As the October school holidays loom, the region’s Arts Live programme is offering a great opportunity to see quality touring shows as well as a spotlight for local talent that will appeal to all the family, in venues throughout Dumfries & Galloway.
Scotland’s top international folk band Moishe’s Bagel ‘split the bagels’ with the folk duos playing jazz on Friday 11 October at Craigdarroch Hotel, Moniaive and offering expert information and tuition during percussion, history, double bass and accordion workshops throughout Saturday 12 October.
In Sanquhar on Friday 11 October, the incredible journey of loss, friendship and courage is performed in My Friend Selma, produced by theatre company Terra Incognita at A’ the Airts. Performer Katherina Radeva relives her memory, staying in an old boarding house set up in charity by her father housing 50 refugees fleeing danger in Bosnia. Through her story as a young girl, she relays her childhood experience in the place where she met her best friend, Selma.
A multi-award winning adaption of Jean Giono’s classic environmental tale, The Man Who Planted Trees, by Puppet State Theatre Company blends comedy, puppetry and inspired storytelling at CatStrand on Wednesday 16 October, a magical show which will appeal to children and adults alike.
“Ineffectual, lazy, oversensitive snow-flakes” – Drew Taylor’s hybrid poetic theatre gives voice to a generation of Millennials who are often reduced to a sound-bite in mass media with thick skin, elastic heart by Sonnet Youth Theatre performing at Theatre Royal, Dumfries on Saturday 19 October.
The mid-holiday weekend (Friday 18 -Sunday 20 October) sees the introduction of Galloway Roots Country Music Festival at the Millennium Centre, Stranraer, with headline act The Illegal Eagles performing on the Saturday night, supported by whole host of talent across the weekend, including Kerry Fearon, Katee Kross, The Hoolies and more. Individual day or weekend tickets are available with Sunday offering local musicians the chance to join in during the Hog Roast Jam.
Halloween delivers some spine-tingling treats with a contemporary voyage into the life of Mary Shelley, the gothic girl who electrified the world, in The Monster and Mary Shelley on Wednesday 23 October at Theatre Royal, Dumfries.
And the familiar turns alien in a certain Dumfries location at the very end of October (Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31) when Bunbury Theatre company present an immersive theatrical production, Beneath the Dust, created especially for All Hallows’ Eve.
Ken Gouge, Chair of Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival, said;
“Our region’s arts festival produce a packed programme of year-round events – Arts Live- and the Autumn/Winter season runs until the end of March incorporating great quality live performances which take place in local venues across the region.
“I encourage families and individuals to take the opportunity to come and see a show, try something new or again enjoy an act they’ve seen before – particularly as the nights draw in and people are looking for something fun to do”.
The full Arts Live Autumn Winter programme can be found on www.dgartslive.org.uk
