18 fun things to do in Edinburgh, Glasgow and further afield this October
If you fancy getting out and about this month, there’s plenty culture to sample such as an exhibition inspired by Emily Dickinson, a musical showcase for southern Scotland artists, and a beloved late 90s movie making its way onto the stage
Art
Time + Space
This is the first group exhibition in a new early-career artists’ development programme and features immersive and site-specific installations as well as film, sculpture and 2D animation.
Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Friday 9 October–Sunday 20 December.
Composed Of Nows
Taking its title from an Emily Dickinson poem, Miriam Morris’ photographic exhibition acts as a longing for a time that can no longer be returned to even if it ever existed.
Hox Gallery, Edinburgh, Friday 9 October–Monday 4 January.
Comedy
The Big Comedy Roadshow
The good people of Gilded Balloon unleash more comics around Scotland, with Alison Spittle, Jack Skipper, Raymond Mearns, Tamsyn Kelly and Gareth Mutch among the wags doing their funny thing.
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Sunday 18 October.
Paul Foot
In The Future, the anarchic comic explores what might be round the corner for humanity and wonders what our equivalent dreams might be to previous generations’ hopes for jetpacks, friendly robots and solar-powered bidets.
Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, Thursday 29 October; Òran Mór, Glasgow, Friday 30 October.
Dance
Thick & Tight
Natural Behaviour is a satirical dance show bordering on subversive cabaret, with a pantomime horse lampooning a specific world leader and a section which laments the decline of the nightingale population.
Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Friday 2 October.
Shuffle Dance Festival
Hip hop and street dance are celebrated with this two-day event presented by Glasgow-based Three60 and featuring London’s highly acclaimed Boy Blue and local collectives such as The Dimestop Crew and Brothers On Lock.
Platform, Glasgow, Friday 9 & Saturday 10 October.
Film
Samizdat Film Festival
Named after the practice of clandestine dissemination of censored texts in communist states, this film fest has retrospectives, short films, animation and brand new releases.
GFT & The Pyramid, Glasgow, Tuesday 6–Sunday 11 October; Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Thursday 22–Sunday 25 October.
SQIFF
This year’s Scottish Queer International Film Festival focuses on euphoria, experimentation and rebellion, comprised of short films and longer features as well as a craft fair and an exhibition about the SQIFF story so far.
GFT & The Art School, Glasgow, Monday 19–Saturday 24 October.
I Love Boosters
Boots Riley’s crime comedy features a bunch of shoplifters (The Velvet Gang) who target high-end retailers and stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Demi Moore, Poppy Liu and Will Poulter.
In cinemas from Friday 30 October.
Kids
The Littlest Yak
This musical adaptation of the award-winning children’s book is all about Gertie, a yak who has ideas above and beyond her station as a wee beast who wants to be all grown up.
Studio Theatre, Edinburgh, Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 October.
Music
South Of Scotland Showcase
The excellently named Up Yer Airts present this platform for artists from the Dumfries & Galloway area putting them in front of fresh audiences and helping to build new connections.
Drygate, Glasgow, Saturday 17 October.
A Certain Ratio
Emerging from the late 70s punk scene, ACR were never much bothered about sticking to genre lanes and dabbled in everything from experimental electronica to vintage funk. Help them celebrate their longevity.
Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Wednesday 14 October; Òran Mór, Glasgow, Thursday 15 October.
Melanie C
The former sporty Spice Girl started her honeymoon in July by DJing in Ibiza and is now touring on the back of her dancefloor-filling Sweat album, a sonic love letter to her own clubbing days.
SWG3, Glasgow, Tuesday 20 October.
Turandot
Premiered a century ago in Milan, Puccini’s epic opera is given the co-production treatment of both Scotland and Ireland’s national opera companies to ask tough questions about desire, suffering and abuse of power.
Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thursday 22, Sunday 25, Wednesday 28, Saturday 31 October.
Talks
Playaway
This one-day conference and exhibition arranged by Tinderbox Collective explores the intersections between creative technology and game design with arts, education and community work.
Out Of The Blue, Edinburgh, Saturday 24 October.
Theatre
The Archers: Live At 75
Hosted by comedian and Archers superfan Angela Barnes, this live experience is set within a re-imagined Ambridge Flower & Produce Show.
King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Sunday 4 October; Edinburgh Playhouse, Monday 5 October.
Contact
Jonny Donahoe’s tragicomedy for A Play, A Pie And A Pint stars Blythe Duff and Mark Barrett as a mother and son whose relationship appears to have irrevocably broken down.
Òran Mór, Glasgow, Monday 5–Saturday 10 October; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Tuesday 13–Saturday 17 October; Paisley Town Hall, Tuesday 20–Friday 23 October.
East Is East
Making the move from screen to stage, at the heart of this 1970s-set tale of a large Salford family trying to simply live their best lives are identity, generational divides and rebellion.
Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Wednesday 7–Saturday 17 October.