AROUND TOWN

It’s your last chance to catch Play With Plants at Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens, an immersive, family-friendly play experience created in collaboration with Lego. Head to the John Hope Gateway until Sunday 1 September to get involved.

For a more civilised day of creativity (no offence to Lego, of course), head to the Degas exhibition at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow for an all-day life drawing class where you’ll hone in on capturing the human form. You can book Degas: Discovering Life Drawing on either Saturday 31 August or Sunday 1 September. 

Glasgow’s CCA is hosting a guided Contact Improvisation Jam this weekend where participants are encouraged to explore multi-sensory dance and intuitive movement in either a group or solo setting. More information about these sessions can be found here.  

MUSIC

As part of Edinburgh’s Central Library Music On The Mezzanine series, musical duo Alex And Jane are performing their harmonious blend of pop and country tunes this Saturday 31 August at 1pm. Plus, it’s free!

Dallas-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Andrew Combs is making a stop at Sneaky Pete’s this Sunday 1 September to perform songs from his latest album, Dream Pictures. Expect dreamy, folk-infused tunes in the vein of Joni Mitchell or recent Mitski. 

Meanwhile over in The Old Hairdresser’s, experimental music collective Ex-Easter Island Head will be treating Glasgow crowds to their augmented and groove-locked compositions (Sunday 1 September).

STAGE

Back with a dazzling revival of Lord Of The Dance, Michael Flatley returns to the stage, appearing at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall this weekend in both matinee and evening performances (Saturday 31 August & Sunday 1 September). 

It’s a weekly staple full of glamour, comedy and death drops. We’re talking about the Iconic! Drag Show at Edinburgh’s Hootenannies, of course. Running all weekend from 7pm, they kindly ask you to bring your friends and a generous amount of glitter; the queens will do the rest. 

Edinburgh residents may have had their comedy fix for the month at the Fringe, but if you’re in Glasgow and fancy a giggle then head to The Stand’s weekly Friday Show, this week featuring Jojo Sutherland, Thomas Elvin, Ayo Adenekan, Kirsty Lynch and headliner Billy Kirkwood.

SCREEN

This new fictionalised origin story of Northern Irish rap trio, directed by Rich Peppiatt, may not be 100% factually accurate but it tells the undeniably interesting story of how the unlikely pairing of Irish politics and language with hip-hop music came to be. Kneecap is in cinemas now. 

It already enjoyed an Edinburgh International Film Festival screening a few weeks ago but now Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing is hitting cinemas this Friday 30 August. Starring Colman Domingo, this touching film follows the lives of inmates in an upstate New York prison as they get in touch with their creative sides.

Adding to the numerous film and TV adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel, Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte (screenwriters of the Musketeers franchise) are the latest directors to reinterpret The Count Of Monte Cristo. Check out this high-production, action-packed film in cinemas from Friday 30 August.

PODCASTS

Are you a fan of ancient history? The Ancients, hosted by author Tristan Hughes, is the definitive podcast dedicated to the distant past. Each episode covers a specific theme, from Neolithic Britain to the fall of Rome, and features interviews with historians, archaeologists and experts from around the globe.

Don’t Drink The Milk: The Curious History Of Things returns for series two, with new episodes exploring the origins of topics from sex and drugs to perfectly mowed lawns. New episodes out weekly. 

Matt Spracklen is your host on Rock’n Roll Birder, a podcast exploring a wide variety of UK bird species, with special guests and Spracklen’s wife, Sarah, joining in.

VISUAL ART

Closing this Sunday 1 September, Offerings For Escalante is a new exhibition in Glasgow’s Gallery Of Modern Art by artist duo Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien on their research into the island of Negros in the Philippines. Catch the show, which features an hour-long experimental film, animations, drawings on paper and a light-based installation, before it goes. 

Over at Edinburgh Printmakers, visual artist and photographer Tayo Adekunle is presenting her new show, Stories Of The Unseen, in which she explores the power that stories hold in the preservation of history, tradition and culture. 

Finally, Northern Irish artist Cathy Wilkes presents an exhibition of new sculpture and paintings responding to issues of war and conflict at The Hunterian in Glasgow. Curated by Dominic Paterson as part of Glasgow International, the exhibition enters its final month this Sunday 1 September.

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