SCENEALBA.CO.UK
[email protected]
FACEBOOK.COM/SCENEALBA
2
EDITORIAL & NEWS Page 3 - Editorial & News 4 - #NeedinMyLife 5 - #NeedinMyLifeCont. 6 - Books 7 - Books cont.
10 - Barry Gibson 11 - Music 12 - Music Cont.
13 - Music Cont. 14 - NickShane 16 - Love Songs to Lavender Menace
17 - Love Songs to Lavender Menace
20 - Films
21 - Films Cont. 22 - Films Cont. 23 - Films Cont. 24 - Films Cont. 25 - Films Cont. 28 - Theatre 30 - Bars, Clubs & Saunas
Welcome to this month's issue of Scene Alba. As you may know unfortunately we didn't win the Icon Award for best media outlet but there's always next year but it's good to see the first cheque from the event of £1,000 has been given to the TIE campaign, which campaigns for inclusive education across Scottish schools for LGBTI+ students. Grampian Pride is Coming to Aberdeen on Saturday 26th May 2018 and they went you to design their official Grampian Pride Logo. Please submit your entries to
[email protected] before the closing date of the 15th October 2017. All entries will get put to a public vote who will pick the top 3 and the committee will pick the overall winner on the 7th November. The winners design will become the official Grampian Pride Logo 2018. FIFE PRIDE WILL RETURN! After the spectacular success of this year's pride which we were happy to be one of the sponsors, it's great news to hear it will back on Sat 7th July 2018 , acts and venues to be announced later in the year , we will bring information as soon as we get. They have also been new ones announced in Perth and Dundee which we will bring you news of next month not forgetting the Old favourites along the M8 Edinburgh , Glasgow and West Lothian pride.
Like our Facebook page for reviews and more. www.facebook.com/scenealba ADVERTISING Buy your advert space Online at www.scenealba.co.uk/ advertising Non profit use of material in the magazine will normally be permitted free of charge, but contact us first for permission. Views expressed in SCENEALBA don't necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. People featured may identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, straight, or none of the above.
Magazine Editor: G C Hall
[email protected] Music Editor: Hugh Haggerty
[email protected] Theatre Editor: Doug McGarvie
[email protected] Advertising:
[email protected] General:
[email protected] 3
Issue
29 Published
10th April 2017 Online
www.scenealba.co.uk
# NEEDINMYLIFE Lawless Village IPA
(4.5% ABV) Launched in March 2016, Edinburgh based Bellfield Brewery is UK’s first dedicated gluten-free micro brewery. At the moment you have a choice of Bohemian Pilsner a finalist in the 2016 Scottish Beer Awards and its Lawless Village IPA came 2nd in the Independent’s recent Top 10 Gluten-Free beers list. The office favourite is Lawless Village. An American IPA made with pale crystal malts and Cascade and Centennial American hops for a modern, citrusy finish. Enjoy this renegade chilled with friends.
Charlotte Flower Chocolates are a unique product, hand-made on the southern shore of Loch Tay, in Highland Perthshire. They are continually inspired by the extensive palette of the natural flavours available in the stunning landscape around them and with a love of the alchemy of bringing those together with wonderful fine chocolates from around the world. Beautifully boxed shiny rectangular dark chocolates shells filled with fresh cream ganaches flavoured with whatever is in season. The four flavours in each selection are dependent on the time of year – what is in season in the wild and in the garden. As summer progresses, locally available fruits – such as raspberries and cherries – will be used as well as wonderful flowers such as roses and meadowsweet. Made with 70% cocoa chocolate, filled with a fresh double cream ganache (made with either white, milk or plain chocolate, depending on the flavour concerned) and natural flavours. As the centres are made from fresh ingredients, the chocolates have a shelf-life of two weeks.
Ola Oils is a family business founded in 2008 by John and Connie Sorrie. They produce cold pressed rapeseed oil on their farm in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. They grow all the seeds on their farm. Ola Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil is the perfect Scottish alternative to olive oil. It contains half the saturated fat and 10 times the omega 3. Its high smoke point makes it ideal for high temperature cooking such as roasting and stir fries. Its light, nutty taste also lends itself well to salad dressings it's comes in the original Ola Infused Rapeseed Oil as well as Lemon infused Ola,Garlic infused Ola ,Basil infused Ola,Chilli infused Ola, Rosemary infused Ola. 4
# NEEDINMYLIFE Skewb Ultimate Puzzle The twisty puzzle has come a long way from its inception in the early 1970s. Many variations of the twisty or combination puzzle have come to market, with the most recognizable being a certain cube, of course. Today, however, it's time to take it up a notch. Your nemesis? A dodecahedron twisty puzzle named the Skewb Ultimate Puzzle. Game on! The Skewb Ultimate Puzzle's asymmetrical pieces, combined with its 12 colored faces (a dodecahedron), make it a challenging upgrade to the classic twisty puzzle. The Skewb Ultimate Puzzle was designed by Uwe Mèffert, the inventor of other classic rotational puzzles such as Pyraminx, Megaminx, and Skewb.
Borg Cube Fridge 4 of 5 has one. So does 7 of 10. 3 of 6 wouldn't use any other type. Yes, it's true: 9 out of 10 Borg would only keep their drinks in a Collective-approved cooling device. Since Borg adapt and combine technology, their fridges would also be able to warm. And, of course, they'd be cubes. Just like this Borg Cube Fridge! The Borg Cube Fridge looks, well, like a Borg Cube. It's small, so it won't take up a lot of space in your alcove, as you plug it into a standard 120V AC outlet. Plus, it can be powered by 12V DC power source, so when you pop off in a Borg Sphere for some cruising, you can bring your snacks with you. And yes, it does have a setting for cool and a setting for heat. With the Borg Cube Fridge, your great food will be contained until it can be assimilated... into your face!
Google has released the long waited for and overdue Pixel 2 pure android smart phone. The successor to the popular 1st generation from last year. As with all Google devices this comes with the latest and best user experience. Most of the specs are standard enough for a high end phone in 2017 with the addition of a “Squeeze” feature to launch the assistant. There is the obvious omision of a head phone socket with the phone now using the USB C port for everything including headphones. Order yours direct form the source now at madeby.google.com
5
BOOKS Night Terrors. (Sarah Beauhall series, book 4.) By J.A. Pitts
Take a strong woman—a lesbian apprentice blacksmith moonlighting with an indie film production company to make ends meet. Add a lover who is just as strong in her own way. Then, stir in a feel for urban and rural life in the Pacific Northwest. Fold in occasional visits from Odin and various Valkyries. Finally, beat in sadistic—though well hidden— dragon overlords, trolls, orcs, elves, and the occasional witch. It’s a great formula for an urban fantasy series and J.A. Pitts brings enviable writing skills to the task.
Night Terrors, the fourth entry into the world of Sarah Beauhall, shows her lover, bard-magician Katie, in distress. Not only is Katie still recovering from injuries sustained in previous books, but she is also paying a physical price for wielding magic. When she tries to open her mother’s diary—a magical artifact —her spirit is thrown into a dangerous otherworld, leaving her body in a coma. Sarah is devastated. With the support of her community of friends and acquaintances, Sarah searches for Katie’s soul in an otherworld of crystalline soul-eating spiders and an army led by a long-dead serial killer.
The strength of a well-developed fantasy series is that character development can happen over the course of several novels, each building upon the previous books. Unfortunately, in Night Terrors, author J.A. Pitts depends heavily on characters introduced in the previous three books, making it difficult for new readers to begin in the middle of the series. A scene with Sarah’s sister feels pasted in as an attempt to pull in unresolved family issues, but feels like a digression from the main plot. I often found myself distracted by what felt like gaps in the story sequence as well as dragging plot devices. The first books in the series were from Tor, but the fourth book was published by WordFire.
Finding those rare fantasy fiction titles with strong lesbian protagonists is a cause for celebration. The Otto Digmore Difference By Brent Hartinger
Hartinger, in addition to being a prolific author of young adult and adult novels, is also a screenwriter. His most famous novel, Geography Club, is now a feature film. He is married to Michael Jensen, author of Man and Monster, which I have also read and reviewed. This particular title is a delightful novel of gay friendship between two men who love each other but are no longer looking to share an intimate relationship (although Otto sometimes wishes otherwise).
Both Otto and his close friend Russel Middlebrook are living in Hollywood, trying to break into the film world. Otto aspires to be an actor. Russel aims to be a famous screenwriter. Otto gets cast in a so-so sitcom that is canceled after its first season. Suddenly, he gets a chance to star in a first-rate film. In order to meet with the 6
BOOKS famous Oscar-winning director, they must drive to San Diego and New Orleans. Most of the novel consists of the adventures on this road trip and their evolving relationship as friends. As the title of the novel suggest, Otto holds a difference. That “difference” is scars he received from a fire when he was seven years old.
Russel recently got married to his lover. Towards the end of the novel, Otto begins his own journey toward that possibility. That’s a new story, however, possibly to be explored in book two of the series.
Hartinger is an experienced writer who portrays all characters with lively dialogue and realistic soulsearching. I heartily recommend this book for collections and readers of modern gay novels, in this case focusing on an important gay relationship other than between lovers. Man & Monster (The Savage Land Book two). By Michael Jensen
The main theme of this historical novel is monsters rampaging through the wild frontier of Ohio around 1800. At least one of these monsters is man-made by the main character’s evil brother, Gerard, who wants to chase all the settlers away so he can find and claim gold in an abandoned French fort. The local Delaware Indians claimed there were also real supernatural monsters. Perhaps there were.
The gay theme is a subtext. This subtext features Gerard’s brother Cole, who is attacked by a monster and is rescued by the Indian Pakim. Cole flees an engagement to a beautiful woman in the East, something he was not ready for. He is cared for by a gay couple who are deeply disliked by settlers in nearby village of Hugh’s Lick. The monsters gradually drive everyone away and attack Cole and his friends, who finally prevail in the end with Pakim’s help. Cole finally acknowledges his love for Pakim.
Skilled author Michael Jensen has written several similar novels. This one is a Lambda Award finalist. His multitude of characters are well drawn and their dialogue and thinking (mostly agonizing) are convincing.
7
BARRY GIBSON We had a word with Barry Gibson from the band Spare Snare, their new album Unicorn is out now.
Your go to song on a karaoke night ? Primal Scream’s “Rocks” as I know all the words to it and you don’t need a great range to be able to sing Bobby Gillespie’s tunes.
What got you into music? There was always music about at home but first memory is sitting watching the cartoon of “The Archies” “Sugar Sugar”. My uncle was also a big influence as he had been in bands in the 60s and he left a load of albums at our house whilst he went to live in France for a few years in the 70s.
What was your first gig you went to? AC/DC at the Caird Hall in Dundee, 1979 I think. I was in first year at secondary school. Bon Scott was still the singer and the atmosphere in the place was electric especially when Bon Scott went walk about through the crowd with Angus Young on his shoulders.
The song that really moved you? Probably The Archie’s Sugar Sugar as it remains a very early memory for me. Apart from “Sugar Sugar” it would probably be something by Deep Purple or AC/DC playing school friend’s older brothers’ records on the fly whilst the older brothers were out.
Last time you made an impulse buy and regretted it? Hmm probably some record or piece of clothing. There are a couple of shirts still in the cupboard that I like the look of but when on its… hmmm no. I have a pair of big beetle crushers that I love the look of and would probably never sell but wearing them out is another matter.
Last lie you told? Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Who was your first crush? Probably without fully realising it at the time but a couple of my P.E. teachers at secondary school were well fit. Mr Lennox had a nice line in facial hair and neat fitting tracksuit bottoms as I remember.
Last person you bought flowers for? My mum for her birthday last year. First object you would say from your burning home? Probably my bag of cymbals, I would think the most expensive collected items in the place.
Last book you read? Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries by Jon Ronson. I have always enjoyed his T.V and radio programmes and was given this book as a Christmas present and read it whilst on holiday in September. It’s a collection of articles that he wrote for the Guardian mainly about topics that have caught his attention ranging from stories about obscure Religious groups who want to get their members to donate a kidney to someone in need of a transplant to people in America who get dressed up as superheroes then go out on the streets of big cities to fight crime for real.
First job ? Van driver for a chemist supply company. Could have been a white van man still with GROWLr on 24/7 but the money was crap and moved to working in the local psychiatric hospital for bit more money and shorter hours. Last person you fantasized about? Gavin Emmett (with the beard). Last thing you think of before you go to sleep? Sadly probably something to do with work.
The first great piece of advice you were given? Don’t buy the flat, I know the neighbours they are mental. Last time you were starstruck ? Not sure but I think the next time will probably be in February next year when we are to be recording with Steve Albini.
First thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? What day is it? if it’s a Saturday or Sunday, … yes!!. 10
MUSIC The Killers - Wonderful Wonderful
3 Out Of 5
Well, is it? Is it wonderful? Even the band themselves saw the lacklustre feet dragging that masqueraded as their last album ‘Battle Born’. A not so spectacular exercise in blandness, so ‘Wonderful, Wonderful’ needs to really impress, particularly with that moniker.
It’s certainly more awake that their last album, someone has set the alarm this time it has all the recognisable Killers sounds, Dave Keuning’s standard rock guitars duelling with Flowers’ love of all things synthesiser. Rising epics and soaring anthems are back on The Killers’ menu and if you’re a dyed in the wool fan, quite frankly you’ll love it, for everyone else it’s a semi-step back.
Lead track ‘Wonderful Wonderful’ is heralded by a lone bugle as Flowers’ voice full of determination and renewed vigour rumbles over the horizon, drums thundering in his wake hollering about motherless children over a chorus that veers curiously close to Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ it’s sky scraping and vast but ever so familiar.
Disco gets a look in on ‘The Man’ as they try on Daft Punk’s glittery jackets on to see how they fit, just a size too small but not too bad. The ‘gentle ballad erupting into super soaraway song’ box gets a tick with ‘Rut’ and ‘Life to Come’ (which engages the band’s New Order obsession so completely you’re just awaiting the legal papers from Peter Hook regarding the wholesale theft of his bass sound).
‘Run for Cover’ is so Killers-by-numbers it could be a parody of the band, ‘Some Kind of Love’ is a mournful drip of a song while ‘The Calling’ invokes the unholy ghost of Depeche Mode circa ‘Violator’ but without the clenched fist in an S & M glove sleaziness.
And that’s one of the major issues with this record, it’s a satisfactory Killers by numbers record but they’re not hungry for it, they have no teeth, back in the early albums they felt like they owned it and when you’re finishing your album with a song called ‘Have All The Songs Been Written’ it’s sailing dangerously close to the truth of the matter that possibly The Killers’ best days are behind them and it’s now just a case of producing Festival fodder for the drunken masses to bellow at the top of their lungs in a field.
But then maybe we just need one more Mr. Birightside.
The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Always Foreign
3 Out Of 5
Even the very mention of ‘Emo’ conjurors up feelings of dread in this reviewer, countless whiny eyeliner wearing, self-pitying white boys emoting third rate teenager level takes on life and being so very dull. The World Is A Beautiful Place… have been lumped in with this group of humourless misery mongers and while they do lyrically sit well in that group the music itself is actually much more interesting than their counterparts.
There’s a much more widescreen feel to this album, at times it feels like a travelogue through the open spaces of America (‘I’ll Make Everything’), at other times it’s very much the excitable, jumpy shredded nerves of an open eyed teen in the city (‘Dillon and Her Son’) ‘Always Foreign’ makes the effort to have a sense of texture and experimentation.
There’s atmospheric asides like ‘Blank #12’ segueing into acoustic lament ‘For Robin’ which itself leads to seven minute epic ‘Marine Tigers’ lending the album a more mature feel in contrast to their contemporaries.
Even though the languid vocal delivery has the snotty feel of adolescence about it and the lyrics are still on the melodramatic side ‘Always Foreign’ is light years ahead of the competition and it feels like that crossover multi-platinum selling album is just around the corner but for now this is a definite leap forward in quality for The World Is a Beautiful Place and may even be the record that knocks those Emo references on the head once and for all. 11
MUSIC Mogwai - Every Country’s Sun
5 Out Of 5
There is no one like Mogwai, well yeah there’s a slew of post-rock bands that came before and after them but even so this Scottish collective seem to inhabit a space of their own and it’s pretty beautiful place to visit.
Mogwai are quite deceptively simple sounding sometimes, for example opener ‘Coolverine’ seems to be a pleasant, chiming slice of post rock, but there’s always so much happening in the confines of the song, while the lonely guitar serenades the bass and drums and a modulating keyboard dances underneath it all before it all starts to collude and rise from a simmer to a boil, other keyboards arrive, more guitars all doing different things filling the air with sound. It’s what they do
Single ‘Party In the Dark’ is a rare vocal track featuring the band’s trademark sound but shot through the prism of a four minute indie-pop classic.If only the charts weren’t so fucked up we could’ve had a top ten single there.
‘Every Country’s Sun’ seems to have reinstated Mogwai’s swagger, there’s a real sense of confidence about this album and it’s not all just brain-boiling guitar assaults on the senses there’s chilly electronica like the sort on ‘aka 47’ a kind of mind meld between the band and early Boards of Canada. ‘1000 Foot Face’ is almost hymnal, with a gilded choral vocal rolling along aside a tightly restrained band, it’s commanding and gentle at the same time, almost spiritual. However ‘Battered at a Scramble’ sounds exactly as the title would suggest a punch in the face in amongst chaos.
It’s always difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes Mogwai so engaging and fascinating apart from the fact that they’re masters of their art and the best at what they do, maybe it’s that within the context of what they’re playing there are always surprises to be found and that keeps people both interested and involved in the music.
‘Every Country’s Sun’ is another great album to pick apart with headphones or to feel the full visceral blast through, loud, loud speakers.
The Horrors - V
4 Out Of 5
What the fuck is this? Cos it doesn’t sound like The Horrors that I was expecting, but then what was I expecting?
The Horrors that first sauntered onto stage back in 2005, dressed like Noel Fielding's brattier younger brothers, howling at the moon sounded like they looked, all goth influences and snarling vocals, this version of the band has more in common sonically with Jean Michel Jarre than The Sisters of Mercy.
Thick with electronica, this is a much smoother incarnation harking back to everyone’s era du jour - The 80’s but with some of the playfulness of 90’s big beat dance (they even include one of those going-out-of-the-room-just-to-come-back-louder sounding moments that were in so many of the singles at that time) they’ve ditched most of the black clothes but fortunately have kept some of the sneering weirdness.
For the most part it’s pretty approachable music, a touch of early solo Bjork pops up on ‘Hologram’ while the choruses have had some of Gary Numan’s DNA within them. ‘Press Enter to Exit’ sounds oddly similar to a Belle & Sebastian track but with a meatier production, it’s all a interesting grab bag of late eighties/early nineties sounds they’re using on this album but also the songs are some of the strongest they’ve written and even if they’ve traded the black mood for something much more colourful it still feels intelligently constructed.
Maybe we saw some indicators in earlier albums but this feel like a complete change of tack and it suits them too, it feels like they’re opening themselves up to bigger possibilities which can only mean more interesting times ahead for fans of The Horrors.
12
MUSIC The Orchids - Who Needs Tomorrow
4 Out Of 5
Ah, Sarah Records, the label that was the patron saint of wistful, delicate, playful indie sounds from 1987 until they inked their own sudden full stop in 1995. Sarah produced a slew of lo-fi bands like Blueboy, Heavenly, Another Sunny Day and quiet legends The Field Mice. Also included in the roster of artists were Glasgow’s The Orchids.
Sunny yet melancholic quite like Glasgow’s one day of summer a year. At first The Orchids produced quality guitar driven songs, slightly rough around their delicate edges.
Sometimes the guitars are slightly out of time and the vocals stay just on the right side of being in tune but as the recordings went on the band become noticeably tighter, the songwriting grows and they expand their sound to include more elements like keyboards or backing vocalists. The Orchids moved from the standard white guitar band formation into a looser more dance flavoured proposition much like label mates The Field Mice, both bands baring the influence of Manchester legends New Order.
This compilation (all hail Cherry Red once more!) has 38 of the band’s tracks over two discs (including recordings from the early Sarah Records releases through subsequent labels), the first being a retrospective showing the band as they grow from shambling jangle-merchants to indie pop experts and it’s a wonderful affair, the sheer joy from songs like the effortlessly summery ‘Bemused, Confused and Bedraggled’ or the baggy shuffle of ‘Peaches’ is pleasingly infectious.
It’s not all whimsy of course, the bite on ‘Obsession #1’ could break the skin while the heartbreak on ‘The Girl and the Soldier’ is palpable and closing track of disc one ‘We Made a Mess’ is the recognisable sound of frustrated regret etched in music with vocalist James Hackett lamenting “Why do we still fuck up now we’re old?”.
The second disc in this set is made up of rarities, demos and alternative versions which in itself is a lucky bag of great songs by a great band that has never really had the recognition they deserve and if this compilation goes even a little way in ushering a couple of minutes more for The Orchids in the limelight then it’s absolutely worth the love and dedication that’s been put into this package
David Bowie - A New Career In a New Town 5 Out Of 5
Encompassing the albums from Low to Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) this latest release in the box set reissues comes to one of Bowie’s most revered eras.
The new mixes are much crisper that previous remasters including a whole new Tony Visconti mix of 79’s Lodger probably one of Bowie’s most underrated albums. Here a layer of dust has been wiped away and there’s so much more to hear, the previously murky details have been brought much further forward in the mix showing more complexities to the compositions.
And Lodger isn’t the only album sashaying away with a shiny new Visconti mix 1978’s live album gets resuscitated too whilst adding two extra tracks.
The Berlin trilogy of Low, “Heroes” and Lodger show Bowie at a creative peak (well one of them at least) a time of cocaine excess but brilliant music however the aforementioned Lodger was not a critical or commercial success and led to Bowie once more evolving himself. Thus the eighties began with Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) which featured four hit singles and a number one in ‘Ashes to Ashes’ and both the music editor and general editor’s favourite Bowie song ‘Up the Hill Backwards’.
New Career in a New Town boasts of nine discs compromising some of Bowie’s most audacious and revered work alongside the Re:call 3 comprising of a mix of single versions of album tracks, rare material and the wonderfully surreal Bing Crosby/Bowie ‘Little Drummer Boy’ duet from Bing’s 1977 Christmas special.
It’s difficult to review what’s been reviewed to death but I can recommend this box set, the mixes are superb and the music is, as always will be unsurpassable. 13
NICK SHANE We had a chat with Nick who's album, “Feverland” (The NSA) is available on iTunes/ Spotify from Saturday 30th September (which has had weekly track-by-track exclusives on Scene Radio) you can catch him playing at EH6 Festival with his band at Off The Walk Bar, Leith at 13:00 on Sunday 22nd October.
Last time you was starstruck ?
Meeting Paul Weller and telling him I loved him, twice.
What got you into music?
I was brought up on The Beatles, and a lot of Northern Soul/Motown. I also really enjoyed watching John Lennon fight against war and politics, using his credibility of The Beatles to help people who needed it.
Go to song you will sing at karaoke?
Karma Chameleon/Town Called Malice
First thing you would do if you run the country ?
Eradicate the Conservatives, and ensure workers and welfare rights for everybody.
First concert?
Paul Weller, Dundee 2008
Last time you bought somebody flowers?
My girlfriend on her birthday cause I’m nice like that
First song you heard that really moved you?
“Imagine” by John Lennon
First crush?
Cameron Diaz (“The Mask” - 1994)
First object you would say from your burning home?
My three cats, Mrs Boots, Goose & Queen Elizabeth I
Last book you read?
“The Life & Work Of Salvador Dali”
First job ?
TK Maxx, Dundee, 2005
First great piece of advice you were given ?
“Don’t stand up in a canoe”
14
15
LOVE SONGS TO LAVENDER MENACE We had a chat with James Ley the writer of this new LGBT history play which opens at the Lyceum in Edinburgh on the 12th Oct - 21st Oct and then it's goes on a whistle stop tour across Scotland. How did you first hear about lavender Menace shop?
I first heard about the shop in 2015. It was actually from meeting up with Bob Orr and his partner Raymond Rose who founded West and Wilde bookshop to talk about 80s gay Edinburgh generally that I found out about Lavender Menace. I had heard of West and Wilde, that came later, but not Lavender Menace. Bob, Raymond and I drove around Edinburgh looking at the old haunts and it was then that I found out about Lavender Menace and it's co-founder Sigrid Nielsen.
Have the owners been helpful in creating the play?
Bob, Sigrid and Raymond have been a total dream. They have given me access to everything from stories about the shop, to introductions to all the shop workers and various VIPs. They've supported the project from day one and it's been quite a long journey. I feel close to them all now and hope/know, I'll we'll always meet up for coffee and chats. And hopefully to celebrate the success of the play!
Did you get many stories from past users of the shop?
Yes, very much, lots of stories. There's a particular part of the play about a man plucking up the courage to go in and his inner journey to doing that, and in early sharings, so many people came forward and said "that was me." That was really moving and also a great way to get more stories.
You used Kickstarter to fund a touring bookshop production how do you find this method for rising money?
It was incredible. Bob and Sigrid helped a huge amount with this, and we really went into their network of people connected to them and the shop, my network and beyond. Big writers like Sarah Waters gave generous donations too. It was a really quick, successful campaign, crucial to the funding of the play, also generously funded by Creative Scotland. But this chunk of money from the Kickstarter made the tour happen and meant we could build our set and not sacrifice that for the tour. So everyone gets a better show as a result.
Would you think of using it again as a way of getting a LGBTQ play off the ground?
Absolutely. I think our community is engaged and very generous and keen to support. We were overwhelmed by people really wanting to support and help us realise our dream. I'm so thankful to them. And I would personally not go straight back and ask, but would really recommend it and support it myself.
You think literature has become less important in the lgbtq community?
That's a tough one. I have a bit of a secret. I'm not a massive reader. I have no concentration span and whenever I have free time I have to write myself. I think I've discovered that LGBTQ people do read... except me. This play is in a way my fantasy of reading and being clever and what that means. That said, I do feel like a certain kind of literacy and education has gone from the community, but I sense it coming back. A renewed interest in the complex books and ideas of the past definitely is out there. Would anyone like to read me one of these?
How has it developed since the talk through at the Tron theatre in Glasgow?
The Tron sharing was crucial. We discovered that it worked really well with the focus of a studio theatre. Prior to that i thought it would be a play to be read in bookshops. Like a staged reading. But then I saw our wonderful actors Matthew McVarish and Pierce Reid do it at the Tron and just loved it in that form. Our AMAZING director Ros Philips felt the same and now here we are in the Lyceum Studio mounting 16
LOVE SONGS TO LAVENDER MENACE the World Premiere. It's also had dramaturgy from David Greig which has been incredible and the play has grown in depth and structure from that. I had two sessions with him and I'm so grateful to find out his secrets. And that he didn't kill me after he told me them.
You think the story has legs outside of Scotland?
We hope so! Part of the work I did on this final draft is to make the story universal and translate beyond Scotland. My constant thought was - what will people in Dublin think of this bit? Will it make sense? Hopefully we found that universality about our people, culture and about loss, change and moving on. We'd love it to travel.
Seeing as Pride the movie with such a big hit and that is based partly around the London equivalent of the Lavender Menace, do you see this as a potential film?
Again, I hope so. I have actually just been selected for a scheme to write my first film treatment. And guess what? It's set in LBGT+ Edinburgh in the 80s. I've fallen in love with that time. I'm making as many portals as I can to take me back there. So yes I do hope so. Watch this space.
You're part of the Village Pub Theatre ,what is that?
Yes! We're a collective of playwrights and we've been performing/producing semi-staged readings of short plays for 5 years in my local pub The Village and beyond. It's become a bit of a thing in Edinburgh and Scotland as we came along when there was a bit of a lull in fringe theatre in Edinburgh outside of August. We wanted to address that and to make regular nights of theatre all year round and help to create a community and a hub. Or at least pull a disparate one together. But we had no money so we have found a very low fi way of doing that. Next VPT is on Wednesday 11th October at 8pm in the pub and it's a co-production with Stellar Quines for the International Day of the Girl.
What's next for you?
Well I'm going to do my darnedest to take Love Song to Lavender Menace as far as I can. It's taken years and the usual blood sweat and tears and I just want to keep telling this story. I have loved working with the creative team and our fab actors and I want to find a way to keep that going. Otherwise I'm just writing away and trying to find homes for my plays. Dundee Rep (23 October), The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen (25 October), Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling (26 October) , Byre Theatre, St Andrews (27 October), Paisley Arts Centre (28 October) and Platform, Easterhouse (29 October).
17
18
19
FILMS THE HANDMAIDEN On Netflix Now
In this twisty erotic thriller, the camera lingers on gorgeously cool surfaces while all sorts of passions and perversities writhe and roil underneath.
Like everything by Korean auteur Park Chan-wook, The Handmaiden (in Korean and Japanese, with subtitles) is meticulously controlled in form and bonkers-crazy in content. That’s a heady combo. Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri), a petty criminal raised in a house of thieves, is brought in by the so-called Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo) to help him seduce and defraud the Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee), a naive Japanese heiress kept more or less captive by her sinister Uncle Kouzuki (Jo Jin-woong).
The sneaky setup is threatened when Sook-hee, serving as Hideko’s handmaiden, falls in love with her mistress. This is only the first reversal in a plot packed with concealments and revelations, sudden betrayals and unexpected alliances, double- and triple-crossings.
Based on Fingersmith, a 2002 novel by Welsh writer Sarah Waters that was shortlisted for the 2002 Man Booker Prize, the story has been transplanted from Victorian England to Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1930s, but the sexual taboos and social constrictions that drive the book’s plot have been kept elegantly in place.
The story is divided into three parts, each told from a slightly different viewpoint and each teasing out hidden aspects of the others. This tricky structure demands a great deal from the cast, as each performance is built on multiple emotional deceptions. The two women, in particular, deftly combine layers of elaborate artifice with a core of genuine lust and longing.
The film’s first part focuses on the seemingly crafty Sook-hee. The second shifts to Hideko, who has been raised by her uncle in an odd manor in the Korean countryside. Architecturally, the house combines a British wing and a Japanese wing, suggesting the divided yearnings of the self-loathing and sadistic Kouzuki. He has "trained" Hideko to assist in his vast, secretive library project, the disturbing nature of this exercise only becoming clear midway through the film.
Famous for his Vengeance Trilogy — which includes Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance — Park excels at a certain kind of art-house trashiness. Here, florid gothic melodrama is cut with ruthlessly self-aware style and grotesque, idiosyncratic humour.
Park has simplified Waters’ labyrinthine storyline — probably a necessity, since even with these cuts the plotting remains deliriously complicated. And he actually builds on Waters’ genius for combining historical fictions with frank and subversive gay love stories, being one of the few filmmakers who can do something truly interesting and unexpected with graphic sex scenes.
Park is also known for lunatic levels of visceral violence. The Handmaiden doesn’t even come close to the bloody body counts of his other work, but it thrums with threat, and there are brief bursts of brutality, including a wildly unpleasant, weirdly funny torture scene.
Clearly, this is not a movie for everyone. But for many Park fans, The Handmaiden will mark a return to form after Stoker, the director’s uneven English-language debut.
The film doesn’t just consolidate Park’s considerable skills; it extends them. To Waters’ feminist concerns, Park adds a pointed critique of colonialism, giving some serious heft to his ravishing stylings and overheated cinematic pleasures. 20
FILMS IT At Cinemas Now Coming just a few weeks after the release of one of the worst Stephen King adaptations, The Dark Tower, comes one of the best, the new cinematic version of King’s 1986 novel It. The film succeeds for three reasons: A wonderful sense of place, perfect casting, especially of the young characters, and it’s really, really scary.
King’s It was a 1,000-page novel, released in 1986, which told the story of an evil spirit, appearing in the form of a killer clown named Pennywise, terrorizing a group of kids (known as the “Losers Club”) in 1950s Derry, Maine, and then the same characters as adults 30 years later. The novel already was adapted into an outstanding four-hour TV mini-series in 1990, with John Ritter, Annette O’Toole, Harry Anderson and Dennis Christopher playing the adults, and Seth Green as one of the kids; Tim Curry was the clown.
The new film focuses only on the kids’ story, and a future sequel will supposedly tell the adults’ side. The masterstroke in the new film is that it moves the action from mid-century to 1989, giving the film a vibe similar to such 1980s films as E.T., The Goonies and the also King-derived Stand by Me, with a group of outcast kids teaming up as they confront the supernatural. The popular Netflix series Stranger Things did much the same thing, and while It doesn’t ape the vintage film grammar quite as blatantly, this film is clearly counting on the box office support of Stranger Things fans.
As the film begins, a young boy dies, pulled into a sewer by the evil clown. Meanwhile, a couple of dozen other children in the town have disappeared, which draws much less police and media attention than one would think (Like Stranger Things, this is another fictional entertainment with echoes of the horrific, longunsolved Jacob Wetterling case, also from 1989. It’s also likely to remind some of that “killer clowns” bullshit from this time last year).
Seven children, including the older brother of the original dead boy (Jaeden Lieberher, from last year’s Midnight Special) investigate, but also must face the clown, who manifests himself by preying on each of their greatest fears. For the one girl in the group, Beverly (an excellent Sophia Lillis), it’s a room full of blood, bringing back a theme from yet another King adaptation, Carrie. And speaking of Stranger Things, it brings back Finn Wolfhard, one of the kids from that show.
There are also non-supernatural monsters, including a gang of bullies that’s especially violent and sadistic even by the standards of movies set in the 1980s. Meanwhile, every parent is either cruel, a fullon abuser or merely absent.
It was going to be directed by Cary Fukunaga, who made Sin Nombre and Beasts of No Nation, as well as every episode of the first season of HBO’s True Detective. He dropped out before production, although he’s still credited as co-writer. Stepping in as director is the Argentine filmmaker Andy Muschietti, best known previously for the 2013 Jessica Chastain horror film Mama. He impressively builds this world and this lived-in town, and does an outstanding job with the casting and direction of the young actors.
But what ultimately makes It work, beyond everything else, is that it’s really, really scary
21
FILMS BUSHWICK Releases On Dvd & Blu-ray 23rd October
Make no mistake. This is war
It’s Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista versus an entire Texas battalion in New York City in this all-out action thriller from the makers of Cooties and Stake Land.
Lucy emerges from a Brooklyn subway to find that her neighbourhood is under attack by black-clad military soldiers. She crosses paths with an ex-Marine corpsman, Stupe, who reluctantly helps her fight for survival through a civil war, as Texas attempts to secede from the United States of America.
Action movie stars don’t come much bigger than Dave Bautista, Drax from the smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy series, and the villainous Hinx from the latest James Bond film Spectre. Here, front and centre as Stupe, a take no prisoners ex-Marine on the warpath against a Texas militia invading New York, BUSHWICK establishes Bautista – soon to be seen in Blade Runner 2049 – as an action hero on a par with Vin Diesel and The Rock.
Brittany Snow, from the Pitch Perfect movies, excels as Lucy, who, out of sheer necessity when her neighbourhood is suddenly transformed into a dangerous war zone, transforms into a fierce fighting machine alongside Stupe.
Brilliantly directed by Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott, the team behind the cult horror hit Cooties, here deploying some superbly realised action set pieces and imbuing proceedings with a paranoid, anarchic feel; and expertly scripted by Nick Damici – the red-hot writer of the similarly themed apocalyptic thrillers Stake Land 1 and 2,Texas noir classic Cold In July, and hit series Hap and Leonard – the film is, terrifyingly, inspired by real events.
BUSHWICK is a timely, chilling look at the landscape of America right now, as well as a full-bore urban actioner that mixes elements of The Warriors and Escape From New York. It hits the ground running with an extraordinary opening sequence, and doesn’t let up until the end credits roll. KINGSMAN THE GOLDEN CIRCLE At Cinemas Now
Amid a slew of fancy action, spectacular locations and the same wry humour that made the 2014 film a smash hit, the sequel is more of the same - a wonderful mix of zany ideas and slick execution. Based on the comic book The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, clever scripting (again by director Matthew Vaughan and Jane Goldman) offers a natural expansion to the franchise, shifting London's Savile Row and bespoke tailors to whiskey-filled Kentucky, home of John Denver's Country Roads, a song that features prominently throughout. Once again it's a scrumptious mash-up of the spy movie genre whose blend of action, satire and spoof forms an intoxicating cocktail.
Honour, bravery and loyalty are the themes and the film begins with an eye-opening action sequence featuring mind-boggling gymnastics in a London taxicab that impossibly drives sideways and underwater. Quickly the essence of the Kingman's spy organisation is established along with the characters that are as diverse as they are entertaining. Heart of the film is the relationship between baby faced Taron Egerton's Eggsy and Colin Firth's super cool spy Harry Hart, who trained the former London punk and is now obsessed by butterflies. But there is no shortage of memorable characters, stars or gadgets.
Julianne Moore's megalomaniac drug lord Poppy with a penchant for 50s retro, robotics and Fargo-style grinder is a formidable villain; her red hair blends with the blood red, white and black decor. This is a film filled with style and sassy substance. Then there is the allied Kentucky spy organisation Statesman, whose cowboy spies (Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum and Pedro Pascal) have a pedigree as notable as their alcoholic beverage names (Champagne, Tequila and Whiskey). Plus, there is Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Emily Watson, Edward Holcroft and Bruce Greenwood as the US President. Interesting to note the Kentucky spies wear aviator glasses, as opposed to the London spies' black-rimmed variety.
There are numerous highlights including an out of control cable car spinning down the snow covered Italian Alps, a royal romance, sleeping with the enemy at a music festival (watch for the controversial shot!) and Elton John a vision in pink feathers and playing a red grand piano. 22
FILMS GOD OF WAR On Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital 16th October
“Beautifully staged, elegantly choreographed” – ScreenAnarchy
“Sword-fighting and arrow shooting action done right ” – EFilmCritic.com
“Among the best of the genre” 4 stars – Asian Film Strike
It’s legendary martial arts star Sammo Hung against 16th-century samurai pirates in a superb, action-packed historical epic.
In 16th century China, the east coast of the country is being attacked by ruthless Japanese pirates from Japan. General Qi Jiguang, who has been attempting to rout the invaders, enlists the help of a younger general to train up soldiers to try different tactics against this relentless attack.
They lead a small army in a series of counter attacks, facing adversity at every turn, from corrupt bureaucrats, reluctant villagers, and the seemingly unstoppable and brutal pirates themselves, who outnumber the Ming army by twenty to one.
Image title
Old school historical actioners don’t come much better than God Of War, that boasts a top notch cast, lavish production values, an intricate and fascinating attention to detail in the methodology of 16th warfare, and handsomely mounted action set pieces.
The cast is headed up by Vincent Zhao (True Legend) as the general trying to head off the Japanese pirates; Hong Kong martial arts cinema legend Sammo Hung, on top form here; Yasuki Kuratu (Blood: The Final Vampire, Millionaire’s Express) steals the show as the world-weary commander of the Japanese pirates. Gordon Chan – who directed Jet Li in Fist of Legend and Jackie Chan in The Medallion – delivers a brilliantly riveting two hours packed with magnificent action sequences, with a jawdropping CGI-free finale, a truly thrilling spectacle featuring samurai duels set onboard pirate ships.
Recalling the likes of historical action classics like John Woo’s Red Cliff and Peter Chan’s The Warlords, God Of War is an absolute must see for fans of Hong Kong cinema.
23
FILMS MOTHER At Cinemas Now
Insatiable love and renewal are the themes of this claustrophobic, dark psychological thriller with supernatural undertones that plays out like a bizarre dream in a David Lynch movie. Darren Aronofsky's films always push the boundaries and here, our guide is Jennifer Lawrence's vulnerable protagonist, who unwittingly sinks deeper and deeper into an emotional quagmire. Lawrence is superb - her expressive face effectively captured in tight close ups throughout. We know what she is thinking and feeling and Javier Bardem's pairing as her poet husband with terminal writer's block works exceptionally well. Bardem, whose face can reveal or conceal a multitude of facets, is enigmatic and the push-pull between them is the best part of this tense, surprising and ultimately shocking film.
Best to know as little as possible about the plot or where the story is headed; just prepare to enter a mysterious world filled with the unexpected. The film begins with a series of images: a close up of a face, an exquisite crystal positioned carefully on a stand ('a precious gift'), a sprawling home once destroyed by fire now rebuilt and renewed. None of the characters have names. We first meet Lawrence bringing life and love back into the house and her marriage. She is loving and giving; he is preoccupied and detached.
We contemplate the complex relationship between Lawrence and Bardem's characters. She is warm and loving; he is detached. The arrival of two strangers (Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer) changes everything; Harris and Pfeiffer are wonderful. We squirm with discomfort as Pfeiffer interrogates Lawrence on personal issues involving passion and procreation. The passion is ignited, although not in the way we might have imagined. Life doesn't work out the way you want, we hear.
Aronofsky grapples with issues he has dealt with before: love and death (The Fountain, 2006), obsession and perfection (The Wrestler, 2008; Black Swan, 2010). Aronofsky builds the tension slowly and effectively through its soundscape and imagery plus the ever-changing setting and perceptions of the protagonist, as more strangers enter the home and events spiral out of control. The result is dizzying and shocking. Audiences will be divided. Is the film an allegory? A masterpiece? A load of bunkum? Somewhere in between? Be the judge. In any event, the film is unforgettable.
Patti Page's poetic, melancholy The End of the World during the end credits is a poignant and jolting juxtaposition to a disturbing, thought provoking and ultimately devastating cinematic experience.
24
FILMS The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson On Netflix and Online Platforms 5 Out Of 5
A veteran of Stonewall and a pioneering force for LGBTQ rights, Marsha P. Johnson died under mysterious circumstances in 1992. Director David France digs into the events surrounding the transgender icon’s death in a film that’s part history, part biography, part murder mystery. The NYPD called her death a suicide. Protests erupted but the police remained impassive and refused to investigate. Now, twenty-five years on, Academy Award® nominated director and journalist David France (How to Survive a Plague) examines Marsh’s death—and her extraordinary life— in his new film. Marsha arrived in the Village in the 1960s where she teamed up with Sylvia Rivera when both claimed their identities as “Drag Queens,” to use the vernacular of the times. Together, the radical duo fought arrests, condemned police brutality, organized street kids, battled the intolerant majority within the gay community, and helped spearhead the Stonewall Riots. In 1970 they formed the world’s first trans-rights organization, STAR (Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries). Despite their many challenges over the years—bias, homelessness, illness—Marsha and Sylvia ignited a powerful and lasting civil rights movement for gender nonconforming people. Now, a quarter century later, at a time of unprecedented visibility and escalating violence in the transgender community, a dynamic activist named Victoria Cruz has taken it upon herself to reexamine what happened at the end of Marsha’s Life. THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON follows as this champion pursues leads, mobilizes officials, and works to get to the bottom of Marsha’s death.
25
26
27
THEATRE LOVE SONG TO LAVENDER MENACE
Written by James Ley
The Lyceum Rehearsal Studio, 30b Grindlay Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9AX
same name by Richard Crane and directed by Faynia Williams, the award-winning production took the Edinburgh Festival by storm in 1981 and has subsequently been toured internationally to much acclaim.
A cast of four, Thierry Mabonga, Tom England, Mark Brailsford and Sean Biggerstaff (who made his acting debut at the Tron in 1993 in Michael Boyd's acclaimed production of Macbeth), play the Brothers Karamazov and double as the other principal players and the piece will be designed by Carys Hobbs, with costume by Katherina Radeva, lighting design by Sergey Jakovsky, choreography by Darren Brownlie and musical direction by Matt Regan.
A radical, time-travelling, disco dancing, LGBT+ love story, Love Song to Lavender Menace pays homage to the founders of Lavender Menace, a revolutionary LGBT+ and Feminist bookshop that opened in 1982 on Edinburgh’s Forth Street, and explores LGBT+ history, activism, liberation and culture.
With wit and compassion and underscored by Stephen Boxer's haunting a Capella harmonies sung by the four brothers, Crane's version is a superlative distillation of Dostoyevsky's masterpiece, tackling the huge philosophical questions of faith and immortality, the rights of children and nationalism versus the European ideal. In the precarious world of 2017, this work has never been more politically, socially or spiritually pertinent.
Performed in The Lyceum’s intimate rehearsal studio, the production stars Pierce Reid (Hostage Song, Finborough Theatre; Damned by Despair, National Theatre of Great Britain; Collaborators, National Theatre of Great Britain and Olivier Transfer) as Lewis, and actor and activist Matthew McVarish (Remember You Are Beauty Full, Oran Mor; The Child Made of Love, the Tron; One Man Went to Busk, Gateway Theatre; Me Too, CBeebies; Springwatch, River City, BBC; Taggart, ITV) as Glen.
Dundee Rep Theatre
THE MAIDS
Two maids, Solange and Claire, unable to escape their dismal, subjugated lives, and torn by both love and loathing of their Mistress, visualise dark and destructive scenarios to eliminate her. As their imaginations take hold and the action builds to a frenzy, so does the fear, excitement and thrill in this devious and violent triangle of love, hatred and disgust.
Created with the support and insight from bookshop founders Bob Orr and Sigrid Neilsen, through extensive interviews with them and many of the people who worked in the shops and were part of the Lavender Menace community the time, the play places local and LGBT+ history under a playful, poignant and personal lens.
Genet uses the themes of jealousy, murder and betrayal and subverts them with his own disturbing games of language, transgression and transformation.
Tron Theatre Company presents Dostoyevsky's
BROTHERS KARAMAZOV
Directed by Eve Jamieson and featuring original Ensemble members Irene Macdougall, Ann Louise Ross and Emily Winter, The Maids is as powerful now as when it was first performed in 1947. This is an intense psychological thriller that you won’t want to miss!
2017 is the Tron Theatre's 35th anniversary year and several milestone events have been programmed to mark this significant birthday. Dramatised from the Dostoyevsky novel of the 28
29
BARS, CLUBS & SAUNAS GLASGOW
EDINBURGH
The Waterloo 306 Argyle St, Glasgow G2 8LY Mon- Sat 12pm - 12am Sun 12:30pm - 12am
Cafe Habana 22 Greenside Place, Edinburgh EH1 3AA Tel: 0131 558 1270 Open Daily:13:00 - 01:00
AXM Club (Glasgow) 80 Glassford Street, Glasgow G1 1UR Tues - Sun 10pm - 3am
The Regent Bar Montrose Terrace, Edinburgh, EH7 5DL Mon-Sat 11:00-01:00 Sun 12:30-01:00
Merchant Pride 20 Candelriggs, Glasgow Mon - Sat: 12pm - 12am Sun: 12:30pm - 12am
Planet 6 Baxter's Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3AF Tel: 0131 556 555 Open daily: 16:00-01:00
Speakeasy 10 John Street, Glasgow G1 1JQ Sun -Thur 5pm-1am Fir-Sat 5pm-3am
CC Blooms 23-24 Greenside Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3AA Tel: 0131 556 9331 Mon - Sat 11am - 03:00. Sun 12.30 - 03:00
Luke and Jack Shop and more 45 Virginia Street,Glasgow,G1 1TS Tel:0141 552 5699 11am –6pm
Chalky's 4 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3J Opening times: Mon-Sun 11pm-3am The Street 2 Picardy Place, Edinburgh EH1 3JT Tel: 0131 556 4272 Mon- Sat 12:00 - 01:00; Sun: 12:30 - 01:00 Food served until 21:00
The Underground Bar 6a John Street, Glasgow G1 1JQ Mon - Sun: 12pm - 12am The Polo Lounge 84 Wilson Street, Glasgow G1 1UZ Mon -Sun: 11pm - 3am
GET YOUR VENUE LISTED IN THIS SECTION OF THE MAGAZINE, SEND YOUR INFO TO,
Delmonicas 68 Virginia Street, Glasgow G1 1TX Mon - Sun: 12pm - 12am Club X 9pm - 3am
[email protected]
WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM OTHER CITIES AND TOWNS AROUND THE COUNTRY TO HELP EXPAND THIS FOR ALL OUR READERS, THANKS.
Katie's Bar 17 John Street, Glasgow, G1 1HP Mon-Sat: 12pm -12am Sun: 12.30pm - 12am
30
