STEPHANIE BROWN draws attention to the hidden labour of the female embroiderers, and how a 19th century replica made no such error
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The state of the nation
ANGUS REID welcomes a penetrating study of a dysfunctional Scottish family at the time of the independence referendum
SCOTS CHEKHOV: Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape
[Fraser Brand]
MIK SABIERS revels in a band that ploughs an idiosyncratic furrow of expletive laden, guitar-driven alt rock
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum
RON JACOBS recommends an important book that enhances the oppositional theories put forth by Fanon and, in doing so, remakes psychology itself
JAN WOOLF relishes an extensive history of our long relationship to trees in Britain that underlines the current emergency
DIANE WATT argues that while evidence of sex is not there, a 16th‑century lesbian poet could be Scotland’s answer to Gentleman Jack
Group Portrait In A Summer Landscape
By Peter Arnott, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh
THIS is an extraordinary play. It equates the inability to grieve with the loss of faith in socialism, and demonstrates at a human level how this paralyses the ability to act or think politically.
A loose family group assemble at a house in rural Scotland in the summer before the independence referendum, and the dialogue captures the way that binary choice, yes or no, infiltrated conversations and lives.
Unlike the Brexit vote two years later, that channelled anti-establishment rage and was led by the right to a majority, playwright Peter Arnott’s characters are situated within the hesitant ambiguity of the Scottish left. They may have been Marxists once, but they express neither working-class resentment nor a confident vision of the future.
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PAUL FOLEY revels in the coolest, most joyful piece of theatre you’ll get this summer
Although this production was in rehearsal before the playwright’s death, it allows us to pay homage to his life, suggests MARY CONWAY
The book feels like a writer working within his limits and not breaking any new ground, believes KEN COCKBURN
SIMON PARSONS is beguiled by a dream-like exploration of the memories of a childhood in Hong Kong