Writer/actor Robert Softley asked a simple question while preparing his new show, as part of the 2012 Behaviour festival at The Arches in Glasgow. Given how much their bodies define how others see them, what do disabled people think of their bodies themselves? The answers, as Paul F Cockburn discovered, might surprise you. “I don’t want […]
Archive | Arts & Culture RSS feed for this section
Robert Softley Gale, If These Spasms Could Speak
Paul F Cockburn recently spoke with Robert Softely — co-creator of last year’s National Theatre of Scotland show Girl X — as he prepared to return to the stage with If These Spasms Could Speak. The new show, running as part of the Behaviour festival of live performance at The Arches in Glasgow, is a collection of funny, sad, touching and surprising stories […]
Professional Book Reviewers vs Hobbyist Book Bloggers
First published by WeegieWednesday, 12/03/2012. At last year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, the author Ewan Morrison debuted in his new role as an Old Testament-styled prophet of doom when he gave a talk on “the future of the book” — or, rather, whether writing will survive as a paid profession. As a concerned Devil’s Advocate, Morrison […]
Alison Peebles, Birds of Paradise Theatre Company
The Man Who Lived Twice is a new play from Glasgow-based Birds of Paradise theatre company, a “dramatised account” of what took place between Sheldon and Gielgud. In the run-up to the show’s launch at The Arches in Glasgow, before a Scotland-wide tour, Paul F Cockburn spoke with director Alison Peebles and writer and actor […]
Stuart Sandford, Bodybuilding
On 1 January 2012, visual artist Stuart Sandford — possibly best known for his photography capturing the sexual and cultural connotations of the male form — began a year-long project, Bodybuilding, during which he aims to transform himself from an artist to an athlete. Two months on, how is he doing? PPcom: What were the […]
Maria Oller and Kenneth Dempster
This March, Scotland’s leading group for performers with learning difficulties, Lung Ha’s Theatre Company, presents a new version of Sophocles‘ ‘Antigone’, the classic story of a young woman standing up against society for what she believes is right. Combining drama with live music (performed by members of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland) and new […]
The Blinkered Vision of Scotland’s Literati
First published by Scottish Review, 06/02/2012. The UK dance world, or at least those inhabitants circulating within reach of Covent Garden, were apparently “stunned” last week when principle dancer Sergei Polunin resigned from the Royal Ballet. Given that he’s just 22 years old, it would appear that Polunin is looking to (a) let his hair […]
