‘We are still standing and planning for the brightest future we can’: Svend McEwan-Brown on the survival of a festival

SVEND MCEWAN-BROWN, EAST NEUK FESTIVAL DIRECTOR 'We are still standing and planning for the brightest future we can'

East Neuk Festival Director finds generosity, humanity and a hunger for culture in a crisis

They say that you discover who your true friends are when you find yourself in direst need. East Neuk Festival, our success story on the Fife coast, which should have been happening this week, faced the deepest crisis in its 16-year history this spring when, due to the pandemic, 2020’s festival was cancelled.

The Choir: Singing for Britain, BBC Two review - the pandemic versus the power of song

★★★★ THE CHOIR: SINGING FOR BRITAIN, BBC TWO The pandemic versus the power of song

Gareth Malone's music therapy from the frontline

Singing in a choir can be terrific therapy for anxiety, depression or loneliness, but one of the cruellest effects of the coronavirus is the way it has restricted normal human interaction. The notion of social distancing might have been designed to sabotage the proximity and togetherness which is so much a part of collective singing.

New Music Lockdown 8: Take That, Moby, Kaiser Chiefs, Róisín Murphy and more

NEW MUSIC LOCKDOWN 8 Take That, Moby, Kaiser Chiefs, Róisín Murphy and more

The latest eclectic selection of musical treats available to enjoy from home

From the biggest man band of all time to a rising Doncaster DJ, from the lofts of New York to the garage studios rooms of Scotland, the best of current musical lockdown life is here. Dive in!

Take That/Robbie Williams: Meerkat Music Concert

Tectonics Rewind, BBCSSO review - new music festival revisits past gems

★★★★ TECTONICS REWIND, BBCSSO New music festival revisits past gems

Digital delights abound in this expertly curated online festival

As Covid-19 puts a halt to live events around the world, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra has delivered its annual festival of new music, Tectonics, online, with a selection of recordings from past performances.

The Whalebone Box review - documentary through unreliable surrealism

★★★ THE WHALEBONE BOX Documentary through unreliable surrealism

A different kind of road trip with artist Andrew Kötting

The UK-wide lockdown has thrown the cinematic release schedule into chaos. Some films are postponed indefinitely, while others have opted for direct digital releases. It’s not ideal for anyone, but in a strange way it may play to The Whalebone Box’s favour. Specialist arthouse streaming service MUBI has secured the exclusive rights, and their captive subscribers are the ideal audience for such a strange, hypnotic piece.

The Croft, Original Theatre online review – give me the remote

★★★ THE CROFT, ORIGINAL THEATRE ONLINE Complex but overwrought

Original Theatre’s tartan gothic thriller is complex but also a bit overwrought

With everyone in lockdown, observing physical if not social distancing, a story about isolation can have a particular resonance. And there are few places in the UK that are as isolated as some parts of the Scottish Highlands. Ali Milles’s tartan gothic thriller, The Croft, is partly a study of the advantages and disadvantages of living in a remote location, and partly a more speculative and suggestive account of how family tragedy repeats itself down the generations.

Run review – wheels on fire in Scotland

Dreams of leaving flavored by Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run'

Run is the story of disgruntled 36-ish Finnie (Mark Stanley), a big, dour worker in a fish processing plant in the Aberdeenshire port of Fraserburgh – writer-director Scott Graham’s hometown. Long married to his onetime high-school sweetheart Katie (Amy Manson), and the father of twentyish Kid (Anders Hayward) and adolescent Stevie (Scott Murray), Finnie wants to get the hell out – or he thinks he does.

Halsey, SSE Hydro, Glasgow review - a pop star with plenty of personality

★★★ HALSEY, SSE HYDRO, GLASGOW A pop star with plenty of personality

The songstress is an exciting performer, but her set slowed down too much

There is something enjoyably spikey about Halsey, even when she is adhering to pop convention. At one stage she told the crowd how good they looked, before dryly adding it was praise they wouldn’t have heard before. These are brave words when playing to a Glasgow audience.

Lewis Capaldi, SSE Hydro, Glasgow review - triumphant homecoming from Brit-conquering hero

★★★★ LEWIS CAPALDI, GLASGOW Triumphant homecoming for Brit-conquering hero

Blue music and blue language in sellout show from Bathgate's favourite son

Critical and commercial success haven’t gone to the head of Lewis Capaldi. The 23-year-old opened his first of two sold-out nights at Glasgow’s 14,000-capacity enormodrome – booked when he was yet to release his debut album – with a video montage poking fun of his po-faced reaction to Billie Eilish beating him to Song of the Year at the Grammys in January.