LISTINGS

liain or shine, our at-a-glance guide will see you through. Events are listed under outdoors or indoors columns, and then divided by city. Kids listings compiled by Ellie Carr.

Outdoors

Activities and Fun

I Dirdwatch Colinton Dell. Colinton Village. Meet at entrance to Spylaw Park in Spylaw Street. Malcolm Porteous. 447 0539 (evenings). Sun 19 Mar. 9—11am. Free. General birdwatch with the Young Ornothilogists’ Club. led by James Ryder.

Indoors .

Activities and Fun

I Playtime Scotland Street School Museum. 225 Scotland Street (opposite Sheilds Road Underground Station) 429 1202. Take a trip back in time to the classrooms of yesteryear. right through from the Victorian and Edwardian era to the 605. Inside the reconstructed classrooms. you can do your sums with a real nib pen and ink and find out what it felt like to don the dunce’s cap. Outside in the playground join in with traditional games using gird and cleek. whip and peerie or marbles and skipping. Games come in a pack containing full instructions. at a charge of 50p plus a £2 returnable deposit.

I ltational Science Week Fri l7—Sun 26. various times. Various venues. University of Glasgow. 339 8855 ext 4206. Many events free. call for further info and booking details. With Edinburgh's popular Science Festival only weeks away. Glasgow University is nudging in on the action a few weeks ahead with its own programme of events to celebrate National Science Week. Not quite as high

WIZ KID

All together now . . . ‘We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Dz. 1.. Frank Baum’s story, written in 1900, was to become one of the world’s most popular fairytales after Judy Garland starred in the 1939 movie based on his tale. Its great genius claims Peter Duncan, who plays the bumbling Scarecrow without a brain, is that it has such wide-based appeal.

‘We’re getting a super response and it’s lovely to play to such a mixed family audience. We’ve found that as it spans so many generations we get as many senior citizens, who remember going to the original, as we do kids.’

Many of you will remember Duncan from kids TV when he was part of the Blue Peter team and later starred in his own series, Duncan Dares. The basic premise of that show was that Peter would be assigned to all sorts of hair-raising tasks such as cleaning the clock lace of Big Ben or rowing across the English Channel. Peter claims he is less daring these days, but he still finds time to perform some pretty dicey stunts in The Wizard 0sz.

‘I do a nice line in straw burning in the first half. In the film the Strawman actually gets burnt at the end, but our witch disappears at the end so I have to do my straw burning early on. Is it dangerous? Well I’m fine unless my whole costume catches fire, but we have a man in the wings standing by with a very large fire extinguisher. He’s also the man who applies the lighter fluid to me, so I always tend to

From screen to stage: Peter Duncan as the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz

be nice to him.’

Peter’s problems don’t end there, because he’s constantly running out of straw. Each day Peter’s straw is bought fresh for him from a local pet store and it’s the popular claim of the cast that Peter takes more looking after than Toto the dog.

‘I think Toto probably knows the play better than I do, and he’s certainly a lot cleaner. I’ve had a lot of complaints from the cleaners because it’s triple time in my room, they just pick up straw after me all the time. If you want to find me after the show don’t follow the yellow brick road, look for the trails of straw.’ (Philip Dorward)

The Wizard of 02, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 14-Sat 18 Mar.

profile as its east coast counterpart. but plenty of exciting events for all ages from the five-week long ‘Saturday Science Club' for 10—12-year-olds to one-off workshops in ‘Surfing the lnternet‘. Film

I Baby’s Day Out (PG) Cannon. Clarkston Road. Muirend. 637 2641. Sat 28 Jan. 10.30am. £1.60 (kids and adults). Doors open at 10.30am. See Film index.

I The Three Musketeers (PG) Cannon. Clarkston Road. Muirend. 637 2641. Sat 4 Feb. 10.30am. £1.60 (kids and adults). Doors open at 10.30am. See Film index.

Music

I Children’s Classic Concerts: Tutti Forte Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. 227 5511. Sat 11 Mar. Noon. £6.50 (£3.50); family ticket £17. The last in this series of classical concerts designed for kids. and this time a chance to get up and join in with the music on stage. Bring any portable instrument (except drums) and do your bit for Ravel‘s Bolero. Performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. conducted by Nicholas Kok and presented by Atarah Ben—Tovim.

Theatre

I Saturday Puppet Shows Scottish Mask and Puppet Theatre. 8—10 Balcarres Avenue. Kelvindale. 339 6185. 2pm. £2.50 (£1.50).

Scott 1.0m! '3‘ Magic Puppet Show Sat 18 Mar. Ages 3—10. A mixture of magic and puppets in an exciting family show from Scott Lovat - Punch and Judy professor.

Exhibitions

I Animal Magic Royal Museum of Scotland. Chambers Street. 225 7534 (ex 219). Opens 25 Feb. then Mon—Sat. 10—5pm; Sun 12—5pm. All ages. Free. See Art Listings. Special storytelling sessions will also be available to nurseries and creches. book in advance with the

I Star Trek: The Exhibition City Art Centre. 2 Market Street. 529 3993. 4 Feb—7 May: Mon. Tue and Sat 10—5pm; Wed—Fri 10—9pm and Sun 12—5pm. £3.50 (£2 kids/con); family ticket £9. See Art Listings.

F Hm

I The Secret Garden (PC) Filmhouse. l.othian Road. 226 2688. Sat 28 Jan. 2.30pm. £1.50 (£2.50). See Film index. I A Day at the Races ( 12) Filmhouse. 1.othian Road. 226 2688. Sat 4 Feb. 2.30pm. £1.50 (£2.50). See Film index.

Theatre

I The Wizard of 02 Festival Theatre. 529 6000. Tue 14—Sat 18 Mar. 7.30pm; Wed 15. Thurs 16 and Sat 18. 2.30pm. £l9.50—£6.50 (£19.50—£3.25). See panel.

W

Activities and Fun

I Family Ceilidh: A Festival of Celtic Arts Cumbernauld Theatre. 01236 732887. Fri 17 Mar. 7.45pm. £3 (£2); Family Ticket £8. Stories. songs and dancing. ceilidh style in an evening for the whole family. hosted by Slaintck Cumbernauld's Festival of Celtic Arts.

I Fright Night Life Part 2 The Linn Dipper Club. Linn Park. 637 1147. Sat 11 Mar. 7—9pm. Free. Join The Countryside Rangers fora night-time walk in the park and discover what wakes up when the sun goes to bed.

I Shadows of the Past: Puppet Workshop Chatelherault Country Park (on the A72 South of Hamilton) 0698 426213. Sun 12 Mar. 10am-4pm. Ages 9—12. Free. The Scottish Mask and Puppet Theatre takes a day out from its Glasgow home. Join it. learn a thing or two about the art of shadow puppet making and show off your skills in a performance for family and friends at 3.30pm. Don't forget to bring a packed lunch.

I Linlithgow Loch Wildfowl Count Sun 12 Mar. 9.15—l2pm. Free. Meet at lay-by beside east end of loch. Contact Malcolm Porteous 447 0539 (evenings). Join up with the Young Ornithologists and spend the morning on a wildfowl count. Refreshments available after the count. contributions always welcome.

I Puppet and Animation Fun Day Sat 18 Mar. 1—4pm. Howden Park Centre. Livingston. £2 per person (£6 family ticket). 01506 433634. A chance for kids (and mums and dads!) to try their hand at the an of animation as part of a major new international exhibition. Animation Plus. that's visiting Scotland between 24 Feb and 19 Mar. During the day. expert animators will be on hand to work with family groups in a range of animated related disciplines. Children under eight years should be accompanied by an adult.

I Thumbelina (U) Jodi Benson. the voice behind Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Carol Charming and John Hurt star in John Blyth's new animated version of classic Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale 'I‘lnmilu'linu. Blyth. whose previous credits include The Land Before 771716. Art Amerit an 7211'! and a stint as a top designer with Disney Studios. has set his tale of the girl ‘no bigger than a thumb' to what threatens to be another singalong soundtrack from none other than Mr Barry ‘Copacabana‘ Manilow. (Warner Home Video £14.99)

The List 10-23 Mar 1995 73