Mail man

There aren’t many things you can rely on in life, but one sure fire certainty is that come rain, shine or natural disaster, the mail always gets through. One man who single-handedly ensures that the residents of Greendale are never without their morning correspondence is the nation's favourite postie, Postman Pat, and with him there's never even the threat of

industrial dispute.

In countless books and videos, children across the land revel in Pat's postal adventures safe in the knowledge that all will end well. But shock horror, the new stage show features a malfunctioning robot who threatens to disrupt Pat’s entire delivery - and that's where the audience

come in.

Brought to the stage by Phil Derrick's Children's Showtime Productions, The All-New Adventures Of Postman Pat is a fun, but educational show for 2-8-year-olds featuring all the popular characters from the TV series. Together with a fully-motorised red van, and lots of audience participation in the form of a number song and a spell-checking quiz, they ensure that

robot or no, it all ends smoothly.

The latest stop on a successful UK tour, Derrick is convinced the children of Edinburgh will be just as enthusiastic about the show, 'Although it's an hour and a half long, there's an activity or song every five minutes to keep them engaged, and they really are hooked from the word go.’

(Kelly Apter)

I The All-New Adventures Of Postman Pat is at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh,

Fri IZ—Sun 7 4 Mar. See listings for details.

We welcome submissions for this section, but cannot guarantee inclusion. Please send details to our offices at least ten days before publication. Kids listings compiled by Helen Monaghan.

Activities And Fun

Storytelling Sessions Mon 15 Mar. 10atn--noon ti;- 1-—3pm. Free. Scotland Street School Museum. Museum Of Education. 225 Scotland Street. 429 1202. To book a place. call 287 2747/8. All ages. Stories frotn the Sikh faith narrated by Ravintler Najjar.

Musm

Make Music With The RSNO Sat 13 Mar. 2—4pm. £1.50. RSAMI). (Opera Studio). 100 Renfrew Street. 332 5057. Advance hooking essential on 225 3557. Ages 7-12. Join the RSNO for a fun- packetl music-making workshop as part of National Orchestra Week. A performance of your newly discovered skills follows after the session.

Theatre

Know Nothing Norman Sat 6 Mar. 11am 6’: 1pm. £4 (£2). Paisley Arts Centre. New Street. Paisley. 887 1010. Ages 3--6. Wee Stories Theatre present this poignant story based on a poem by Louise Ironside. It tells the story of poor old Norman. who for his lack of

knowledge. is constantly being made fun of.

Tiggers Don't Climb Trees Sat 6 Mar. 2pm. £3 (£2). Scottish Mask & Puppet Theatre Centre. 8— 10 Balcarres Avenue. Kelvindale. 339 6185. Ages 4+. Richard Mednngton‘s Puppets recreate the world of Pooh and als.

Charlotte's eb Thu II—Sat 13 Mar. Thu & Fri 10.30am & 7pm; Sat 1.30pm & 5pm. £2.50—£7.50. Theatre Royal. 282 Hope Street. 332 9000. Based on the book by EB. White. Charlotte is a spider who can write and Wilbur a pig who can talk. Living at Zuckerman‘s farm. Wilbur soon discovers that they are fattening him up for the dinner table and enlists Charlotte's letter-writing talents to save his skin. Themes of love. friendship and bravery combine in Watershed Productions' take on this classic story. Big Aggie's Pearls Sat 13 Mar. 2pm. £3 (£2). Scottish Mask & Puppet Theatre Centre. 8—1()Ba1carres Avenue. Kelvindale. 339 6185. Ages 3—8. Sylvia Troon‘s Kenspeckle Puppets present this humorous Scottish fairy tale which tells the story of Aggie the Giantess who will only release Catriona once Jamie has fetched her a string of pearls from the bottom of the sea.

Storytelling

Monster Storytime Sat 6 Mar. I 1am. Borders Books. 283 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. Come and listen to stories of scary. hairy monsters . . . if you dare.

Dick King Smith Storytime Sat 13 Mar. 11am. Borders Books. 283 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. Enjoy stories of Babe by Dick King Smith. read to you by the children’s stor time team.

Even Better rack Club Sat 13 Mar. 10am. £1. Lansdowne Church Hall. 420 Great Western Road. 01506 847935. Traditional tales for all the family. with resident tellers Michael Kerins and Ewan McVicar.

EDINBURGH

Activities And Fun

Quickies For Kids Royal Museum Of Scotland. 2 Chambers Street. 247 4219. Free entry to museum for visitors aged 18' and under. Ten-minute talks for children held every Saturday at 2.15pm and every Sunday at 3.15pm. This week‘s topics include The Albatross on Sat 6 Mar and Owls on Sun 7 Mar. The following week learn about The Wart/10g on Sat 13 Mar and The Jun ’le Book on Sun 14 Mar.

I t Discovery entre Museum Of Scotland.

Chambers Street. 247 4219. Mon—Fri 3.30—4.45pm (Tue 6—7.45pm); Sat 2—4.45pm; Sun noon—4.45pm. School holidays: Mon—Fri 10am—4.45pm (Tue 10am—3.30pm & 6—7.45pm). Free entry to museum for visitors aged 18 and under. The newest addition to our national museums also provides a hands- on area where young visitors can find out about Scotland‘s past by investigating objects and other forms of evidence. Children's Art Workshops: Saturday Classes Until Sat 27 Mar. Every Saturday at 10.30am—12.30pm for 5—8- year olds and 2—4pm for 9—12-year olds. £45 for the 5 week course. Old St Paul‘s Church Hall. 63 Jeffrey Street. 554 1999. Approaches to image-making including printmaking. sculpting and hand-painting is the topic for the younger children while elements ofdrawing: line. tone. perspective and proportion are investigated in the workshop for older children.

Animal Talks Every Sunday until Wed 31 Mar. Edinburgh Zoo. Corstorphine Road. 334 9171. Entrance price £6.50 (£3.50—£4.50). Meet the Keepers and Education Staff and enjoy informative talks at the following places: Penguins (noon); Giraffes (2.15pm); Tigers (3pm) and Sealions (3.45pm).

Close Encounters Every Sunday until Wed 31 Mar. 11am. noon. lptn. 2.30pm & 3.30pm. Edinburgh Zoo. Corstorphine Road. 334 9171. Entrance price £6.50 (£3.50—£4.50) plus £1 for the class. Come face-to-face with some of the 200‘s residents rats. snakes. lizards and frogs at this animal-handling class.

Musrc

One City: Many Stories Fri 12 Mar. 1pm. £2.50 (£1). Queen's Hall. Clerk Street. 667 7776. The Queen’s Hall Education programme and three Edinburgh primary schools combine to create a music. storytelling and drama performance. Run by project leaders Jennifer Martin and Linda Bandelier. the show draws on characters from Edinburgh and Scotland‘s past.

Schools Rock Concert Thu 18 Mar. 7.30pm. £4 (£2). Queen‘s Hall. Clerk Street. 667 7776. A showcase concert for the cream of Edinburgh schools' rock groups.

Film

The Prince Of Egypt (U) Sat 20 Mar. 2.30pm. £3.50 (£2.50). Brunton Theatre. Ladywell Way. Musselburgh. 665 2240. See Film Index.

Grease (PG) Sat 6 & Sun 7 Mar. 3pm. £4.50 (£2.50). The Lumiere. Royal Museum Of Scotland; Chambers Street. 247 4219. See Film Index.

Theatre

The All New Adventures Of Postman Pat Fri 12—Sun 14 Mar. Fri 10.30am & 1.30pm; Sat 10.30am. 1.30pm & 4.30pm.

listings KIDS

Sun 1.30pm. Festival Theatre. 13—29 Nicolson Street. 529 6000. £6.50-£7.50 (£5.50—£6.50). Ages 2—8. There's trouble ahead when Postman Pat is persuaded to use a robot to deliver his arcels; however. with the help 0 his Greendale chums. it all ends well. See preview. Peter And The Wolf Tue 16 Mar, 7pm. £5 (£3.50); family ticket £16. Brunton Theatre. Ladywell Way. Musselburgh. 665 2240. Ages 7—13. Prokofiev‘s well- loved musical story is brought vividly to life in this collaboration between Box Clever and The Marlowe Theatre Company.

Festival .

One World Festival Fri 5—Sun 14 Mar. Various venues in Edinburgh. For programme and further information call 220 6350. The theme of this year‘s festival is food with sampling and cooking events as well as lectures on such topical issues. Children are also catered for with activities taking place at Rainbow City 1999 (City Chambers. High Street) on Sat 13 Mar. including African and Egyptian Belly Dancing workshops. food tasting and colouring in. See Edinburgh Life listings. page 83.

OUTSIDE THE CITIES

Activities And Fun

Come Fly With Us Sun 7 Mar. 2pm. Strathclyde Country Park. Hamilton Road. Motherwell. 01698 266155. Design and make your own kite materials provided.

Film

Babe - Pig In The City (U) Sun 7 Mar. 3pm. £1.50. FTH. Falkirk Town Hall. West Bridge Street. 01324 506850. See Film Index.

Theatre

King Glutton Sat 6 Mar. 11am & 2pm. £2.50. MacRobert Arts Centre. University of Stirling. Stirling. 01786 461081. A gluttonous king gets more demanding by the day in Lung Ha's new show.

Know Nothing Norman Sat 13 Mar. 2.30pm. £3 (£1.50). East Kilbride Arts Centre. Old Coach Road. East Kilbride. 01355 261000. See Glasgow Theatre.

The International Purves Puppets Biggar Little Theatre. Broughton Road. 01899 220631. £4.90 adults: £3.90 children (reductions for parties of over ten). Shows on offer over the coming fortni ht are as follows:

Alad in And His Wonderful Lamp Thu 4. 10.45am; Sat 13. 2pm & Thu 18 Mar. 7pm. The familiar story of Aladdin gets a puppet makeover in Purves Puppets' unique adaptation.

Pips And Panda And The Magic Egg Sat 6 Mar. 2pm. A magic egg causes no end of trouble in Pips and Panda‘s latest adventure.

Storytelling

Whuppity Scoorie Storytelling Event Sat 6 & Sun 7 Mar. For booking and information. call South Lanarkshire Council on 01555 661331. This storytelling event takes place over two days in two venues. See below.

Storytelling Works/mp Sat 6 Mar. 10am—1.30pm. £1.50. Memorial Hall. St Leonard‘s Street: Lanark. Ages 6—12. Experts Michael Kerins and Ewan McVicar will be on hand to offer handy hints and advice to any budding storytellers.

Family Event Sun 7 Mar. 2.30pm—4pm. £3 (50p). Tolbooth. High Street. Lanark. A chance to enjoy the results of the previous day‘s workshop. with a performance by the newly-qualified. yarn-spinners. Guest storytellers Michael Kerins and Ewan McVicar will also be sharing their work.

4-18 Mar 1999 THE LIST81