Around Town
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THE BEST EVENTS, TALKS AND SPORT
* The One Game As part of their commitment to kicking racism out of football, the Easton Cowboys visit Glasgow for a five-a-side football game. followed by a screening of The One Game, a documentary about Palestine. Pearce Institute, Govan. Glasgow. Sat 20 Oct.
* Festival and Freedom Walk Procession and carnival celebrating the 200th anniversary of abolition and contemporary interracial culture in the city. Drumming. plays. costume making. cuisine, tribal dancing, face painting and live music from influential British black musicians and poets. George Square. Glasgow, Sat 20 Oct.
at City of the Dead’s Hallowe’en Festival The black-hearted ghost tour company (pictured) lay on extra walks with an emphasis on the paranormal, including an investigation into the world famous Mackenzie poltergeist. Bwahahahaha! See www.blackhart.uk.com for more info. Royal Mile, Edinburgh, Fri 26-Wed 37 Oct. * Samhulnn Festival The Beltane Fire Society offer up their annual night of ritual performance and celebration to mark the Celtic New Year. Cast/e Esplanade, Edinburgh, Wed 31 Oct.
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The halls are alive
Kirstin lnnes finds out about an interactive exhibition in Scotland’s last surviving music hall which aims to put us back in touch with our past.
lic arca around (ilasgim 's 'l'rongatc has pullcd
its socks up somcu hat o\cr thc last dccadc. hut
tuckcd in among lhc upmarkct rcstaurants catcring liltl‘ tltc ’l'l'tlll 'l‘llL‘ull'L‘K \\ L‘ll-llL‘L‘lL‘Ll iltltllL‘llL‘L‘\ and glltss) hars spilling mm from thc \lcrchant ('it_\ is a crumbling old plcasurc domc aho\c an ainuscmcnt arcadc that most passcrs h_\ \touldn't gi\ c it \L‘L‘Ulltl g‘lttllL‘L‘ It).
This is thc Britannia l’anopticon .\lusic Hall. opcncd in INS”. Scotland's onl} sur\i\ing old timc music hall; thc most popular \cnuc \sith thc cit_\‘s \sorkcrs at thc licight ol' tltc British limpirc. uhcn \\c huilt ships on tlic ('l_\dc and c\portcd ministcrs. Stan laurcl pla_\cd his dchut comic scl at thc l'rida) opcn mic night itltc} \xcrcn‘t callcd opcn mic nights hack tltcni.
It's this rich histor} that artist Mint} Donald \xants to put hack in touch \xith (ilasgou‘s prcscnt—da} cili/cns. llcr c\ltihition (i/tiiimcrs lit [rm/m is tllc culmination of hcr thrcc—_\car rcscarch proicct into thc \\a_\s \\ c intcract \xith our architcctural hcritagc. ‘l’coplc in\csl spaccs \\llll thcir oun pcrsonal cmotions and c\pcricnccs.‘ sa}s Donald. 'l think that gcts lorgotlcn. somclimcs. 'l‘liis spacc is \cr} much part ol (ilasgou's cultural ltistor}. and of. thc liast l‘illtl. ttlltl l \\;llll [U lL'l [k‘ilplc l'C-L‘llg'ug'c \\llll lllL‘ structurc: lsoth \xith thc histor}. and as a part of tlicir modcrn city
(r/tlllillt'l'\ in [Jill/m is madc tip «it tllrcc distinct parts. .\lost oh\ious \xill hc a fruit itiac‘ltiitc-st}lc animation in thc \\ indous ol' tltc Panopticon. hcaming doun lcttcring. ncon and proicctions from thc l‘tllltllllg‘.\ past llllu tltc \ll'L‘L‘l. .-\ CUllL‘CllUll (ll (Will) shocho\cs sits on tltc scats ot' tltc auditorium. somc
lillcd \\ itli artcl'acts lound in carl_\ c\plorations ol' thc disttscd htiilding. somc lclt cmpt} lor pcoplc to lill \\llll \shatcwr tltc} choosc. 'l'licn tlicrc's thc l’ianola Karaokc: Donald inxitcd \arious (ilasgou artists and musicians. including thc l’arsonagc choir and licllc & Schastian's Slmic Jackson. to arrangc \crsions of songs tlic} \sould likc losing in thc spacc. 'l‘hcsc llil\ c hccn com crtcd from digital tilcs to old papcr rolls for sclllopcrating pianolas thc musicians \xill sing thc songs thcmsclxcs at thc opcning part}. and lltc_\'ll hc pl:i}c‘tl throughout tlic c\liihition as thcir l_\rics arc proicctcd on thc music hall‘s stagc and cciling. a gL‘\llll'c [U lllc g‘llnsls ill slings pilsl.
(i/i’iiinit'rs iii Urn/m is not thc onl} c\cnt liappcning in thc l’anopticon. ’l'hc Britannia Panopticon Music Hall 'l‘rust runs an idios}ncratic programmc ol' hurlcsquc \ltim s. tltcatrc. lilm scrccnings and c\pcrimcntal music throughout tlic summcr ithcrc's no hcating in thc huilding. so it's too cold in \\ intcrl.
'lt’s fantastic. at thc momcnt. \sith this hi/arrc \arict} of things ltappcningf Donald muscs. 'hut it's not t‘call} sustainahlc. 'l'hc huilding is in a rcall_\' had statc ol‘ rcpair. ll lunds \xcrc to hc raiscd it might all hc rcstorcd. madc into a hcautil'ul ncu' hcritagc ccntrc. hut stop hcing \\ hat it is at thc momcnt. 'l'hcrc's a lo\cl_\ linc in thc song [Glasgow artistl Ross Sinclair chosc to sing at l’ianola Karaokc: “'l‘hcrc is a placc that no onc has sccn/whcrc it's still possihlc to drcam". It's from an Orange Juicc song callcd "\Van Light". and ljtlst think that kind of sums thc l’anopticon up: "a placc uhcrc )ou can drcam".'
Britannia Panopticon Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 18-Sat 27 Oct. www.9limmersinlimbo.co.uk
' THE LIST 21