Listings

COMEDY

THE WICKER WOMAN
These girls know a good spoof when they see one. This hilarious pastiche of the cult 1970s film, about a young policewoman who holidays on a remote Scottish island powered only by wind farms, was a huge hit at last year’s festival. A new show from the same company, Population: 3, The Elephant Woman, a play based loosely on cult film The Elephant Man, is also showing at the Pleasance.
To Aug 29, Pleasance, 0131 556 6550, 12.20pm, £10.50/£9

STEWART LEE
Lee steps away from the director’s chair of Jerry Springer — the Opera to remind us what a real comedian sounds like. For his latest routine Lee’s mind gets wrapped around his latent Scottish heritage and he discovers it’s more fun making fun of the Scots when you have tartan on your side.
To Aug 29, Smirnoff Underbelly, 0870 745 3083, 8.40pm, £10.50/£9

NEVER MIND THE BOTOX
As the resident band on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Four Poofs and a Piano must be given credit for trading in studio lights and celebrities for a small room and an early evening slot at the fringe. But this über-camp quartet shine against some of Ross’s dreary guests so it’s hardly surprising they have been wooing the crowds in Edinburgh. A whistle-stop ride through the band’s musical history, Never Mind the Botox is cabaret at its most sparkling, moving from Abba to Diana Ross and bound together with quick-fire one-liners.
To Aug 30, Pleasance Courtyard, 0131 556 6550, 4.10pm, £10/£8.50 (£9/£7.50)

MUSIC

2 MANY MUSICIANS
This is the biggest clubbing-orientated event of the festival with live sets from cut-and-paste specialists 2ManyDJs who will be for ever revered for mixing Destiny’s Child, 10cc and Dolly Parton into four minutes of perfect electro pop. Joining them are New York funk punk band LCD Soundsystem, Soulwax, Twitch from Optimo and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Aug 25, Corn Exchange, 0131 443 0404, 9pm, £16

CHARLATANS
That the Charlatans have survived after most of their Britpop compatriots faded away is a testament to just how much Tim Burgess and co love making music. It’s not always easy to love what they do but lately they have shown a certain acknowledgment of their limitations and concentrated on making simple, happy pop songs for those who hanker after the days of baggy trousers and trackie tops. Latest single Try Again Today should have been a much bigger hit this summer. No doubt they’ ll try again next year.
Aug 23, Corn Exchange, 0131 443 0404, 7.30pm, £20

TAO — BEAT OF THE GLOBE
The festival would not be complete without the ancient art of Taiko drumming. Providing the rhythm and dance this year is the Tao troupe from Kyushu island in Japan. This is the Tao drummers’ first European performance — and what an entrance. The sheer intensity and power of the performers, with their rippling abs and taut muscles, is a spectacle in itself, but when the beats really kick in, Tao can mesmerise an audience into a zen-like trance. Not recommended for anyone with a pounding hangover.
To Aug 30, Assembly @ St George’s West, 0131 224 2628, 6pm, £12.50/£11.50 (£11/£10)

CAMILLE SINGS BREL
So many try and fail but Irish singer Camille O’Sullivan takes Jacques Brel and works a new kind of magic on standards such as Marieke, Song Of Old Lovers and Amsterdam. O’Sullivan’s exceptional voice plays on the most provocative and sensual elements of Brel’s legacy without hamming up the theatrics.
To Aug 29, C Central, 0870 701 5105, 6.20pm, £10/£8

DANCE

BALLETOMANIA: THE LOVE THAT DARED NOT SPEAK ITS NAME
Performed by Balletomania, a company that features former dancers from the Royal Ballet and Rambert, this double bill is inspired by the tumultuous romance between French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, and the literary soirées of American writer Gertrude Stein.
To Aug 30, C, 0870 701 5105, £8.50/£7.50, 3.55pm, £8.50/£7.50

RUMBLE
This award-winning co-production from Germany’s Flottmann-Hallen and Theater Kohlenpott sets Romeo and Juliet in a hip-hop world where young men have breakdancing contests to flex their muscles. Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech is delivered entirely through movement.
To Aug 30, Aurora Nova @ St Stephens, 0131 558 3835, 8.30pm, £12/£10

ART

JOHN BELLANY
Small but not to be missed exhibition from Scottish artist John Bellany, who is now based in Italy and clearly more light-hearted for it. This colourful and stirring collection of paintings created on a recent trip to China and in his new Italian home retains those nightmarish qualities so prevalent in Bellany’s work and adds a dose of bittersweet humour.
To Sep 1, Open Eye Gallery, 0131 557 1020, Free

CYCLORAMA: SANFORD WURMFELD
Invented in Edinburgh in the late 18th century by Robert Barker, the Panorama allowed people to view an “all-round” painting from within a huge cylinder. New York painter Sandy Wurmfeld has built his own. Measuring 10m in diameter, the Cyclorama displays Wurmfeld’s abstract rainbow painting.
To Sep 25, Talbot Rice Gallery, 0131 650 2210, Free

ALISON WATT
Two complementary exhibitions showcasing seven new paintings by Alison Watt that meticulously depict the textures and folds of a piece of fabric. Not since Joan Rivers got her beady eye on Nicole Kidman’s Oscar dress has a piece of cloth been so closely scrutinised.
To Sep 11, Ingleby Gallery, 0131 556 4441, free; To Sep 25, Memorial Chapel, Old St Paul’s Church, 0131 556 3332, free

SAM TAYLOR-WOOD: STRINGS
Taylor-Wood hit the headlines earlier this year for her portrait of a sleeping David Beckham and this new work puts the male form to similar good use. Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov will be suspended on wires above a string quartet playing Tchaikovsky for a whole nine minutes while the audience gasp and marvel at those taut muscles and lean limbs. That’s the point, right?
To Aug 27, Edinburgh College of Art, 0131 221 6032, free

FRED TOMASELLI
The Fruitmarket Gallery’s festival exhibition presents the work of Fred Tomaselli, a New York-based artist whose elaborate “hybrid pictures”, made using an array of materials including paints, pills and insects, have taken the art world by storm.
To Oct 3, the Fruitmarket Gallery, 0131 225 2383, free

BOOK FESTIVAL

JAMES KELMAN
Scotland’s only Booker prizewinner makes a rare public appearance to discuss his new book You Have to Be Careful in the Land of the Free, the story of Jeremiah Brown, an ex-pat Scot living in Colorado.
Aug 25, Lloyds TSB Scotland Main Theatre, 0131 624 5050, 8pm, £8

ANITA RODDICK
Environmental crusader and founder of the Body Shop Dame Anita Roddick talks about her work to highlight the problems that will be encountered when the world’s most precious resource, water, begins to run out.
Aug 26, Lloyds TSB Scotland Main Theatre, 0131 624 5050, 1.30pm, £7

FILM FESTIVAL

AE FOND KISS
The third and most optimistic instalment in Ken Loach’s Glasgow trilogy, following Sweet Sixteen and My Name Is Joe, Ae Fond Kiss tells the story of a passionate love affair between an Irish Catholic teacher called Roisin and a handsome young Muslim named Casim. But their union is looked upon unfavourably by Casim’s parents and the higher powers at Roisin’s Catholic school. Ae Fond Kiss is Loach’s fifth collaboration with writer Paul Laverty.
Today & Aug 27, UGC, 0131 623 8030, 7pm (10.30pm) £7.95/£5.20

CHILDREN

PRIVATE PEACEFUL
This play for older children is an introduction to the horrors of war and one that can pack just as much punch as any adult offering. Adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s award-winning novel, it chronicles the last night of Private Tommo Peaceful before he goes in front of the firing squad in 1916. Paul Chequer is outstanding as the resigned but desolate Tommo who tells the story of his life from a happy childhood in the West Country to a terrifying end in the trenches.
To Aug 29, Assembly Rooms, 0131 226 2428, 10.45am, £9/£8

MARTHA
Scottish company Catherine Wheels has proved itself top of the tier when it comes to children’s theatre. This production is one of the company’s most highly acclaimed after sell-out international tours and a stint on Broadway. Pauline Knowles is Martha, a disagreeable old hermit who prefers to keep herself to herself and refuses the overtures of the townsfolk who try to befriend her. Content in her isolation she trys to chase away a sick goose who turns up on the beach but she soon warms to his playful antics.
To Aug 29, Scotland’s Theatre Gateway, 11am, £6/4, 0131 317 3939