Listings: Critics' choice

KODO
Edinburgh Festival theatre, Thu (0131 529 6000)
A Japanese taiko drumming spectacular from Sado Island.

BLOOD WEDDING
Citizens’ theatre, Glasgow, Thu-Mar 3 (0141 429 0022)
Ted Hughes’s adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s brutal tale about a vendetta that tears two families apart.

THE LENINGRAD SIEGE
Tron theatre, Glasgow, Thu-Sat (0141 552 4267)
Out of the Box stage the English language premiere of Spanish dramatist Jose Sanchis Sinisterra’s critically acclaimed play about two women, the mistress and widow of a famous director, who live together in an abandoned theatre.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Edinburgh Festival theatre, Fri & Sat (0131 529 6000)
A rare production of Shakespeare’s classic comedy featuring Mendelssohn’s magical score of incidental music, performed by members of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the City of London Sinfonia.

HEID
MacRobert, Stirling, until Thu (01786 466 666)
Written by Forbes Masson and directed by Gordon Dougall, Heid is a new musical comedy exploring the surreal side of the Scottish psyche.

FURTHER THAN THE FURTHEST THING
Byre theatre, St Andrews, until Feb 18 (01334 475 000)
Prime Productions revive Zinnie Harris’s award-winning play based on events on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where a volcano exploded in the 1960s forcing the island’s inhabitants to be evacuated.

ROMEO & JULIET
Citizens’ theatre, Glasgow, until Mar 4 (0141 429 0022)
The Sea of Souls star Iain Robertson is one half of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers in this Citizens Theatre Company production.

THE DARKNESS
SECC, Glasgow, today (0870 040 4000)
Just when pop music was taking itself far too seriously, the Darkness returned with 2005’s One Way Ticket to Hell album, a more than competent follow up to the rock majesty of 2003’s Permission to Land. Support comes from Juliette Lewis and the Licks.

LAURA VEIRS
Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Mon (0870 220 1116)
The Seattle singer-songwriter returns to the UK for a further round of gigs to promote last year’s Year of Meteors album, a beautifully crafted collection of artful pop songs with quirky rhythms and heartfelt lyrics.

RYAN ADAMS
Carling Academy, Glasgow, Wed (0870 771 2000)
Ryan Adams has established himself as one of the biggest names in America, adding not one but three albums to his back catalogue in the past year including the gorgeous 29, a collection of nine songs, one for each year of his twenties.

TWO GALLANTS
King Tut’s, Glasgow, Tues (0870 220 1116)
The Two Gallants have earned comparisons to the White Stripes but the San Francisco duo pedal a unique and wonderful strain of punk Americana. Adam Stephens’s gravelly vocals power over Tyson Vogel crashing drums like something out of a apocalyptic cowboy movie.

GOLDFRAPP
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thu (0131 228 1155)
Mindless electro-house never sounded so good. Alison Goldfrapp and chums play to a sold-out crowd at the Usher Hall, the second part of their tour of the near-perfect Supernature album.

KANYE WEST
SECC, Glasgow, Fri (0870 040 4000)
Arguably the biggest rap star in the world at the moment (at least when 50 Cent isn’t in the room), Kanye West produced 2005’s most accomplished rap album in Late Registration, a wily collection of songs about politics, religion and his musings on being one of the biggest rap stars in the world.

NICKEL CREEK
Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, Wed (01224 642 230); Arches, Glasgow, Thu (0870 240 7528); Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Fri (0131 668 2019)
Hailing from San Diego, Nickel Creek play a fusion of bluegrass, Celtic and modern folk and classical music.

THE GO! TEAM
Barrowland, Glasgow, Fri (0141 204 5151)
Pyschedelic cartoon pop of the highest quality.

ONE WORLD PEACE CONCERT
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat (0131 668 2019)
A concert of spiritually uplifting music performed by artists including Mike Scott from the Waterboys and the Ecumenical Coda Choir.

KELLY CLARKSON
SECC, Glasgow, Sat (0870 040 4000)
The former American Idol winner finally gained international superstardom in 2005 with the release of her Breakaway album putting her in the same league as did-it-the-hard-way pop stars such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Fri (0131 228 1155); Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat (0141 353 8000)
Alexander Lazarev conducts a concert of works by Shostakovich including October, Violin Concerto No 2, Excerpts from Hamlet and Symphony No 9.

BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
City Halls, Glasgow, Sat (0141 353 8000)
An evening of traditional and contemporary folk music presented by the BBC SSO fiddler Alastair Savage.

DA VINCI PIANO TRIO
Tolbooth, Stirling, Sat (01786 274 000)
The Da Vinci Piano Trio perform works by the composer Sally Beamish to celebrate her 50th birthday.

LORD OF THE DANCE
Playhouse, Edinburgh, Tue-Sun (0870 606 3424)
One of the highest-grossing shows in the Playhouse’s history, Michael Flatley’s bombastic Celtic spectacular is a hybrid of Irish dance, folk legend and men in really tight leather trousers.

SCOTTISH DANCE THEATRE
Edinburgh Festival theatre, Wed (0131 529 6000)
The SDT’S spring tour continues with a new work by Jan de Schynkel and artistic director Janet Smith’s Forty Minutes.

NEW TERRITORIES
Tramway, Glasgow, until Mar 11 (0845 330 3501)
The National Review of Live Art and the New Territories dance festival return to Glasgow with performances by Eva Meyer-Keller, Rui Horta and Michael Clark.

FACE À FACES
Institut Français d’Ecosse, Edinburgh, Thu-Apr 23 (0131 225 5366)
To complement the current Face à Faces portraiture exhibition at the City Art Centre this exhibition features works by a range of contemporary Scottish portraiture photographers including Owen Logan, David Williams, Graham Clark and Ruth Stirling.

DEREK LODGE: WORD PROCESSOR
DCA, Dundee, Sat-Mar 26 (01382 909 252)
Part of DCA’s Kill Your Timid Notion festival of experimental art, the Dundee artist Derek Lodge will run a specially designed social space — part recording studio and part viewing room — for conversation, story-telling and interaction with the artists.

DIGITAL PERCEPTIONS
Collins Gallery, Glasgow, until Feb 18 (0141 548 2558)
Artists including Alison Bell, Philip O’Reilly and Cathy Treadaway exhibit a range of interpretations of digital imagery in textiles and ceramics.

UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS
The Atrium Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, until Feb 18 (0141 353 4500)
Third-year textiles students explore the use of pattern, scale, texture and colour for contemporary interiors.

AT THE SAME TIME SOMEWHERE ELSE
Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Feb 19 (0131 225 2383)
An exhibition by three artists who share a common philosophy about the part research plays in their work.

JERWOOD DRAWING PRIZE 2005
Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, until Feb 24 (0141 353 4500)
A touring exhibition showcasing 78 selected entries to the largest open drawing prize in the UK.

LINING OUT
Arches, Glasgow, until Feb 26 (0870 240 7528 )
A rare exhibition of work by contemporary Scottish illustrators including Claire Anderson, Dwayne Bell, Lucy Macleod, and Bernie Reid.

SELECTIVE MEMORY: VENICE BIENNALE
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, until Mar 5 (0131 624 6200)
Highlights from Scotland’s presentation at the 51st Venice Biennale, including work by Cathy Wilkes and Alex Pollard.

JON SCHUELER: THE SOUND OF SLEAT
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, until Mar 5 (0131 624 6200)
The American abstract expressionist set up a studio in Mallaig on the Sound of Sleat in 1957, and the landscape around the remote fishing village had a powerful influence on his work.

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE BLUE ROOM
The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Mar 8 (0141 221 6362)
The finalists and winner of the world’s biggest international design award, the Bombay Sapphire prize, awarded to artists, designers and architects working with glass.

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2005
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, until Mar 12 (0131 624 6200)
The leading showcase for the UK’s brightest young portraiture artists.

BUNGALOW BLITZ
The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Mar 26 (0141 221 6362)
An exhibition focusing on the hundreds of self-built properties constructed in rural Ireland during the 1970s.

ARTISTS & CAMOUFLAGE
Scottish Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, until Apr 2 (0131 624 6200)
Artists and Camouflage explores the role of fine artists, designers and architects in the production of army camouflage during the second world war and how the idea was taken from observation of the animal world.

GENERATION KKK: PASSING THE TORCH
St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Glasgow, until April 9 (0141 553 2557)
The photojournalist James Edward Bates devoted seven years to documenting the beliefs, traditions and activities of the Ku Klux Klan.

JOSEPH CRAWHALL: MOROCCO & SPAIN
Burrell Collection, Glasgow, until Apr 17 (0141 287 2550)
A selection of 23 paintings by the watercolourist Joseph Crawhall, charting his time in Morocco and Spain in the late 19th century.

HUMAN/NATURE
Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, until Apr 30 (0141 229 1996)
Landscape photography from the GOMA collection including works by Thomas Joshua Cooper, Andy Goldsworthy, Patricia Macdonald, David Malin, Sebastião Salgado and Joel Sternfeld.

GEORGE’S MARVELLOUS MEDICINE
Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue-Sat (0141 240 1133)
The Birmingham Stage Company revisits the work of Roald Dahl for its latest production. With stage adaptations of The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox and James and the Giant Peach already in the repertoire, the company adds the one about a boy who creates a medicine from unlikely ingredients — including toothpaste, chilli sauce, and flea powder — to cure his grandmother’s bad temper.

GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL
Various venues, Glasgow, Thu-Feb 26 (www.glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk)
The second year of the Glasgow Film Festival with shorts, documentaries and new features at the GFT, the Grosvenor cinema and Cineworld.