The Edinburgh Reporter January 2021

18
WHAT'S ON
There is a new portrait of singer
Horse McDonald hanging in the
heart of the Scottish National
Portrait Gallery (although you will
have to take our word for it until
you can access the gallery possibly
after the middle of the month).
This is an oil painting by artist
Roxana Halls. As part of the
process of sitting for the portrait
Horse sang "Careful" live and a
capella for the artist at her London
studio. It resulted in a portrait
which the artist says depicts a mix
of all the live moments, mannerisms
and movements which she
witnessed while Horse performed,
rather than one specific pose.
Horse McDonald, born in
Newport-on-Tay in Fife, has been
writing and performing for over 30
The Edinburgh Reporter
Portrait gallery mounts Horse painting
years, during which time she has
built up a reputation as an iconic
and unique singer-songwriter.
She is one of Scotland’s most
celebrated performers and has
released nine albums. Q magazine
described her as owning "one of
the finest voices of modern times,
soul and intelligence combined".
She has opened for and toured
with international artists including
Tina Turner, BB King, Bryan Ferry
and Burt Bacharach.
Horse said: "I was incredibly flattered
and grateful to have my portrait
painted by Roxana. We spent
a lot of time talking and sharing
our experiences, finding so much
in common in our work and lives.
The journey which brought us together
and then, in turn, the fates
that continued for the portrait to
then be acquired for the SNPG, is
nothing short of magical.
“I was both shocked and thrilled
when I saw the painting because
not only has it captured the
energy and the passion of the ‘me’
I feel inside, but it is very much a
Roxana Halls' painting. I cannot
find the words to express my pride,
honour and privilege to be on display
amongst our nation’s peers
and generations of dignitaries.
"This is something I could never,
ever have envisaged. I am most
humbled at the thought of children
seeing my portrait in such a setting
and finding inspiration and
courage from it.”
Janey's star Burns
bright at Big Supper
Janey Godley has kept us all
going in 2020 with her comedy
take off videos of the press calls
mainly by the First Minister, but
also occasionally straying
across the border.
Now she will perform
the MC duties at the
digital Big Burns Supper,
welcoming KT Tunstall,
Donovan, Tide Lines,
Dougie Maclean,
Robert Softly Gale,
Skerryvore and Amy
Conachan.
This is promising to be the largest
gathering to honour Rabbie
Burns, and is the tenth outing for
Godley's Burns Night special.
There will be haggis involved
in the form of Le Haggis! the
Dumfries-born Celtic cabaret with
a specially curated set of artistic
collaborations from Le Haggis
acts past and present.
Pupils from primary schools will
take part in a massive community
singalong of Auld Lang Syne in a
version first arranged by Robert
Shields in 2011 when the first Big
Burns Supper was held.
Janey Godley, said: ‘I am
super excited to do this as
it’s the first time I can do
a Burns do in my bare
feet beside a window.’
KT Tunstall, said:
“The 2019 Big Burns
Supper was easily one
of my top Burns Night
celebrations ever! The
energy in the spiegeltent that night
was totally electric and although
for now we can’t party again inperson,
I’m so looking forward to
joining the digital celebrations in
2021 to help mark the festival’s
10th anniversary with a very special
performance from yours truly
just for the occasion.”
FREE on 25 January, 7.00pm to
8.15pm on Facebook and You-
Tube. bigburnssupper.com
Singer Horse McDonald painted by Roxana Halls
Children's 2021 festival is going ahead
Edinburgh International Children’s
Festival confirmed that it
will definitely go ahead in 2021.
Imaginate, the organisation
which produces the successful
Edinburgh International Children’s
Festival, have confirmed that they
are planning an exciting festival
this year, and that it will go ahead
in one form or another from 25
May – 6 June.
They will also continue to run
their year-round schools programme
and creative development
for artists.
As usual, the Festival will showcase
theatre and dance created
especially for children and young
people.
With Covid-19 restrictions likely
to be still in place, the Festival’s
programme will focus primarily
on Scottish and UK productions,
with a combination of outdoor and
smaller capacity in-venue performances.
Families will also be able to enjoy
a series of pop-up performances
throughout the city over the first
and final weekend of the Festival.
Extra measures will be put in place
to ensure everyone’s safety and
there will also be digital events on
offer for those who would rather
stay at home.
The decision was made to confirm
the programme now in order
to give the selected artists and
companies some assurance about
the future. Freelancers have been
hit particularly hard by Covid and
Imaginate’s support is a welcome
boost.
The pandemic has also had
a huge impact on children and
young people who have had no access
to live performances during
this period.
As part of the Festival programme,
Imaginate are commissioning
16 new works which will
involve over 100 freelancers based
in Scotland and making a commitment
to pay them whether their
performance is allowed to happen
or not.
However, digital versions of many
of the events are being developed
to limit the risk of cancelling them.
Festival Director Noel Jordan
said: “Our primary goal is to make
sure our young audiences have access
to high quality performances
in May.
"It would have been tempting to
wait to confirm the programme
until we had more certainty about
restrictions but we feel it is important
to make a commitment to the
artists and companies who rely on
us to platform their work.
"Imaginate’s mission is to help
develop and promote new theatre
and dance for young people and
we are delighted to be able to
support artists based in Scotland
to create new work for the Festival
and to showcase them in May.
"Ultimately, if restrictions prevent
us presenting everything we have
planned, we feel it will have been a
worthwhile investment and we are
confident that this work can still
be presented in the future, at our
Festival or elsewhere.”
www.imaginate.org.uk
Free entertainment on Burns Night
Luck out on Luckenbooth
One of the success stories of
our virtual lives in 2020 was the
Edinburgh International Book Festival
(EIBF) which barely skipped a
page before launching its series of
events online.
On Friday 15 January at 7pm the
EIBF will live stream a brand new
event with authors Jenni Fagan
and Denise Mina, to celebrate the
launch of Fagan's ground-breaking
new novel Luckenbooth. The event
is free – there’s no need to book.
Once in a while, a novel arrives
that changes the way we
see and experience a place that
we think we already know so
well. Edinburgh is a city brimming
with stories - almost every
building whispers history and
holds secrets, stashed away in
the stonework. And Jenni Fagan’s
spectacular third novel Luckenbooth
takes us to the heart of the
city and its people.
Join the critically acclaimed
Edinburgh-based author of The
Panopticon and The Sunlight
Pilgrims in her very first event
about her new book, alongside
another of our favourite authors,
the Glaswegian crime writer and
playwright Denise Mina. Together
they dive into the depths of the
remarkable Luckenbooth, a dazzling
work of history and ambition
that marks a major moment in the
literary life of Edinburgh. Enjoy
an hour of enlightening entertainment,
broadcast live from the EIBF
studio in Edinburgh.
Luckenbooth spans nearly a century
in the tenement at 10 Luckenbooth
Close. It begins in 1910 as
the devil’s daughter rows a coffin
to the shores of Leith, sold by her
father to a rich couple to have their
child. The tragic events that follow
lead to a curse that will plague the
lives of the eclectic collection of
tenement residents. In her novel
told over nine decades and up
and down nine floors, Fagan gifts
readers lessons of history as the
building and its inhabitants bear
witness to the changing world
outside the tenement walls.
www.edbookfest.co.uk