l’equilibre – Meghan Giboin opening exhibition.

Well, we can pretty much guarantee that summer has been and gone in the last week. The Beeb’s weather forecast foresees a steep temperature drop, just in time for us to spend another wet and weary Easter holiday inside eating chocolate eggs. You’ve got a full tank of panic-petrol and nowhere to go. Or so you thought. Here you’ll find the ten definitive hot-tickets of the next two weeks that will allow you to put your foot to the floor and partake in some non-weather-dependent culture.

1. Edinburgh International Science Festival: On at various locations around the city, this annual festival gives big kids, little kids and grown-ups the chance to explore the science of everyday life. From Firewalking to Maths Olympics, Manic Monster Hunts and Madwomen in the Attic; dare to do something you’ve never done before. It won’t harm you (well, it might, but there’s waivers for that).

2. DC Jackson’s retelling of Pierre Beaumarchais’s The Marriage of Figaro has received numerous 4 star reviews [including from us] for its ferociously funny farce of bedroom and big business politics. You have until Sat 14th April to see it at the Lyceum.

3. 25 years after it was first performed, Tony Roper’s classic Scottish comedy, The Steamie, will be back at the Festival Theatre from Tue 10th – Sat 14th April. Deadpan wit and irony twisted with nostalgia has made Roper’s washroom-sink drama a definitive piece of Scottish theatre and will doubtless continue to be the key to its soap-sudded success.

4. The Waterboys will be at the Festival Theatre on Sunday 8th April following the release of their latest album, An Appointment With Mr Yeats. As well as their new songs, there’ll be plenty of classics too. Their blend of poetry, folk music and rock ‘n’ roll is sure to draw a lively crowd, so make sure you don’t miss out.

5. If it’s retail therapy calling your name this weekend, make sure you pop into Urban Outfitters (Princes Street) and visit L’equilibre, the debut solo exhibition from local photographer, Meghan Giboin. Her work is fresh, original and exciting; catch it before it heads to the Glasgow store at the end of the month.


The Marriage of Figaro – Trailer

6. The sun will be returning to Edinburgh on Tuesday 3rd April for two weeks only, with the arrival of South Pacific, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s sassy and sunny love story set on a US naval base in World War II. The Lincoln Center’s production won seven Tony Awards in 2008 and has just finished its run at the Barbican, London.

7. Tim Price’s debut play, For Once, opens at the Traverse Theatre on Tuesday 3rd April. Directed by Orla O’Loughlin, the play is a poignant yet comic account of a car crash survivor, who as a result of the accident, lost his sight. An uplifting piece of theatre from two practitioners whose names we’re going to hear a lot of in the future.

8. It’s 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic, and if you can’t be bothered seeing James Cameron’s spectacle in 3D, the Filmhouse are showing A Night to Remember from Sat 14th – Mon 16th April. The 1958 film portrays the disaster in semi-documentary style and might offer a little more food for thought than the iconic romance between Leo and Kate. Then again, watch whatever floats your boat…

9. If you’re a big fan of the book, or you know a little one who is, The Gruffalo will be live on stage on Friday (6th) and Saturday (7th) afternoons at the Festival Theatre. It’s been voted by Radio 2 listeners as the nation’s number one bedtime story, but don’t let it put you to sleep; Tall Stories’ production might just be the magical adventure you’re after this weekend.

10. The Usher Hall is hosting Folk Weekender (Fri 6th & Sat 7th April), a celebration of Scotland’s finest folk musicians. Fiddle and guitar duo Tom Oakes and Ross Couper will be there among others, notably award winning musicians, Rura and Gaelic/English singers Manran.