From a festival of short films for little people, blockbusters to classical ballet, celebrations of all things bike and a chance to catch up with of one of the finest theatre productions of 2023, the Eastgate’s cinema screen is sparkling this October.
Fran Swift, Chair of the Eastgate’s Board of Directors, said:
“We are so pleased to welcome Fraser to lead our staff team, he comes with a wealth of experience, enthusiasm and energy. His vision for the future of the Eastgate impressed us all at his interview and we look forward to working with him to deliver all sorts of creative opportunities in our wonderful theatre and the wider community.”
Fraser said:
“I am thrilled to take on the role of General Manager at the Eastgate Theatre. The opportunity to work with the community to guide the theatre into its third decade, with a fresh, exciting, and positive vision for the future, is incredibly appealing. In the coming months, I look forward to engaging with the local community and partners to shape my plans for the theatre’s growth and development. I am passionate about my responsibility to support and nurture both emerging and experienced professional creative talent in Scotland.
Having previously worked in schools across the Borders with Young Enterprise Scotland, I am eager to build on those relationships and expand our partnerships. My experience at Cumbernauld Theatre has prepared me to raise Eastgate Theatre’s profile within the national infrastructure of Scottish theatres and to further its reputation for delivering high-quality artistic output. Peebles is a special place with a very dedicated local community, and I am excited about the possibilities and opportunities that lie ahead.”
Fraser has worked in theatre across Scotland in various capacities as a performer, director, writer, and producer. At Cumbernald Theatre he managed the delivery of in-house productions, supported and developed companies in residence, and led the artistic programming of the venue. He was also the founder and Artistic Director of Cumbernauld Musical Theatre Society. Fraser also works as a freelance Creative & Musical Director across Scotland, specialising in Musical Theatre and leads Limelight Youth Academy in Fife for aspiring young performers.
Determined to encourage youth engagement in the arts, he has previously held youth advisory positions with the National Theatre of Scotland and Macrobert Arts Centre. He has also served as a director of See Think Make CIC and Chair of Young Enterprise Scotland Forth Valley & Glasgow Regional Boards. In 2016, Fraser was appointed as one of “Scotland’s brightest young theatre-makers” by Youth Theatre Arts Scotland as part of their Young Arts Leaders programme.
A graduate of Edinburgh Napier University in Business & Enterprise, Fraser was appointed as Scotland’s youngest Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in 2016.
On Saturday 21 September it is standing room only for the return of local favourites Urang Matang and the Melodites, with their own brand of ska and reggae, before up and coming band butter take over to deliver a punch of psychedelic rock.
October opens with the Music in Peebles presentation (on the 1st) of young Ukrainian pianist Khrystyna Mykhailichenko. A refugee from Ukraine, Khrystyna is now studying the Royal Academy of Music in London. Her programme includes works by Debussy, Chopin and Liszt as well as five preludes by leading Ukrainian composer Borys Lyatoshynsky.
On Saturday 5 October, favourite performer Blue Rose Code (aka Ross Wilson) returns to reprise some of his classic songs and introduce new tracks from the May 2024 album Bright Circumstance. As always, Ross’s music addresses universal themes in a deeply personal way.
Local band Twelfth Day (Esther Swift playing pedal harp and Catriona Price on violin) return to the Eastgate on Thursday 10 October to perform their sparky original songs grounded in Scottish folk music infused with pop and jazz. They are joined for this very special concert by Argentinian duo El Guapo’s whose music encompasses a lively mix of Latin American, jazz and rock. Expect extraordinary musical collaborations.
On Friday 18th Frankie Archer makes her Eastgate debut having exploded onto the electrofolk scene with music that uses a combination of manipulated samples, synths, drum tracks and earthy Northumbrian fiddle and voice.
The next evening (Saturday 19th) sees the return of Eastgate favourites The Counterfeit Seventies. This celebration of the decade of glam rock through new wave music, and everything in between features the music of Slade, Sweet, T.Rex, The Bay City Rollers and many, many more.
Each of these concerts begins at 7.30pm. Ticket prices range from £16 – £25 (plus concessions) and are available now from box office on 01721 725777 or online at eastgatearts.com
Minnie Rubinski, now in her eighties and living in a care home recounts her life as a journalist, mother, gallery owner, wife, writer, child, and (maybe) saviour of the world from giant reptiles. She is a woman with strong opinions who, in an era of patriarchy, broke social boundaries and forged her own path.
Experience Minnies’ memories by donning headphones and watching a series of films showing episodes from her life created using beautifully carved marionettes performing in perfectly detailed period sets.
The latest in a series of singular productions created by Edinburgh based company Vision Mechanics,The Fantastic Life of Minnie Rubinski was inspired by creative director Kim Bergsagel’s experience of her mother’s rapid onset dementia. It has been adapted from fragments of phone calls and family anecdotes and is funny, sad, at times nonsensical but always meaningful and moving.
Eastgate General Manager Caroline Adam said:
“Vision Mechanics are renowned creators of original, one-off arts events. When I first encountered The Fantastic Life of Minnie Rubinski I knew I wanted to share the experience with Eastgate audiences. This intimate, absorbing, beautifully imagined set of short films combines insights into the often extraordinary and sometime imaginary lives lived by the elderly and the impossibility of knowing the truth about the past; as well as the crafts of storytelling, puppetry, modelling and film making. I’m delighted that Kim and Symon will be there on Sunday to discuss the event.”
Only 60 people a day can experience the Fantastic Life of Minnie Rubinski at the Eastgate. From Thursday 1 – Saturday 3 August. Bookings are every 30 minutes from 2pm – 7pm. On Sunday 4 August from 11am – 4pm. Tickets, available now, are £15, £10 or £8 (whichever you can afford to pay).
At 5pm on Sunday 4 August Vision Mechanics Creative Directors Kim Bergasgel and Symon Macintyre will be available to discuss all aspects of the production from building and filming the intricate sets to imagining and producing this original, poignant production. An opportunity to ask questions and share stories about other Fantastic Lives.
Tickets for the Fantastic Life… and the conversation with Vision Mechanics are available now from the Eastgate box office on 01721 725777 or online www.eastgatearts.com
Catwalk Cabaret was originally an idea of Mo Anderson, dancer at Eastgate classes and regular audience member. The idea was to stage a fashion show, with additional music and entertainments, featuring costumes donated by local charity shops and available to buy at auction.
Mo joined forces with dance tutor Alex Saunders along with a host of volunteers, and the fashion show became a glittering evening event with MC Stewart Wilson and fashion commentator Steven Lee introducing performances by local musicians. Colin Macdonald auctioned a range of donations (ranging from a hamper of champagne plus set of flutes, to a toy horse (actually the size of a miniature Shetland pony!) and, of course, the wonderful outfits.
In just this one evening the event raised £8,823.10. Catwalk Cabaret was the culmination of a major fundraising effort to help the Eastgate recover from the very difficult financial situation that emerged in the second half of last year.
During the last 9 months, the community, through individual donations (in person and online) and special fundraising events by many local organisations, has raised £86,346.
This financial support will take the Eastgate Theatre, the Borders busiest, independent arts venue into its third decade. Each year it provides hundreds of opportunities for everyone to experience all sorts of arts from worldwide music to commercial films, from brilliant theatre to passionate speakers and to explore and enjoy their own creativity.
This weekend (5 – 7 April) the theatre celebrates all 20 years in operation – plus the huge efforts that made the venue possible – with the unveiling of the exhibition “Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On” opening on Friday evening. The Friday evening Private View is open to anyone who was involved with the Eastgate in 2004 – staff, volunteers, donors and anyone who appeared on the theatre stage or behind the scenes during that opening year.
Saturday 6th is the celebration open day filled with party fun and free live music performances throughout the building. At 2.30pm in the theatre families are invited to see the special children’s storytelling show Wee Seals and Selkies. Based on Janis Mackay’s much loved Scottish tales of nature and friendship, the stories are accompanied and enhanced by Donald Scott performing fiddle tunes and sea shanties. Tickets for Wee Seals and Selkies are £12 adults, £16 an adult + child and £8 for under 16s.
The anniversary highlight on Sunday 7th is the return of The Carducci String Quartet at 2.30pm. When the new Eastgate Theatre opened its doors in 2004, it was for a Music in Peebles concert featuring the (at that time) up-and-coming young quartet.
Twenty years on, Music in Peebles is thrilled to be able to present a concert by that same string quartet, now one of the finest in the business. In recognition of the occasion, they will repeat the first half of that inaugural concert but in the second half will play two short pieces by Shostakovich followed by one of the last, and most profound, pieces by Mendelssohn. Tickets for this concert are £20, £18 and Free for everyone under 26.
In 20 years the Eastgaste has, in common with most arts organisations, had many ups and downs, a couple of crises but many more triumphs. One highlight was winning the 2014 Peebles Creative Place award – when Creative Scotland named Peebles the most creative small town in Scotland and awarded it £100,000 to boost arts activity for the full year.
Today the theatre is open six days a week, often 12 hours a day and has an annual footfall of around 100,000. Local groups are central to the programme and currently the Eastgate works in partnership with at least 20 of them to stage events each year.
Over two decades the Eastgate has delivered more than 3,000 events covering all kinds of arts, from drama and music to talks and comedy, children’s performances and family shows to outdoor events and guided walks, new release films to the best drama, dance and opera on screen.
The “Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On” exhibition of programmes, posters, photos, cuttings and quotes covers not only 20 years of the Eastgate but also the dozen or so years of preparatory work to create the vision and raise the funds to build and equip the venue. It will be open until the end of April. Today the Eastgate contributes more than £400,000 directly to the economy of the Scottish Borders annually and is working with Go Tweed Valley to bring more even visitors to Tweeddale.
The Eastgate is delighted to announce that multi-award winning theatre company Catherine Wheels’ production of Going for Gold has just been added to the programme – making three very different family shows in the theatre during the next six weeks.
Climbing mountains with two superstar labradors, walking a lump of Orcadian stone 500 miles across Southern Norway, creating gourmet meals to be cooked on mountain summits, and relating the literary heritage created by generations of women walkers from the 18th Century to present day.
These are just four of the feature events making up this year’s Wild Writers Festival at the Eastgate Theatre, Peebles (Friday 26 to Saturday 27 January). The festival is a celebration of outstanding writing about the living world and our place within it – from nature writing and adventure travel to ecology, memoir and the simple joy of time spent in wild places.
Whether the lead up to Christmas is family time to share daytime panto, sweet film or live music and song or a chance to take a break from all the pressure of the sparkly season by enjoying a talk, evening film or Downright Homespun comedy – the Eastgate Theatre offers all sorts of entertainment to enjoy during this year’s festive season.
Wednesday night is film night at Peebles Eastgate Theatre and the November playlist features new work by several of the world’s finest directors and actors, including Ken Loach and Martin Scorsese, Kathy Bates, Glenda Jackson, Michael Caine and Leonardo de Caprio.
