Cowboys and Cupcakes

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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is on Thursday 29 July at 2pm.  Enjoy Paul Newman and Robert Redford in this iconic western featuring a panoramic chase across the west – over rocks, through towns, across rivers… always with a very special posse close behind…just before Butch says the immortal phrase “Let’s go to Bolivia”.

Two weeks later (Thursday 12 August at 2pm) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly fill the screen. The Good is Blondie (Clint Eastwood) a professional gunslinger out trying to earn a few dollars. The Bad is Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) a ruthless professional hitman. The Ugly is Tuco (Eli Wallach) a wanted outlaw trying to take care of his own hide. A bounty hunting scam joins two of them in an uneasy alliance against the third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.

On Thursday 26 August the Coen Brothers 2010 version of True Grit sees 14 year old Mattie Ross join the roughest, rudest, laziest U.S. marshal Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn in a hunt to find the killer of Mattie’s father. Their trek takes them into the Indian Nations where they are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who has his own reasons for hunting killer Chaney.

he Rider is the feature on Thursday 9 September. Hailed as an extraordinary translation of life into art, Chloé Zhao’s film fictionalizes the true life experiences of Brady Jandreau, a Lakota cowboy on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, whose rodeo career ended after a bucking bronco threw him and stepped on his skull. Jandreau has a sixth sense with horses, and Zhao captures this intense empathy in an otherwise challenging world where the injured have little choice but to “cowboy up” if they are to survive. The film stars the real Jandreau family Brady, his father and his sister Lilly.

Cowboys and cupcakes is just the first in a series of Classic Film seasons made possible with funding from the British Film Institute.   Adult film tickets £10, Under 16s are £6 available now from Eastgate Theatre box office on 01721 725777, form more details www.eastgatearts.com

Film Festival Makes Summer Switch

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Usually staged in January, but postponed this year by Covid, the annual festival is from Friday 13-Sunday 15 August).  As well as outdoor adventures, it features a range of award-winning adventure films and big-name speakers.

Daytime adventures include epic tree climbing experiences high in the canopy of one of the grand old trees in the grounds of Traquair House with Wild Tree Adventures, while the John Muir Trust invites families to Glenlude to build bird boxes and learn more about the wider rewilding project at the site.

The festival weekend also sees a guided paddle trip down the River Tweed courtesy of Biggar Adventure, plus three very different cycling experiences: an introduction to eBikes; a gravel ride led by Bspoke Cycles; plus a special, women-only ride and bivvy night with Swift Trails.

After spending time outdoors, participants can then join film fans at the Eastgate Theatre to enjoy a carefully curated programme of adventure films from around the world covering everything from audacious high-lining attempts beneath the Northern Lights to free diving in New Zealand.

Screenings include a trio of multi-award-winning feature films: The Cull: Scotland’s Deer Dilemma, which explores how red deer fit into ideas around rewilding the Scottish landscape; Climbing Blind, the story of the first ‘non-sight’ lead climb of the Old Man of Hoy; and Piano to Zanskar, the delightful tale of one man’s dream to transport a 100-year-old upright piano from London to a primary school high in the Indian Himalaya.

As well as films, festival audiences will be treated to a headline appearance by Anna Rutherford, phenomenal ultra-runner and Peebles mum who will talk about her recent, record-breaking run on the Southern Upland Way. Supported by a team of local runners, Anna ran the 216-mile, coast-to-coast route in 62 hours, 34 minutes and 55 seconds – breaking the previous record by more than 17 hours.

“Ever since the film festival had to be postponed at the beginning of the year, we were hopeful that we would be able to put together a slimmed-down version for the summer,” explained the Eastgate’s Caroline Adam. “We are so pleased that is now possible and look forward to welcoming audiences to a slightly different but equally exciting version of the festival before it returns to its usual January slot in 2022.”

Held at the Eastgate Theatre, and at outdoor locations throughout the Tweed Valley, the 2021 Peebles Outdoor Film Festival runs from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 August. The full festival programme is available at eastgatearts.com

Tickets for most events can be booked online, or at Eastgate Theatre Box Office in person or over the ‘phone 01721 725777

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Interested In Contemporary Dance?

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We’re looking for up to 12 people (age 16+, not necessarily with dance experience) to take part in the dance section of an exciting new performance project for January 2021.

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A Tale of Two Towns

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Born in Peebles, and then educated in Edinburgh and at art college in Aberdeen, Philip’s professional life saw him work as an art teacher at Selkirk High, as well as at various Borders primary schools, Borders College and in private classes.

Now retired from teaching, he has lived on Peebles High Street for the past 40 years – an observational position in the heart of the town that has helped fuel his work as a painter.

“These paintings are a selection from a large and varied output over many years – paintings of inner worlds and outer circumstances,” explained Philip. “Sometimes the outer circumstances are the streets, the river and hillsides immediately around us, and these are the focus of this exhibition.”

There are also, he added, paintings that seek the essential character of the town and display the contrast with the “other place” just 20 miles away.

“There are paintings that engage with community concerns and anxieties, the swelling suburbanisation, the flood-vulnerable centre, the tensions of environment, private cars and public transport,” continued Philip.

“There are paintings that show a tiny city – not quaint, countrified and folksy, but urban, European and connected, as are the lives of many residents of this town.”

Peebles and the Other Place is on display at the Eastgate Theatre’s Anne Younger Studio until 24 December (10am-5pm, Tues to Sat). A percentage of sales from the exhibition will be donated to the theatre’s Open Doors campaign.

Cinema returns to the Eastgate

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Audiences now have the chance to see and hear the difference for themselves when the Eastgate Cinema re-opens on Sat 7 November with screenings of Onward, the latest Disney/Pixar epic, at 2pm and 4pm.

The tale of two teenage elf brothers who embark on a magical quest to spend one more day with their late father marks the start of a new programme that features children’s films every Saturday afternoon.

The new programme also features films for adults on Wednesday afternoons (2.30pm) and evenings (7pm), beginning with screenings of the feel-good Military Wives on Wed 11 Nov. One of the films due to be shown before lockdown in March, Military Wives is the story of a group of women, thrown together by life on a military base while their partners serve in Afghanistan, who raise their spirits by forming a Military Wives’ Choir.

As well as films, the weekly line-up between now and Christmas will feature a variety of stage performances on screen – with titles including the Bolshoi Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet (Tues 10 Nov) and a film version of Ian Rickson’s recent stage production of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (Thurs 12 Nov).

The Eastgate Cinema, like other film venues, will open with greatly reduced capacity due to physical distancing, and various other precautions in place, which means that audiences will be invited to arrive slightly earlier than usual.

Onward, the first screening of the Eastgate’s new film programme, shows at 2pm and 4pm on Sat 7 November. Current circumstances are, inevitably, liable to change and this may affect the distribution of some films. For full details, and to secure your precious seat in the stalls, keep an eye on www.eastgatearts.com

Wild Walls at the Eastgate

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Scotland’s rich and often dramatic landscape inspires in many different ways – and that’s no more apparent than in the approach of two Peebles-based artists whose work is currently on display at the Eastgate Theatre.

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The Eastgate Plans for the Future

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The Eastgate Theatre received welcome news on 24th September, when it heard that its application to the Scottish Government’s Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund had been successful.  A grant of £70,000 has been awarded by Creative Scotland to allow the theatre to protect jobs and continue to employ artists and freelancers between now and the end of March 2021 so that it can continue to deliver the arts experiences so appreciated by the community.

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Beautiful arms - ballet class

New Classes in Dance, Combat, Drama and Yoga

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October sees the welcome return of arts classes in dance, drama, yoga and medieval combat offering something for everyone from 3 to 93.

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Eastgate Theatre Launches Open Doors Campaign

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With uncertainty about exactly when it will reopen, but a determination to do so with a creative offering that reflects the new realities of life after lockdown, the Eastgate Theatre has launched a campaign that will enable it to continue contributing to the lives of people of all ages and interests across Tweeddale and beyond.

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Momentous Year for the Eastgate

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We look back on another action-packed 12 months at the Eastgate, which included the most significant physical change for the theatre since it opened in 2004.

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