For Falkirk's Sake

For Falkirk’s Sake

Press Release

By Grant Thomson

July 07, 2014

For Falkirk’s Sake is mini-festival taking place in Falkirk in-between the end of Funny in Falkirk and the Edinburgh Fringe (Sun 27th - Thurs 31st). Our venue is the Ale House of Behind the Wall and the event will include theatre, spoken word, an art exhibition as well as music and film. All festival performers are either Falkirk-based or originally from Falkirk.

For Falkirk’s Sake is a not for profit organisation with all money raised going into funding next years even. The group was formed by Grant Thomson, Dickson Telfer, Katie White and Craig Allan. We wanted to create an event that would showcase the diverse talent that Falkirk has to offer. We are all creatively minded and individually we all have something different to offer to this event.

A big thank you must go out to management and staff at Behind the Wall who are allowing us to hold this event in their Ale House. The support that Behind the Wall has given us has been simply amazing.

For Falkirk’s Sake is Falkirk’s only artist-led multi-arts festival. Alan Bissett will be performing exerts from his books and plays in the lead up to his Fringe play The Pure, The Dead and The Brilliant featuring Elaine C Smith.

Popular children’s author Stuart Reid will be debuting his new show “Reading Rocks” and reading from his new book “Unidentified Unsinkable Underpants Part 2” which is released a week before our event.

The talent performing at this years festival was carefully selected by ourselves. We even attempted to reunite the Cocteau Twins for a special performance which was a bit ambitious however we did receive a friendly email from Robin Guthrie’s agent politely declining.

We are all delighted with the caliber of the line up in what is our first year of running this exciting multi arts festival. To have Alan Bissett, Janet Paisley, Gordon Legge and Bill Wells’ National Jazz Trio of Scotland on the bill is a major success for the organisers.

Full Line up

Sunday 27th July

FOR (THE KIDS OF) FALKIRK’S SAKE PROUDLY PRESENTS . . .

STUART REID – READING ROCKS!  UNIDENTIFIED UNSINKABLE UNDERPANTS, PART 2!

1.30-2.30pm and 3.30-4.30pm.  FREE ADMISSION

Reading Rocks! Books are brilliant! Award winning author Stuart Reid presents his new book show about bums, beasts, bogies, porridge, pee and pirates! With favourite characters Gorgeous George and Grandpa Jock. It may get yucky, you have been warned!

During this all new show, Stuart will be reading from his brand new book Unidentified Unsinkable Underpants, Part 2, which come out only a week before this event.  A must for all fans of Gorgeous George and Unidentified Unsinkable Underpants, Part 1!

Monday 28th July

FILM FALKIRK

2.00-4.00pm and 7.30-9.30pm.  £7 / £6 (conc)

A showcase of short films from Falkirk filmmakers, including work from:

Gordon Robertson; Adam Stafford; Alan McLaughlan; John McPhail; Richard Watson; Barry Frame; Jonathan Mortimer; Lee Crompton; Katie White; Dickson Telfer & Sonja Blietschau.  More TBA.

Both showcases will include an Audio Horror performance, involving headphones . . . and frights.

Tuesday 29th July

SPARKS OF CELESTIAL FIRE, a radio play by the Tryst Theatre

2.00-3.40pm.  £5

From the writer of Edinburgh Fringe hit play The Lockerbie Bomber and starring Brian Paterson as Rabbie Burns, this engaging radio play will go down like the proverbial wee dram. 

 THE 39 STEPS, a radio play by The Barony Players

7.30-9.30pm.  £7

Award winning local theatre company The Barony Players present a radio play version of their hit production of John Buchan’s classic tale.  Expect mystery, mayhem, laughs and spills . . . and someone at a table in the corner doing all the sound effects.

Wednesday 30th July

FILM FALKIRK

2.00-4.00pm.  £6 / £5 (concs)

Another chance to see a showcase of short films from Falkirk filmmakers (see Monday 28th July for details) at a slightly cheaper price as this screening does not include the Audio Horror.

ALAN BISSETT’S GREATEST HITS + [UNTITLED] PRESENTS . . .

7.30-10.45pm.  £7

Glenfiddich Scottish Writer of the Year 2011 Alan Bissett presents a compilation of the best bits from his books and plays, which may or may not include Boyracers, Pack Men, Turbo Folk, The Moira Monologues,  The Red Hourglass, Ban This Filth!, The Incredible Adam Spark etc etc. You’ll just have to come along to find out.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Alan will be followed by performances from the cream of Falkirk writing talent hosted by Craig Allan, founder of Falkirk arts magazine [Untitled]. On the bill is Rebel Inc’s Gordon Legge, award winning novelist Janet Paisley, Dickson Telfer, Bethany Ruth Anderson, Samuel Best, Karyn Dougan, Paul Cowan and Paul Tonner. All this for only £7!

For further information about some of these authors, click the Author’s Biogs tab at the top of the page.

Thursday 31st July

FDAMH’S MIXED MEDIA SHOWCASE

2.00-3.30pm.  £5

Falkirk and District Association for Mental Health (FDAMH) present a showcase of mixed media designed to inspire, raise awareness and entertain. The association promotes arts and performance as a positive means of helping to deal with mental illness.

BILL WELLS’ NATIONAL JAZZ TRIO OF SCOTLAND (+ SUPPORT)

7.00-10.15pm.  £9 / £8 (concs)

Led by Falkirk-born musician and composer Bill Wells, For Falkirk’s Sake are delighted to have the National Jazz Trio of Scotland headline the festival’s music night.  Don’t expect the kind of Jazz mocked by The Fast Show though (Nice!). There will be no over the top ‘look how well I know my scales’ competitions or that falling down the stairs whilst trying to build a bookcase type sound . Expect shimmering instrumentation and graceful melodies from this acclaimed trio, whose recent album Standards Vol. III (released earlier this month) has been described by Mojo as being “chock-full of elegiac, beguiling earworm melodies.” Featuring Aby Vulliamy and Kate Sudgen, this is jazz where the space plays as much of a role as any instrument or voice. There will also be some improvised collaboration with Falkirk author Dickson Telfer on the night. In 2012, Bill Wells and Falkirk’s Aidan Moffat won the Scottish Album of the Year Award for their collaborative record Everything’s Getting Older.

Supporting the National Jazz Trio of Scotland are three stalwarts of the Falkirk music scene:

Will Treeby.  Multi-instrumentalist, actor, busker and host of Music Scene Sundayz at Cheerz Bar, Will Treeby has dabbled in many a musical style over the years, ranging from heavy rock, lo-fidelity and power ballads to traditional Scottish, Euro-pop and film scores. His diversity and musical flexibility has made him a regular and popular fixture in Falkirk’s growing music scene.

Adam Donaldson.  Adam was chief organiser of the Falkirk Rocks music festival, which ran across three days and eight venues at the end of June.  He also regularly hosts and performs at open mic nights in Falkirk, Stirling and Linlithgow. Influenced by Damien Rice, Neil Young and Tom McRae, Adam’s melodic and sometimes melancholic delivery is effortless and captivating. His E.P. Lie of the Year is available on iTunes.

Robbie Lesiuk.  Previously a member of Y’all is Fantasy Island, Robbie now writes and performs as a solo artist. His musical style is based around delicate (and not so delicate) fingerpicking to compliment his songs of doomed love affairs, haunted shipwrecks, roman archaeology and robots. Robbie features on Adam Stafford’s album Imaginary Walls Collapse, which was long listed for this year’s Scottish Album of the Year Award. Last year he released his debut solo album Nobody’s Listening, which is available from all good online download sites and has been described by The Skinny as an “accomplished album which gives an insight into an intriguing musical talent that deserves recognition.”

Saturday 2nd August

Art and Photography exhibition

TICKETS FOR ALL EVENTS WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM THE STEEPLE BOX OFFICE IN FALKIRK HIGH STREET FROM THURSDAY 10TH JULY – IN PERSON OR BY TELEPHONE: 01324 506850.  OPENING HOURS MON-SAT 9.30am – 4.45pm.

ALL EVENTS WILL BE HELD UPSTAIRS IN BEHIND THE WALL (ALEHOUSE), 14 MELVILLE STREET, FALKIRK, FK1 1HZ