Spring Fling Taster Exhibition

Thursday 1 - Thursday 22 May  

CatStrand opening hours

Free of charge

An opportunity to preview a slelction of work from participants of this years Spring Fling open studios event, which runs from 24-26 May 2008 in 73 artists and makers' studios across Dumfries and Galloway. For further information about Spring Fling visit www.spring-fling.co.uk

Play it by Ear

Monday 12 May 1.30pm-2.30pm

£2 per adult/child, 50p per additional child

Play it by Ear is a monthly song, music and storytelling workshop for pre-school children, run by the writer, storyteller and musician, Tony Bonning. Play it by Ear aims to give young children an introduction to rhythm, instruments and singing. Sessions are suitable for children from birth onwards. No booking necessary - just turn up!

Fiddle Rendezvous

Tune Up tour

Wednesday 14 May 8.00pm

£9.00 / £7.00

This Scottish Arts Council Tune Up Tour brings together three duos consisting of three fiddle players with contrasting styles from America, Ireland and Scotland, together with their musical partners, not only showcasing their own distinctive music but also collaborating in various combinations. This is not just another fiddle tour but an exciting collaborative venture.

Bruce Molsky is an internationally renowned old time fiddle player and singer based in New York State, whose music is inspired by his lengthy residence in Virginia. Gerry O'Connor is a leading Irish fiddle player from a musical dynasty from Dundalk, an area which has a distinctive playing style. Mike Vass is a young fiddle player rapidly making a considerable name for himself, having already featured twice in the finals of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year.

Joining them are three musicians with major reputations in their own right. Mary Ann Kennedy is a highly-influential Gaelic singer and musician on harp; Gilles le Bigot is a superb guitarist with a distinctive style from Brittany; and Ali Vass joins her twin as a young dynamic pianist with an original style, and also brings her blossoming vocal talents to the table.

Exhibition: Eleanora Hope Henderson

Saturday 24 May

CatStrand opening hours

Free of charge

An exhibition of oil paintings by the late Eleanora Hope Henderson who lived in New Galloway until her death in 2006. The paintings will be available for purchase. The exhibition runs until the end of June.

CatStrand Cinema Club

North by Northwest (1959)

1.30pm

£4.50 (£3.50 Members and concessions)

In this Alfred Hitchcock classic, New York advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is kidnapped by a gang of spies led by Philip Vandamm (James Mason), who believe

Thornhill is CIA agent George Kaplan. Thornhill escapes, but must find Kaplan in order to clear himself of a murder it is believed he committed. Following Kaplan to Chicago as a fugitive

from justice, Thornhill is helped by Eve Kendall (Eve Marie Saint). In Chicago, she delivers a message to Kaplan that may cost Thornhill his life...

Fred MacAulay

Wednesday 28 May  6.00pm and 8.00pm

£12.00 / £10.00

Due to popular demand, Scotland's favourite stand up comic and radio presenter returns to The CatStrand as part of a nation-wide tour. If you were one of the many who missed out the last time around, book your tickets now as this is guaranteed to be a sell-out event. Please note an extra 6.00pm show has now also been added.

'Rib-achingly funny, one of the funniest men alive' Sunday Times
'rapier-sharp' Scotsman

CatStrand Cinema Club

No Country For Old Men (2007)

Thursday 29 May 7.30pm

£4.50 (£3.50 Members and concessions)

No Country for Old Men is a thriller from filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, based on the acclaimed novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning Cormac McCarthy.

The time is our own, when rustlers have given way to drug-runners and small towns have become free-fire zones. The story begins when Llewelyn Moss

finds a pickup truck surrounded by a sentry of dead men. A consignment of drugs and two million dollars in cash are still in the back.

When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic events that not even the law can contain. As Moss tries to evade his pursuers the

film simultaneously strips down the American crime drama and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible, and as bloodily contemporary

as this morning's headlines.

Cert 15, 122 minutes

James Seabright and Louise Chantal, in association with the Burma Campaign UK present the Red Fighting Peacock production of

The Lady Of Burma
by Richard Shannon

Friday 30 May 8.00pm

£7.50 / £5.50 

The inspirational true story of Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi is told in this compelling solo performance about the life of the only Nobel Peace Prize winner who is also a political prisoner. Despite being the democratically elected leader of the country, Burma's military junta have kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for over a decade. This show is an unmissable hymn to the power of the human spirit in the quest for freedom. With Liana Mau Tan Gould as Aung San Suu Kyi.

Please note, due to the nature of this play, latecomers will not be admitted.

This is a Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival event.

Gordon Giltrap

Saturday 31 May 8.00pm plus workshop for teenagers tbc

£8.00 / £6.00

With over forty years in the music business, Ivor Novello nominated Gordon Giltrap is one of the UK's most respected guitarists, he has consistently proved the adage that respect cannot be bought. It must be earned. Throughout his career Gordon has worked with an amazingly broad range of artists, from rock musicians such as Brian May, Rick Wakeman and Midge Ure to the jazz virtuoso Martin Taylor, the classical guitarist Raymond Burley and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Be prepared for beautiful compositions that cross all musical genres, wit, charm and unbelievable talent.

 "Gordon Giltrap is one of an elite few who truly have become legendary in their field in their own lifetime. I am proud to call him my friend." Brian May (Queen)