These are a few of my favourite things

Tony Reekie, director, Imaginate Festival

CINEMA THE DOMINION, EDINBURGH

For years now, whenever I've been to the cinema with my children I've had to go to these multiplexes and they're just such miserable experiences. Fortunately, though, the one out at Fort Kinnaird has closed down so it forced us to try the Dominion in Morningside as a last resort. It was like stepping back gloriously in time, only now they've got these big leather couches to sit on. It was just magical. As a family we have this idea now that we'll try and go at least once a month.

BOOK THE LONG GOODBYE BY RAYMOND CHANDLER

I read all the time when I'm travelling, and I'm a voracious reader of detective novels – pulp fiction things that are easy to read on planes and trains. The first book like this I ever read – and probably the best – was The Long Goodbye. The incredible use of language actually made me laugh out loud. It always sounds clichéd if you're not able to quote it exactly, but he'll say stuff like: "He was as subtle as a tarantula on a fairy cake." In terms of plot, you've no idea what's going on half the time but it doesn't really matter.

ALBUM UNTRUE BY BURIAL

I'm one of these people who'll find one thing they like and then listen to it over and over. At the moment I'm hooked on this. Somebody said to me: "You have to listen to this – it's the sound of a big city at two o' clock in the morning." It was the strangest recommendation I'd ever heard. But then I listened to it and I thought, "Oh, I see". It's really edgy, moody and incredibly beautiful.

FOOTBALLER LIONEL MESSI

I know this is an arts column, but Lionel Messi is an artist in a way. I'm passionate about football, but disenchanted by the move towards athleticism and power and strength . Lionel Messi takes it back to the old days – and up to another level. When he was playing for Barcelona against Manchester United last week, every time he got the ball there was a collective intake of breath from 70,000 people just wondering what the hell he was going to do next. That ability to create magic out of nothing is what football is about for me.

• The Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival of theatre for children and young people runs from 24 May-2 June, in Edinburgh and elsewhere. Visit www.imaginate.org.uk