Arts Diary: Dan and the secret of the respectable cities built upon the oldest profession

Published on Wednesday 30 June 2010 14:14

THE Attenborough of architecture returns to Charlotte Square this August.

Last summer architectural historian and presenter Dan Cruickshank entertained audiences with "holiday snaps" from his BBC series, Adventures in Architecture. Reviewers of the Edinburgh International Book Festival appearance noted that his pithy anecdotes were accompanied by "dervish-like whirling arm gyrations" not generally seen in learned literary circles.

Cruickshank is back with his latest book, The Secret History of Georgian London, published late last year. In it, he views architecture through the lens of the sex industry - from the boudoirs of St James to the bordellos of Soho. He argued that the Georgian sex trade physically changed the architectural face of London, though the book seemed mostly an excuse for a romping good yarn.

Can he now rediscover the seamy side of the New Town? Tantalisingly, Cruickshank's session this year promises to see him "compare the development of London with that of Edinburgh's own Georgian building project". Sounds like he could have Charlotte Square's own designer, Robert Adam, turning in his grave.

There is plenty of cross-genre fare at the book festival this year, and it will be interesting to hear from major players operating across the festival scene. They include Simon Callow, a regular down the road at the Assembly Rooms, and Turner Prize-winning artist Martin Creed, with his Fruitmarket Gallery show and ballet at the Traverse Theatre both running this August.

Prime motivation

What Would Helen Mirren Do? It's a question we might all ask ourselves, but also the title of a one-woman, multi-character comedy opening at the Hill Street Theatre.

Producers claim it as the only show on the Fringe to have received a crate of champagne plus good luck message from none other than Dame Helen herself when it opened in Brighton. Peter Ellis - also known as Chief Superintendent Brownlow from The Bill - is directing his wife, the actress Anita Parry.

They have allegedly saved a last bottle to kick off their Edinburgh run.

Parry plays Susan, who works in an Oldham supermarket, with not much time to reflect on role-models until she's told to adopt one as part of training for a promotion.

When she starts asking: "What would Helen Mirren do?" a life-changing comedy ensues, guided by the shining light of Britain's favourite television policewoman.

Parry plays Susan, her boss, her management trainer and her own grown-up children, among other characters.

Money in mischief

So farewell to the Scottish Arts Council (SAC), with successor body Creative Scotland officially out of the starting blocks today.

The SAC's last major announcement, detailing with almost brutal honesty the winners and losers of its flexible funding grants, brought some angry complaints, in particular regarding the Byre Theatre in St Andrews.

But here's one positive example, suggests a colleague, of "half a million quid well spent".

The Scottish theatre and arts outfit Mischief La Bas, founded in Glasgow in 1992, will get 200,000 a year, for two more years, as part of the flexible funding decisions.

The result? The Zoo, a collection of strange and unseen creatures and exhibits, gathered from Scotland, Slovenia, Austria, France and Holland.

Mischief La Bas may be best known for Painful Creatures, a touring "unfair ground" developed in 2005 that travelled from Falkirk to Graz, Austria and places in between.

They were also prominently involved in the "Feet First" spectacle at Edinburgh's Hogmanay, where they staged the Market of Optimism, with 16 stalls selling rose-tinted glasses and other absurdly uplifting products.

The company is aiming for a Glasgow premiere of The Zoo in 2012.

The goal is about a dozen gated enclosures featuring wild art creations, from installations and projections to mechanical creatures.

"The reason for doing this is that when you are a child and you visit a zoo for the first time, it's possibly one of the only times in your life when you spend a day looking at things you've never experienced or seen before," says director Ian Smith.

"Once that day is past you never get that experience again. I would like to regain that childish innocence and wonder for everybody, including adults. And freak them out.

"Our motto has been and will always be to gently warp the underlay of the fabric of society.

"I'm greatly impressed that the powers that be think that is a healthy and medicinal thing to do for Scotland."