10 things to do in Scotland this week

Comedy: Tony Law

The Stand, Edinburgh

Wednesday, 7.30pm, £10 / £8 - more info

Canadian comic Tony Law seems to have finally broken through to the mainstream with appearances on Have I Got News For You and Sue Perkins’ sitcom Heading Out. After his recent appearance at Glasgow Comedy Festival, he brings his Maximum Nonsense show to Edinburgh.

Music: Conquering Animal Sound

The Tunnels, Aberdeen

Thursday, 8pm, £8 / £6.50 - more info

Glasgow-based experimental pop duo Conquering Animal Sound have just released their second album, On Floating Bodies, which has earned early praise as another leap forward from their debut. Support at this Aberdeen show comes from Panda Su and Iliop.

Film: In the House

Cinemas nationwide

On selected release - more info

Kristin Scott Thomas and Emmanuelle Seigner star in the new film from French auteur François Ozon (8 Women, Potiche). This acclaimed comedy, about a a 16-year-old boy who insinuates himself into the house of a fellow student from his literature class and writes about it in essays for his French teacher, has drawn comparisons to the best of Woody Allen.

Music: The Breakfast Club opening night

The Breakfast Club, Edinburgh

Friday, 8pm, free - more info

The venue formerly known as The Third Door (and before, that, the longer-running Medina) reopens its doors this week as The Breakfast Club. Whether its décor will owe anything to the John Hughes cult classic remains to be seen, but they have booked three excellent live bands for the opening night, in the shape of Nevada Base, Machines in Heaven and Randolph’s Leap. Entry is free on a first come, first served basis.

Opera: The Flying Dutchman

Theatre Royal, Glasgow

From Thursday, £9 – £70 - more info

“One of the most incredible operatic moments ever written.” That’s how Scottish Opera’s conductor Francesco Corti describes the tempestuous third act of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. In Wagner’s initial drafts, this melodramatic tale was set in a remote Scottish coastal community, but the composer subsequently changed this to Norway. In this new production, however, opening at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal on Thursday, director Harry Fehr reinstates the original setting.

Festival: Edinburgh International Science Festival

Various venues, Edinburgh

Until Sunday - more info

The Edinburgh International Science Festival enters the second of two weeks with a programme of talks, shows and workshops to fascinate kids and adults alike. One of the highlights will be the first ever Mini Maker Faire on Sunday, a celebration of all things DIY at Summerhall. Check out the full line-up at www.sciencefestival.co.uk.

Theatre: Doctor Faustus

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

From Friday, £8 – £19 - more info

Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe’s timeless play about a knowledge-hungry academic who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for supernatural powers, gets a contemporary update at the Citizens’ Theatre in Glasgow from this Friday, courtesy of writer Colin Teevan and Citz artistic director Dominic Hill. With two acts now set in the celebrity-obsessed 21st-century – and with Kevin Trainor as Doctor Faustus and the flame-haired Siobhan Redmond as his fiendish tempter Mephistopheles – this is shaping up to be one hell of a show.

Comedy: Micky Flanagan

Friday and Saturday @ Playhouse, Edinburgh, 8pm, £24.50 - more info

Sunday @ Aberdeen Music Hall, 8pm, £23.50 - more info

The title of Micky Flanagan’s new tour, Back In The Game, suggests a down-on-his-luck entertainer essaying a comeback after years in the wilderness, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Cockney stand-up’s last tour was seen by more than a quarter of a million people, and he’s since been all over TV. By the time he reaches Edinburgh Playhouse on Friday and Saturday he’ll be some 38 sold-out dates into a 109-date UK tour. He plays Aberdeen on Sunday, Dundee next Monday and Glasgow in May.

Festival: Counterflows

Various venues, Glasgow

Friday – Sunday - more info

From Japanese blues to experimental hip-hop, the Counterflows Festival – at venues around Glasgow from Friday until Sunday – offers up a tantalising smorgasbord of unconventional music-making. Friday’s programme at St Andrews in the Square looks particularly intriguing, with modernist finger picking from Gareth Dickson, minimalist improvisation from Loren Connors and a double-bill of Trembling Bells drummer Alex Neilson and Japanese bluesman Kan Mikami. Also well worth a look: avant garde sound artists Phill Niblock and Thomas Ankersmit at the CCA on Saturday.

Music: British Sea Power

Oran Mor, Glasgow

Sunday, 7pm, £13.50 - more info

Never ones to do things by the book, British Sea Power will launch their sixth album, Machineries of Joy, in London this week with a boat trip, mystery bus tour and “communist table tennis”. After this typically idiosyncratic party, the Brighton band go on a proper tour, calling at Glasgow’s Oran Mor on Sunday.

For more events near you, visit WOW247.co.uk.