Scotsman critics’ choice: Five must-see shows on this week

THE Scotsman’s arts critics round up their must-see films, theatre and concerts for the next week

Peter Wheelan, SCO's principle bassoonist

ART: Simon Starling: Nine Feet Later

Simon Starling has often dealt in ghosts. The Turner Prize winner creates objects, films and photographs that reveal the histories of their making or create visual essays about how ideas and materials are carried through time and place. In his new show, right, Starling revisits the ancient art of the daguerreotype, one of the earliest forms of photography. His new works record old stories including the portrayal of objects from previous exhibitions by fellow artists in the same venue. Moira Jeffrey

The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until 6 February, themoderninstitute.com

POP: Family

Fans of old psychedelic warriors gather round, for veteran delights await. The Rutles and The Zombies both return to the touring trail this week but the main interest lies with Family, psych pop hellraisers and prog rock adventurers who were originally only around for a short time from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, but made those years count with an impressive, progressive catalogue of albums. Frontman Roger Chapman, he of the remarkable vibrato bleat, keyboard player Poli Palmer, bassist Jim Cregan and drummer Rob Townsend reunited for some London dates in 2013 and are now reaching out to the extended family of fans. Fiona Shepherd

ABC, Glasgow, 10 December, www.ticketweb.co.uk

MUSIC: SCO: Generations of Bach

Glasgow University music professor John Butt is more than a mere academic, as his flamboyant directorship of the Dunedin Consort has demonstrated. Here he is with the SCO, exploring generations of the Bach family – JS, CPE and WF – in a programme that features as soloist SCO principal bassoonist Peter Whelan, below. The programme ends with Mozart’s Symphony No 40. Ken Walton

Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries, 9 December, 01387 253383; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 10 December, 0131-668 2019; City Halls, Glasgow, 11 December, 0141-353 8000

FILM: Doctor Zhivago

David Lean’s epic romance returns to the big screen as part of the BFI’s ongoing Love season. Based on a suppressed novel by Boris Pasternak that had to be smuggled out of Russia, and set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution in the run-up to the First World War, the film features iconic performances from Julie Christie and the late Omar Sharif as the forbidden lovers. There’s a raft of great supporting turns from the likes of Alec Guinness and Tom Courtenay. More than anything, though, it’s pretty much impossible not to get caught up, like Christie’s Lara, in the story’s gargantuan sweep. Alistair Harkness

Various venues, nationwide, until 29 December, www.bfi.org.uk/love

THEATRE: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

It’s a story that might have gone out of fashion, in the age of Harry Potter and spectacular visual effects; just four middle-class children, a magical adventure, and – at the heart of it – some mystical Christian imagery. But children still love CS Lewis’s grand old classic, first published in 1950; and now the Lyceum rounds off a great year with a gorgeous, beautifully staged musical version, featuring music by Claire Mackenzie, and star turns from a fine cast, including Pauline Knowles as the wicked White Witch, and Claire-Marie Seddon as little Lucy, the one who first walks through the back of the wardrobe, to find the magical land of Narnia. Joyce McMillan

Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until 3 January, 0131-248 4848