Scotland’s Autumn arts A-to-Z

Disney's The Lion King comes to The Edinburgh Playhouse this Autumn. Picture: Ian Georgeson

A is for Arches Live

The Arches’ annual showcase for experimental theatre makers returns. Look out for I Do, Do I, in which recent Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (Cats) winner Greg Sinclair performs music written by children, and Songs Of Scotland, in which Fish & Game’s Eilidh MacAskill explores national identity through song, with help from a community choir.

The festival runs from 17-28 September

B is for Bullet Catch

Quiz Show writer Rob Drummond revives his acclaimed solo show, in which he tells the story of a magician attempting the most dangerous of tricks and, in the dramatic climax, attempts it himself.

See it at the Arches, Glasgow, 1-13 October

C is for Ciara

Blythe Duff playing a Glasgow art dealer with gangland connections is not an obvious Christmas show, but David Harrower’s new play Ciara made such an impact at the Fringe that the Traverse is reviving it for a December run. Meanwhile, David Greig’s The Events, another hit at the Traverse during August, is at the Tron in Glasgow, 17-21 September

D is for Don Giovanni

Baritone Sir Thomas Allen knows Mozart’s opera well, having performed it many times. For this new Scottish Opera production he’s directing, teaming up with designer Simon Higlett and lighting designer Mark Jonathan.

Glasgow’s Theatre Royal, from 15 October, before touring to Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh

E is for Elite Syncopations

Kenneth MacMillan’s piece makes a colourful contrast to Christopher Hampson’s take on The Rite Of Spring in Scottish Ballet’s autumn programme.

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 26-28 September

F is for For Those In Peril

Paul Wright’s debut film about the lone survivor of a Scottish fishing trip was well received in Cannes and at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. It gets a wider release from 4 October.

G is for Glasgay

The gay arts festival celebrates its 20th anniversary with comedy from Craig Hill and Vikki Stone, music from Terry Neason and a new play by Roadkill writer Stef Smith.

9 October to 9 November

H is for Hydro

Glasgow’s new music venue opens on 30 September with four nights of Rod Stewart (below). Fleetwood Mac, the Proclaimers, Peter Gabriel and Crosby, Stills & Nash follow. This year’s Mobo Awards will be held there too.

I is for If These Spasms Could Speak

Robert Softley’s solo show about disability got standing ovations at the Fringe. It’s Scottish tour starts this Tuesday, at Eden Court, Inverness.

J is for Jungle Book

Want something different from the usual pantos? Try this new stage version of Rudyard Kipling’s famous story at the Citizens’ Theatre in Glasgow, from 30 November

K is for Kris Kristofferson

The country legend plays the ABC, Glasgow, on 28 September.

L is for Lion King

After 14 years in London, the spectacular stage production gets a Scottish premiere. It opens at the Playhouse in Edinburgh on 11 October, just in time for the half-term holidays.

M is for Macbeth

Rachel O’Riordan, recent Cats award-winner for The Seafarer, directs this new co-production by the Tron and Horsecross Arts.

Perth Theatre, 18 September to 5 October; the Tron, Glasgow, 8-19 October

N is for Nation

Work, Union, Civil War, Faith and Roots are the five strands of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery’s new show The Nation/Live, a wide-ranging exploration of Scottish nationhood based around a film by artist Daniel Warren.

5 October until May next year

O is for old age

Luminate, Scotland’s “creative ageing” festival, is back for a second year, with contributions from Jackie Kay, Scottish Ballet and Joyce Gunn Cairns, among others. There are events nationwide throughout October.

P is for Pet Shop Boys

Second time lucky? High winds stopped Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s Edinburgh Hogmanay show seven years ago. Now they’re back to complete “unfinished business”, promising a greatest hits set.

Q is for Queen’s Gallery

The venue is home until November to the Edinburgh International Festival’s Leonardo Da Vinci: The Mechanics Of Man exhibition. After that it’s Georgian caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson.

R for RM Hubbert

The winner of this year’s Scottish Album of the Year Award is back with a new album – featuring, for the first time, his own singing voice – and live dates around Scotland.

S is for Sunshine On Leith

By turns uplifting, gritty and funny, Dundee Rep’s Proclaimers stage musical was a revelation. Will its charms be preserved in the film version? Find out on 4 October.

T is for They Might Be Giants

The quirky US duo play Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall on 15 November, shortly after the release of new album Nanobots.

U is for Under The Skin

Given the critics’ reaction in Venice last week – rapture and loathing – expect Jonathan Glazer’s tale of an alien (Scarlett Johansson, right) killing male loners around Scotland to be a big talking point.

V is for Viviane Sassen

The award-winning, Dutch-born fashion photographer, known for shoots in ID and Dazed & Confused, gets her first retrospective at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

19 October to 9 February

W is for Wigtown Book Festival

There are few places more perfect for a book festival than picturesque Wigtown. This year the festival has Joanna Lumley, Peter Snow and Simon Garfield, among others.

27 September to 6 October

X is for X-rated behaviour

...in Filth, Irvine Welsh’s tale of a Scottish policeman on the verge of self-destruction, now a film with James McAvoy playing very much against type as its foul antihero. See it in Scotland first – on 27 September.

Y is for Yoshitaro Saito

The filmmaker is an authority on the subject of the National Museum of Scotland’s new exhibition, Kabuki: Japanese Theatre Prints, which opens on 4 October, and will be introducing a documentary about Kabuki in Edinburgh on 7 November.

Z is for Zedd

The Russian-German DJ and musician has produced Lady Gaga’s new album, Artpop. He plays his first Glasgow show at the Arches on 25 October.