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

POP: Kris Kristofferson

Erstwhile country music outlaw Kris Kristofferson, right, remains one of the most charismatic performers you will encounter in any musical genre, capable of captivating a room with just his presence, voice and a modest range of acoustic guitars. Kristofferson has a new collection, The Cedar Creek Sessions, in the works, featuring “new songs and old favourites” which he previews with three solo shows around the country and a guest appearance at Celtic Connections’ Roaming Roots Revue to round off his Scottish sojourn. Fiona Shepherd

Queens Hall, Edinburgh, tonight, 0131-668 2019; Music Hall, Aberdeen, 18 January, 01224 641 122; Townhouse, Hamilton, 20 January, 01698 452299; Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 23 January, 0141-353 8000

ART: Rachel Lowther: Nothing compares to the first time getting shot at

Rachel Lowther, who moved to Glasgow from Brooklyn in 2009, has been researching the First World War archives at the art school and pondering how art might respond to the shattering experience of violence. The result is a series of sculptures that explore the full size human figure, and some unpleasantness with a pick axe handle. Moira Jeffrey

Reid Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, until 20 March, gsa.ac.uk

CLASSICAL: SCO / Antonio Méndez

Following his success with the SCO at last year’s St Magnus Festival, Spanish conductor Antonio Méndez, below, returns to direct the orchestra in a Teutonic feast of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Haydn’s breezy Symphony No 99 and Beethoven’s Seventh provide the concert opener and finale, between which Swiss soprano Regula Mühlemann sings a selection of Mozart concert arias. Ken Walton

Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 21 January, 0131-668 2019; City Halls, Glasgow, 22 January, 0141-353 8000; Music Hall, Aberdeen, 23 January, 01224 641122

THEATRE: A Play, A Pie And A Pint

With faint rustling sound, the post-Christmas freeze in Scottish theatre begins to thaw, not only with the opening of The Weir at the Lyceum (see feature, left), but with the announcement of A Play, A Pie And A Pint’s brand-new lunchtime season, featuring an astonishing 19 new plays between now and June. The season opens on 25 January – Burns’ Night – with Victoria Bianchi’s The Causeway, about two suffragettes who, in 1914, cycled to the Bard’s cottage at Alloway with violent intentions; other featured playwrights include Peter Arnott, Tim Barrow, Oliver Emanuel, Lesley Hart, Sabrina Mahfouz, and Scottish stage veteran Hector MacMillan. Joyce McMillan

Oran Mor, Glasgow, 25 January until 4 June; and at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 15 March until 16 April, www.playpiepint.com

FILM: Labyrinth

There’s bound to be a deluge of cinematic tributes to David Bowie in the coming weeks, but Edinburgh’s Cameo cinema gets in on the act early with a screening of Labyrinth, the George Lucas-produced, Jim Henson-directed kids film starring Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King, a nefarious ruler of the titular labyrinth who steals Jennifer Connolly’s baby brother, forcing her to negotiate the titular Muppet-inhabited labyrinth if she’s to have any hope of seeing him again. Features the thigh-slapping musical numbers Magic Dance and the Escher-infused Within You, both of which need to be seen to be believed. Alistair Harkness

Cameo, Edinburgh, 16 January, 0871 902 5723