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Back on the boards ONCE you get that taste for performing there is no shaking it off. Next week, the Scottish Community Drama Association's finals take place in Inverness. Flying the flag for Perth Drama Club (alongside actors Helen Mitchell, David Taylor and Sally Wilson) are actor Eddie Jordan and director Kevin Patterson. Keen students of Scottish pop history with memories as long as Billboard's may recall their previous fame as members of chart-topping Perth pop combo Fiction Factory, who...

Theatre Scenes From an Execution, Dundee Rep 5/5 Stars

CULTURAL philistinism being the prevailing trend in this country (including Scotland), the Scottish premiere of Howard Barker's thrilling treatise on art, life and its corruption by state patronage and criticism, is a timely and necessary experience. In Galactia, the fierce woman painter commissioned to present a very public depiction of The Battle of Lepanto, he presents a rare and wondrous talent full of rage and passion. Her determination to expose ugly truths and refusal to compromise is ...

Theatre Oliver Twist, King's, Edinburgh 4/5 Stars

FROM the days of his Gloria ensemble bringing its distinctive theatricality to Glasgow's Third Eye Centre, writer and director Neil Bartlett has had a particular skill for taking a narrative from the Victorian era and finding its contemporary relevance. It is no surprise that his adaptation of the most familiar of Dickens's stories is such a success, it's just that it has taken him so long to get round to it. In collaboration with designer Rae Smith, he has created a world for the story that ...

Novel Twist Brings Out the Dark Side of Oliver; Oliver Twist

Until Sat May 1, 7.30pm, King's Theatre, Leven Street, Edinburgh, (pounds) 12.50-(pounds) 16.50, 0131 529 6000 Everyone loves Oliver Twist. What, with all those lovable cockney characters singing along in a chocolate-box version of Charles Dickens's London, it's lovely, life-affirming stuff. Except, contrary to what repeated bank holiday screenings of Lionel Bart's big-screen musical suggest, that wasn't really how it was written. Neil Bartlett's new adaptation somewhat spectacularly redresse...

Elements of Beauty; New Ground

Until May 31, daily (call to confirm viewing times), Bonham Hotel, 35 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh, free, 0131 625 5530 The popular Scottish landscape painter Christopher Wood's work has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years. Working from his studio in Dunbar, the east coast shoreline, the ebb and flow of the tides and the Scottish elements have always played a part in his work, but it has been infused with a deep and vibrant colour that is imaginative as much as descriptive. The...

Superstar Teenager has Been Blessed with the Ability to Be Normal; Review

Charlotte Church: Spreading Her Wings

Royal Bank Directors Face Pay Protest at Annual Meeting

ROYAL Bank of Scotland directors face protests from employees calling for more generous pay awards at today's annual meeting in Edinburgh when trades unionists will press the case for increases from the floor. Members of Unifi will highlight what they claim is widespread dissatisfaction that pay levels of many staff have not risen in line with profits as the bank has developed.

Get Away

London This weekend: Barbican Art Gallery Restored to its former glory, the Barbican Art Gallery throws open its doors today (April 29) with two photography and art exhibitions. More than 11 months of toil and (pounds) 1m have gone into expanding the East London institution. Gone are the impractical central void and boarded-up windows and here to stay are a shiny new seamless floor, more display space and the return of many of the original concrete features.

Scotland's Economy Delivers Mixed Messages; Service Sector Leads Slump to Puzzle Economists

SCOTLAND's economy grew by an anaemic 0.2% in the final three months of last year - a mere one-quarter of the UK-wide expansion rate - as its dominant service sector contracted unexpectedly. The retail and banking sectors north of the Border turned down without warning in the fourth quarter, according to the somewhat puzzling official gross domestic product figures published yesterday by the Scottish Executive. However, electronics enjoyed its first expansion since the second quarter of 2002.

Tourist Industry Reports Highest Level of Confidence in Six Years

FRESH evidence of a burgeoning recovery in the Scottish economy emerged yesterday in one of the nation's key barometers of business confidence. In its first-quarter survey, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce reported increasing optimism and further growth in manufacturing, construction, and tourism. These sectors are forecast to go on improving through the rest of 2004.

Through the Thick Fog of Figures, There's a Bigger Picture

THE latest Scottish growth figures, published yesterday, take us up to the end of 2003. The new chainlinking methodology, introduced in February, harmonises our measure with that for the UK as a whole. The revised approach also measures growth in both economies from a new common base, with output currently equalling 100 for the year 2000. So it is now a simple arithmetical exercise to compare and contrast the economic fortunes of Scotland and the UK as a whole over four critical years - 2000 ...

Brown Plays to Gallery at Iod Gathering

GORDON Brown yesterday indicated that he was in favour of further increases in interest rates in order to cool consumer spending on Britain's high streets. The chancellor told industry leaders at the Institute of Directors' annual convention in London that he would not allow spending or inflation to spiral out of control in the anticipated global economic upturn.

Closures Herald High Street Departure by Dixons

DIXONS yesterday admitted it would disappear from the country's high streets within 10 years as it pursues bigger sites in cheaper out-of-town locations. Britain's biggest electrical retailer said it was shutting 106 loss-making stores over the next three months. The affected stores account for about 2% of Dixons' total floor space and (pounds) 185m of sales.

Bt Forced to Slash Switching Charges

BT has been forced to cut the amount it charges other companies for switching broadband customers following a ruling by regulator Ofcom which stemmed from a row with Scottish telecoms group Thus and internet provider Tiscali. The watchdog has also launched a major three-stage review into the former state-owned telecoms group that could recommend the break- up of the company which still dominates the UK residential market 20 years after deregulation.

Firstgroup Train Bid Stays On the Rails; Regulator Gives Qualified Clearance, but May Seek 'Behavioural' Change

FirstGroup, one of the three transport groups bidding for the (pounds) 1.5bn Scotrail franchise, has been given a qualified clearance by the Competition Commission to stay in the race. The group's shares rose by 3% on relief that the referral, which was announced by the Office of Fair Trading in January, had not resulted in it being debarred from one of the bigger rail industry prizes.

Sse Buys Atlantic Out of Receivership

Scottish & Southern Energy yesterday announced the acquisition of Atlantic Electric & Gas from the receiver for (pounds) 90.7m in cash, boosting its customer base and future earnings. SSE said it had completed the takeover of Britain's seventh- largest supplier of electricity and gas from administrative receivership at accountant KPMG.

Aggreko Chief Wins Cigar for Rousing Speech; Churchillian Defence Beats Pirc Offensive

AGGREKO faced a sizeable protest vote against a new pay policy for directors at its annual meeting, with 17% of proxy votes cast opposing a new performance share scheme. However, Philip Rogerson, chairman, rounded on a corporate governance activist that may have influenced the vote, accusing it of opposing the plan based on a misunderstanding of how it worked.

Re-Opening of Equitable Investigation Looks Likely

THE Parliamentary Ombudsman looks likely to reopen her inquiry into Equitable Life, after her office admitted that information given by Ruth Kelly, treasury minister, was inaccurate. The ombudsman's office has made the disclosure on the eve of a preliminary hearing of a policyholder petition for judicial review of the ombudsman's original report two years ago.

Premiums On the Way for Scotland's Genuine Organic Producers

SCOTLAND'S organic farmers must not miss out on the opportunity to obtain additional grant aid, but they must apply to the Scottish Executive for ongoing support before May 31, Nick Cooke, managing director of the Scottish Organic Producers' Association, said yesterday. He said: "Over the past year, we have worked closely with the environment and rural affairs department to ensure that the new organic aid scheme will make a real difference. We also believe that the introduction of the reforms...

Unions to Meet Bae Over Future of Carriers Project

TRADE union representatives are preparing to quiz BAE Systems' senior management about the state of the (pounds) 2.9bn project to build two aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. The Herald has learned that a meeting pencilled in for May 11 will be dominated by discussions about the impact of the company's review of its naval shipyards which could pave the way for a disposal of the warships business.