Rebecca Baird

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Rebecca Baird

Stellar Quines traded Edinburgh for Kirkcaldy in 2024, and already the Fife town has made quite the mark on the esteemed theatre company. “Fifers are super-welcoming and Kirkcaldy is brilliant,” says Caitlin Skinner, the company’s artistic director. “There’s a huge community of people here who want to make something happen – a real energy, a real buzz.”Stellar Quines has a long and esteemed history within Scottish theatre.

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Rebecca Baird

When I meet Jutebox frontman Dan Richardson on Dundee’s Dock Street, he’s proper wound up. “Someone’s covered my bloody gig poster already!” he huffs, baggy cargo shorts and corduroy jacket incongruous against his delicately-held cup of tea. “I spent ages putting them all up, but I did it with Sellotape. Then my mate told me you can make wall paste with water and flour?

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Rebecca Baird

Stuart Murdoch passes through Dundee “all the time”. But the Belle and Sebastian frontman cannot remember ever being on stage here. “It’s funny because I have family in Carnoustie, so we’re up and down quite a lot,” says Stuart, phoning in while on a walk near his home in Glasgow. “My mum, she passed away a couple of years ago, but she lived there.

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Rebecca Baird

“It’s so nice to put a face to the name!”This is just something we say to fill space, especially in the dreaded sport of ‘networking’. It’s a stock phrase we employ to skim over the startling awkwardness of meeting someone whose email signature you have memorised, but whose voice you’ve never heard. Or so I thought until this week. On Thursday night, I was privileged enough to take part in a panel discussion about the importance of local journalism right here at The Courier’s Dundee headquarters.

3 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Rebecca Baird

“I could totally do that.”Said by me, age 10, boastfully watching Takeshi’s Castle. If you know, you know. If you don’t, it’s a cult Japanese gameshow where contestants battle through inflatable obstacle courses galore, often sacrificing dignity for glory. Much like a Bake Off viewer who’s never set foot in a kitchen but likes to critique the lamination of contestants’ pastries, I’ve always felt confident I could do it from the comfort of my couch.