What's on in Dumfries

This dark and mesmerising collection of horror and thriller shorts showcases the extraordinary power of animation to illuminate the shadowy corners of the human imagination. Selected by Manipulate Arts and presented in partnership with ArtsD&G as part of their Autumn Animation Season.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in 1835 in Florida, Missouri. He moved to Hannibal when he was four years old and grew up on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. Using his chosen penname, Mark Twain, he became one of the most influential writers of all time and was often called the father of American literature with such classical works such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The play is conceived by Ken O’Hara, showing Mark Twain during one of his lecturing tours of the USA around the year 1900, using Twain’s own material. Ken transforms himself into the character of Twain with great aplomb, donning the famous white suit, with cigar and whisky in hand, and has a remarkable resemblance to the man. Get ready to be entertained by Twain’s boyhood memories, his experience of the American Civil War, and many other stories from his life, including a strange-looking dog, his observations on humanity and his time as a River Boat pilot on the Mississippi. The play contains Twain’s one-liners and witticisms with which he has become celebrated. Please be aware there is use of a racial epithet in the context of Twain’s writing. The play is directed by Isi Nimmo. **Doors open:** 18:30

The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's saviour before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything. Tom Cruise plays the ostentatious oil baron in a dark comedy directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant, Amores perros).