THE CAST has been announced for the The Last Ship, the musical by Sting which is to be performed in Scotland this year.

Joe McGann (Jackie White), Charlie Hardwick (Peggy White), Richard Fleeshman (Gideon Fletcher) and Frances McNamee (Meg Dawson) have been confirmed in their roles.

Jimmy Nail, who was previously billed to play Jackie White in the show, is no longer performing in the production.

Nail said: "To anyone who has purchased a ticket, please, go see the show and give this vessel the launch it so deserves.

"You’ll hear some of the finest musical works ever composed for the stage."

The Last Ship, which was initially inspired by Sting’s 1991 album The Soul Cages and his own childhood experiences, tells the story of a community amid the demise of the shipbuilding industry in Tyne and Wear, with the closure of the Swan Hunter shipyard.

It will be performed at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, June 12-16 and Theatre Royal, Glasgow from June 18-23.

https://thelastshipmusical.co.uk

SHETLAND ARTS is to present 'We’re here because we’re here' an exhibition telling the story of the memorial presented by 14-18 NOW and the National Theatre of Great Britain, in association with the National Theatre of Scotland.

'We’re here because we’re here,' was a UK-wide event created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller in collaboration with Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre.

Shetland was one of only two locations in Scotland to take part in the project.

The young men involved were a reminder of the 19,240 men who were killed on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Each participant represented an individual soldier who was killed on that day.

From 20 January to 18 March, Bonhoga Gallery in Shetland will exhibit photographs and film documenting the impact of the public artwork.

To tie in with 'We’re here because we’re here', Mareel will screen four films set during the First World War – Paths of Glory, Testament of Youth, War Horse and the new adaptation of Journey’s End.

www.shetlandarts.org

THE Fine Art Society is to present an exhibition of works by 20th century printmakers, including etchings, linocuts, woodcuts, and engravings.

Works include the sights from the European travels of James McBey, scenes of Edinburgh and Scottish fishing villages by William Wilson, the Highland landscape etchings of James McIntosh Patrick and Sir David Young Cameron including his etchings Ben Ledi and Ben Lomond, and a series of still lifes by David Sinclair.

Works by the following artists will be on show.

Additional framed and unframed prints by these and other artists will be available to purchase throughout the exhibition.

It runs from 15 January – 10 February in Dundas Street, Edinburgh.

www.fasedinburgh.com