Scotland Theater Reviews

Review: HEY DUGGEE, King's Theatre, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 25, 2023

Be part of the hit CBeebies show and join Duggee and the squirrels in this new vibrant interactive production bursting with music, puppets and barrels of laughs along the way....

Review: THE KING AND I, King's Theatre, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 17, 2023

Starring the West End’s Annalene Beechey and Broadway's Darren Lee, The King and I is the greatest musical from the golden age of musicals – with one of the finest scores ever written including Whistle a Happy Tune and Shall We Dance...

Review: FISHERMAN'S FRIENDS, King's Theatre, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 14, 2023

When a group of Cornish fishermen came together to sing the traditional working songs they’d sung for generations, nobody, least of all the fishermen, expected the story to end on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. They are spotted by a fish-out-of-water music manager on a trip from London, who must ...

Review: LOVE THE SINNER, Tron Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 13, 2023

Initially published as a performance poetry collection, Love The Sinner will be transformed, in a collaboration between Imogen Stirling and Vanishing Point, into a pulsating full-scale theatre show: a fusion of performance poetry, visual theatre and electronic music....

Review, THE MOUSETRAP, King's Theatre, Glasgow
by Fiona Scott - May 03, 2023

After nearly 30,000 performances at the St Martins Theatre, Agatha Christie’s play, The Mousetrap is also playing to theatres around the UK as part of a 70th anniversary tour. This week, the classic whodunnit comes to the Glasgow King’s Theatre....

Review: THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO, Theatre Royal, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - April 26, 2023

The Beekeeper of Aleppo tells the story of Nuri, a beekeeper; and his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo - until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape. On their te...

Review: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
by Mary Baillie - April 25, 2023

Based on Stephen King's gripping novella 'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption' and one of the best-loved films of all time, The Shawshank Redemption has a lot to live up to. And it does...mostly....

Review: THE SILENCE AND THE NOISE, Streaming
by Louise Penn - April 18, 2023

Raw, brutal, twisted, and full of rich wordplay, this play makes its political points and highlights a relationship which uses regret, mistakes, and teasing to hide what is really happening at its core. It is less the star-crossed young lovers of Shakespeare than the smack-stained children of a mode...

Review: WELCOME TO BANNOCKBURN, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - April 18, 2023

A comedy-drama about shared history, public shaming and the sh*t women face in the workplace....

Review: SEAN AND DARO FLAKE IT 'TIL THEY MAKE IT, Traverse Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - April 16, 2023

Looking for a way out of their humdrum lives in the outskirts of Glasgow, straight-laced Sean, fresh from dropping out of uni, and the gallus Daro, overflowing with charisma and business ‘acumen’, reckon they can be the dream team of frozen treats....

Review: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Theatre Royal, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - April 14, 2023

In steamy 1940s New Orleans, fading Southern belle Blanche DuBois moves into her sister Stella's apartment. Stella's brutish husband Stanley sees that Blanche is not what she appears to be, and sets out to destroy her......

Review: STORYTELLING, Oran Mor, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - April 11, 2023

Two people are trying to tell the story of Robert, who isn’t sure who is in charge of his own narrative and whether he even wants to be in the story of his life anymore…...

Review: KIDNAPPED, Theatre Royal, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - April 06, 2023

This riotous re-telling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure novella is jam-packed with 20th century pop music and 18th century romance. Performed by a dynamic ensemble of actor-musicians, Kidnapped is a colourful coming-of-age story - shot-through with Stevenson’s trademark blend of poetry, humour...

Book Review: MY SHAKESPEARE - A DIRECTOR'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE FIRST FOLIO by Greg Doran
by Cindy Marcolina - April 04, 2023

Doran’s latest book gives a revelatory and revolutionary breakdown of the canon in a way that works for both the professional and uninitiated....

Review: CASTLE LENNOX, Lyceum Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - April 01, 2023

1969. Annis, a young autistic woman, is sent by her stepmother to live as a patient at Castle Lennox, where the rules of the outside world do not apply. Desperate to escape, she very quickly lands herself in trouble and makes an enemy of the nurse in charge....

Review: THE SPARK, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - March 31, 2023

A government minister develops telekinetic powers after being ‘sparked’ by years of repressed rage in this new comedy-drama....

Review: CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, Edinburgh Playhouse
by Natalie O'Donoghue - March 31, 2023

Embarking on its first ever UK & Ireland Tour this dazzling new production of the successful West End and Broadway musical will take you to a world of pure imagination....

Review: WRITE-OFF, Oran Mor, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - March 13, 2023

Freddie is a gay man who writes gritty psychological thrillers and refuses to compromise his storytelling approach for the sake of representation or political correctness....

Review: THE WORM WHO TURNED, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - March 06, 2023

The Juliet Allotments are the most sought-after plots in Glasgow’s West End and constantly eyed by covetous property developers....

Review: CYPRUS AVENUE, Iron Theatre, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - March 04, 2023

Eric (David Hayman) is a Belfast Loyalist, still very much stuck in the past. Completely convinced, despite his family’s protestations, that his five week old granddaughter is in fact the Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams, Eric believes his Protestant cultural heritage is under siege. What can he do? He...

Review: DIANA: THE UNTOLD AND UNTRUE STORY, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - March 02, 2023

Join Diana in heaven as she shares the untold and untrue tale of her extraordinary life. Combining drag, multimedia, audience interaction, puppetry and a lot of queer joy – this unique celebration of the People's Princess is as hilarious as it is tasteless....

Review: FRISSON, Online
by Natalie O'Donoghue - March 01, 2023

It's a love story. It's a love letter to friends. A love song to your best mates. It's about being yourself when everyone around you wants you to be something different. It's about trying to be yourself when the country's in lockdown. And it's about picking up the pieces and remembering who you real...

Review: BURNING BRIGHT, Oran Mor, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - February 27, 2023

There’s a tiger at the door! Ash is lost, wandering in childhood memories of India while their house fills with flood water. Mo is fighting fascists in the Arctic as icebergs dribble and melt. Alex is caught in a wildfire, burning to scoop a hot news story – literally....

Review: A MOTHER'S SONG, Macrobert Arts Centre
by Fiona Scott - February 25, 2023

What did our critic think of A MOTHER'S SONG at Macrobert Arts Centre?...

Review: MOVIES TO MUSICALS, Theatre Royal, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - February 20, 2023

Now in its ninth year, Movies to Musicals has moved to Glasgow's Theatre Royal for their annual production. Movies to Musicals is an evening of songs from stage and film performed by local talented children and a series of guests from the West End....