ANTIGONE, THE SNAW QUEEN, and More Set For Tron Theatre Autumn/Winter 2026 Season

Tron Theatre has announced its new season of work for Autumn/Winter 2026. Artistic  Director, Jemima Levick, has programmed the final season of 2026 with two big hitting Tron Theatre  Company productions, Antigone by Lulu Raczka and The Snaw Queen by Johnny McKnight, alongside three very different but inspiring Visiting Companies. These include ThickSkin with the  thriller It Walks Around the House at Night, Gilded Balloon and The Big Comedy Roadshow, and  internationally renowned Ontroerend Goed with Thanks For Being Here. These are interspersed with  two In Tronversatuion With…events, one with a selection of the cast from River City and one  celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Tron Panto with the incredible Johnny McKnight. 

Artistic Director, Jemima Levick, says of her Autumn/Winter 2026 season: ''I'm so excited to bring this  programme of work to our audiences here in the Trongate. While much of our Autumn/Winter season is  taken up with an adventure into the pantosphere, the work we have appearing before we jump into the  land of The Snaw Queen is truly world class. Finn Den Hertog and his Groupwork colleagues have quietly  carved themselves a place as one of Scotland’s most exciting young companies - I’m thrilled that they’ll be  making Antigone with us here at the Tron and in their hometown of Glasgow. I’ve long been an admirer of  Ontroerend Goed and Thickskin, and so to have both companies appear within weeks of each other will be  a real treat. To then finish off the year with the Tron’s 40th panto is a celebration we’re all looking forward  to and an absolute privilege.” 

TRON THEATRE COMPANY PRODUCTIONS 

The first of two Tron Theatre Company productions to hit the main stage is Lulu Raczka’s adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone (18 Sep – 10 Oct, press performance Tue 22 Sep). Directed by Finn den  Hertog in his directorial debut at the Tron, and in association with Groupwork, this modern reworking  of the Greek classic tells the story of Antigone, fighting for justice for her brother by defying the  powers that be for the right to bury him herself, even though he has been deemed a traitor. Her sister  Ismene is torn between loyalty to her sister and commonsense, knowing what the final outcome will  be for Antigone’s defiance. This two-hander is an exceptional rendering of the classic story, capturing  sisterhood, sacrifice and survival as two young women come of age. 

Director Finn Den Hertog says “Lulu Raczka’s messy, modern-day retelling of the Sophocles classic  brings this timeless story of a girl standing up for what she believes kicking and screaming into the 21st century, placing two wild and witty sisters at the centre of the tale. An electric reimagining of an  ancient Greek tragedy, this intimate two-hander is perfect for people who don’t think they like Greek  tragedy.” 

Next up is a celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the inimitable Tron Panto, and the best way to  do this is to have panto legend Johnny McKnight back on the Tron stage, where he rightfully belongs, in The Snaw Queen (18 Nov – 31 Dec, press performance Fri 20 Nov). Written, directed by, and  featuring Johnny, this is a remount of an old favourite and one that reunites him with his original Olive  (the Other Reindeer), the incomparable Julie Wilson Nimmo. Johnny takes on the role of Santa (aka  Kristine Cagney Kringle) who must save the day when a broken mirror unleashes pure chaos, transforming Rudie the Red Nosed reindeer into the terrifying Snaw Queen. Christmas looks almost  certain to be cancelled unless Kristine and Olive can take on a dangerous quest across the  pantosphere to turn the evil Snaw Queen back into the lovely Rudie the Red Nosed Reindeer and save  Christmas. 

Johnny McKnight says “The Snaw Queen is a show I have nothing but fond memories of, a madcap  journey and – arguably – the most Christmassy of all the pantos I’ve done to date. To be able to get  back into the room to find a new take on it is so exciting and to return to the Tron audience this  Christmas, an utter delight. We promise this Christmas we’re bigger, louder and Snaw-queen-ier than  ever!” 

IN TRONVERSATION WITH… 

We are very excited to be bringing back the sell-out In Tronversation With… events. Hosted by  Johnny McKnight, these are a series of interviews that invite creative and cultural legends from  Glasgow and beyond, to come and talk to our audiences about their career and connection to the  Tron. The first event is a River City Special (16 Aug) with regular cast members and Tron alumni  including Carmen Pieraccini, Jordan Young, Claire Dargo, Darren Brownlie, Kathryn Howden and  Scott Fletcher joining us. Coinciding with the final episodes of River City, the cast will bring their  stories from the streets of Shieldinch, their careers and their days at the Tron. The second In  Tronversation With… event is part of our panto 40th Anniversary celebrations when we will be turning  the tables on the Grande Dame of panto with a Johnny McKnight – Celebrating 40 Years of Tron  Panto (24 Oct) event. Johnny will be in the hotseat being interviewed/interrogated by actor, friend and  fellow panto star, Darren Brownlie. He will be talking about his award-winning career as an actor,  writer and director in theatre and TV, as well as the pivotal role he has played in changing the  landscape of the Scottish pantosphere. These events are always a sell-out with great stories, moving  moments and lots of laughs. 

VISITING COMPANY PRODUCTIONS 

The visiting company programme is small but mighty this season and opens with one of the UK’s most  exciting touring companies ThickSkin, and their critically acclaimed thriller It Walks Around The  House At Night (15–17 October). Part ghost story and part psychological thriller, it draws audiences  into a world of creeping dread, unexpected twists and dark humour as it tells the story of an out of  work actor taking on a job playing a ghost at an old countryside manor. Soon, reality starts to blur with  something more sinister. Next is a visit from the Gilded Balloon with The Big Comedy Roadshow (18  Oct). This year’s laughs come from breakout social media star Jack Skipper, Irish comedian Alison  Spittle fresh from her appearance on Celebrity Gogglebox and The Guilty Feminist podcast, Scottish  BAFTA winner and star of Limmy’s Show Raymond Mearns, rising talent Tasmyn Kelly with Gareth  Mutch on MC duties. Ending the visiting company schedule and taking the final slot before panto moves in is Thanks For Being Here (22 & 23 Oct) from the international theatre performance  collective Ontroerend Goed. Renowned for their ground-breaking theatre, Thanks For Being Here is a  witty and ingenious play of video and viewpoints with a blurring of boundaries between audience and  performers. Thanks For Being Here was winner of the Belgian Theatre Festival Audience Award 2024 and is a show where the audience just have to sit back, relax, and be celebrated. 

GLASGOW DOORS OPEN DAYS FESTIVAL 

We will be opening our theatre doors as part of this year’s Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival (20  Sep). For one day only, we will be running half hour tours of the full Tron building including the James and Robert Adams church auditorium, the historic 16th century Tron Steeple and the JJ Burnet Curtain  Wall, as well as revealing the illustrious history of this famous theatre. With a theme of Glasgow Goes  Out: The Places That Made Us it only feels right that we throw our doors open to the public. 

TRON CREATIVE & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 

Alongside work for the main auditorium, there will be a continuation of our Tron Creative and  Community Engagement programmes, with opportunities for Scotland’s thriving freelance  community of artists and creatives to engage with us; and a series of exciting new projects for young  people, our local communities and schools to get involved with. The main Tron Creative event for this  season is Outside Eyes (3 Sep) in partnership with Bijli Productions. Following a call out for  applications, this scratch night will present new work from a selection of global majority artists.  Outside Eyes is an opportunity to see the beginning stages of some of the boldest new performances  on the Tron’s mainstage. 

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF PAY IT FORWARD 

This year we are celebrating two major anniversaries. The first one is 10 years of our rewarding Pay it  Forward scheme. The Pay it Forward scheme started in 2016 as a fundraising initiative enabling local  community groups working with children, families and adults experiencing disadvantage, to attend a  

Tron Theatre Company show or panto, for free. Over the last 10 years we have raised over £140,000  and gifted tickets to nearly 5,000 people from over 90 groups across Glasgow. To mark this milestone, we will be inviting people to make a suggested £10 donation to Pay It Forward, helping us to bring  more people to Tron Theatre Company productions free of charge, and make theatre accessible to  even more people and communities across the city. 

40 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRON PANTO 

The second anniversary is a big one, and is Celebrating 40 years of the Tron panto. The Tron panto  broke the mould by staging alternative pantos, mixing up the traditional roles and storylines, and  pushing the panto boundaries. Back in 1986, the first ever panto to grace the Tron’s main stage was  Sleeping Beauty written by Peter Capaldi and Craig Ferguson. This panto had the tagline of ‘Young,  Gifted, Asleep’ and saw Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson taking their well-known Victor and Barry  characters and turning them into the riotous panto dames, Victoria and Barathea. Since then, there  have been countless variations of shows old and new, written by well know Scottish theatre names  including Forbes Masson with Aladdie, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Cinderella; Gordon Dougall &  Fletcher Mathers with Wullie Whitington, Eeting Beauty, Ya Beauty and the Beast, and Flo White; Alex  Norton with Mr Merlin: and David Ireland with Sleeping Betty. It was in 2012 when Johnny McKnight  made his first panto appearance on the Tron panto stage as Writer, Director and Performer in Aganeza  Scrooge and since then he has gone on to make Tron audiences laugh, scream and immerse  themselves in the Christmas spirit with Peter Panto and the Incredible Stinkerbell, Mammy Goose,  Cinderfella, Olive the Other Reindeer, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Miracle on Parnie Street, and last  year’s sell out extravaganza, Gallus in Weegieland. The Tron panto has also received several UK  Pantomime Association Awards over the years with the first being Best Panto (theatre under 500  seats) in 2024 for Aganeza Scrooge, and this year Kenny Miller won Best Designer for Gallus In 

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