EDINBURGH 2026: Review: CATHY, Traverse Theatre

Cathy is the latest play from playwright Eilidh Loan. It’s about her grandmother, and her gran had one request when she heard she was writing it: that Elaine C Smith play her. Well, she got her wish!

We open on Cathy’s husband Tommy’s funeral. It’s a sombre scene, but the family are Glaswegian so it's not long before there’s some dark humour to lighten the mood. After the funeral, the family go back to Cathy’s house for a takeaway and tensions run high. Colin (Alan Orr) is Cathy’s son-in-law, and there’s some relatively good-natured religious prejudice between the two. 

Amy (Chloe Hodgson) is young and pregnant, and Cathy doesn’t approve. She's her mum's mum and Amy is her only grandchild. There are so many brilliant details that will be relatable to a lot of Scottish families and the script is packed with wit. The cast are all fantastic and everyone gets their chance to shine. Elaine C Smith is perfect as the no nonsense grandmother who is trying to work through her pain.

Cathy starts to clear out some of Tommy’s things and takes them to the charity shop where Amy works. There she meets Lizzie (Sally Reid), who is a little bit too new-agey for Cathy but she is kind, and she warms to her. 

There’s a lot of grief to unpack in this play and it is handled so beautifully. Cathy as a play is so deeply Scottish and Cathy herself is so typical of Glaswegian women and their unique approach to everything. Sitting chain-smoking, she has an opinion on everything, and she isn’t shy about voicing them.

Flo (Michele Gallagher) and her mother butt heads constantly and there are some really powerful scenes with the pair of them arguing about who has it worse, the woman who lost her husband or the one who lost her father? The way the family dynamics play out is so realistic.

There’s so much humour in this play and the audience are giving big hearty laughs throughout. It’s a real rollercoaster of emotions, and towards the end of the play people (myself included) are just openly weeping and you can hear a real chorus of snivelling going on in the auditorium.

Eilidh Loan’s debut play Moorcroft is genuinely one of my favourite plays of all time, and she’s onto another absolute winner with Cathy. This is a beautiful, touching and downright hilarious piece of theatre and I desperately hope it has life beyond the Fringe.

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