Scotland Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations

Review: THE LAST LAUGH, Theatre Royal
by Natalie O'Donoghue - July 16, 2025

The Last Laugh is written and directed by the award-winning Paul Hendy, and stars “a trio of sublime performances” (WhatsOnStage) by Bob Golding as Morecambe, Simon Cartwright as Monkhouse and Damian Williams as Cooper....

Review: THE GREAT GATSBY, Pitlochry Festival Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - July 03, 2025

Set in the summer of 1922, this gripping story unfolds in the West Egg district of Long Island. Nick Carraway has moved from the Midwest and soon meets his neighbour the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, who throws lavish parties every night in his opulent mansion to entertain the rich and famous. A self-made m...

Review: CALAMITY JANE, King's Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - July 02, 2025

Based on the much-loved Doris Day movie, this plumb fancy new production stars the multi-award-winning West End actress and singer Carrie Hope Fletcher....

Review: MAN'S BEST FRIEND at Tron Theatre
by Mary Baillie - June 28, 2025

Celebrated Scottish writer Douglas Maxwell returns to the Tron Theatre, more than two decades after his debut with Our Bad Magnet in 2000. In this new work, Jordan Young stars as Ronnie, a dog walker who took up the job as a coping mechanism during lockdown. But when a mishap sends all the dogs bolt...

Review: RESTLESS NATIVES, King's Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - June 25, 2025

The Clown and the Wolfman ride again as the classic Scottish movie starts a new adventure as a stage musical! Forty years after Restless Natives hit the big screen, it has been staged as a musical with songs from Big Country. ...

Review: THE HAUNTING OF AGNES GILFREY, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - June 21, 2025

A gothic comedy thriller set in a remote stately house in the Highlands, drawing on Scottish folklore and holiday horror stories. The Haunting of Agnes Gilfrey is a new gothic thriller written by Amy Conway and directed by Katie Slater. ...

Review: YOU WON'T BREAK MY SOUL, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - June 15, 2025

After a very average hook-up, Jordan realises this particular ‘gentleman caller’ has stolen his irreplaceable Beyoncé concert tickets for her Murrayfield show the next day....

Review: THE NAKED NEDS, Cottiers
by Natalie O'Donoghue - June 14, 2025

Paul’s about to be a dad, but doubt clouds his excitement. A night at the pub should be a distraction, yet Cammy’s suicide still lingers, unspoken but heavy. Struggling to move forward, the lads throw themselves into fundraising in his memory, desperate to make a difference. But when Paul finds a lu...

Review: KELI, Tramway
by Natalie O'Donoghue - June 12, 2025

KELI tells the story of a fiery, sharp witted seventeen year-old in a former mining town. Coal means little to Keli, but the mines left music in the blood of this place....

Review: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE at Kings Theatre Glasgow
by Mary Baillie - June 12, 2025

Few stories capture the wonder of childhood and the weight of war as gracefully as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. CS Lewis’s beloved tale of four siblings stumbling through a wardrobe into a magical world could risk feeling outdated—yet Sally Cookson brings us something altogether stranger an...

Review: THE MOUNTAINTOP, Edinburgh Lyceum
by Mary Baillie - June 09, 2025

Katori Hall’s Olivier-winning play follows Martin Luther King Jr. on his final night on Earth in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel, Memphis. He orders coffee—but what arrives is Camae, a maid with a secret mission. What unfolds is a blend of realism and surrealism that humanizes a mythologized figure a...

Review: THE SUNSHINE SPA, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 24, 2025

A heartwarming comedy with unexpected connections across cultures. ...

Review: GOODBYE DREAMLAND BOWLARAMA, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 17, 2025

Charlie Braid loves her life working at the Inverness Dreamland Bowlarama. In her world, everything is just perfect until one day, after a tragic turn of events, Charlie is forced to leave her job at the Bowlarama and doesn’t quite know what to do with herself....

Review: THE BOOK OF MORMON, King's Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 15, 2025

The New York Times calls it ‘The best musical of this century.’ The Washington Post says, 'It is the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals.’ And Entertainment Weekly raves, 'Grade A: the funniest musical of all time.' It’s The Book of Mormon, the nine-time Tony Award and four-time Oli...

Review: ...EARNEST?, Kings Theatre
by Mary Baillie - May 15, 2025

Theatre company Say It Again, Sorry? brought their smash Fringe hit Earnest? to the King's last week, turning Oscar Wilde’s classic of mistaken identity on its head in a brilliantly chaotic, genre-bending take that joyfully challenges theatrical convention....

Review: SPRING AWAKENING, Tron Theatre
by Mary Baillie - May 13, 2025

Students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland upload Anya Reiss’s unique adaptation of Spring Awakening to the Tron this week. Reiss propels Frank Wedekind’s controversial 19th-century tale into the digital age. Set under an umbrella of smartphones, pornographic sites, social media, and online sub...

Review: DOON THE WATTER, Paisley Centre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 11, 2025

Join two sisters as they set off and go on an exciting trip ‘doon the watter’ to their favourite island! With the salty sea breeze in their hair and the gentle waves carrying them along, they fill the journey with stories of magical mermaids, soaring seabirds, and mischievous seal pups who love to p...

Review: MISTERO BUFFO, Òran Mór
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 11, 2025

An actor bursts into the theatre, pursued by the authorities. Whilst the threat of arrest remains close, he can’t help but hijack the performance and tell folk tales, speaking truth to power....

Review: KIM'S CONVENIENCE, Pavilion Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 10, 2025

Now a global smash hit, this hilarious and heartwarming drama about a family-run Korean store that inspired the Netflix phenomenon, is written by Ins Choi, who calls the play his 'love letter to his parents and to all first-generation immigrants who now call Canada their home.'...

Review: JELLYFISH, Bedlam Theatre
by Mark Carnochan - May 03, 2025

JELLYFISH is a one-act, absurdist comedy coming to Bedlam Theatre this April in collaboration with Filfbag Theatre. Winner of the 'English Literature Play' grant for 2025, awarded by the University of Edinburgh, William Osbon's 'weird and wonderfully original play' will have you 'hooked and baited' ...

Review: STUDIO 3 SEASON, Tron Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 04, 2025

The three plays that form this mini-rep season were all first commissioned by A Play, A Pie & A Pint, and are now receiving a revival in the Tron Theatre Changing House Studio....

Review: THE BROWN DOLL, Òran Mór
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 01, 2025

A revealing drama exploring the lives of three intertwined women, and the personal journey of the daughter that connects them all....

Review: MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL, Edinburgh Playhouse
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 01, 2025

Enter a world of splendour, of eye-popping excess, of glitz, grandeur and glory! A world where Bohemians and aristocrats rub elbows and revel in electrifying enchantment. Welcome to Moulin Rouge! The Musical!...

Review: MYRA'S STORY, Pavilion Theatre Glasgow
by Mary Baillie - April 30, 2025

'Myra’s Story' is a one-woman play by Brian Foster, a much-acclaimed hit at the Edinburgh Fringe. Fionna Hewitt-Twamley steps effortlessly into the shoes of Myra, a middle-aged homeless alcoholic wandering the streets of Dublin....

Review: BAT OUT OF HELL, Kings Theatre Glasgow
by Mary Baillie - April 09, 2025

Based on the iconic songs of Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell zooms into Glasgow like a Harley Davidson motorbike on steroids. Did I fully follow the batty plot? No. Did I have a blast soaking up the explosive choreography and legendary music? Absolutely....