Mary Baillie

After a critically acclaimed 'must see' at the Edinburgh Fringe, Leila Navabi brings her solo 'punk musical' Relay to the Traverse - this one races ahead with heart and humour.

Night Waking follows Anna, an Oxford academic living on a remote Hebridean island with her husband Giles and their two young children. Already overwhelmed by the pressures of motherhood, Anna’s world shifts when she discovers the remains of a baby buried in the garden, sparking an investigation into the island’s history of infant mortality.

1960s rock band The Kinks never reached the towering commercial heights of The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, but Joe Penhall’s jukebox bio-musical Sunny Afternoon argues that their turbulent journey to stardom was no less dramatic. Following the band’s rise through the 1960s, the production centres on frontman Ray Davies as he struggles to balance artistic ambition with the relentless commercial pressures of the music industry.

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts brings the iconic TV detective to the stage in a new original mystery. 

Vox Motus challenge theatrical conventions in their groundbreaking international hit Flight showcasing at the Citizens in Glasgow until the 7th of April. Based on the novel Hinterland by Caroline Brothers, this gorgeous piece was adapted by Oliver Emanuel and directed by both Jamie Harrison and Candice Edmunds.

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland embraces playfulness in this quirky production of Amélie based on the 2001 French film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The piece follows shy, imaginative Parisian woman Amélie (Aida Valentine), who secretly orchestrates acts of kindness to improve the lives of others... while slowly building the courage to pursue her own love story with the eccentric Nino (William Collier).

Top Hat tap-danced its way into Glasgow this week, bringing with it plenty of sparkle and some superb performances. Based on the 1930s film, the plot depicts a classic case of mistaken identity: American dancer Jerry Travers arrives in London, falls for society girl Dale Tremont, and through a series of misunderstandings is mistakenly assumed to be the husband of someone else entirely. What follows is a whirl of crossed wires, romantic confusion, and farce as the characters chase love (and the truth) across London and Venice.

Sweeney Todd arrives at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland this December, where director Aaron Lee Lambert delivers a humorous, witty, magically ridiculous and thought-provoking take on Sondheim’s challenging musical. This production follows the infamous serial-killer barber of Fleet Street and his gleefully opportunistic partner-in-crime, Mrs Lovett, who bakes his victims into pies and sells them with alarming success. What did our critic think of SWEENEY TODD at New Athenaeum Theatre?

Tanya Ronder’s adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s Blood Wedding follows the tragic love triangle between the Bride (Saffron Rae), the Groom (Jude Bain) and Leonarda (Rosie Mackay). When the Bride makes her choice on her wedding night, blood is shed as passion and honour collide in a world ruled by tradition and gossip. Ronder’s version adds a refreshing queer twist to the story, giving new depth to Lorca’s themes of desire and repression.

Performed fittingly on Halloween, this stage version of Let the Right One In adapted from John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel and film captures the eerie chill of Blackeberg, Sweden. The story follows Oskar, a lonely and bullied boy who befriends a strange young girl named Eli. She smells like a wet dog, speaks like an old person, jumps unnaturally high, and refuses to eat sweets. Gradually it becomes clear (though never directly stated) that Eli harbours a dark secret. She is some sort of serial killer or vampire - possibly an ancient being trapped in a child’s body who manipulates young boys to help her survive. This is a play of simple language yet abundant subtext. It is not an easy one to stage, yet Finn de Hertog’s production is bloody impressive.

Black Hole Sign presents a compelling premise: an understaffed A&E department in disarray, where Senior Charge Nurse Crea (Helen Logan) struggles to steer a failing ship under the immense pressures facing the NHS. The play offers an interesting insight into the challenges of nursing and raises important questions about what it truly means to deliver effective care.

Red Like Fruit is a two-hander exploring questions around consent and the suppression of women’s voices in sexual abuse claims. The staging is minimal: Lauren (Michelle Montieth) sits on a chair on a raised platform, while Luke (David Patrick Flemming) stands at a lectern on a lower level beside her, reading her story aloud. For almost the entire 70-minute performance, he speaks as her - his voice carrying her words, memories, and pain. Lauren only occasionally interjects, sparking brief moments of dialogue. But for the most part, she sits silently, gazing out at the audience as her narrative is projected through him.

After her hit sold-out show at last year’s Fringe, national treasure Miriam Margolyes returns with a brand new piece. At 84 years young, Margolyes knows she doesn't have to prove herself to anyone. Sporting a beautifully vibrant gown, she commands the stage with a charming combination of crude remarks, cheeky innuendos, and brilliantly timed one-liners.

Advertised as a 'moving and darkly comic remix' of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Lost Lear retells the play through the eyes of Joy, an elderly dementia patient and former actress trapped in a perpetual memory of rehearsing King Lear for the stage. Doctors and nurses step into her imagined world, supplying sound effects and taking on roles to maintain her charade. But when her long-absent son Connor arrives seeking reconciliation, his presence unsettles the fragile theatre of make-believe she has so carefully constructed.

Khalid Abdalla (The Kite Runner, The Crown) redefines and reclaims the solo show in a lyrical tapestry where resistance, displacement and selfhood are delicately woven through an avant-garde aesthetic. At its heart lies a searing question voiced at the start: ‘This nowhere is safe. But there are places in the world where nowhere is safe. And when the unfathomable becomes persistent, where do you go?’

Mary: A Gig Theatre Show is a cool concept. It advertises itself as a blend of folk rock music and spoken word formulating a feminist retelling of the story of Mary Queen of Scots. In theory it feels inspired by the hit show Six, but with it's own unique voice. The idea of a 'gig theatre show' suggests an interesting new form to explore within the realm of performance. Unfortunately, in practice the show certainly gives us 'Gig', but severely lacks in 'Theatre'. 

Two people. Many characters. One space. Alexander Burnett and Ellie Whittaker of Voloz Collective make a splash at the Fringe this year with The Crawl—a short, slick, and hilarious physical theatre piece that dives headfirst into the drama of a high-stakes swimming competition.

Scottish comedy legend Johnny McKnight examines the panto dame through an inventive new lens in She’s Behind You. Drawing on his experience writing more than 30 pantos and playing 18 dames, McKnight unpacks the role through a lively mesh of songs, stand-up, dance, and audience participation.

Four generations of Northern Irish women gather for a 90th birthday party in Karis Kelly’s Consumed, and what unfolds is a pitch-black dark comedy with razor wit and gasp-inducing shock. Eileen (Julia Dearden), Jenny (Caoimhe Farren), Gilly (Andrea Irvine) and Muireann (Muireann Ní Fhaogáin) initially present a hyper-realistic family: they laugh, they bicker, and beneath it all, they carry the weight of generational trauma. It’s laugh-out-loud funny one moment and devastatingly reflective the next, forcing us to think about what it really means to be “Northern Irish.”