Scottish Theatre Highlights: February 2023

Scottish theatre is having a busy February, with the MANIPULATE Festival kicking off its innovative and challenging programme on 2 February. In its first fully in-person festival since 2020, MANIPULATE is offering a wide variety of new work for audiences from all backgrounds (2-12 Feb).

This month, Stirling's Macrobert Art Centre will see the world premiere of Finn Anderson and Tania Azevedo's new folk musical A Mother's Song. The story follows three extraordinary women at different eras and locales, and it traces the journey of Scottish folk music across the Atlantic Ocean from Stirling to New York City (23-26 Feb).

Glasgow's A Play, A Pie, and a Pint kicks off a promising year with Until It's Gone, written by Alison Carr and directed by Caitlin Skinner. The story imagines a world in which women are extinct and what becomes of the men who are left behind. The play will run at Glasgow's Òran Mór and Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre (20-25 Feb).

A Play, A Pie, and a Pint also brings Áine King's Burning Bright to the Òran Mór. Directed by Roxana Haines, the play explores the climate crisis from three separate perspectives (27 Feb-4 Mar).

February sees the return of Scottish Opera's touring production Opera Highlights. This imaginative work combines old favourites with lesser-known treats, and it includes the world premiere of a new piece by Toby Hession, one of Scottish Opera's 2021/22 Emerging Artists. The production will visit East Kilbride, Crail, Garvald, Perth, Stonehaven, Boat of Garten, Invergarry, Wick, Kirkwall, Ullapool, Torridon, Isle of Skye, Oban, Campbeltown, Bowmore, Gretna, Hawick, and Ayr (14 Feb-25 Mar).

In addition, The Citizens Theatre will tour Maryam Hamidi's new work, Moonset, at Glasgow's Tron and Edinburgh's Traverse this month (3-18 Feb). The play features five powerful performances by a diverse group of women as they delve into teenage witchcraft, friendship, and coming-of-age.