Scottish Theatre Highlights: February 2026
February places Manipulate Festival within Scotland’s theatre rota once more, joined by inventive re-workings of the classics across puppetry, opera, ballet and contemporary drama
The month opens in Edinburgh with the Manipulate Festival (4-10 Feb), which returns with its most ambitious programme to date. Spreading across eight city venues – including the Studio Theatre, Traverse, Summerhall and, for the first time, Filmhouse – the festival showcases world and Scottish premieres alongside international visual theatre, puppetry and animation from over 25 countries. Theatre highlights include Kar, a mischievous cabaret inspired by Anna Karenina; The Raft of the Crab, a circus-inflected exploration of illness and recovery; Dewey Dell’s visceral reimagining of The Rite of Spring; and The Wood Paths, a meditation on the human urge to create.
At Glasgow’s Theatre Royal, Scottish Opera premieres The Great Wave (12-14 Feb), a new work inspired by Hokusai’s iconic print. Imagining the story behind the image, this world premiere prioritises an inviting, contemporary operatic style.
Dance takes centre stage mid-month as the Varna International Ballet and Orchestra arrives at the Edinburgh Playhouse with Cinderella (19 Feb), Swan Lake (20 Feb) and The Nutcracker (21 Feb).
Back in Glasgow, Wonder Fools bring David Greig’s The Events to the Tron Theatre (19-21 Feb). Set in a choir rehearsal hall, the play follows a priest grappling with trauma after surviving a mass shooting, with a newly formed local community choir for each performance (!) making each showing immediate and rooted in place. The show follows at Dundee Rep (25 Feb) and Traverse Theatre (27-28 Feb).
Later in the month, A Giant on the Bridge lands at Cottiers Theatre (25-26 Feb) in Glasgow. Co-devised by Jo Mango and Liam Hurley, the show fuses hip-hop, songwriting and storytelling to explore prison homecoming, drawing on lived experience from across Scotland’s justice system.
Classic texts round out the month. At the Citz, Saint Joan (14-28 Feb) reimagines Shaw for the present day, while Waiting for Godot (from 20 Feb) reminds us that waiting, together, remains a weirdly durable act of theatre.