Scottish Theatre Highlights: January 2022
Some delayed delights from touring productions of Book of Mormon and Waitress, and the return of Manipulate Festival, feature in January's theatre picks
[Editor's note: the original version of this article went to print on Fri 17 Dec, before the Dec/Jan restrictions on gatherings and crowd sizes were introduced. We've done our best to update this and other affected articles, but apologies for any confusion caused.]
What better way to ward off the January blues than with a feel-good musical? Luckily, this month seems to be full of them. In Glasgow, the King's Theatre is kicking things off with the legendary and multi-award winning Book of Mormon (17-22 Jan). Next, tumble outta bed for Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 The Musical starring stage-musical stalwart Claire Sweeney (25-29 Jan). The Edinburgh Playhouse is serving up sweet nostalgia this season with Waitress (18-22 Jan) and School of Rock (25-29 Jan). And if you can't quite let the magic of Christmas go, Scottish Ballet's The Nutcracker plays His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen from 19-22 Jan, before heading to Eden Court in Inverness from 26-29 Jan.
If you can go to just one event this January, don't miss Manipulate Festival in Edinburgh (28 Jan-5 Feb), a highlight of, not just the month, but the annual Scottish arts calendar. Puppet Animation Scotland's yearly celebration of innovative puppetry, visual theatre and animated film is returning with a programme that is quite simply breathtaking. It features forays into augmented reality graphic art installations (Fauna, 28 Jan-5 Feb), intricate puppet-shows that play with strings, shadows, mirrors and your mind (Moč, 29 Jan), micro-cinema epics made up of tiny objects and huge ideas (Birdie, 29 Jan) and much, much more.