Scottish Theatre Highlights February 2025
Manipulate Festival is a must-see for theatregoers this month, but don't miss February's shows by Scottish Opera, A Play, A Pie and a Pint, and more
Things are picking up this month, as we edge towards spring. There’s even a festival on the horizon, as Manipulate Festival (12-15 Feb) bring their celebration of visual theatre, animated film and puppetry to stages across Edinburgh and beyond. Highlights include Cartography, an intimate performance taking place in ‘a kind of labyrinth’ in the Fruitmarket Warehouse, and workshops including the dramaturgy of puppetry, acrodance and micro cinema techniques. You can find out all about the programme in our interview with the Artistic Director, Dawn Taylor, in the February issue.
Scottish Opera are staging Janáček’s mature masterpiece The Makropulos Affair in the Theatre Royal Glasgow (15, 19 & 22 Feb) and Festival Theatre Edinburgh (27 Feb & 1 Mar). A co-production with Welsh National Opera, it tells the story of Emilia Marty, Elina Makropulos, EM – the stylish, enigmatic diva who has lived many lives, and for over three centuries has been on a quest to become a great opera singer.
Tramway stages the first part of BUZZCUT’s Double Thrills programme – Goner by Marikiscrycrcycry (8 Feb) promises to establish a Black tradition of horror for the live context, exploring themes of Caribbean migration, alienation, belonging, addiction, and violence. Later in the month, Tramway hosts Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey 品川猿の告白 (22 Feb, 26 Feb-1 Mar), co-produced between Scotland and Japan by Vanishing Point and Kanagawa Arts Theatre. Based on short stories by Haruki Murakami and featuring human and puppet monkeys, lurking shadows, stunning sound, it’s set to be a magical, immersive experience.
A Play, A Pie, A Pint kick off their spring programme with Dookin' Oot by Éimi Quinn (Òran Mór, 24 Feb-1 Mar), a black comedy about a wild money-making scheme in a council flat in Easterhouse. There’s a bunch of high octane musical productions arriving in Edinburgh with Mary Poppins (Festival Theatre, until 15 Feb), Chicago (Playhouse, 4-8 Feb), and Kinky Boots (Playhouse, 18-22 Feb).
Up in Dundee, Law of Gravity (Dundee Rep, 14 Feb) brings us full circle, combining puppetry and music, using the work of 20th century classical composers Arnold Schoenberg and Philip Glass to explore the line between the abstract and the real.