Anna Burnside reviews a ‘delicious’ celebration of Scottish panto.
Dorothy Blawnagale is not the type of character regularly seen on stage at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre. A heavily padded panto dame in sparkling red sneakers and towering wig, she greets the audience as “chookies” then roasted all the city’s other theatres and venues by way of song.
English visitors who had been dazzled by the show’s starry reviews sat bemused while Scots howled with recognition as Johnny McKnight, the man who dragged the nation’s Christmas entertainment into the 21st century, brought a bit of panto magic to August.
This show, directed by John Tiffany, is based on a lecture McKnight gave in 2024. Performed in costume, in a neon-framed Kenny Miller set, it has evolved into a delicious single-hander with the occasional musical interlude.
At its heart is McKnight’s own story as an actor and writer, going from the Silly Billy role in the McRobert panto in 2004 to writing the type of panto he wanted to see on stage.
As he grows in confidence, he rips up the rules, casting women in key roles - sometimes all the roles - punching up instead of down and putting gay love stories on the glitter-strewn stage.
It’s one of Scottish theatre’s great success stories told in high panto style with plenty of crowd work, spangles and sweeties. All that’s missing is a singalong at the end.
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She’s Behind You performs at the Traverse Theatre (Traverse One) at 21:45 until August 24, 2025. For performance details, go to the Traverse Theatre’s website.
Photo by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
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