Anna Burnside reviews this years Tron Theatre panto.
The ghost of Johnny McKnight is hanging about the Tron like the smell of sprouts. The man who reinvented the Scottish panto is performing in Stirling this year, leaving his Glasgow base with a reworking of his 2017 reworking of Alice in Wonderland.
Louise McCarthy steps up for dame duty but struggles to make the script, written by McKnight for McKnight, her own. Lewis Carroll’s children’s masterpiece is not natural panto material, and the opening scenario—in a ballet school for no obvious reason—is confusing.
Is McCarthy, as the evil granny goth barre mistress, the dame or the baddy?
It warms up as we get down the rabbit hole to Weegieland, but the scene-setting song and dance number, with Burberry-clad neds, feels like an old reference. Does the Barras even sell knock-off checks anymore?
McCarthy settles into the McKnight-in-exile role when she becomes Queenie of Hearts. Some of the set pieces verge into Johnny karaoke, which is always going to be a problem when another actor picks up a part that was written by a distinctive performer for himself.
One way round this is to oomph up the rest of the cast. Here, director Sally Reid is most successful with Marc Mackinnon as psychic caterpillar Honey. His scene-stealing performance, with background notes of Leigh Bowery, is a much-needed surprise element. Catriona Faint brings the much needed gallus as Hatter and does much of the show’s heavy lifting.
All the familiar Tron panto elements are present and correct. The digs at other theatres are deliciously waspish, especially McCarthy’s pain at not being cast in The Glass Menagerie at Dundee Rep.
And the sound of the cast singing ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ is the official starting pistol of Glasgow’s festive season.
A Tron panto is never not enjoyable, but this one feels just a little reheated.
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Gallus in Weegieland performs at the Tron Theatre until January 4, 2026.
Photo by Mihaela Bodlovic.
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