Gallus in Weegieland at Tron Theatre, Glasgow Review
Written by Kerry for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Tron Theatre’s Christmas panto Gallus in Weegieland follows Alice, the worst dancer in her ballet class. She decides to run away from home after failing to graduate. A chance meeting with Knavey, a rabbit-boy, Benson Boone type, persuades her to follow him to Weegieland, where she begins her metaphorical journey to find bravery, imagination and love.
Like always, Johnny McKnight’s script hits all the right notes, mixing both original songs and covers throughout. The characters don’t fall into the cookie-cutter stereotypes that happens too often in pantos. Since I grew up seeing pantos written by Johnny at other theatres, it’s nice to see there are some signature touches of his that go into all his shows, my personal favourite being the (apologies if I don’t get this exactly right), the ring-a-ding, ping-ting of true love.
But what takes the show to a whole other level is the cast, each shining like a fairy at the top of a tree, being able not just to bring the script to life but also to add comedic physicality to every moment possible. The star of the show, without question, is Louise McCarthy as Queenie, the first villain I’ve seen who barely got any boos the entire show. Her excessive red wardrobe and high kicks getting the biggest laughs of the night, whilst Marc Mackinnon’s psychic, Wicked-inspired colour-schemed Honey the Caterpillar, is a spark of pure joy, bouncing off every interaction with other characters.
What amplifies the panto is the set, in what can only be described as an electric maximalism aesthetic with hints of Beetlejuice and disco fever; even the pigeons are covered in disco ball tiles. Weegieland itself brought in elements of Glasgow town, Burberry knock offs and local twang accent in tow. The main issue I had with the production was the lighting- some quick changes became a little too jarring on the eyes due to the black and white backdrop. Besides this, however, Gallus in Weegieland is a fresh take on the pantomime, bringing it into the twenty-first century whilst still keeping the family experience at its heart.
Gallus in Weegieland plays at Tron Theatre Glasgow until 4 January 2026
★ ★ ★ ★
