A Stag Named Angus
★★★★☆ Sharp
Magnusson Theatre: Sat 25 – Mon 27 July 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson.
A Stag Named Angus at the Magnusson Centre is a cheerfully daft, deceptively clever slice of summer pantomime that boasts a wonderful cast.
Written and directed by Corinne V. Davies, the play features English couple Hollie and Rob Whitely. Their intention to move into a towering pile in the Scottish countryside is threatened by housekeeper Aggie, whose obsessively proprietorial interest in the house goes back years. Cue a campaign of invasion of personal space, intermediate clapping classes and Andrew Lloyd Webber-worship by Aggie and her helpers, designed to unsettle the newly-weds.
Declan Anderson and Honor Dobbie. Pic Corinne V. Davies.
It’s a funny and energetic (if overlong) piece, full of sharply observed humour, smart characterisation and panto-style innuendo and fourth-wall breaking. The play was originally staged over two decades ago but has clearly been hugely overhauled, with plenty of recent references, although there are a couple of elements that might benefit from some more updating.
Sian Fiddimore’s Aggie anchors the whole production with a beautifully-judged comic performance, combining glee, spite and unfathomable self-righteousness. Declan Anderson and Honor Dobbie play the Whitelys with just the right degree of upright befuddledness; Anderson’s uptight passivity is an excellent foil for Dobbie’s more expansive, extremely creditable performance. Michael Reddington’s Murray is another striking comic characterisation. The excellent Charlotte Dickson plays two roles, with Post Office employee Ishbel being especially funny.
exceptionally talented cast
Aggie’s helpers are played by an exceptionally talented cast of younger actors. Oliver Dobbie, as Aggie’s son Kyle, displays a real presence and a talent for physical comedy, while Callum Connolly (Toke) is clearly a performer of real talent.
The other cast members – Katie McLeod, Erin Kempton, Rebecca Cowe, Freya Brown and Cara-Maria Fiddimore-McSorley – are also thoroughly impressive. There are probably too many different characters here for the play’s own good, as they do not all get enough to do, and could become difficult to distinguish. The sheer drive and spark of the performers, however, gives them all individuality. Kempton, in search of the perfect fake tan, and Fiddimore-McSorley, feeling left out because of her age, are particularly good, but all of the cast are very fine indeed.
Sian Fiddimore as Aggie, with members of the A Stag Named Angus cast. Pic: Corinne V. Davies
Davies’s direction is full of verve, with the more extreme elements being well integrated into the narrative. Notably good use is made of music, both pre-existing and supplied by Davies and by Oliver Dobbie. Naomi Hepburn and Davies provide the choreography, which is discharged with real flair by the cast. The care and imagination on display extends to the pre-show announcements and the use of Stewart Dobbie and Isla Htet-Khin’s sound and lighting. The curtain call, however, is one of those overly ambitious affairs and confuses the audience as much as it entrances them.
not strictly necessary
The production does outstay its welcome; over two and a half hours for a comedy is just too much. There are several scenes that are not strictly necessary, with a couple that seem to have come from another play altogether, and the play seems to be about to finish more than once before it actually does. It is at its strongest when it is most absurd; it is weakest when it feels the need to add too much backstory, exposition and explanation.
When it is good, however, it is very good. And luckily that is far more often than not.
Running time: Two hours and 35 minutes (including one interval).
Magnusson Theatre, Edinburgh Academy, 42 Henderson Row, EH3 5DW
Saturday 25 – Monday 27 July 2026
Daily at 7.30 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
The A Stag Named Angus company. Pic Corinne V. Davies
ENDS
