Getting Along With Gran
★★★★☆ Enjoyable
North Edinburgh Arts: Tue 16 – Wed 17 Jun 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Getting Along With Gran, from Citadel Arts at North Edinburgh Arts for two days only, is a vibrant and thoroughly enjoyable piece of community-focused theatre.
The play is based on stories from members of the Social History Group from Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. These reminiscences were originally published in the book Windows To Our Past, and have been turned into a play by the Citadel Arts Playwriting group (Elaine Campbell, San Cassimally, Pamela Hanlon, Rhona McAdam, with additional material by Richard Peoples).
Mairi Jayne Weir and Laverne Edmonds in rehearsal. Getting Along with Gran. Pic: Liz Hare.
Citadel’s Social History Group (Pat Gilhooly, Bill and Greta McPhail, Cathie Umobi, David Norcliffe, Helen McRae, Winnie Burke, Liz Hiddleston, Karen Soso, Billy Fitzpatrick, Irene Muir and Anna Hutchison, under the guidance of tutor Jim Aitken) acted as consultants on the script.
The first thing that has to be said is that, despite coming from a variety of sources, the play hangs together beautifully. It is framed as the story of 11-year-old Em (Mairi Jayne Weir) who resents the presence of her grandmother (Laverne Edmonds), especially as it means Em has to share her bedroom with her younger sister. Gran also seems forgetful, mistaking Em for her mother, and keeps talking about the past.
performed with spirit and a light touch
But gradually Gran’s stories and those of her friends – whether concerning 60s schooldays, romance on Silverknowes beach, or the impact of Thatcherism, start to intrigue Em.
It’s touching and amusing, performed with spirit and a light touch. There’s a wonderfully natural feel to the relationship of grandmother and granddaughter, with Weir and Edmonds both very impressive.
Mairi Jayne Weir, Deborah Whyte, Laverne Edmonds and pupils from Granton Primary. Getting Along with Gran. Pic: Liz Hare.
They are backed up by Chelsea Grace, James Bryce and Deborah Whyte in a variety of roles (with Bryce’s tawse-wielding teacher particularly chilling) and by David Norcliffe as the school janitor he once really was. Helen McRae also appears as herself in a filmed excerpt.
There’s also a talented class of P4 pupils from Granton Primary, with some having speaking parts. The combination of Citadel actors, local people and school pupils gives the production a genuinely cross-generational feel as well as real air of community.
told with panache
Which is all very commendable, but such a mix doesn’t always make for cohesive drama. Here, however, it undoubtedly does. The various stories are told with panache, Mark Kydd’s direction has pace and ingenuity, and Roddy Simpson’s light and sound are extremely accomplished.
Mairi Jayne Weir, James Bryce and pupils from Granton Primary. Getting Along with Gran. Pic: Liz Hare.
There is considerable energy to much of it, notably a nightmare sequence incorporating Stewart Emm’s fish head masks.
Getting Along With Gran works on a number of levels. It’s a fun exercise in nostalgia, it’s a breezy and funny piece of accessible theatre, it’s an important platform for under-represented stories and politically charged experiences. And it succeeds as all of these.
Running time: 45 minutes (no interval)
North Edinburgh Arts, 12C MacMillan Square, Pennywell Road, EH4 4AB.
Tuesday 16 – Wednesday 17 June 2026
Daily at 1.30 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Window To Our Past is available to read online at www.culturematters.org.uk/
David Norcliffe and pupils from Granton Primary. Getting Along with Gran. Pic: Liz Hare.
ENDS
