Happy Days
★★★★★ Humane
Pitlochry Festival Theatre: Fri 18 Sept – Sat 10 Oct 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days is one of the touchstones of 20th century drama. Its striking staging may be its most famous aspect but it also boasts an unflinching yet sympathetic depiction of the tyranny of time, and of the bizarre unquenchability of human optimism in the face of extinction.
The star-led new production in the Studio at Pitlochry Festival Theatre is a thoroughly compelling and touching exploration of these themes, wonderfully staged and beautifully acted.
Siobhán Redmond and Forbes Masson in Happy Days. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
The unforgettable setting has Winnie (Siobhán Redmond) buried in a mound, fussing over a series of objects located in a bag beside her. The beginning and end of each day is signalled by the ringing of a bell, while there seem to be no other humans around, with the exception of her taciturn husband Willie (Forbes Masson), who occasionally surfaces.
Winnie’s monologue loops back on itself, revisiting the past and defiantly seeing hope in the future despite the apparent hopelessness of the situation.
One of the glories of the play is that (like many of Beckett’s works) it defies easy explanation. The irrepressibility of Winnie, the familiarity of the relationship, the suggestion of environmental collapse; all are in there, but so is much else besides. Quite what the point is of Winnie’s constant chattering into the oncoming void is never fully explained, but it’s all the more compelling and heart-rending for it.
a decidedly seasidey feel
In the recent climate, an obvious route into the play has been to stress the scorched-earth setting under the relentless sun. In this case, director Roxana Silbert and designer Emma Bailey have gone another way, with the huge pile that fills the Studio giving the sands of time a decidedly seasidey feel, emphasised by Hugh Barbour’s subtle sound design and Colin Grenfell’s intense lighting.
Siobhán Redmond and Forbes Masson in Happy Days. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
This is entirely in keeping with the hints of end-of-the-pier comics that reoccur so often in Beckett. While this production doesn’t make the common mistake of over-emphasising the comedy, it is definitely there, and tends to be of the seaside postcard variety.
Willie, meanwhile, functions largely as the stooge to Winnie’s stream of blether, which is performed brilliantly by Redmond.
It’s a ludicrously demanding role; essentially a 90-minute monologue with huge amounts of business to attend to, with at most only the top half of the body available. Redmond’s delivery is arresting, with wonderful variation, an exactness of gesture and a remarkable command. That so much can be conveyed just by the movement of the face is astonishing. This speaks volumes both for Redmond’s ability and the care of Silbert’s direction.
a grunting boorishness
Masson, meanwhile, has both a grunting boorishness and a touching childlike quality. There is certainly a recognisable and utterly human element to the relationship, magnified by the audience being in such close proximity in the confines of the Studio.
Sometimes productions of Beckett overdo the chillingly absurd grandeur in a way that can be forbidding, but this version is much more accessible.
Running time: One hour and 45 minutes (including one interval).
Festival Theatre (Studio), Port-na-craig Road, Pitlochry, PH16 5DR.
Friday 18 September – Saturday 10 October 2026.
Tues, Wed, Sat plus Fri 18, Thurs 24: 8pm; Matinees Wed – Sun (not Fri 18, Sat 19, Thurs 24): 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre website: www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com
Facebook: @pitlochryfestivaltheatre
Instagram: @pitlochryft
TikTok: @pitlochryft
Siobhán Redmond in Happy Days. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
ENDS
