Edinburgh Panto up for awards
“King’s” panto recognised at the UK Pantomime Awards
Jack and the Beanstalk, last Christmas’s King’s Panto (at the Festival Theatre) has received four nominations in the The UK Pantomime Association’s annual awards, in which two Edinburgh brothers are also up for the Best Sisters award.
The UK-wide awards are in their fifth year and are growing in recognition across the pantosphere. There are five nominations in each of 22 different categories, from Best Choreography to Best Pantomime over 950 seats. This year, Scottish pantomimes received a total of 18 nominations.
Nominees Allan Stewart (Best Dame) and Grant Stott (Best Villain) in Jack and the Beanstalk – the “King’s pantomime” at the Festival Theatre. Pic: Douglas Robertson.
Three of Jack and the Beanstalk’s nominations are for individuals. Grant Stott is up for Best Villain for his Fleshcreep. Allan Stewart is in contention for the Stanley Baxter Award for Best Dame for his Dame May McTrot. And lighting designer Rory Beaton is up for Best lighting.
The production, by Crossroads Pantomimes for Capital Theatres, is also nominated in the Best Pantomime over 950 seats category.
Them is Brothers
Edinburgh brothers Harrison and Leo MacNeill, are nominated for Best Sisters in Cinderella at Eastwood Park. Otherwise known as Them is Brothers, the pair’s Pantoland-set fringe show On the Run: Dame Over! Was a hit in 2022. They honed their sisters act at Portobello Town Hall’s Cinderella in 2023 and returned there for 2024’s Jack and the Beanstalk before last year’s trip to Giffnock.
Two further Scottish pantomimes received four nods each. The Macrobert Arts Centre Stirling production of Weans in the Woods is recognised for Stephanie MacDonald’s choreography, Helen McAlpine’s in the Best Comic category, Karen Tennent for Best Set and the whole piece is up for Best Pantomime under 550 seats.
Harrison & Leo MacNeill nominated as Best Sisters for their roles as Tik & Tok in Cinderella at Eastwood Park Theatre, Giffnock. Pic: www.gibsondigital.co.uk.
The Tron Glasgow’s Gallus in Weegieland is also up in four categories. Sally Reid is up for Best Director, Jessica Donnelly and Aidan MacColl for Best Ensemble, Kenny Miller for Best Set and Louise McCarthy for Best Villain.
The tiny King’s in Kirkcaldy is nominated twice for Oor Wee Mammy McGoose. Suzi Budd is up for Best Direction and Ross Forbes-Mackenzie is up for Best Secondary Lead.
Elsewhere, Eden Court Inverness’s Snow White is up for Best Pantomime (550 to 950 seats); Stuart Edgar is up for Best Secondary Lead in The Snow Queen at Perth Theatre; and Lewis Kerr is nominated for the Barbara Windsor Award for Best Principal Lead for his turn in Aladdie at the Gaiety Theatre, Ayr.
The winners will be announced at a “star-studded awards ceremony” on Sunday 19 April at Wycombe Swan in High Wycombe, staged in partnership with Trafalgar Entertainment and ATG Entertainment.
passion, hard work and extraordinary talent
Anita Harris, President of the UK Pantomime Association said: “In the 2025-26 pantomime season, our 64 judges travelled the length and breadth of the country, visiting 234 venues and seeing over 603 performances.
“It is a glorious privilege to witness the passion, hard work and extraordinary talent behind pantomime and the joy it brings to audiences. I’m so proud that The Pantomime Awards 2026 will celebrate this wonderful artform and their fifth anniversary at the Wycombe Swan in April.”
Founded in 2021, the UK Pantomime Association is a charity that explores, shares and celebrates pantomime by investigating the genre’s rich past, engaging with contemporary practice and inspiring the future.
Website: www.pantomimeassociation.co.uk/.
For full list of nominees, click here.
Rory Beaton is up for Best Lighting for Jack and the Beanstalk and the whole production is in contention for Best Pantomime (over 950 seats). Pic: Douglas Robertson.
ENDS
