The decision by Pitlochry Festival Theatre and its assorted producing partners not to allow critics to review brand new musical, Ceilidh, during its Pitlochry run is a strange and baffling affair. As already highlighted by Brian Ferguson in the Herald, the new show by Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie, aka Noisemaker, about Scotland’s ceilidh culture was originally announced to open in September on PFT’s main stage. A press night was set for October 1st. This was later moved without notice to Pitlochry Town Hall for an October run, with press invited on October 10th. London dates and a tour of Scotland’s cities follow.
For critics with an already packed schedule of theatre openings, the goalposts being shifted in such a way may have been irritating, but was manageable. Then came last week’s declaration that no reviews of Ceilidh would be allowed during its Pitlochry run. This was tempered by the offer to of an all expenses trip to London to review Ceilidh at Shoreditch Town Hall.
This decision by producers that include Trafalgar Theatre Productions to have a show being hyped for its celebration of Scottish culture shut out the country’s critical fraternity on its doorstep not only does a disservice to the critics. It also arguably short-changes the local audience who form much of PFT’s immediate constituency.
If the PFT run of Ceilidh had been advertised as previews, with reduced ticket prices as is standard, not having reviewers in would have been fine. At time of writing, however, the show is still being presented on the theatre’s website as a full Pitlochry Festival Theatre production, with full price forty quid tickets to go with it. While PFT state that audiences at Pitlochry Town Hall will still experience ‘all the heart, warmth, music and dancing of Ceilidh the Musical’, they admit that ‘it will not have many of the technical elements designed by the creative team.’
The problem is clearly one of scale. Given that venues on the tour include Barrowland in Glasgow and Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange, the show was never likely to fit in Pitlochry Town Hall. Once this was realised, to respond by locking out Scotland’s critical fraternity suggests that both they and Pitlochry audiences might be regarded as being treated as second-class citizens.
This isn’t the first time commercial producers have made such a call. Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre were forced into a similar situation last year with the Edinburgh run of new musical, One Day. Co-producers Melting Pot declared that, while Scottish newspapers could review the Edinburgh run, those writing for London based publications would not be allowed to review until what was then a hypothetical London run was ongoing.
Then there is Man to Man, which this month sees actress Tilda Swinto return to Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre where she first performed Manfred Karge’s play in 1987. While not a producing partner, the Traverse has decided that, while three Scotland based newspapers including the Herald are invited to review, all other critics have been asked to pay for tickets.
For those with no connection to Scottish theatre, much of the above might be considered absurd. Who are critics, after all, to expect free access to shows? And why is it such a big deal that we are not being granted that access?
Put simply, if any theatre spends a penny of Scottish taxpayers money on a show, it needs to be held to account. Not for the show to be dissed, but to be scrutinised, dissected, and, hopefully, to see work created by Scotland’s artists such as Noisemaker celebrated and praised. In not giving those attending Ceilidh in Pitlochry the opportunity to read about the show in Scotland based publications does everyone a disservice, including those making what may well be a very good production
To make sure such situations don’t happen again, external producers need to see venues such as PFT not as out of town try-out venues, but as creative powerhouses in their own right, with their own audiences to go with it. This has been the case at PFT for half a century.
It would help too if a code of conduct was drawn up between the Federation of Scottish Theatre, critics and producers regarding press access to shows. While situations such as those described each come with different sets of circumstances, setting down strict protocols would give a solid framework for any future negotiations regarding similar occurrences.
As far as Ceilidh is concerned, rather than paying for jollies to London for critics to see a show they were originally meant to be seeing in Pitlochry this weekend, Trafalgar and co would be better off reducing ticket prices for Ceilidh’s Pitlochry run to preview level. They should also be offering discounts to ticketholders who have already paid full whack for what is an almost sold out run.
Whatever happens, Pitlochry audiences will be watching a different version of the show to those seeing it in Shoreditch and elsewhere. Again, that’s fine, but instead of commercial operators trying to control the narrative, critics should be writing about both mixes of the play. At the moment, what should be a celebration of Scottish culture is instead seeing outside forces lead critics and audiences alike on a not so merry dance.
The Herald, October 8th 2026
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