Christmas Is Coming… Oh, no it’s not
Raw Material and Cumbernauld Theatre have revealed Forbes Masson’s ‘brilliantly bubbly’ Scottish panto, Aladdie, as their pantomime for Christmas 2026. The co-production, directed by Gordon Dougall, will run at Cumbernauld Theatre from Thursday 26 November to Thursday 24 December.
Originally created for the Tron Theatre, where it was praised for its sharp writing and original music, Aladdie will be newly reworked for Cumbernauld audiences, with Masson and Dougall collaborating once again.
Forbes Masson says, “Pantomime is often a child’s first experience of live theatre, so it has to be alive. It can’t be lazy. It has to have a proper story at its heart. If you get that right, the comedy can go anywhere. Aladdie is about a twenty-first century Scottish antihero finding his confidence in a world that feels stacked against him. Bringing it to Cumbernauld and working with Gordon again feels like exactly the right kind of creative mischief.”
The story: Aladdie is so poor he hasn’t even got a name. He’s just a laddie. He keeps cheery thanks to his best pal, Peely Wally, a ginormous singing pigeon, and together they work at the market in the magical town of Bubblenauld, a place not unlike Cumbernauld, only somewhat sillier, surprisingly soapier and supremely singalongsongier.
Bubblenauld is quite literally bubbly, with thousands of soap bubbles drifting from the old leaky washing machines in the legendary laundrette Manky Washing, run by Aladdie’s mum Widow Manky. But hard times have left her struggling to keep the place going. Enter nasty Uncle Rab Anazer, the richest and meanest creature in all of Bubblenauld. He wants to con Widow Manky out of her laundrette, knock it down and make himself even richer while everyone else grows more skint and miserable.
When Aladdie receives a miraculous visit from Magic Auntie Jeanie and her enchanted wishing powder, he finally has a chance to fight back, save the laundrette and maybe even win the heart of the gorgeous Lorna Sausage. But Rab Anazer has plenty of dastardly tricks up his sleeves and even magic might not be enough to stop him.
Raw Material’s executive producers, Gillian Garrity and Margaret-Anne O’Donnell comment, “We worked as ushers at the Tron Theatre back in the day when Forbes and Gordon were starring in the Tron Pantos so it’s a thrill to now be working with them to redevelop Aladdie for new audiences and we are doubly excited to be co-producing with the team at Cumbernauld Theatre, one of Scotland’s most vibrant and welcoming venues.”
Cumbernauld Theatre’s Interim CEO Patricia Stead adds, “Our fantastic panto audiences in 2025 have inspired us to transform Lanternhouse into pantoland once again in 2026. We’re excited to be co-producing Aladdie with Raw Material, whose track record in producing bold Scottish theatre speaks for itself, and to be working with the panto dream team of Forbes Masson and Gordon Dougall. There will be singing, dancing, magical storytelling, audience participation and plenty of laughter as Aladdie, Widow Manky and the gang open their laundrette in Cumbernauld.”
Tickets | General on sale 10 March HERE
