Review: Òran Mór summer panto 2026, Big Bad Riding Hood

Òran Mór's summer panto, Big Bad Riding Hood, is now playing lunchtimes in Glasgow until 19th July. Read my review below.

Big Bad Riding Hood ★★★☆☆

Review: 03 July 2026 | Òran Mór, Glasgow

The annual Òran Mór, adults-only, summer panto is back. Produced by the team behind A Play, A Pie and A Pint, Big Bad Riding Hood brings all the traditional Scottish Christmas panto shenanigans to Glasgow lunchtimes this July.

Written and directed by award-winning writer Gary McNair, with music by acclaimed actor/musician Brian James O’Sullivan, Big Bad Riding Hood transports us to Pantoland during a wet summer, where Gran (George Drennan) is under pressure to sell her house to a mysterious developer. Aided by her grandsons Peter and Boy (Jamie Marie Leary), faithful dog Slasher (Tyler Collins), and her angry vaping sheep Baz (Jo Freer), Gran also has to prepare for a visit from her granddaughter, Little Red, while keeping her flock safe from a wolf that's rumoured to be prowling the area.

In true Glasgow panto style, this year's Òran Mór summer spectacle is full of fun, audience participation, a story rooted in familiar fairy tales, and a bucket-load of epic swearing.

Putting on a one-hour pantomime for adults, at lunchtime, for a budget that includes food and drink for just over £20 a ticket, is an almost impossible task, and the team at Òran Mór have worked miracles to deliver an entertaining, wonderfully wacky hour of light-hearted Scottish comedy.

The talented cast of five, which also includes Cole Stewart, all play multiple roles. (Apart from George Drennan, who remains in Gran's lovely plaid dress throughout.) Fraser Lappin's bright, imaginative costume and playful set designs bring the show to life, while Chris Reilly's creative lighting adds pleasing drama.

George Drennan's Panto Dame Gran is wonderful

All pantomimes live or die on the strength of their dame, and thankfully, Big Bad Riding Hood is in safe hands with the brilliant George Drennan fronting the show. The best parts of any pantomime are when the cast ad-lib, tease each other, get things wrong, and break the fourth wall, drawing the audience into the chaos. George Drennan is a natural at this; his Gran not only looks the part of a little old West End lady, but she's kind, caring and effortlessly hilarious. A superb Dame that could hold her own against the greats such as Allan Stewart, Johnny McKnight and Fraser Boyle.

There's a lot going on in Gary McNair's story for a one-hour show, and not all of the threads or jokes are as successful as others, but it's a fast-paced, wild ride of a production that delivers non-stop fun from beginning to end. McNair knows the Scottish audience well, and he doesn't hold back with the cheekiness or the onslaught of bad language that flows naturally from every creature in this Pantoland. There are more than a few genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Jo Freer's Fox News and gallus sheep Baz are brilliant, although I would've liked to have seen more of her, and Tyler Collin's villain character - The Three Little Pricks - is the stuff of nightmares. His voice work, as always, is magnificent.

Brian James O'Sullivan's original songs are the perfect accompaniment to McNair's intelligent script. A lively variety of styles, all perfectly fitted to the storyline, and all performed with incredible enthusiasm for a 12 noon, early daytime show!

If you don't like pantomime, then Big Bad Riding Hood will not be for you. The creative team at Òran Mór have managed to tick all the panto boxes in their 60-minute summer production. "Oh no, he isn't"! "He's behind you" and the infamous sing-along at the end are all present and very unpolitically correct. ★★★☆☆

Big Bad Riding Hood plays at Òran Mór, Glasgow until 19th July.