Review: Hen Night Horror | 2026 Scottish Tour - more outrageous than ever
Comedy horror musical Hen Night Horror returns for 2026 with a new Scottish tour and a new cast of unhinged hens. Read my review from the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow here.
Hen Night Horror ★★★★☆
Review: 29 October 2026 | Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow
A hit when it premiered in 2024, Fraser Boyle and Ali Cleland's outrageous comedy musical Hen Night Horror is back on Scottish tour this year with a new cast of deranged hens.
When bride-to-be Amanda Macnamee (Jennifer Neil) is whisked off to a remote cabin in the woods by her warring bridesmaids Lydia (Dani Heron) and Donna (Hannah Howie), they soon come to realise they are not alone.
As bridezilla Amanda tries to capture every Instagrammable moment on her phone, Lydia battles a burning cystitis infection and throws suspicious glances at Donna, who, for some reason, seems to suddenly be quite well off.
But their squabbles may need to be set aside because - as the first hilarious earworm jingle of a song informs us - "There's a w*nker in the woods!"
Written by panto legend Fraser Boyle and actor/director Ali Cleland, Hen Night Horror offers a unique combination of fast, crude Scottish humour and sparkling musical theatre numbers. It's so expertly crafted and sharply written. The comedy gets funnier, and the situations become more chaotic as the show goes on. By the end, the audience is gasping for breath.
Hen Night Horror does lean more towards being a preposterous comedy farce than a musical or a horror play - it's not scary in the slightest - but it entertains and shocks by squeezing the laughs out of every wild scenario. Please do note the 'adults only' warnings!
The cast are superb. For everyone familiar with Jennifer Neil as the princess from the Pavilion Theatre's annual Christmas pantomimes, prepare to have your mind blown! You won't have seen her like this before. She still belts out the showtunes with a fine, powerful voice, but she's brilliantly funny and brash as the stressed bride-to-be.
Dani Heron's facial expressions and comic timing are immaculate. Her crude antics and unfiltered comments had the audience in stitches. Meanwhile, the remarkable Hannah Howie, who is now performing in the final days of this Scottish tour heavily pregnant, never misses a beat of the choreography, kicks her legs impossibly high and still manages to deliver her trademark stunning vocals.
The new hens are supported by two original cast members: the glorious Alan Orr as Mr Jeffries, and West End theatre star Matthew McKenna as PC Walters. Both deliver excruciatingly funny performances that are perfectly pitched, with subtle reactions; they react seamlessly to the hens and to the audience.
Matthew McKenna's showstopping song towards the end of Act II is masterful. But to quote the title of that song or to say more about Orr and McKenna's roles in Hen Night Horror would spoil the surprises. Buckle up. You are not prepared.
Hen Night Horror is very rude but very good. There's nothing else like it on the Scottish theatre circuit. ★★★★☆
Hen Night Horror is at the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow until Saturday 31 October 2026
MORE: Read the full Hen Night Horror cast announcement here:
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