Review: Whaur's yer Wullie Shakespeare Noo? at A Play, A Pie and Pint, Òran Mór, Glasgow
A Play, A Pie and A Pint's Artistic Director Brian Logan presents his new play as part of the Autumn season at Òran Mór, Glasgow. Whaur's yer Wullie Shakespeare Noo? premieres in Glasgow this week before heading to Edinburgh and then Aberdeen. Read my review below
Whaur's yer Wullie Shakespeare noo? ★★★☆☆
Review: 1 October 2026 | Òran Mór, Glasgow
In 1750s Edinburgh, church authorities deemed the theatre "un-Christian" and actors the tools of the devil. So when a Presbyterian minister, the Reverend John Home, wrote and presented a stage play, the church condemned his work as sinful, opposed the premiere, and shamed the audience for compromising their faith.
Yet on opening night of the play 'Douglas', in December 1756, Edinburgh's Canongate Theatre was packed with the city's intellectual elite. The crowd received Home's work ecstatically, and the play was judged a triumph. So much so that one overexcited audience member was heard to cry out, "Whaur's yer Wullie Shakespeare noo?!"
The heckle was meant as patriotic praise, declaring the Scottish playwright superior to the English literary icon.
The play's success shocked the church, and it became a flashpoint for a culture (and pamphlet!) war. In his first play for over fifteen years, A Play, A Pie and A Pint's Artistic director, Brian Logan retells these events, where the conflict between the church and the theatre came to a head during the era of the Scottish Enlightenment. Logan writes and directs Whaur's yer Wullie Shakespeare noo? for A Play, A Pie and A Pint in a co-production with Aberdeen Performing Arts and Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre.
A playful tone and impressive energy
Performed in Scots language, Logan's play is bursting with interesting facts about this fascinating period of Scottish history. He directs his excellent cast (a superb Gavin Jon Wright as John Witherspoon, Kevin Lennon as Alexander Carlyle, Fraser Sivewright as the philosopher David Hume, and Lewie Watson as John Home) with a creative, contemporary flair that gives the piece a playful tone and an impressive energy that prevents it from becoming a pure history lecture.
The cast multi-role, switching between playing key figures from the Scottish Enlightenment and actors performing in Home's play Douglas. There are plenty of theatre jokes delivered with a knowing wink to the audience, and even a few pie references as befits the setting. It's all good-natured, high-spirited stuff and an accessible way to navigate the complex politics and morality debates of the period.
The plot does occasionally become overwhelmed by dense, info-heavy dialogue, and even as a native speaker, I found the rapid Scots delivery difficult to follow at times. Keeping track of the many various characters was also a challenge. But at the end of the show, thankfully, the audience were able to leave without bursting into flames, having watched these corrupting devils perform in the pie-filled den of iniquity that is the basement of Glasgow's Òran Mór.
John Home captivated the public imagination with his play Douglas and transformed theatre in Scotland forever. While Logan's ambitious new work may not achieve the same dizzying heights, it is a pleasingly educational and interesting story, with lots of sharp humour that landed well with the Glasgow lunchtime crowd. ★★★☆☆
Whaur's yer Wullie Shakespeare noo? plays at Òran Mór until Saturday 3 October and then transfers to Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Full details below.
Where to see Whaur's yer Wullie Shakespeare Noo?
Òran Mór, Glasgow, G12 8QX
Mon 28 September - Sat 3 October 2026, 1 pm
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, G12 8QX
Tue 6 - Sat 10 October 2026, 1 pm
The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, AB24 5AT
Tue 13 - Sat 17 October 2026, various times
Comments