Scotland's top theatre critics announce their nominations for coveted awards

Lærke Schjærff Engelbrecht in What I’m Here For | contributed

The curtain has raised on the shortlist for the coveted 2026 Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland.

Leading the list are two productions with five norminations each. What I’m Here For, a bi-lingual production in English and Danish from Glasgow-based Vanishing Point and Denmark’s Teatre Katapult, charted the intense pressure on nurses in modern, understaffed hospital wards, featuring a lead character (Flora) who relives a chaotic night shift. The production was described by The Scotsman’s Joyce McMillan as an “enthralling brief tone poem of a theatrical piece”.

Lærke Schjærff Engelbrecht, who played Flora, becomes the first international performer to be nominated for an Outstanding Performance.

The production leads the board with Karine Polwart’s Windblown, the musician’s “hauntingly beautiful” tribute to a palm tree facing its demise told through folk music, conjured sound, intimate stroytelling and immersive visuals. The show stunned audiences at the Lyceum as the fate of Sabal palm was traced on its journey from Bermuda to Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden.

Karine Polwart in Windblown | contributed

Karine Polwart is nominated for Outstanding Performance. The show was produced by Raw Material, with the company earning nine nominations across three productions, including Stewart Laing’s St Joan - co-produced with Perth Theatre and Aberdeen Performing Arts - and Wallace.

Meanwhile, The National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) has seven nominations for shows including The High Life: The Musical, based on the classic TV series and brought to the stage by Alan Cumming, Forbes Masson and Johnny McKnight. It was co-produced with Dundee Rep in association with Aberdeen Performing Arts and Capital Theatres.

The High Life: The Musical is up for a raft of awards | contributed

The Citizens Theatre has scooped six nominations for productions, including three for Waiting for Godot, which was co-produced with Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse & Octagon Theatre Bolton.

The eight nominees for the Outstanding Performance awards include Johnny McKnight’s one-man homage to the pantomime dame in both She’s Behind You! - co-produced by Traverse Theatre and NTS - and Robert Jack’s villainous Sheriff of Stirling-Stella-Ham in Weans in the Woods, which was staged at Macroberts Art Centre in Stirling.

Previous winners Jessica Harwdwick and Sandy Grierson are nominated once again for Outstanding Performance for Jess Brodie’s monodrama, GUSH (Traverse Theatre), and Fred Goodwin in Make it Happen (NTS, Dundee Rep Theatre and Edinburgh International Festival) respectively.

Sam Stopford receives a nomination in the category for Mephistopheles (Doctor Faustus at Bard in the Botanics) and Mandipa Kabanda is recognised for the title role in Saint Joan (Raw Material with the Citizens Theatre).

The four pieces shortlisted for the Best New Play Award are Milly Sweeney’s Water Colour (Pitlochry Festival Theatre with the Byre Theatre St Andrews), Frances Poet’s Stand & Deliver: The Lee Jeans Sit-In (National Theatre of Scotland with the Tron Theatre,Glasgow); Sean O’Neil’s Fish (A Play A Pie and a Pint) and Karine Polwart’s Windblown (Raw Material).

In the frame this for the supreme award of Best Production are She’s Behind You!, The High Life: The Musical, Waiting for Godot and Windblown

CATS co-convenor Joyce McMillan said: “This has been another bumper year for theatre produced in Scotland, with almost 140 productions eligible for the awards including 96 new plays. Greater funding certainty than in recent years, for many companies, has led to a real surge in energy and confidence during the year; and as ever, It is a testament to the creativity, ambition and determination of Scottish theatre makers that we had so many varied and exciting shows to consider, from such a wide range of companies and artists.”

The 2026 ceremony will be held in the newly refurbished Citizens Theatre - a “vital part of the Scottish Theatre community”, Ms McMillan said.