The 2025 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland will debut a new award for Outstanding Pantomime.
CATS awards co-convenor Michael Cox said, "Scotland has long been considered the natural home of pantomime, from the early-20th-century music hall productions to the heyday of Stanley Baxter, Rikki Fulton, Jimmy Logan, Una McLean and Johnny Beattie, who then passed on the baton to acclaimed performers such as Elaine C Smith and the late Gerard Kelly and Andy Gray. And in recent times, writers and performers such as Forbes Masson and Johnny McKnight have further added to Scotland’s panto reputation by rethinking the artform for the 21st-century.
“Our new award recognises the breadth of talent that goes into making the perfect panto.”
The award will be sponsored by ice cream manufacturers Mackie's of Scotland, which, according to awards co-convenor Mark Brown, is "a Scottish company whose ice cream is so closely associated with a trip to the pantomime".
The 2025 Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland will be presented on the afternoon of Sunday 8 June at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. Tickets will be on sale from 1 May.