Glasgow's Citizens Theatre has added Lifegame, Same Team, a Vanishing Point residency and the National Theatre of Scotland's The Trick Is to Keep Breathing to its January to June 2027 programme.
The Citizens Theatre has announced a further set of shows for January to June 2027. The announcement comes days after the theatre was named Great British Theatre 2026 at the first Great British Theatres Awards, where it also took the Great Renovation Award.
Most of the new work is in the Studio Theatre: a winter residency, an improvised show, a family piece, a play about a boxer and a play about street football. One new production joins the Main Theatre in May. The Gorbals building reopened in August 2025 after seven years closed.
The Trick Is to Keep Breathing
The National Theatre of Scotland stages a new production of Janice Galloway's 1989 novel The Trick Is to Keep Breathing, in Michael Boyd's adaptation, which was first produced in 1995. Caroline Hall directs. Three actors share the central role of Joy, a woman finding her way through grief. It runs in the Main Theatre from Wednesday 19 to Saturday 29 May 2027, as part of the National Theatre of Scotland's 2027 season.
Vanishing Point residency
Vanishing Point returns for a second winter residency at the Citz from 26 January to 6 February 2027. The company is curating more than ten events: performances, works in progress, readings, conversations and workshops, for established and emerging artists and for audiences.
Lifegame
Improbable and Good Chance bring Keith Johnstone's Lifegame to the Studio on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 February 2027. Each night, one audience member's life story becomes the material for improvised scenes, songs and sketches, in a format that mixes improv with a chat show. The piece was first performed in 1998. This new version is the first collaboration between Improbable, whose credits include My Neighbour Totoro, and Good Chance, which made The Jungle. The Glasgow dates come before a tour planned for later in 2027.
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Exeter Northcott Theatre and Paddleboat Theatre Company present The Elves and the Shoemaker for families on Saturday 6 March 2027. It is an interactive show built from clowning, puppetry and a world in miniature.
Denied! The Story of Tom Molineaux
KT Producing presents Denied! The Story of Tom Molineaux on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 April 2027. Written and created by Garry A. Morris and inspired by real events, it follows Britain's first Black heavyweight boxing champion, told through beatboxing, live music, dance and poetry.
Same Team
Citz associate company Wonder Fools brings Same Team, by Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse, from Wednesday 19 to Saturday 22 May 2027. The play was made with women from Dundee Change Centre and Street Soccer Scotland. Five women train to represent Scotland at the world's biggest street football tournament, and the Studio is turned into a stadium for the occasion.
Cathy, and the festivals
The release also confirms Elaine C. Smith in Cathy, the comedy play that was a hit at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe, which runs at the Citz as part of the Glasgow International Comedy Festival (12-27 March 2027). We covered that run in full this morning. The building is also a Celtic Connections venue from 22 to 30 January, and hosts stand-up during the comedy festival; both programmes are already on sale.
Already announced for the Main Theatre
The new titles join the Main Theatre productions announced earlier for 2027: a 40th anniversary production of Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off; Dominic Hill's production of Death of a Salesman; the Olivier Award-winning Punch, which added Glasgow to its 2027 tour in October; and a new Guys and Dolls, co-produced by the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, the Citizens Theatre, Aberdeen Performing Arts, Eden Court Inverness and Dundee Rep Theatre.
Hill, the Citizens Theatre's artistic director, said: "Our Studio Theatre is particularly important to this vision, providing space for artists to take risks, explore new ideas and share work in development, while our Main Theatre continues to welcome major productions and stories on an ambitious scale."
All of the shows above run at the Citizens Theatre in the Gorbals, Glasgow. Tickets are sold through the theatre's own box office.
For more information, visit the official website.
