Heather Gourdie will play Gerda, with Lewis Kerr as Kai and Madeline Grieve in the title role, when Noisemaker’s festive musical The Snow Queen returns to Dundee Rep Theatre from 28 November to 30 December 2026.
Heather Gourdie, whose credits include Sorry, Isobel, leads Dundee Rep Theatre’s revival of The Snow Queen, the musical by Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie that the company first staged in 2018. The writing partnership, who work together as Noisemaker, also created Oor Wullie: The Musical, Ceilidh and Scots.
Lewis Kerr, a Best Principal nominee at the 2026 UK Pantomime Awards whose credits include Aladdie, plays Kai, and Madeline Grieve (Wallace) is the Snow Queen. Beth Marshall (Small Acts of Love) plays Oma, Liz Kettle (Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning) is Freya, and David Mara, whose stage work includes Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Make It Happen, takes the role of Sir Jeffrey.
Benjamin Almon Colley (CATS) doubles as Crow and Torbald, and Josh Fernandes (Running Wild) joins the ensemble. Two of the ten-strong company are making their professional debuts: Mizuki Shuzenji as Hallie, and Isabel Innes, who plays the Summer Princess alongside ensemble duties.
The show updates Hans Christian Andersen’s winter fable for a modern family audience. When Kai vanishes in the snow, Gerda heads north to bring him home, picking up a knight, a crow and a bandit along the way before her showdown with the Snow Queen – and discovering that the stories she has been told are not all to be trusted.
Emily Oulton directs. She was associate director on James Graham’s Make It Happen, staged by Dundee Rep Theatre with National Theatre of Scotland and Edinburgh International Festival, and on the multi-Olivier Award-winning West End production of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Joining her on the creative team are musical director Madeleine Baron, set and costume designer Emma Bailey, movement director Jane McMurtrie, lighting designer Emma Jones, sound designer Tom Penny and casting director Michael Howell, with Emily Winter as associate director.
Rehearsals get under way at the theatre this month. Previews are on Saturday 28 November 2026 and on 1-2 December 2026, press night is at 7pm on Thursday 3 December 2026, and the final performance is on Wednesday 30 December 2026. Tickets are on sale now from Dundee Rep Theatre.
The theatre is running a Christmas Appeal alongside the production: audiences can add a donation when they book for The Snow Queen, or give on its own, and each gift goes towards a free ticket for a local child who might otherwise miss out on a trip to the theatre this Christmas.
