A landmark season for Aberdeen Performing Arts has been unveiled today, with the arts charity marking a special 10th edition of their flagship crime writing festival Granite Noir and a milestone of 120 years since the opening of their iconic venue, His Majesty’s Theatre coming up in 2026.
Queens of Crime Denise Mina and Val McDermid will headline Granite Noir at the Music Hall on Friday, February 20, while Shetland: A Celebration will mark a decade of dramatic mysteries with legendary author Ann Cleeves joined by special guests at the Music Hall on Saturday, February 21.
The full programme will be announced soon.
2026 will mark 120 years since His Majesty’s Theatre opened its doors, and it has been setting the stage for Aberdeen’s cultural offering ever since.
In this special anniversary year, Aberdeen Performing Arts is putting His Majesty’s Theatre in the spotlight and celebrating its past, present and future, with further details to be announced soon.
A spectacular end to 2026 is promised with the newly announced 2026/27 HMT pantomime, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, from Sat November 28 2026 to Sunday, January 3, 2027.
The anniversary celebrations continue as legendary musical Jersey Boys will return for its 20th anniversary tour in October 2026, while other newly announced shows weave a tartan thread through the programme with National Theatre of Scotland’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at HMT from Thursday, October 29 to Saturday, October 31, Tony Roper’s Scottish classic The Steamie visiting from Tuesday, September 29 to Saturday, October 3 and an homage to the most loved boyband of the seventies, The Bay City Rollers, when Rollers Forever comes to Aberdeen from Wednesday, October 21 to Saturday, October 24.
Aberdeen Performing Arts Director of Programming and Creative Projects, Ben Torrie, said: “With so many reasons to celebrate in 2026 we always knew it would be a special year,
but it’s shaping up to be a spectacular season. There is nothing we love more than an auditorium full of laughs, songs, stories and shared moments for our audiences and there will be plenty of opportunities to join us for all that and more with this coming season.”
Celebrate two of Scotland’s most beloved authors, Denise Mina and Val McDermid at their Granite Noir headline event, Queens of Crime. They both explore important issues in their work while always delivering top-class stories full of mystery and suspense. Two brilliant writers with many strings to their bows – expect great chats, big laughs and much more on the night.
As Granite Noir celebrates its 10th anniversary, the festival joins forces with another great crime institution marking a decade of dramatic mysteries. The BBC TV series ‘Shetland’ broadcasts its 10th season from November 2025 and this event will welcome legendary author Ann Cleeves and special guests to share the story and mark the publication of ‘The Killing Stones’.
Enter a world of wonder at Aberdeen’s home of pantomime, as the magical Goldilocks and the Three Bears come to His Majesty’s Theatre!
For five weeks only, the Theatre will transform into a sensational circus packed with riotous comedy, extraordinary special effects, hair-raising stunts and international acts where anything could (and will) happen.
The original musical sensation Jersey Boys returns for its celebratory 20th Anniversary tour.
Go behind the music and inside the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons in the true-life phenomenon, Jersey Boys. From the streets of New Jersey to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this is the musical that’s too good to be true.
They were just four guys from Jersey, until they sang their very first note. They had a sound nobody had ever heard… and the radio just couldn’t get enough of. But while their harmonies were perfect on stage, off stage it was a very different story -- a story that has made them an international sensation all over again. The show features all their hits, including Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like A Man, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Beggin’, Oh What a Night and more.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a National Theatre of Scotland production in association with the Lyceum Theatre and Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
Witty, seductive and swirling in contradictions, Brodie’s mythical ability to invent her own truths and manipulate her girls ultimately leads her to risk everything.
Step inside a 1950’s Glasgow washhouse on Hogmanay with Tony Roper’s The Steamie, where the water’s hot and the gossip’s even hotter. Magrit, Dolly, Doreen and Mrs Culfeathers share laughter, secrets and dreams while tackling the final wash of the year.
With songs by David Anderson, this Scottish classic fizzes with patter, pride and plenty of laughs, a joyful celebration of friendship and the heart of working class life.
Live, laugh, love with the greatest boyband of the seventies in Rollers Forever.
When two old friends meet at a haunt from their youth they relive their exciting teenage years in the poptastic seventies. Clothes, boys music and all play a big part in their coming of age at a time of phone boxes, mail order catalogues and crispy pancakes. Every adventure is soundtracked by a hit from the greatest boyband of them all – The Bay City Rollers. And meeting their pop idols becomes the most important thing in their lives.
You can view the new Spring brochure here: https://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/brochures/
Tickets are on sale to Friends of Aberdeen Performing Arts on Thursday, November 20, and on general sale on Tuesday, November 25, available from www.aberdeenperformingarts.com, phone (01224) 641122 or visit the box office at His Majesty’s Theatre or the Music Hall.