Get ready for Nessie the Musical: Show inspired by hunt for Loch Ness Monster to be launched in 2025

Nessie expected to explore issues around over-tourism and climate change

It is the mythical Scottish creature that has brought visitors in their droves to the heart of the Highlands for almost 100 years.

Now the enduring search for the Loch Ness Monster is set to inspire its own stage show – after a nationwide hunt to unearth “great new Scottish musicals” for international stages.

However Nessie, which has been created by writer, composer and musical director Shonagh Murray, is expected to explore the impact of over-tourism, over-development and climate change on the landscape and the loch's inhabitants.

A new musical inspired by the hunt for the Loch Ness Monster will be launched in Edinburgh and Pitlochry in 2025. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

It will be launched in Edinburgh and Pitlochry next year after being commissioned following a four-year selection process.

The show will be set in the fictional town of Bruachness, on the banks of Loch Ness, which is reputed to be the best location for monster-spotting, but is under increasing pressure from tourism numbers, the impact of climate change and plans for a hydro plant development.

The story unfolds after Mara, a young local girl said to have “a passion for nature,” becomes the first person to meet the monster, whose real name is actually Nessa. They join forces to try to secure the future of the loch and its inhabitants.

Originally from Larkhall, in Lanarkshire, Murray studied at Strathclyde University and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, before founding the theatre company Fearless Players in 2018 with writer and director Lydia Davidson. Their productions have included two musicals by Murray which were inspired by the life and legacy of the poet Robert Burns.

A new musical inspired by the hunt for the Loch Ness Monster will be launched in Edinburgh and Pitlochry in 2025. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Nessie was one of three musicals shortlisted after a hunt to find new work to bring to the stage of Pitlochry Festival Theatre and the Festival Theatre Studio in Edinburgh under a joint “Musicals Commissioning Hub” launched in 2020 to help develop new Scottish musical talent.

A panel of industry experts involved in the selection process included singers Barbara Dickson and Ricky Ross, playwright David Greig, theatre-maker Robert Softley Gale, theatre producer Kenny Wax and composer Howard Goodall.

Nessie has been announced as the winner as Capital Theatres, who run the Festival Theatre, and Pitlochry Festival Theatre, launched the hunt for their second new musical, which Hamilton stars Charles Simmons and Emilie Israel, singer and actress Clare Grogan, and theatre producers Margaret-Anne O’Donnell and Gill Garrity will help select.

Murray, who has previously worked with the Ayr Gaiety and Dundee Rep theatres, describes Nessie as “a Scottish myth re-imagined“ and “a story of friendship, danger and of fins, but more importantly of following your heart.”

Shonagh Murray is developing 'Nessie' with the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh and PItlochry Festival Theatre.

She told The Scotsman: “Nessie has been a real treasure of a piece to write so I’m absolutely buzzing that we’ll soon be able to share Mara and Nessa’s journey, and the world of Loch Ness.

"Since the first song was written, it has grown and developed supported by the brilliant Tania Azevedo (director & dramaturg) and the teams at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Capital Theatres, so I’m very grateful for the New Musical Commissioning Hub giving ‘Nessie’ this opportunity.

“I hope this musical retelling of our famous myth will bring the same joy to audiences that it has brought me when writing it.”