A Giant on the Bridge (PID405)

2.30pm – 4pm GMT, 26 October 2026 ‐ 1 hour 30 mins

Room: Hall 1A (Level 1)

Plenary Session

In this session, Fergus McNeill, Jo Collinson Scott (aka Jo Mango) and Louis Abbott (Admiral Fallow) will present and perform a unique version of ‘A Giant on the Bridge’; an award-winning piece of gig-theatre that combines songs and narratives in a powerful and evocative representation of the challenges associated with reintegration after imprisonment. ‘Giant’ is one of the creative outputs of a multi-partner research project that Fergus led between 2017-21, called ‘Distant Voices: Coming Home’, funded primarily by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project, which involved colleagues in the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and the West of Scotland, as well as the Scottish arts organisation Vox Liminis, engaged with more than 150 people involved in some way with criminal justice in Scotland (including people in prison and under supervision in the community, prison staff and social workers, families affected by imprisonment, and victims of crime). We used creative methods – mainly collaborative songwriting -- to explore how they understood and experienced crime, punishment and reintegration, and to share we learned with a wide range of audiences. 
 

Awards and Nominations 

The Skinny/Fest Festival Awards - Collaboration Award  

The Scottish Theatre Awards on the Fringe supported by the Scottish Arts Club – Shortlisted  

International Fringe Encore Series – Finalist  

Five Stars ««««« 

A Giant on the Bridge - Edinburgh Festivals Magazine (edfestmag.com) 

Rae Stewart 

“The musicians’ exceptional talent adds depth to the experience, with every note and lyric resonating deeply and lingering in the minds of the audience long after the curtain falls…a breathtaking piece of theatre” 

Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 – A Giant on the Bridge – Corr Blimey 

Marina Funcasta, 16 August 2024 

A GIANT ON THE BRIDGE - REVIEW - EDINBURGH FRINGE (lostintheatreland.co.uk)  

“The music is enchantingly beautiful… A Giant on the Bridge is a captivating piece of theatre... A work of art, and utterly charming.” 

Four Stars «««« 

A Giant on the Bridge review at Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh (thestage.co.uk)  

Fergus Morgan, 4 August 2024 

“…there could not be more heart or humanity. A Giant on the Bridge brims with both.” 

A Giant on the Bridge: 4 star review by Lisa Simonis (broadwaybaby.com)  

Lisa Simonis, 18 August 2024 

“provides a voice to those who have navigated or are navigating this journey, while also offering the audience a profound education on a very real issue.” 

A Giant On The Bridge music review: Rock with a message | News & Features - The List 

Sean Greenhorn, 20 August 2024 

Edinburgh Fringe review: A Giant On the Bridge @ Assembly Roxy - The Skinny 

Tallah Brash, 14 August 2024 

“a formidable piece of gig theatre…part fairy tale, part home truth” 

Review: A Giant on the Bridge, Fringe 2024 - Edinburgh Reviews (edinburgh-reviews.co.uk)  

A Giant On The Bridge – The Wee Review | Scotland’s arts and culture magazine  

Claire Wood, 10 August 2024 

“a beautifully executed, beautifully lit (Andrew Gannon) piece of theatre” 

Edinburgh Review: A Giant on the Bridge at Assembly Roxy - Theatre Weekly 

Sass MacDonald, 11 August 2024 

“This story could break your heart. It takes the audience to places where, thankfully, most of us have never been and shows the effects that our justice system has on so many people.” 

Mickey-Jo Theatre  

@mickeyjotheatre • 58. A GIANT ON THE BRIDGE (Assembly Roxy) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • Threads 

Speakers

Fergus McNeill

Professor of Criminology and Social Work, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

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Jo Mango

Singer-songwriter/Multi-instrumentalist, Scotland

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Louis Abbott

Multi-instrumentalist and Singer, Scotland

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Fergus McNeill

Professor of Criminology and Social Work, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

Fergus McNeill is Professor of Criminology and Social Work at the University of Glasgow. Prior to becoming an academic in 1998, Fergus worked for a decade in residential drug rehabilitation and as a criminal justice social worker. His research projects and publications have focused mainly on institutions, cultures and practices of punishment, rehabilitation and reintegration. As well exploring how increasingly knowledge about desistance from crime might re-shape rehabilitation and reintegration (both within and beyond criminal justice), Fergus’s work has increasingly used creative and ethnographic methods to better understand how criminal justice is experienced, both by those subject to it and by those whose job is to try to realise it in practice. From January 2026-December 2030, Fergus is leading a major 5-year study, funded by the European Research Council’s Advanced Grants scheme, of ‘Rehabilitation and Reintegration in Europe’ (RaRiE), working with colleagues in the Universities of Leiden (Miranda Boone and Hilde Wermink) and Oslo (Thomas Ugelvik).

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Jo Mango

Singer-songwriter/Multi-instrumentalist, Scotland

Jo Mango is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Glasgow. She has performed/worked internationally, including at iconic venues such as the Carnegie Hall in New York and the Barbican in London, alongside artists including David Byrne (The Talking Heads), Midge Ure, Eddi Reader and Emili Sande, and written songs with bands including Teenage Fanclub. Her theatre work includes co-devising award-winning gig theatre piece A Giant on the Bridge and writing songs for the National Theatre of Scotland's latest installation piece 100 Voices, which explores care experience (now installing at the Scottish Parliament building). She also works as a Reader in Music at the University of the West of Scotland under the name Dr Jo Collinson Scott, researching the role of songwriting in helping us understand (and change) societal responses to big challenges, including in criminal, climate and health justice systems.

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Louis Abbott

Multi-instrumentalist and Singer, Scotland

Louis Linklater Abbott is a multi-instrumentalist and singer based in Glasgow. He is the songwriter for chamber-pop band, Admiral Fallow, who have released five albums to critical acclaim and have toured extensively throughout the UK, Europe, North America and Australia since their formation in 2007. Louis also works as a session musician, drummer, engineer and producer, and hascollaborated with some of Scotland's finest contemporary musicians and singers including: Camera Obscura, Eddi Reader, King Creosote, Rachel Sermanni, Karine Polwart, Kris Drever and Jo Mango.