Theatre
Other theatre includes:
Babes in the Wood with Alan Cumming at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, in 1987.
The Breathing House (Gilbert) by Peter Arnott; Art (Yvan) by Yasmina Reza, directed by Kenny Ireland; Stiff! (George Mathieson), directed by Caroline Hall; Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick), his first professional Shakespearean role; at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh (1997). [7]
Endgame by Samuel Beckett (Clov), The Trick is to Keep Breathing by Janice Galloway(Dr Green), Dumbstruck by David Kane (Herman Katz), The Real Wurld by Michel Tremblay (Claude), all directed by Michael Boyd Cinzano by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya (Pasha) (directed by Roman Kozak): Tron Theatre Glasgow.
Laurel and Hardy (Stan Laurel): Assembly Edinburgh/Wellington Festival NZ.
The Life of Stuff (Fraser) by Simon Donald: Donmar Warehouse, London.
Loose Ends (Callum), Wormwood (Artemis): Traverse Theatre Edinburgh.
He also appeared as Fool to Pete Postlethwaite's King Lear , directed by Rupert Goold at The Everyman Theatre in Liverpool Autumn 2008 and the Young Vic in early 2009 with Headlong Theatre.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Mr. Tumnus) at Threesixty Theatre in Kensington Gardens, directed by Rupert Goold and Michael Fentiman, music by Adam Cork.
In Macbeth at Trafalgar Theatre, Whitehall, London, Forbes played Banquo to James McAvoy's Macbeth directed by Jamie Lloyd.
In 2014 he played Hastings in Richard III also at Trafalgar Transformed, directed by Jamie Lloyd, with Martin Freeman in the title role.
He worked with James McAvoy again, playing a total of seven different characters, in the revival of Peter Barnes's The Ruling Class directed by Jamie Lloyd for Trafalgar Transformed in early 2015.
In September 2015, he starred alongside Simon Russell Beale, playing John Hunter in Ian Kelly's "Mr Foote's Other Leg", at the Hampstead Theatre. It had a limited West End run at Theatre Royal Haymarket until early 2016.
He played Lucifer to Kit Harington's Faustus and Jenna Russell's Mephistopheles in Jamie Lloyd's production of Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus at the Duke of York's Theatre, London
In the summer of 2016, he played Peter Quince with Phill Jupitus as Bottom in Laurence Boswell's production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream at Theatre Royal, Bath.
In Autumn 2016, he portrayed Lenin in Tom Stoppard's Travesties with Tom Hollander at the Menier Chocolate Factory and at the Apollo Theatre when the play transferred to the West End in early 2017. It was directed by Patrick Marber.
He played King Cunobeline alongside Gina McKee in Tristan Bernays' Boudica at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, directed by Eleanor Rhode in Autumn 2017
He appeared with Kelsey Grammer, as Circus Owner, Amos Calloway and various other comic characters in Nigel Harman's production of Andrew Lippa and John August's musical Big Fish at The Other Palace, in Dec 2017
In early 2018 he played both Dr John Buchanan Snr. and Rev Winemillar in Rebecca Frecknall's critically acclaimed production of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke at the Almeida Theatre, Islington
In the summer of 2018 he played flower shop owner, Mr Mushnik, alongside Marc Antolin, Jemima Rooper, Matt Willis and Vicky Vox in Maria Aberg's five star revival of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's musical Little Shop of Horrors at The Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.
In the autumn of 2018 Summer and Smoke will have a West End transfer to The Duke of York's Theatre, London.
In January 2024, he took the role of Gabriel John Utterson in Jekyll & Hyde , Gary McNair's adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella for solo performance, at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. [8]
Writing
Masson has written and composed a series of critically acclaimed Scottish musicals; Stiff!, Mince and Pants. [1] He directed the semi-autobiographical Mince with The Dundee Rep Theatre Ensemble, and it was nominated for best musical in The Barclays TMA Awards in 2001.
At the Tron Theatre, Glasgow from 2001 to 2005 his alternative Christmas Pantomimes including Aladdie and Weans in the Wood were hugely successful. It was at the Tron Theatre where he first worked with Michael Boyd. Masson wrote segments for Michael Boyd's Pilate Project at The Other Place, and devised the promenade piece " At home with Feste" for RSC
His one act comedy musical Crackers premiered at The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in December 2011, directed by Michael Fentiman. [9]
He has also worked with Gordon Dougall's Sounds of Progress music theatre company (renamed Limelight in 2010), promoting disability inclusion in the Arts. Dougall was the musical director for the Forbes Masson shows Crackers, Stiff! and Mince. [10]
RSC
Masson is an Artistic Associate with the RSC and was in the Royal Shakespeare Company acting ensemble from 2003 to 2011. His roles included Horatio to Toby Stephens' Hamlet in 2004, [11] and Feste in Twelfth Night in 2005. Both productions were directed by then RSC Artistic Director Michael Boyd. He also played Porter in Dominic Cooke's Macbeth and Dromio of Ephesus in Nancy Meckler's Comedy of Errors . He played Judas in Pilate Project. He performed in Boyd's critically acclaimed Histories cycle in Stratford-Upon-Avon and at The Roundhouse, Camden, in 2006–2008. His roles in the cycle included Bagot in Richard II , [12] Rumour in Henry IV, Part Two , Chorus in Henry V and King Edward IV in Henry VI and Richard III . In 2009 he played Samson in Boyd's production of The Grain Store. He played Romeo opposite Kathryn Hunter's Juliet in Ben Power's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet called Tender Thing . He played Merlin in Greg Doran's production of Mike Poulton's Morte d'Arthur . He played Gena in Ahasverus as directed by Michael Fentiman, at the Hampstead Theatre. He later appeared as Jacques in Boyd's As You Like It , and Friar Lawrence in Rupert Goold's production of Romeo and Juliet . Both plays came to the Roundhouse in Camden in late 2010. They played Park Avenue Armory in New York in summer 2011. In early 2014 he toured England and performed in Ohio State University as Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew directed by Michael Fentiman. In the summer of 2015 he played Bottom in the RSC/Garsington Opera Company co production of A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Owen Horsley. For winter 2019 he played Mr Hawtrey in the new musical The Boy in the Dress, based on the book by David Walliams, and will return for winter 2021 to play the Police Chief in the new musical The Magician's Elephant based on the book by Kate DiCamillo.
