The team behind the forthcoming Wax Fruit television series is bringing Glasgow’s rich history to life through an ambitious programme of creative collaborations spanning television, live performance, music, fashion and visual art.
Inspired by Guy McCrone’s acclaimed Wax Fruit trilogy, the project is building a vibrant cultural movement around Victorian Glasgow, placing the city’s heritage, creativity and pioneering spirit firmly in the spotlight. Public appetite is already proving strong, with the forthcoming Miss Cranston Afternoon Tea at Cuvée in Princes Square.
Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing 19th-century Glasgow, Wax Fruit follows the rise of the Moorhouse family as the city transforms into one of the great industrial powerhouses of the world. Alongside its sweeping family drama, the series shines a light on the remarkable women whose influence, ambition and resilience helped shape Glasgow’s identity.
That spirit sits at the heart of the project’s growing network of creative partnerships, which use contemporary performance and artistic interpretation to reimagine Glasgow’s past for modern audiences.
The Miss Cranston Afternoon Tea brings together an exceptional group of Scottish creatives, featuring actress Elle O’Hara as legendary entrepreneur Kate Cranston, couture designs by Eleanor Baker, a bespoke artistic hairpiece by stained-glass artist Alec Galloway using fragments of original Mackintosh stained glass. The music is curated by Gary Innes, founder of Hoolie in the Hydro, alongside acclaimed singer Frances Thorburn.
The event reflects Wax Fruit’s wider vision: to create an immersive cultural experience where television, music, fashion, design and visual art intersect to celebrate Glasgow’s extraordinary heritage.
Kate Cranston is a fitting figure for the project to champion. One of Scotland’s most influential businesswomen, she transformed Glasgow’s social scene through her celebrated tea rooms at a time when opportunities for women were limited. Her partnership with Charles Rennie Mackintosh helped define a new era of Scottish design, making her story a powerful symbol of the innovation, creativity and ambition that sit at the heart of Wax Fruit.
Sarah Purser, Executive Producer of the show said: “We want Wax Fruit to be more than a television series. We’re building a living, breathing cultural world around the story — one that celebrates Glasgow’s heritage through collaboration, creativity and imagination.
By bringing together artists, performers, musicians and designers, we can tell these stories in ways that feel vibrant, contemporary and deeply connected to the city itself. The response so far has been phenomenal and shows there is a real appetite for bold Glasgow stories told on a global stage.”
The sold-out Miss Cranston Afternoon Tea takes place at Cuvée, Princes Square, Glasgow, on Sunday 7 June which was Rennie Mackintosh’s birthdate in 1868. This event forms part of a wider programme of cultural collaborations surrounding the development of the Wax Fruit television series.
