Alan Cumming’s Inaugural Season as Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre Announced

Alan Cumming’s inaugural season as Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre has been announced with a jam-packed programme of world premieres, musical revivals, Scottish premieres, and festivals.

The season will open with the Scottish première of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical Once featuring the original Broadway creative team of director John Tiffany (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, West End and Broadway), choreographer Steven Hoggett (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night–Time, West End and Broadway), designer Bob Crowley (An American in Paris and The History Boys, Broadway and West End) and musical director Martin Lowe (War Horse, National Theatre). This will run from 23 May - 27 June.

From 13 June - 4 July, the award-winning actor Sally Reid will direct Adura Onashile (Medea, National Theatre of Scotland) and Sandy Grierson (Make it Happen, National Theatre of Scotland) in the world première of Inexperience, Scottish playwright Douglas Maxwell’s witty and heartfelt romantic new comedy about touch, memory, and the choices that shape a life.

Maureen Beattie (Deadwater Fell, ITV) leads the company in Lear, director Finn den Hertog’s (The Fifth Step, National Theatre of Scotland) bold new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, playing from 4 July - 1 August. Cast to also feature Forbes Masson (The High Life, BBC Scotland and Much Ado About Nothing, Theatre Royal Drury Lane).

Bill Buckhurst (Sister Act, West End) to direct the world première of Tony Winner Frances Ruffelle (Les Misérables), Sally George and Alan Cumming’s I Can Die Too, a concert-style play with music inspired by Cocteau’s La Voix Humaine. Co-produced with Lovechild Productions. Frances Ruffelle will feature in the production, which plays from 11 July - 2 August.

Alan Cumming and Shirley Henderson (The Girl from the North Country, Old Vic Theatre and West End) will reunite for a new production of A History of Paper. Written by Oliver Emanuel with music by Gareth Williams (creators of The 306 Trilogy, National Theatre of Scotland), the production will be directed by Dundee Rep Theatre’s award-winning Artistic Director Andrew Panton (The Glass Menagerie, Dundee Rep Theatre, Citizens Theatre, Royal Lyceum Theatre). The production will be presented as a co-production with Dundee Rep Theatre from 8 August - 12 September.

In August, Iain Heggie’s fearless and provocative play about parental care, Wiping My Mother’s Arse, to be revived for the first time since its original run at the Traverse Theatre in 2001. Production to be directed by Sam Hardie and will feature Scottish writer, director, and actor Johnny McKnight in its cast.

Alan Cumming to direct Simon Russell Beale (The Lehman Trilogy) and Fra Fee (Hawkeye, Disney+ ) in the world première of Martin Sherman’s (Bent) new play I’ll Be Seeing You, which tells the story of a young gay playwright writing a new play about the legendary pianist and singer Liberace. It will play from 12 September – 11 October.

Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton (Oh Mary! Broadway and West End) to direct the UK première of the new immersive musical CEILIDH. Written by the Scottish writing duo Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie (Noisemaker), the new musical will open the doors to one of the nation’s oldest and most loved traditions. It will run from 24 September until 17 October 2026.

David Harrower’s adaptation of Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, featuring Gayle Rankin (House of the Dragon) and directed by Vicky Featherstone, is set to visit the Theatre in early November.

The season will end with Olivier award-winning actor and director Maria Friedman (Merrily We Roll Along, Broadway) directing Alan Cumming as Henry Higgins in a new revival of Lerner and Loewe’s iconic musical My Fair Lady. This will play from 21 November until 31 December.

Further productions in the Theatre’s outdoor performance spaces will be announced in the coming months.

As well as an exciting line up of theatre productions, Pitlochry Festival Theatre will be staging new festival in January 2026 – Out in the Hills, a bold, inclusive celebration of LGBTQIA+ voices and creative expression which will feature Ian McKellen, Graham Norton, Alan Cumming and authors Val McDermid, Jackie Kay and Armistead Maupin (16–18 January) and will also see the return of the Theatre’s annual literature festival Winter Words (12–15 February).

For further information visit pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com.