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Film and stage star Alan Cumming has announced his first season as Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre in Scotland.

The season begins in 2026 and coincides with the theatre’s 75th anniversary, marking a bold new chapter for the Highland venue.

The season will open with the Scottish première of the Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical Once, created by the original Broadway team, and conclude with Maria Friedman directing a new revival of My Fair Lady, with Cumming starring as Henry Higgins.

Other highlights include Maureen Beattie leading a striking new Lear, a fresh staging of A History of Paper with Cumming and Shirley Henderson, and a revival of Iain Heggie’s provocative Wiping My Mother’s Arse.

New writing sits at the heart of the programme, with world premières including Martin Sherman’s I’ll Be Seeing You, directed by Cumming and featuring Simon Russell Beale and Fra Fee; Douglas Maxwell’s Inexperience; and I Can Die Too, created by Frances Ruffelle, Sally George and Cumming. The UK première of immersive musical CEILIDH, directed by Tony Award-winner Sam Pinkleton (Oh, Mary!), will also feature, alongside a visit from the National Theatre of Scotland’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Gayle Rankin.

The year will also introduce Out in the Hills, a new festival celebrating LGBTQIA+ voices with guests including Ian McKellen, Graham Norton, Val McDermid and Armistead Maupin, as well as the return of the popular Winter Words literary festival.

Alan Cumming, Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre said today:

“My first season of programmed work as Artistic Director in 2026 also happens to be the 75th anniversary of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s founding by a man named John Stewart, who came here during the Second World War and made a promise to himself that he would return and build a theatre.  

I have found I have a great affinity with John: we both came to Pitlochry and were mesmerised, we both share a belief in dreaming big and the power of positivity and manifestation. And for my first season, just as he did in 1951, I have invited people here who I admire and love, and who have been part of the theatrical journey that led me to becoming this theatre’s Artistic Director.

The potential of Pitlochry Festival Theatre is boundless and we have a passionate and proud staff who are ready to share the adventure ahead with me. And so, in 2026 I hope you’ll join us all for a season of work that is a homage to John Stewart’s legacy and spirit: one of boldness, of daring, and of manifesting a dream.

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Main photo: Alan Cumming at Pitlochry Festival Theatre - Photo Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.

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