"Holy shit! This was the instant response of one venerable theatre critic when Pitlochry Festival theatre sent round embargoed copies of the plan for Alan Cumming's inaugural season. The man himself sits back in the cavernous workshop behind the theatre building, dapper in a grey plaid suit. I loved that, he says gleefully. When the Hollywood star was announced as the new artistic director of Scotland's only major rural theatre last September, there was widespread shock not least that Cumming answered an open recruitment call followed by feverish speculation over which A-list pals he might charm away from London or New York to perform in Highland Perthshire."
"I imagine staff thought I'd be like Godzilla stomping on things But with the public unwrapping of his first season, it is apparent that Cumming has done so much more than call in favours it's a programme of imagination and creative rigour, putting big names in unexpected collaborations alongside undersung Scottish talent. There's always this binary of bringing in more well-known people creatives, not just actors but also to celebrate and nurture our indigenous talents. He arranges himself, at 60, with a dancer's poise though his puckish side-eye suggests there's plenty of mischief still to be made."
Alan Cumming became artistic director of Scotland's major rural Pitlochry Festival Theatre, provoking surprise and speculation. The inaugural season balances high-profile collaborators with emerging and local Scottish artists, emphasizing imaginative programming and creative rigour. Cumming appears prominently in the season, writing, directing or performing in four shows and closing as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. The season includes the Scottish premiere of Once with the original Broadway creative team, a world premiere by Martin Sherman starring Simon Russell Beale directed by Cumming, and a Douglas Maxwell premiere directed by Sally Reid featuring Adura Onashile and Sandy Grierson.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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