Alan Cumming named as artistic director of Scottish ‘theatre in the hills’

The Hollywood star and queer icon Alan Cumming is returning to his roots – both geographical and theatrical – as the new artistic director of Scotland’s only major rurally based arts organisation.

Pitlochry Festival theatre announced the appointment on Friday afternoon after a recruitment call resulted in an “absolute surprise” approach from Cumming, who went through an intensive three-month selection process with other candidates.

This is the latest reinvention for the prolific actor, director and producer, who is also a memoirist and photographer, co-owner of a successful queer cabaret bar in New York, and a committed activist, particularly for LGBTQ+ rights and Scottish independence.

Cumming, who was born in Perthshire, said his appointment marked “a homecoming”. “For me, all roads lead to the theatre and all roads lead to Scotland. I am a theatre animal at heart and, like Robert Burns, my heart is in the Highlands,” he said.

“This theatre is a hidden gem with the most amazing facilities and boundless possibilities, and I will invite the world’s best theatre artists here and showcase the best of Scotland’s thrilling theatrical legacy. I want Pitlochry Festival theatre to be a home for everyone and to remain at the heart of the community. And, to quote Burns again, ‘I will dare to be honest and fear no labour’.”

Kris Bryce, the theatre’s executive director, told the Guardian that along with the unexpected nature of Cumming’s application he had been immediately struck by “the focus he brought to it and the clarity of why he should do this role”.

“Many Guardian readers may see him in terms of film and TV but its all rooted in his theatrical practice and background as a stage actor,” Bryce said.

Cumming made his professional theatre debut at the Tron theatre in Glasgow, won plaudits playing Hamlet under the direction of Sam Mendes in London’s West End and won a Tony award for his performance as the Emcee in Cabaret on Broadway.

The Pitlochry “theatre in the hills” is known for its unique ensemble and repertory practice: across the summer season actors appear in three or four daily changing productions, learning the parts simultaneously.

Bryce said: “There’s a tremendous amount of work being created here in a Highland town of under 3,000 people so we have to gather audiences from across Scotland, the UK and internationally to this really beautiful place. Under Alan’s artistic leadership I am confident we will continue to grow in our role as the nation’s most impactful producing theatre, delivering bold, innovative work that resonates with audiences here and right across the world.”

Cumming will join as artistic director from next January, and his programming will begin in 2026.

The news comes as another titan of Scottish theatre, David Greig, stands down as artistic director of Edinburgh’s Lyceum, and as the arts sector faces significant financial pressures amid Holyrood budget cuts.

Greig collaborated with Pitlochry Festival theatre last year on a new work about the independence referendum, in what he said was a necessary response to arts funding cuts.