From ‘Traitors’ to Theater: Alan Cumming Sets New Gig as Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Fresh from winning an Emmy for hosting Peacock’s The Traitors, Alan Cumming has lined up a new gig.
The multi-hyphenate talent, a veteran and Tony Award-winning star of the stage, has been named artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, known as “Scotland’s theater in the hills.” Cumming replaces Elizabeth Newman who is departing in November after serving Pitlochry since September 2018. Her last production, The Sound of Music, runs Nov. 15 – Dec. 22. It was announced in July that Newman would be exiting as artistic director in favor of a leadership role, a move that launched a three month recruitment period and selection process.
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Cumming assumes the artistic director post beginning in January 2025, and has sights set on programming the 2026 season. Up first, Pitlochry will stage previously announced productions The Great Gatsby, Grease, The 39 Steps and four new plays in the venue’s studio.
“For me, all roads lead to the theatre and all roads lead to Scotland,” said Scotland native Cumming in a statement. “I am a theatre animal at heart and, like Robert Burns, my heart is in the Highlands. To become Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s artistic director is a homecoming I embrace with all my experience, all my passion and, yes, all my heart.” He went on to praise the theatre as “a hidden gem” with “amazing facilities and boundless possibilities.”
Cumming’s plans call for inviting global stage artists to the neck of the woods. “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.’ Above all, I cannot wait to share Pitlochry with the world, and the world with Pitlochry.”
The Pitlochry team also chimed in to praise their new colleague.
Executive director Kris Bryce said, “Since the moment we met, I have been completely won over by Alan’s passion — for theatre and for Scotland — by his energy and vision, and by his whole-hearted desire to join us as a steward of this very special place. Under his 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. Through the power of storytelling, I know Alan will continue to gather people together to explore shared human concerns and to create experiences that inspire, engage and empower our communities.”
Newman offered that “quite simply,” she cannot think of a better person to join Bryce in writing the next chapter of Pitlochry’s story. “Alan is an exceptional artist and an inspiring leader who will catapult the theatre into new and exciting dialogues with artists and audiences here and around the world.”
The self-described “theatre animal,” who attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now called the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) from 1982-85. He made his stage debut playing Malcolm in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Macbeth Possessed by Stuart Delves at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow. He went on to earn a long list of stage credits, earning raves for Hamlet and Cabaret, and Macbeth once again. His other shows include Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet, Design for Living, Elle, Bent, The Bacchae, The Seagull, Lazarus, Daddy, Endgame and Burn.
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