Pitlochry Festival Theatre Announce Summer Ensemble For 70th Anniversary Season

Pitlochry Festival Theatre has announced the Summer Ensemble for its 70th anniversary season which will take place in the picturesque grounds of the Perthshire theatre from the end of this month.

Pitlochry Festival Theatre's exciting 22-strong Summer Ensemble will feature BAFTA Scotland award-winning Jane McCarry (Isa Drennan in Still Game, BBC Scotland and Granny Murray in Me Too!, CBBC); Colin McCredie (Taggart, ITV and River City , BBC Scotland); Lauren Samuels (We Will Rock You, Bend it Like Beckham and Grease, all West End and Cinderella, Lyric Hammersmith); Daniel Boys (The Boys in the Band, The Park Theatre and West End, Avenue Q, Tommy and Spamalot, all West End); playwright Jo Clifford; Richard Colvin (Sunshine on Leith, UK tour and A Christmas Carol, Octagon Theatre Bolton); Brian Ferguson (Beats, Sixteen Films); Beth Frieden (Class Act, Traverse Theatre and Caiptean Cora, Theatre Gu Leòr); Connor Going (Footloose, UK tour and The Choir of Men , US and Australia tour); Katie Grosset (various productions with Scottish Opera) Barrie Hunter (Smile and All My Sons, Dundee Rep) and Nicholas Karimi (The Twilight Zone, Almeida and West End; Macbeth, National Theatre and James II, National Theatre of Scotland).

The ensemble will also feature Kate Milner-Evans (Showboat, Sheffield Theatres and New London Theatre and Wizard of Oz, Selladoor Productions); Alicia McKenzie (Quality Street, Northern Broadsides and Blond Bombshells of 1943, Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Perthshire soprano Colleen Nicoll; writer Lesley Orr; Lana Pheutan (CBBC Alba and Creeping Beauty, Pretty Knickers Productions); David Rankine (Blithe Spirit and The Crucible, Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Kirsty Stuart (Faith Healer, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Call the Midwife, BBC and Shetland, ITV); Daibhidh Walker (Scenes of Survival and Last Tango in Patrick, National Theatre of Scotland); Ali Watt (A Christmas Carol, Pitlochry Festival Theatre) and Fiona Wood (Blonde Bombshells, Pitlochry Festival Theatre).

Pitlochry Festival Theatre's Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman said about the exciting Ensemble:

"We were thrilled to create the theatre's first Winter Ensemble this year to celebrate our 70th birthday. Due to restrictions, most of their work was produced for audiences to experience digitally. We hope audiences have enjoyed this platinum celebration online and more of the Winter Ensemble's work will be shared throughout the year. However, I am over the moon to be able to share news of our Summer Ensemble! An extraordinary group of actors will be coming together to create our 2021 70th Anniversary summer season.

It will be a summer season like no other, like nothing Pitlochry Festival Theatre audiences have ever seen before in Pitlochry. This summer will be an entirely outdoor rep season in various locations across the Pitlochry campus. This twenty-two strong acting Ensemble will be performing in Pitlochry for different lengths of time throughout the summer, some for a week, some for two and others for many months.

Each actor will bring something utterly unique to the Season. For instance, Pitlochry Festival Theatre will produce Opera for the first time, so we are thrilled to welcome so much Opera talent to the Ensemble this year, as well as continue our tradition of making life-affirming, home-grown drama, and musicals. We are also particularly excited about our offer for family audiences this year, which many of the Ensemble will bring to life.

I am excited to share, there are many much-loved faces returning to Pitlochry Festival Theatre to celebrate our 70th birthday. Some artists like Jane (McCarry) and Jo (Clifford) first worked in Pitlochry with Clive Perry, others like Ali (Watt) and Richard (Colvin) first came to the theatre to work with John Durnin and they will be performing alongside more recent Pitlochry Festival Theatre actors like Fiona (Wood), David (Rankine), Kirsty (Stuart), Colin (McCredie), Brian (Ferguson) and Alicia (McKenzie). Pitlochry audiences will also have lots of new faces to enjoy. Exceptional Scottish talent like Barrie (Hunter), Nicholas (Karimi), Colleen (Nicoll), Daibhidh (Walker), Lana (Pheutan), Katie (Grosset), Lesley (Orr), Connor (Going) and Beth (Frieden) all join the Ensemble alongside talent from further afield like Kate (Milner Evans), Lauren (Samuels) and Daniel (Boys)."

Taking place from late May until September in the theatre's outdoor amphitheatre and riverside bandstand, the Summer Season will include the stage premiere of David Greig's Adventures with the Painted People (10 June-4 July), Hannah Lavery's new one-person, adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, gothic tale Jekyll and Hyde (18,26, 28 August & 1 & 8 September); Mark Powell's exciting new adaptation of The Wind in the Willows which will be performed on the banks of the River Tummel, July through to September; A Night by the River Tay (various dates between 14 July - 3 September), a series of short plays from the theatre's acclaimed digital collection, Shades of Tay, written by an incredible line up of great Scottish talent; Jo Clifford and Lesley Orr's new promenade production Requiem (15-18 September) which celebrates the lives of those lost during the pandemic, and afternoons and evenings featuring, amongst others, music from the West End and opera, all summer long.

For further information and tickets for the Pitlochry Festival Theatre outdoor summer season visit www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

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