Pitlochry Festival Theatre announce that it will be reopening its doors for the first time in nearly two years to welcome audiences back Inside (and Outside!) with an exciting line- up of world premieres, classic plays, new writing, and a smash- hit musical, as well as a brand-new studio performance space and extension to its front of house.
Running from April till October, the 2022 season will kick off in the Theatre’s new studio with the premiere of Helping Hands (21 Apr – 7 May), Cathy Forde’s moving new play about the relationship between an agency care worker and her client. Designed to showcase new writing and touring productions from all around Scotland, the studio will also be home to two further premieres during the season; Sara Saharawi’s (Niqabi Ninja) Sister Radio (25 August – 28 Sept) – an exciting new co-production with Stellar Quines Theatre Company – about the relationship between two sisters who migrate from Iran to Edinburgh in the 1970s, as well as Martin McCormick’s new play The Maggie Wall (9 – 29 September) which asks why humans carry on the ghost story tradition, despite the fact, for most of us, being scared is an unpleasant and discomforting experience.
The season will open in the auditorium in May with a staging of Stephen Greenhorn’s much-loved musical Sunshine on Leith (20 May – 1 October). Set to fantastic songs from world-renowned Scottish band The Proclaimers, Sunshine on Leith is both a funny and moving story about Davy and Ally, two Edinburgh natives returning to their hometown after serving in war torn countries overseas, who are questioning what ‘home’ really means. The production will open in Pitlochry before heading to the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh for a two-week run, and then return to Pitlochry through early October. Sunshine on Leith is a co-production with Capital Theatres.
Other highlights in the Theatre’s auditorium include the premiere, co-produced with Watford Palace Theatre, of Anne-Marie Casey’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women (21 July – 29 September); Michael Frayn’s iconic backstage comedy Noises Off (May 27 – 1 October) which celebrates its 40th anniversary; and a revival of Noël Coward’s classic 1930s comedy of manners, Private Lives (17 June-30 September).
The 2022 season will also see the premiere of two exciting new productions performed in the Theatre’s picturesque amphitheatre, nestled within its Explorers garden and in the shadow of Ben-y- Vrackie. From 8 June – 7 July, the Theatre will stage playwright and actor Lesley Hart’s (The Lemon Tree, Òran Mór) brand new adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective tale Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Lipstick, Ketchup and Blood. In August, the Theatre will present the world premiere of David Greig’s (The Adventures with the Painted People) adaptation of Charlotte Higgins’ acclaimed book, Under Another Sky (10 Aug – 23 Sept), which explores how we, as individuals and as a society, relate to a deep and sometimes lost past when the Romans held much of Britain as an imperial possession – through traces and echoes in the landscape, through artefacts, and through the stories we tell ourselves about nationhood.
The 2022 season will also feature a terrific line up of entertainment for all the family. In July, the creative team behind last year’s successful production of The Wind in the Willows will return with an exciting new adaptation, performed on the riverbank, of Jules Verne’s family adventure Around the World in 80 Days (8 July-17 September). The same month, family audiences will also be able to visit the theatre’s beautiful Explorers garden for the wonderful new promenade experience of Peter Rabbit (14 July – 4 Sept). As audiences walk around the gardens, they will enjoy an audio story of one of their favourite Beatrix Potter tales and might even get the opportunity to meet a real-life Peter Rabbit and his sisters Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail.
Throughout the 2022 season, Pitlochry Festival Theatre will also celebrate live music by hosting a series of inside and outside events, featuring music from the great musicals to the splendour of opera, as well as evenings dedicated to Gaelic music.
Ahead of the start of the summer 2022 season, Pitlochry Festival Theatre will be staging its annual Winter Words festival (14-20 February), beginning the nation’s Year of Stories with a fantastic celebration of Scotland, storytelling, and the natural world.
Further information about the 2022 season will be announced in the coming months.