Pitlochry Festival Theatre (PFT) plans to start its summer season 2022 by inviting visitors to experience its brand new studio.
The theatre is delighted to announce that it will be reopening its doors for the first time in nearly two years to welcome audiences back inside 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 PFT’s new studio with the premiere of Helping Hands on April 21.
This is 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.
One of these is Sara Saharawi’s (Niqabi Ninja) Sister Radio (running from August 25). This is 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.
The other premiere moment will be the first production of Martin McCormick’s new play, The Maggie Wall.
The drama on stage for just three weeks in September asks why humans carry on the ghost story tradition, despite the fact, for most of us, being scared is an unpleasant and discomforting experience.
Making the most of the quiet month of February, ahead of the start of the summer 2022 season, Pitlochry Festival Theatre will be staging its annual Winter Words festival from February 14-20, beginning the nation’s Year of Stories with a fantastic celebration of Scotland, storytelling, and the natural world.
The main season will open in the main auditorium in May with a staging of Stephen Greenhorn’s much-loved musical, Sunshine on Leith.
Set to fantastic songs from world-renowned Scottish band The Proclaimers, Sunshine on Leith is a co-production with Capital Theatres.
Set to be a big seller, it 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.
The pair start 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.
Other highlights in the theatre’s auditorium include the premiere of Anne-Marie Casey’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, Little Women.
The play, which opens in mid July, is being co-produced with Watford Palace Theatre.
Michael Frayn’s iconic backstage comedy Noises Off will be celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Then it will be time in June for a revival of Noël Coward’s classic 1930s comedy of manners, Private Lives.
While the soft seats of inside call, PFT fans will also have need of cushions and (possibly) sun hats as the picturesque amphitheatre, nestled within the Explorers garden has a number of performance dates.
The 2022 season will also see the premiere of two exciting new productions performed in the amphitheatre. From June 8 for four weeks, 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.
This history themed production explores how people, 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.
Pitlochry 2022 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 in July with an exciting new adaptation of Jules Verne’s family adventure Around the World in 80 Days.
Like the Wind in the Willows, 80 Days takes advantage of the riverbank directly outside the main theatre building for its summertime performances.
Also in July, family audiences will also be able to visit the theatre’s Explorers garden for the wonderful new promenade experience of Peter Rabbit.
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.
Elizabeth Newman, artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre said: “For the first time in our theatre’s history, we will have a studio theatre where you will be able to see three cracking new plays.
“We will also build on the success of our 2021 outdoor summer season and premiere two new productions in our amphitheatre, concerts in the grounds and a family extravaganza on the riverbank alongside our Peter Rabbit Experience in PFT’s Explorers garden.”
“The commitment from audiences, artists, and participants to Pitlochry Festival Theatre over the past two years has been incredible. We really do want PFT to continue to be a haven where we can continue to celebrate life and make sense of the world.”
Tickets for the 2022 season are now on sale to existing Pitlochry Festival Theatre members and on general sale from Thursday, January 20. For further information on tickets and the Theatre’s membership schemes visit www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com or call 01796 484626.
