Pitlochry Festival Theatre

Location: Pitlochry, Perthshire
Capacity: 544
Programme: Drama, comedy, music, talks, art & craft exhibitions

Director’s Statement

We ask the questions, artistic director John Durnin supplies the answers

When was the venue established?

1951

What famous names have taken to the stage?

Joss Ackland, Graham Crowden, Una McLean, Iain Cuthbertson, Mollie Sugden, Brian Cant, Sandor Eles, Sheila Gish, Leon Sinden, Jeremy Sinden, Roger Rees, Christopher Cazenove, Alice Fraser, Michael Mackenzie, Martyn James, Janet Michael, Edith Macarthur, Clare Richards, Sharon Small, Jimmy Logan, Russell Hunter, Jimmy Chisholm, Dilys Hamlett . . .

What are your big ideas for the future of the venue?

Musicals, but perhaps not in the way you are thinking (watch this space); cinema; site-specific production; environmental arts; a long-term project to develop epic new writing, making full use of our ensemble and our outstanding production facilities; the creation of alternative, ‘found’ performance spaces in and around Pitlochry; and, at some point over the next ten years, the development of a purpose-built, smaller second auditorium within the PFT campus.

Does the venue have a ghost?

No, but we do have a hauntingly good ghost story in the 2004 season: The Weir opens on 28th July.

What was your worst disaster as a director?

A new play which I commissioned several years ago. The idea behind it – a mock history play that satirised the rise of New Labour – was great; the script, when it arrived, simply wasn`t. But at the time, I developed a complete blind spot and couldn`t see the huge flaws it contained, flaws which, to everyone else involved, were blindingly obvious. The scales fell from my eyes about ten minutes into Act 1 on the opening night . . .

And what was your biggest triumph?

Apart from landing the job of Artistic Director here at PFT? Probably the annual site-specific event I created for the Northcott in Exeter, Shakespeare In The Gardens. Within three years of its launch, it had become the largest-scale outdoor theatre event outside London. Twelfth Night, the last one I directed, was probably the most special: we created a contemporary Japanese water garden with over 160,000 litres of water, shingle beaches, soaring bridges, waterfalls . . . and the shipwrecked Viola made her first entrance paddling a rubber survival dinghy.

If you could have any artist in the world for a one-off special, who would it be, and why?

Ian McKellen: a great man and the best, simply the best there is.

Why should people look forward to visiting your venue?

We have six fantastic plays this season. PFT’s unique repertoire tradition remains firmly at the heart of our 2004 programme and features Engaged, a Victorian comedy by W.S Gilbert, The Shop at Sly Corner, a tale of crime and consequence by Edward Percy, Alan Ayckbourn’s A Small Family Business, the sublime farce Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig, Russian comedy classic The Government Inspector, by Nikolai Gogal in a version by John Byrne, and The Weir, a ghostly drama by Conor McPherson.

Plus comedy, music, talks, art & craft exhibitions complemented by the Festival Café, Restaurant & Bar and our newly refurbished Theatre Shop packed full with gifts, books and ice cream, you’ll find plenty to excite and intrigue you at PFT in 2004.

© HI~Arts, 2004