Pitlochry Festival Theatre Announces 2025 Ensemble & Season Highlights

Pitlochry Festival Theatre Unveils Ensemble for 2025 Season

Celebrated Highland venue announces full cast and ambitious programme for May to September run

Pitlochry Festival Theatre has revealed the 21-strong ensemble set to lead its 2025 season, reaffirming the venue’s commitment to ensemble-led theatre and regionally-rooted artistic excellence. Running from May to September, the programme spans crowd-pleasing musicals, world premieres, bold adaptations, and new Scottish writing.

Since 1951, Pitlochry Festival Theatre has been a cultural cornerstone of Highland Perthshire. Drawing more than 100,000 visitors annually, it has built a strong reputation as a producing house with a rural setting and a national profile. The theatre is supported by Creative Scotland and Perth & Kinross Council, alongside individual donors and partners.

This year’s ensemble includes a rich mix of returning Pitlochry favourites and new faces making their debut at the theatre. Returning company members include Blythe Jandoo (Gypsy, The Maggie Wall), Keith Macpherson (Sunshine on Leith), Fiona Wood (Peter Pan and Wendy), Alyson Orr (Sunshine on Leith, Bend it Like Bertie), and Ryan J Mackay (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Kidnapped).

Joining them are newcomers Adam Buksh, Chris Coxon, Celeste Collier, Tyler Collins, Susan Coyle, Stephanie Cremona, Caitlin Forbes, Molly Geddes, April Nerissa Hudson, Leah Jamieson, Oraine Johnson, Jerome Lincoln, David Rankine, Alexander Service, and introducing Eden Barrie and Louis Newman.

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Mainstage highlights: musicals, adaptations and comic classics

Among the headline productions in the main auditorium are:

Grease (18 June – 27 September): a co-production with Blackpool Grand Theatre
The Great Gatsby (27 June – 25 September): a new adaptation by Elizabeth Newman, co-produced with Derby Theatre
The 39 Steps (11 July – 26 September): Patrick Barlow’s slapstick reimagining of the Hitchcock classic
Sunshine on Leith (25 July – 27 September): a revival of the hit production featuring the music of The Proclaimers

These four productions will rotate in repertory, making full use of the ensemble model that Pitlochry Festival Theatre has championed for decades.

Studio premieres and co-productions

The 2025 Studio Season will feature an impressive slate of premieres and collaborative productions:

Water Colour (9 – 17 May): a debut play by Milly Sweeney, co-produced with Byre Theatre and Playwrights’ Studio Scotland
Nan Shepherd: Naked and Unashamed (30 May – 14 June): returning following previous acclaim, co-produced with Firebrand Theatre
This Is A Gift (24 June – 11 September): a new play by Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir
Nessie (9 July – 16 August): a new Scottish musical by Shonagh Murray, co-produced with Capital Theatres
A Toast Fae The Lassies (29 August – 24 September): a new musical play by John Binnie and Alyson Orr

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A season of access and inclusion

The 2025 season also features an expansive schedule of accessible performances, including audio-described, BSL-interpreted, captioned, relaxed, and dementia-friendly shows. The theatre’s aim to be “A Theatre for Everyone” continues to manifest in both its programming and practice.

Accessible highlights include:

Audio-described performances of Grease, The Great Gatsby, The 39 Steps, and Sunshine on Leith
BSL-interpreted performances of The Great Gatsby and The 39 Steps
Captioned shows across all four mainstage productions
Specially tailored relaxed and dementia-friendly matinees

A showcase for ensemble excellence and new Scottish work

Pitlochry Festival Theatre‘s 2025 season continues to build on its long-standing (and nationally endangered) model of ensemble casting, bringing together a carefully selected group of returning favourites and newcomers.

With musicals, adaptations, and new writing on the bill, this bright-eyed ensemble is well positioned to deliver a winning season (as it ever was up in Pitlochry).

Featured Image: Pitlochry Festival Theatre Ensemble image by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan