The culmination of Day Two at Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Winter Words festival was joyous. Whether you’re a Rebus fan or not—or even if you’re not really all that bothered about the crime genre in general—a night in with Alan Cumming and Ian Rankin should be on your bucket list.
The lady next to me in the audience had heard Rankin on stage before and told me he was really funny. Odd for someone who makes his living from writing dark and twisted plots? Why on earth should it be? Most of us have to work to earn a crust, and I hope we don’t feel we have to be totally defined by how we do that.
A fly on the wall
Cumming is a fabulous host—feeding the lines, sitting back, and listening, allowing his guest to take the limelight. Rankin isn’t shy and was happy to interrupt or talk over Cumming. It was like being a fly on the wall—maybe in Rankin’s beloved Oxford Bar, which he still frequents. Cumming seemed surprised to hear that, but those who heard him talk at the opening event of this Festival will know that he finds it impossible to go incognito. Rankin doesn’t, I suspect, ‘hide’—he’s just himself.
The lady next to me in the audience had heard Rankin on stage before and told me he was really funny. Odd for someone who makes his living from writing dark and twisted plots? Why on earth should it be?
There was a can of Pitlochry’s ‘Cumming Through The Rye’ beer on the table ready for Rankin’s delectation; it appeared to go down well and made for a convivial atmosphere. (NB: You’re allowed to take drinks into the auditorium and they have lovely reusable beakers branded for each Festival—a great touch). Rankin is ‘between books’ at the moment, so wasn’t plugging any one in particular—something which is refreshing and, I suppose, conducive to buying any one of the many tomes on sale in the Theatre shop before or after the show.
The craft and the archive
There was talk of other ‘Rankins’, Rebus of course, and the actors who have played him. We also heard of this Rankin’s penchant for writing angry letters, even about his own work. He has honed his craft and is rightly keen—some might say precious—that his work is not misrepresented. He is pals with Douglas Henshall and pulled him up over a scene in Shetland (not one of his own creations), saying it would never have happened in real life. The reply? ‘Aye, but it made good telly,’ or words to that effect. There is a lot of humour in Ian Rankin.
We were regaled with tales of Rankin’s misspent youth—of working in a vineyard in France and of dreams of being a rock star. He’s always loved music and I credit him with introducing me to the music of the fabulous Hamish Hawk (go listen!). He’s fairly recently downsized and his archive is now with the National Library of Scotland. Fortuitous, he says, as where else would all of the boxes have gone?
There was talk of other ‘Rankins’, Rebus of course, and the actors who have played him. We also heard of this Rankin’s penchant for writing angry letters, even about his own work. He has honed his craft and is rightly keen—some might say precious—that his work is not misrepresented.
More seriously, he points out that he is one of the last generations to have committed his work to paper. It made me muse on how helpful digitised records can be, but there’s nothing like seeing an author’s work in their own hand. OK, he typed his work, but you know what I mean. In fact, he came across his very first typewriter not so long ago, squirrelled away in his sister’s attic. How fantastic is that? And if you don’t know what a typewriter is, shame on you, kid!
Blethering with the best
Alan Cumming was no slouch on the couch and added some of his own recollections of mutual friends. Rankin had told a great tale about Ken Stott (the second incarnation of TV’s Rebus) finding it incredibly hard to espouse the ‘wrong’ football colours as Rebus (i.e., not the team he himself supports). Cumming added a counter-tale of perhaps Stott’s most difficult/awkward acting moment when the two of them starred together in The Runaway. Cumming played a transvestite Soho nightclub owner, is all I’m saying.
The auditorium was full, and I can’t imagine anyone went home without a smile on their face after the show. It was heart-warming and easy, and I could have stayed all night, just listening to the pair of them blethering.
Featured Image: Ian Rankin and Alan Cumming – Credit Pitlochry Festival Theatre (Olivia Attwooll-Keith)
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