When it was announced that Alan Cumming was to become the new artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, the wow factor of having such a high-profile figure take on such a job instantly raised the Perthshire theatre’s cachet, garnering international attention. Not that PFT is shy of having acclaim heaped on it for the annual summer rep seasons it has been entertaining locals and tourists with since being founded in a tent in 1951. 

Aberfeldy-born Cumming’s appointment, however, has raised the bar considerably in terms of ambitions for what a rural theatre outside the central belt can potentially achieve. One of outgoing director Elizabeth Newman’s many achievements during her six-year tenure has been to forge links with theatres beyond its immediate locale. ‘The world has moved on pretty substantially since Pitlochry Festival Theatre first opened,’ says chief executive, Kris Bryce. ‘Can you imagine the difficulty of getting to Pitlochry back then, with no A9 road link? Yet they were drawing a huge number of people.’

Since then, the theatre has become increasingly expansive in reach. ‘The way in which we work as an industry, and as a sector, needs to move on,’ says Bryce. ‘And I think that’s where Elizabeth and I have enjoyed leaning into really challenging times and responding to what people need, what artists need, what audiences need, and moving the theatre onwards. What’s really special about a producing theatre is you gather artists together, and it’s fascinating what comes out of that.’

There’s plenty more going on outside the central belt, whether produced by long-standing institutions such as Perth Theatre, The Byre in St Andrews or a ferry ride away at Mull Theatre. Dundee Rep has worked with a permanent acting ensemble since 1998. A quarter of a century on, while the shape of the ensemble has changed, it has also shown that opportunities remain for actors beyond it.

While ensemble members regularly work elsewhere, one of the most striking success stories has been that of Ncuti Gatwa, the current Doctor Who. Gatwa spent a year at Dundee Rep as part of the theatre’s graduate actor scheme before taking on starring roles, first in Netflix drama Sex Education, then as the evergreen TV Time Lord. He follows in the footsteps of David Tennant, who appeared at Dundee Rep and other Scottish theatres before being cast as the Doctor.

Beyond the reps, independent companies too are making their mark. In the Highlands, Dogstar Theatre has blazed a trail at local, national and international level since the company was set up by Hamish MacDonald in 1998. Since then, Dogstar has produced a stream of new works that have seen them collaborate with companies in Sweden and Denmark as well as Scotland. Matthew Zajac’s solo play, The Tailor Of Inverness, toured the world for more than a decade.

With Zajac leading the company since 2014, Dogstar has worked with writers such as George Gunn, most recently on The Fallen Angels Of The Moine (‘a Highland spaceport fantasy’) which toured to nine Highlands and Islands venues. Dogstar has also forged links with Eden Court Theatre in Inverness and Playwrights Studio Scotland for the recently initiated Spark Festival, which aimed to nurture local playwrights. ‘I thought we might get maybe 12 or 15 submissions,’ says Zajac, ‘but we got 29. I was surprised at how many people in the Highlands are trying to write plays, so I don't want Spark to be a one-off festival. We’re going to try and make it biennial so we can help develop things.’ 

In the Scottish Borders, Firebrand Theatre Company is serving a similar function to Dogstar. Founded in 2010 by current creative producer Ellie Zeegan and actress Janet Coulson, with Richard Baron on board as the company’s director of productions, Firebrand have produced a diet of new work and second productions of already established contemporary Scottish plays. ‘One of our mantras has been to create epic theatre in intimate spaces,’ says Baron of the company’s raison d’être. ‘A big thing with Firebrand has always been to try and create very high-quality work in the Borders and export it to the city, rather than it being the other way around.’ 

‘What attracted us originally to start Firebrand was that there wasn’t a professional theatre company in the Borders,’ adds Zeegan. ‘That enabled us to set our own agenda, but also to look at what was on our doorstep. For instance, Rona Munro, one of the most prolific playwrights in the country, lives in Selkirk. So when we were doing her play, The Last Witch, we were able to sit in her living room and talk about it.’

Tellingly, Firebrand has recently become an associate company of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, fostering an umbilical link between companies in different parts of the country. With Baron having directed work at Pitlochry many times, this was a natural fit, and Firebrand’s studio production of Nan Shepherd: Naked And Unashamed looks set to return following a sell-out run in Pitlochry.

‘People might say there’s not really anything happening in the Scottish Borders, when in fact there is,’ Baron points out. ‘You just have to look for it, you have to collaborate, you have to discover, you have to join together. The Borders is a labyrinth; but once you know it, if you need somebody highly skilled in something, you’re probably going to find them in the Borders.’

In different ways, Firebrand, Dogstar, Dundee Rep and Pitlochry Festival Theatre demonstrate the wealth of theatrical activity outside the central belt. Far from being isolated, they also show just how much will there is for theatre to thrive, despite ongoing funding crises and other setbacks. This is something Alan Cumming will already know from his own formative years on Scotland’s stages. But he has much to look forward to. As Kris Bryce says of Cumming’s appointment: ‘I think it’s going to be a brilliant moment for Scotland and for Scottish theatre.’ 

Full details of productions and events can be found at the websites for Dundee Rep, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Perth Theatre And Concert Hall, Byre Theatre, and An Tobar And Mull Theatre; main picture: Fraser Band.