ELIZABETH Newman is still a bit startled when she turns round and sees a full team working, rather than the skeleton staff she has been used to during the Covid pandemic.
It is a welcome sight and after a very bleak period, Newman, the director of the much-loved Pitlochry Festival Theatre, can now say for certain that it has not only survived but is looking forward to a bright future.
That’s good news for the surrounding area too, as the venue is a major draw for tourists and was one of the largest employers in Highland Perthshire before half the staff were made redundant when the furlough scheme ended last year.
Key roles were saved in order to help the theatre survive and continue to engage with the public during the horrors of the pandemic and now, after a long dark night, Newman says the theatre is “entering the sunrise”.
Not only has it endured but it is offering even more than before as the pandemic forced the team to bring forward planned changes to improve its audience reach.
More staff have been taken on and it will welcome audiences back inside the building on May 20 with a new studio theatre and a bigger programme than ever. At the same time the online offering and outside productions introduced during the pandemic will continue.
At points during the last two years, Newman admits she was very worried about the survival of the theatre, but said she now felt strongly it had “weathered the storm” by bringing in innovations that audiences loved even when they could not go inside the building.
“What is brilliant about going into this year is that we are able to take forward that outside and online offering as well as bring audiences back inside for the big shows that they have known and loved for years and really missed,” said Newman.
“We had to work very hard over the pandemic with a very small team because in order to survive we had to shrink the organisation but that was very much a temporary process and we are now reinflating. It is starting to look more like a full team which is really important because we are going to deliver a programme that is bigger than before.”
Newman said the commitment from audiences, artists and participants to the theatre over the past two years had been “incredible”. At the same time, she acknowledged that all theatres were concerned about whether audiences would return.
“As things have only just changed some people may not yet feel safe so that is why this year we are doing a hybrid of outside and inside working,” said Newman. “We also feel we can reach more people because of the changes we have made, especially with all the work we are doing online and the films we have made that have been hugely successful.”
Once again, audiences will be able to experience six plays in six days and in the main auditorium they will be able to watch four big productions including the smash-hit musical Sunshine on Leith and Noises Off, on its 40th anniversary.
Three new plays in the new Studio Theatre will be staged alongside two new productions at the amphitheatre and there will be concerts in the grounds and a family extravaganza on the riverbank beside the Peter Rabbit Experience in the Explorers’ Garden.
The entire programme, inside and outside, will be supported by continued work online.
This season Pitlochry Festival Theatre will also collaborate with Capital Theatres, Watford Palace Theatre and Stellar Quines Theatre Company to make three of its summer productions.
“This will enable us to reach even more audiences across the UK and to continue to share Pitlochry with the world and the world with Pitlochry,” said Newman. “At times the last couple of years were pretty bleak but day follows night and we are entering the sunrise thankfully.”
Pitlochry Festival Theatre 2022 Season runs from May 20 - October 1. For details visit https://pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/
