"Let the controversy begin!" Russell T Davies joins line up for inaugural Out in the Hills LGBTQ+ festival
Pitlochry Festival Theatre has announced that award-winning screenwriter and television producer Russell T Davies will be joining the line up for the theatre’s new LGBTQ+ Out in the Hills festival which takes place from 16-18 January.
Russell - who will be in conversation on Friday, 16 January at 7pm with the acclaimed novelist and poet Jackie Kay – will be stepping in for the author Armistead Maupin who due to unforeseen circumstances is no longer able to attend the festival.
Widely recognised for reviving the acclaimed BBC series Doctor Who, Russell T Davies has consistently advocated for the LGBTQ+ community throughout his career. This is evident in the groundbreaking series Queer as Folk (1999-2000) that announced Russell to the world.
As distinct as each project has been, amplifying underrepresented voices is a running theme that connects all his work, from Bob & Rose (2001), The Second Coming (2003) and Cucumber (2015) to A Very English Scandal (2018), It’s a Sin (2021) and the forthcoming new series, Tip Toe, which will feature Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Alan Cumming. In 2008, Russell received an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to television drama.
Russell T Davies said: “It’s my delight to attend this great new Scottish festival and come out of the closet as a fully-fledged Welshman. Let the controversy begin!”
Out in the Hills is set to give audiences the opportunity to enjoy everything from the first look at brand new plays featuring theatrical icons, to beautiful exhibitions of photography, as well as events discussing everything from football to crime writing, to baking.
With some events already sold out, tickets are still available for several of the festival's other exciting events including politician turned standup comedian Mhairi Black (18 January) talking to broadcaster and author Gemma Cairney and international best-selling author Coinneach MacLeod - better known as The Hebridean Baker (17 January) - both of which have moved from the Studio to the Auditorium due to popular demand.
Other events include the Resol String Quartet (16 January) and a screening and panel discussion about the film "who will be remembered here" (16 January), which connects queer voices across centuries of Scottish history.
Other events still available include Match of the Gay (17 January) - a panel featuring Scotland’s first openly gay footballer Zander Smith and former Scotland Women’s National team player Amy McDonald - that explores the challenges, triumphs, and the path toward a more inclusive future in football; comedian Kim Blythe (18 January) and playwright Jo Clifford and her daughter, journalist Catriona Innes (18 January), who will come together for Family Pride a moving conversation about queerness, family, and love.
The inaugural festival will also feature sold out performances by the legendary screen and stage actor Sir Ian McKellen starring in Equinox, a rehearsed reading of the brand new one man play by Laurie Slade; author and acclaimed Scottish artist Juano Diaz who will read from his powerful memoir Slum Boy, accompanied by world-renowned solo percussionist and composer Evelyn Glennie for a unique performance that will blend spoken word with improvised immersive sounds and visuals to create a bold, sensory journey unlike any other; and Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s own Artistic Director Alan Cumming who leads the cast of Me and the Girls, a brand new stage adaptation by Neil Bartlett of Noel Coward’s 1964 short story. Alan will also be in conversation with Graham Norton.
Actor Ian McKellen said about his performance: “When Laurie Slade sent me the script of Equinox, I immediately sent it to Sean Mathias whose taste on all things theatrical I trust implicitly. As a result of his enthusiasm, we had a private reading of the play which excited us enough to want to share it with others.
"I’ve only worked once at Pitlochry with my 80th Birthday show (again directly by Sean). I think Equinox will fit well into the queer festival and I look forward to hearing an audience’s response.”
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