A whole lot of humbug for the Pitlochry stage
winter’s night will be very atmospheric.
“I hope people will find the range of stories we have picked interesting - the Atholl area is awash with fascinating material.
“We have tales of Jacobites, vampires, witches, a military mutiny, ghosts and the legend behind a famous local tipple.”
Lynne said:“We spent a lot of time planning our route in the Perth tour to try to show the old city off in the best possible way, and I hope we can also promote Dunkeld in this way too.”
Gary and Lynne are planning to run a Perth tour every Friday night and a Dunkeld tour every Saturday night throughout November.
The 90-minute Saturday night tour of Dunkeld costs £10 for adults, with concessions £7, for under 16 years, OAPs and students. For a family of four (two adults plus two children), it’s £30.
Because of the mildly scary nature of the tour, the recommended age for children is over eight years old. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. Visit www.historyandhorrortours.com or find it on Facebook and Eventbrite.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre has announced the full cast for its forthcoming festive feelgood tale ‘A Christmas Carol’, which opens on Friday, November 21.
Playing the role of Scrooge is Perthshire acting legend, Colin McCredie.
Colin is best known for playing DC Fraser in over 75 episodes of ‘Taggart’ for STV. He has also appeared in ‘Still Game,’ ‘Outlander,’ ‘River City’ and ‘Doctor Finlay.’
Colin has also appeared in feature films including ‘Shallow Grave’. Just before starting rehearsals at PFT he was filming ‘The Last Bus’ with Timothy Spall.
Joining him on stage will be Emile Paltry, Richard Colvin and Ali Watt, who are all just done with playing multiple roles across the various shows of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s 2019 summer season.
Joining them will be Samuel Pashby, who was last seen performing in ‘Cyrano De Bergerac’ for the
National Theatre of Scotland, and Rachael McAllister whose recent extensive touring credits include ‘Brilliance’ and ‘Son of a Preacher Man’.
‘A Christmas Carol’ also has Florence Odumosu, who recently appeared in ‘Alice Through The Cocktail Glass’ at the Edinburgh Fringe and Felicity Sparks, who has spent the last three years touring the UK and the world in ‘The Animals And Children Took To The Streets’.
So how are things shaping up for the star character, Ebenezer Scrooge? Actor Colin McCredie is well known for his roles at Perth Theatre, but this is his first time working the Pitlochry stage.
“Well I’m far too young to have the ‘Scrooge’ state of mind, but I’m working on it,” said Colin. “The guy is aged in where his mind’s at, he stomps round, a proper misanthrope.
“I got inspiration from watching the new leader in the House of Commons, Jacob Rees Mogg - he’s not that old but he comes across as ancient. He has this outlook, that nothing is his fault, it’s the people who bring it on themselves - did you hear what he said about Grenfell Tower?
“Scrooge thinks that if people sign a contract and he lends them money, well it’s not his fault if when they don’t pay him back in time, he has to charge them an extortionate amount of interest.”
Colin revealed this brand new version of the Charles Dickens story has a lot of up-to-date touches: “I think the way Pitlochry has gone about it, we realise although this story is about 200 years old, it is still very relevant today.
“The street beggars, well you might recognise them as a bit of a poke at some more pressurising charity collectors who grab you in the modern high street.
“The show is fun and cheery, loads of Christmas songs and some contemporary music. It should be called ‘A Christmas Carol - The Remix’, it’s pretty mad!”
Tickets for this yuletide treat are now on sale. Call the box office team on 01796 484626 or go online at PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com