Laughter to echo around the Theatre in the Hills

The Monarch of the Glen – a hilarious romp around the glens from Compton Mackenzie, the master of Scottish farce – will be Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s autumn production this year.

Mackenzie’s classic 1930s comedy has been brilliantly adapted for stage by leading Scottish playwright Peter Arnott, whose work includes acclaimed stage adaptations of other Scots novels, including The Silver Darlings and The Cone Gatherers.

American millionaire Chester Royde, together with his new bride, Carrie, and his sister, Myrtle, travel to the Highlands to explore Carrie’s Scottish ancestry – with a little help from Carrie’s prized copy of Gaelic Without Tears.

While the Roydes are very much creatures of the 20th Century, their hosts still cling to the old ways: Donald Macdonald of Ben Nevis, the 23rd clan chieftain and Laird of Glenbogle Castle, is fiercely protective of his way of life, the land that he loves and the Macdonald spirit. Being more than a little cash-strapped, however, Ben Nevis (as he is also known) is not above trying to forge a match between heiress Myrtle and one of his brawny sons.

But when a group of English hikers turns up and tramples all over his grouse moor, and a trespassing nationalist poet seems set to capture Myrtle’s affections, Ben Nevis’s plans come under attack on two fronts – and he’s never one to avoid over-reacting when things don’t go his way.

Stunning inside and out: the play put on at the Theatre in the Hills promises to be every bit as impressive as the venue.

Following in the footsteps of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s smash-hit productions of Para Handy in 2016 and its last Compton Mackenzie adaptation, Whisky Galore - A Musical! back in 2009, theatre lovers are advised to book their tickets early in order to get the best seats for the best prices for this eagerly-anticipated world première. The famous Theatre in the Hills has special ticket rates and transport subsidies available for group bookings.