Alan Cumming and Ewan McGregor to Lead Supernova World Premiere at Pitlochry

Pitlochry Festival Theatre has announced that Alan Cumming and Ewan McGregor will lead the world première of Supernova, a new stage adaptation of Harry Macqueen's acclaimed 2020 film, which starred Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci.

Adapted for the stage by Macqueen — his debut as a playwright — and directed by John Tiffany (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Black Watch, Once), the production runs at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 24 July to 21 August 2027, with its press performance on Friday 30 July 2027.

Sam and Tusker have been together for 20 years. Since Tusker's early-onset dementia diagnosis, their lives have changed forever, and the pair set off on a road trip through the Highlands — chasing the memories they have built, visiting the people they love and dodging a future they cannot outrun.

Cumming, a Tony, Olivier, BAFTA and Emmy Award winner and Pitlochry Festival Theatre's Artistic Director, is joined by Emmy and Golden Globe winner McGregor, whose credits span Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge! and the Star Wars saga. Further casting will be announced later in the year.

"An extraordinary theatre event"

Cumming said: "I am so excited to welcome Ewan, a fellow Perthshire home boy, to Pitlochry Festival Theatre for this extraordinary theatre event. Harry Macqueen has adapted his beautiful film, and John Tiffany and Steven Hoggett join forces with the theatrical wizard Jamie Harrison to create an evening of true magic. A love story, a treatise on life and death itself and a visual feast — with two Scottish laddies at its heart. What more could you want?!"

McGregor said: "I am so delighted to be working at Pitlochry Festival Theatre next summer on the beautiful Supernova with my old friend Alan. I have been very moved by the work so far on the text by Harry Macqueen, who is adapting his own screenplay. It is going to be quite something to throw myself into this role with such an extraordinary group of visionaries."

The creative team

The creative team reunites Tiffany with movement director Steven Hoggett (Once, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and designer Jamie Harrison (Stranger Things: The First Shadow), with associate direction by Sam Hardie.

On his playwriting debut, Macqueen said: "I'm beyond thrilled to give this story and these characters new life on stage, and to be doing so alongside such incredible collaborators. Supernova engages with some of life's most challenging questions."

Macqueen's 2020 film premièred at the San Sebastián and London Film Festivals, was shortlisted for two BAFTA Awards including Outstanding British Film, and in 2022 was voted one of the '100 Best British Films of the 21st Century'.

Supernova runs at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 24 July to 21 August 2027. Tickets start at £15, with priority booking from Wednesday 29 July and general sale from Wednesday 12 August. Alan Cumming photograph by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan; Ewan McGregor photograph by Jeff Vespa.