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January 19, 2026
‘I love that there’s this big gay thing in the middle of Scotland’: Ian McKellen and Graham Norton join Alan Cumming for Out in the Hills
New LGBTQ+ festival included McKellen in a fiery monologue and Norton in conversation, as well as a queer ceilidh and ‘kilted yoga’
TL;DR
- Pitlochry Festival Theatre hosted its first LGBTQ+ festival, Out in the Hills.
- The festival was programmed by Lewis Hetherington and initiated by artistic director Alan Cumming.
- The event included talks, scratch performances, and workshops.
- Sir Ian McKellen participated in a rehearsed reading of a new monologue titled "Equinox."
- The monologue, written by Laurie Slade, explored themes of regret and abandonment through the character of Ed.
- Alan Cumming and Graham Norton held a conversation about Norton's career, touching on homophobia, representation, and rights.
- Graham Norton expressed delight at the festival's focus on the LGBTQ+ community in Scotland.
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