Alan Cumming and Shirley Henderson will star in a major new production of the award-winning musical A History of Paper this summer.
Marking the first time the BAFTA and Olivier Award-winning stage and screen stars have appeared together on stage, the new staging of Oliver Emanuel and Gareth Williams’ acclaimed love story will debut at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 9 August to 12 September before playing Dundee Rep from 16-19 September.
Presented by Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Dundee Rep Theatre, the production will be directed by Dundee Rep’s award-winning artistic director Andrew Panton.
Commenting on the project, Cumming said: “I fell in love with this musical when I saw it at the Traverse as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2024. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and felt so connected to its narrative. Andrew and I asked Shirley Henderson to come and sing through some of the songs with me, and suddenly it became a deep and rich and heart-wrenching memory play, as two older people looked back at their lives together.”
Henderson added: “I feel very happy and a little nervous and have this little bubble of excitement in my tummy to be jumping in at the deep end with the extraordinary Alan Cumming as we try to bring A History of Paper to life. It is such a beautiful play full of tenderness and fun and love and sweet music written by Oliver Emanuel and Gareth Williams. With this gorgeous writing, sweet music, my friend Alan and the very brilliant Andrew Panton who will direct the play meant I could only say yes when they asked me to become involved.”
Director Panton commented: “A History of Paper is a piece that is incredibly close to my heart and artistic soul. Every step of our creative journey has been a celebration of Olly through his beautiful words and Gareth’s stunning score. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be embarking on this exciting adventure with Alan and Shirley as we create a new production together.”
The creative team also includes designer Ana Inés Jabares Pita, musical director Gavin Whitworth, lighting designer Bruno Poet and sound designer Alexandra Faye Braithwaite.
Charting the progress of a relationship between a man and a woman through the little bits of paper left behind – every ticket, letter, menu and shopping list, A History of Paper started life as an original radio play, written by Oliver Emanuel, and was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017. Emanuel, who sadly passed away in 2023, worked with composer Gareth Williams to turn his acclaimed original work into a stage musical.
Originally commissioned and developed by Dundee Rep Theatre, the show premiered at Traverse Theatre as part of TravFest 24 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2024. The production won the Musical Theatre Review Best Musical Award, the Fringe First Award and a Best Director Award at the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) for director Andrew Panton.
The production forms part of Cumming’s inaugural season as artistic director at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, as the theatre celebrates its 75th anniversary.
Angela Thomas
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