World Première: ‘I’ll be Seeing You’
22 September – 11 October 2026, Pitlochry Festival Theatre
World Première
A Pitlochry Festival Theatre Production
‘I’ll be Seeing You’, written by Martin Sherman, directed by Alan Cumming and Ben Occhipinti, designed by Tim Hatley
Starring: Simon Russell Beale, Fra Fee, Adam Kashmiry, Anne Lacey, Martin Sherman, Ali Watt, and Greg Powrie
World Première of the new play I’ll Be Seeing You by Martin Sherman (Bent, Rose, Mrs Henderson Presents and A Madhouse in Goa).
Cast to feature Tony, BAFTA and Olivier award winning actor Simon Russell Beale (The Lehman Trilogy) as Liberace, Fra Fee (The Ferryman) as the young writer and making his professional stage acting debut playwright Martin Sherman
Directed by Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Alan Cumming and the Theatre’s Associate Director Ben Occhipinti and is part of Cumming’s inaugural season as Artistic Director at Pitlochry Festival Theatre in the Theatre’s 75th Anniversary year.
Press performance on Saturday September 26 at 2pm & 7.30pm, Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Alan Cumming to direct Simon Russell Beale and Fra Fee in world première of Martin Sherman’s new play I’ll Be Seeing You
This September, Alan Cumming’s inaugural season as Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre is set to stage the eagerly awaited world première of ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’, legendary American playwright and screenwriter Martin Sherman’s (Bent, Mrs Henderson Presents, The Boy from Oz and A Madhouse in Goa) new play about the life of the flamboyant entertainer Liberace as seen through the eyes of a young writer.
Directed by Pitlochry Festival Theatre's Tony, Olivier, BAFTA and Emmy award winning Artistic Director Alan Cumming and the Theatre's Associate Director Ben Occhipinti and starring Tony, BAFTA and Olivier award winning actor Simon Russell Beale, Fra Fee as well as playwright Martin Sherman making his stage acting debut, I’ll Be Seeing You will have its première at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 22 September to 11 October.
Martin Sherman’s new play is a bold and imaginative fantasia which follows a young writer struggling to create a play about the flamboyant superstar Liberace—a man he believes lived in denial, hiding his true self behind sequins and spectacle. But when Liberace himself appears to him, the story takes a surreal turn. Through music, memory, and irresistible charm, Liberace challenges not only the writer but also the audience to question their own assumptions, prejudices, and truths.
Funny, seductive, and deeply moving, I’ll Be Seeing You is a theatrical event that blurs reality and fantasy while celebrating one of entertainment’s most unforgettable icons.
The exciting I’ll Be Seeing You cast will feature Tony, BAFTA and Olivier award winning actor Simon Russell Beale (The Lehman Trilogy, Uncle Vanya and Candide, as well as screen roles in Death to Stalin, Into the Woods, Thor: Love and Thunder and The Hollow Crown), Fra Fee (Les Misérables, The Ferryman, Cabaret and on screen in Hawkeye, Rebel Moon, Prime Target and The Unchosen), Adam Kashmiry (Adam, National Theatre of Scotland); Anne Lacey (Anna Karenina Chichester Festival Theatre and Medea and Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning, National Theatre of Scotland), Ali Watt (The Sound of Music, Pitlochry Festival Theatre), Greg Powrie (River City, BBC Scotland) and making his stage acting debut Martin Sherman.
Simon Russell Beale said:
“I am hugely excited at the prospect of working on Martin Sherman's brilliant new play, with a wonderful team - Alan Cumming, Fra Fee, and Tim Hatley. It should be a great adventure.”
Martin Sherman is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose work has been produced in more than sixty countries. Martin is renowned for his Tony-nominated play Bent whichopened at the Royal Court and transferred to the West End (starring Ian McKellen), before going on to Broadway (starring Richard Gere). It was revived at the National Theatre ten years later and was adapted for screen in 1998, starring Clive Owen. His other plays include Rose, Messiah, A Mad House in Goa, the films Alive and Kicking and Mrs Henderson Presents as well as the Broadway Musical The Boy From Oz starring Hugh Jackman.
Playwright Martin Sherman said about his new play:
“It’s impossible to describe a playwright’s joy having Simon Russell Beale and Fra Fee starring as what had been your imagined characters and Alan Cumming directing what once was your imagined fantasy and having all of that insanity and joy and mischievous chaos unleashed during Alan Cumming’s initial, ground-breaking season at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
‘I’ll Be Seeing You’ has been described as a play about Liberace, but what it is
really is a play not about Liberace, which I suppose is the point, or perhaps it isn’t. What is not in question is my pure delight at having my play premiere in this gorgeous circumstance and having Alan, Simon, and Fra madly tinkling the keys of a wayward sequined piano floating somewhere through the bemused skies of the Scottish Highlands.”
Joining Alan Cumming and Ben Occhipinti in the creative team are Tony and Olivier award winning Designer Tim Hatley (Life of Pi and Back to the Future, West End and Broadway), Lighting Designer Grant Anderson (The High Life – The Musical, National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep Theatre in association with Aberdeen Performing Arts and Capital Theatres), Choreographer Chris Stuart Wilson (To Save The Sea, Sleeping Warrior Theatre Company) and Historical Content Consultant Jonathan Warren.
Director Alan Cumming said:
“The world premiere of a Martin Sherman play is a huge event, and for that play to be about Liberace and the truth of writing is such an incredible mash up of concepts and ideas. This is a confection like no other seen on the PFT stage, a mirage of rhinestone and glitz, about a man who played with and for us in equal measure.
We have been so lucky to have the cooperation of the Liberace foundation in bringing this play to the Pitlochry stage, and to have been given access to his collection in Las Vegas for research purposes.
We are also so honoured to have the great Simon Russell Beale playing Liberace, and Fra Fee as a writer forced to create a play about him, and Martin Sherman himself will be taking the stage too!
This will be an evening unlike anything seen in our theatre in the hills! Gird your loins!”
The production is part of Alan Cumming’s inaugural season as Artistic Director in this the Theatre’s 75th anniversary year.”
‘I’ll Be Seeing You’ premières atPitlochry Festival Theatre from 22 September - 11 October. For tickets and further information visit pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com or call the box office team on 01796 484626.