A multi-million-pound proposal to create a national centre of theatrical excellence in Perthshire has been unveiled.
The Vision 2021 project aims to transform Pitlochry Festival Theatre into one of the country’s top venues.
Up to £25 million will be spent upgrading facilities, as well as creating additional studios and a new auditorium in time to mark the Theatre in the Hills’ 70th anniversary.
The initiative will also provide young people with new skills.
Studies have revealed the investment could result in a 40% increase in visitors and boost the Scottish economy by around £35m within the next seven years.
Chief executive and artistic director John Durnin believes the time has come for PFT to play a bigger role in Scotland’s arts infrastructure.
He said: “Vision 2021 is the culmination of many years of planning and discussion between PFT’s Board of Trustees, its senior management team and a wide variety of funders, stakeholders and national agencies. We’ve long known that PFT would have to change, physically and creatively, if it was to not just survive but to thrive in the very different economic landscape that now surrounds us.
“This provides us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change, to grow and to develop, yet retain all that is special and valued about this extraordinary organisation.”
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