THEATRE-GOERS are being asked to support a multi-million pound makeover for Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

Started in a tent in 1951, the year-round attraction now attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year, generating an estimated £13 million for the local economy.

Improvements have been identified as the “theatre in the hills” approaches its 60th anniversary.

The total cost of the project has been put at £6.5 million and, in a direct appeal to patrons of the theatre, chairman of the board of governors David Pighills explained the background to the appeal.

“I feel very privileged to be involved in the theatre behind the scenes and this gives me a first-hand view of the talent, enthusiasm and hard work that goes into ensuring that the shows we see are of the very highest quality,” he said.

“The other distinctive quality upon which people often remark is the warmth of the welcome and the excellence of the customer service that they receive from the theatre’s front- of-house staff.

“However, we are conscious that the fabric of the theatre—the auditorium, backstage and front-of-house areas— remains largely untouched since it was built in the late 1970s and it is now showing its age.

“If we do not do something about it soon, it will increasingly impact on the quality of the experience we enjoy as theatre-goers and constrain the theatre’s artistic ambitions.

“We have a plan to preserve and enhance the ‘Pitlochry Experience,’ that special combination of artistic excellence, location, atmosphere and quality of service.

“Over the next few years we intend to transform the theatre in two phases of redevelopment, the first of which will address five immediate priorities. For example, it is embarrassing for a leading theatre such as PFT to invite its talented actors to rehearse in a cold, leaky outbuilding.

“The building is no longer fit for use and will not last another season. Therefore, creating a new rehearsal facility is rightly a key aim of this first phase.

“When it is not being used for rehearsals, the new building will also become the home, for our increasingly-popular educational programmes.”

Repairing seats, replacing carpets, improving lighting and sprucing up decor are also high on the priority list of phase one of the project.

The second phase, which will only be tackled once the initial needs of the first phase are met include a studio theatre, larger foyers, a new restaurant and shop and direct access to the riverside and the Explorers’ garden from the theatre.

It is envisaged the longer-term development will be carried out from 2010.

Mr Pighills said, “What is important is that we all make a commitment to the long-term future of the theatre.

“Building a long list of donors is going to play a crucial part in the theatre’s ability to secure the funds it needs to see all of its plans through to completion.”