Alan Cumming compares Scottish Government and Creative Scotland to a 'dysfunctional divorcing couple'

Alan Cumming, the Broadway and Hollywood star who has taken over the running of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, has compared the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland to a "dysfunctional divorcing couple" over their handling of the arts industry.

The Perthshire-born actor and writer, who started working as artistic director earlier this month, said the Scottish arts community had been left "harmed, stressed and exhausted" by a system of arts funding he described as "broken."

Cumming said it was “terrible” that people across the Scottish arts community did not know if they would still have a job within the next months after vital funding decisions were delayed.

He suggested Creative Scotland's controversial closure of an open fund for artists last summer was "intended to embarrass" the Scottish Government, which was blamed for putting millions of pounds of the culture budget on hold.

When Cumming was appointed in September, he pledged to "invite the world's best theatre artists" to Pitlochry as well as showcase "Scotland's thrilling theatrical legacy."

However he will not know if the theatre has any future Scottish Government funding until the end of this month, when Creative Scotland finally announces its first new long-term programme since 2018.

More than 100 theatre, festivals, events and arts centres have been on "standstill" funding since then, despite the impact of the pandemic and rising costs.

Creative Scotland has been forced to delay its next long-term funding programme several times since 2022 due to uncertainty over its future budgets.

Chief executive Iain Munro warned in September of a risk of "the cold winds of a cultural recession" blowing through Scottish culture without a major rethink over arts funding, as he insisted Creative Scotland's "hands were tied" over the closure of its open fund due to uncertainty over its budget.

Plans to announce the multi-year programme last October were delayed weeks after the government announced a review into the future of Creative Scotland.

It was finally allocated an additional £20m for the first year of the multi-year funding programme in the Scottish Budget in early December. Although a record £54m has been ring-fenced for the first year, there is still a £33.5m funding gap to meet the demand from 281 applicants.

Industry leaders have raised fears over the prospect of "the jam being spread too thinly" after culture secretary Angus Robertson suggested he wanted to see the "maximum" number of organisations secure-long term funding.

Mr Cumming said: "I think of the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland as a dysfunctional divorcing couple. All the artists are like their kids wondering if they are going to get any pocket money.

"I really do believe that the Scottish people and the Scottish Government understand the value of the arts.

"But, right now, the method of translating that into us getting the money to do our jobs is just not working.

“It feels really disrespectful to so many people who have dedicated their lives to the arts

"People have been left hanging for the last three months. They are waiting to see if they're going to be able to continue. It's a terrible thing for everyone to be wondering if actually they're going to have a job.

"I've been meeting loads of people and everyone is just very stressed at the moment. It feels like the whole arts community in Scotland is exhausted. It's not a good atmosphere for making good work."

Mr Cumming was among the leading Scottish performers to speak out over the "unavoidable" closure of Creative Scotland's open for artists at the end of August, describing the move as "really alarming for the future of the Scottish arts scene."

Performers staged protests during festival shows and outside the Scottish Parliament, before John Swinney announced the release of £8.4m, which allow the open fund to reopen in October.

Mr Cumming said: "It was all so frustrating.

“I don't understand the full machinations and I don't know who does, because we are not in those rooms.

"It seemed like that (open fund) announcement was intended to embarrass the government and it worked.

"The government has rightly responded. We need to look again at how money for the arts is distributed and how that function of government works. It is clearly a broken system."

The government, which has pledged to increase arts spending by £100m by 2028, has committed an additional £34m for culture in 2025-26, with a further £20m earmarked for 2026-27.

Mr Cumming confirmed he had been in personal contact with both Mr Swinney, who is also the local MSP for Pitlochry, and Mr Robertson since his appointment.

He added: "I genuinely believe they are committed to what they have promised.

“I really believe the government appreciates the arts, understands their value to society and has the best of intentions.

"However, Creative Scotland is not serving the arts community well enough.

"Whatever has been going on, with all the machinations, and mummy and daddy fighting, has only harmed, stressed and exhausted people in our community."

Pitlochry Festival Theatre, which currently gets annual funding of £420,000 via Creative Scotland, attracts more than 100,000 theatregoers every year. It normally stages eight shows in its main season between May and October.

Mr Cumming, who has succeeded Elizabeth Newman as artistic director, said: "We have a big operation here, but it's a very successful operation. We have a great reputation in terms of audience satisfaction and we run a tight ship.

“We would obviously like more money from the government. Who wouldn't?

"Everyone has been under pressure. Everyone could do with more money. Everyone is doing it for the love of doing it, not because they're going to get rich from working in subsidised theatre.

"It's essential now to do co-productions. One of the things I've already been doing is talking to lots of other theatres about what we can collaborate on.

"I want us to make great work in Pitlochry in the spirit of Scottish theatre and then take that out to the world. I want people to come to Pitlochry and have experiences they will be talking about in 10 years time."

Mr Cumming was speaking ahead of his first events, with the writers Douglas Stuart, Val McDermid, Andrew O'Hagan, Liz Lochhead and Michael Pedersen all appearing at next month's Winter Words Festival.

He said: "The programme is a microcosm of what I want my first season to be, and indeed my whole outlook for the theatre.

“There are big names and well-kent faces, but also new, younger and more diverse people, as well as some thinking-out-the-box ideas. I’ve been trying to think of something for everyone.”