Kris Bryce's tenure saw him lead on a successful bid to join the £300 million Tay Cities Region deal

Changing Faces

Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s best years ‘just beginning’, says departing chief executive

Arts Professional
2 min read

Chief executive KRIS BRYCE is to step away from Pitlochry Festival Theatre as he chooses to focus on his consultancy company, Galanthus Group.

Bryce leaves the organisation early next year, having joined in 2016.

The announcement follows on the heels of the Highlands-based venue’s first season to be revealed under artistic director ALAN CUMMING, and sees Bryce leave shortly ahead of the theatre’s 75th anniversary celebrations.

Bryce is credited with steering the theatre through the pandemic alongside its former artistic director, ELIZABETH NEWMAN, and with directing the building’s bid to become the country’s first net-zero venue.

In 2023, he launched his consultancy business, with his ambition now being to focus entirely on the venture.

The search for his replacement has already begun, though DOUGIE CAMERON, who leads finance and operations at the theatre, will take on the role of interim chief executive in the meantime.

Bryce said: “It has been an extraordinary privilege to serve Pitlochry Festival Theatre for nearly a decade. I’ve been fortunate to work with three brilliant artistic directors in that time — JOHN DURNIN, Elizabeth Newman and Alan Cumming — each shaping the work on our stages and the stories we tell in important and meaningful ways.”

“My lasting memory of Pitlochry Festival Theatre will always be the people,” he said. “Anything is possible when individuals collaborate enthusiastically and respectfully, and the team at Pitlochry demonstrate that truth daily in what they achieve together. I leave with real warmth and in full confidence that the theatre’s best years are just beginning.”