Alan Cumming and Shirley Henderson Will Lead A HISTORY OF PAPER Off-Broadway

Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Dundee Rep Theatre’s production of A History of Paper will make its US premiere in New York in February 2027. The production will star Tony, Emmy, BAFTA and Olivier Award winner Alan Cumming, and Olivier and BAFTA Award winner Shirley Henderson.

Directed by Dundee Rep Theatre’s Artistic Director Andrew Panton, A History of Paper will play for a strictly limited 13-week run from 12 February to 16 May 2027, Off-Broadway at The Shubert Organization’s Stage 42 (422 West 42nd Street). Tickets go on sale on 17 November. 

The New York transfer marks a major international milestone for both Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Dundee Rep Theatre, with A History of Paper becoming the first production from either theatre to transfer Off-Broadway. Check out photos from the show’s Scotland run here.

A History of Paper started life as an original BBC Radio 4 play in 2017, written by Oliver Emanuel. Oliver, and composer Gareth Williams, subsequently adapted it as a work-in-progress at Dundee Rep Theatre in 2019 as part of Rep Stripped, the theatre’s festival championing new Scottish work and giving artists space to develop and share bold ideas with live audiences. The production went on to make its Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut at The Traverse Theatre in 2024, where it won the coveted Fringe First Award. Alan Cumming saw and fell in love with it and, with director Andrew Panton, arranged for it to be a part of his first season as Artistic Director at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

This funny and deeply moving two-character, beautiful Scottish musical charts a universal love story between a man and a woman through the physical paper artefacts that define a relationship and a lifetime -from letters, menus and train tickets to shopping lists and postcards.

“I am so thrilled to bring A History of Paper from my home country of Scotland to my adopted home in New York City,” Alan Cumming commented. “This is one of these rare shows that transcends its own story and manages to touch an audience in a really visceral and beautiful way. And it utterly belongs in New York City. Since taking over as Artistic Director at Pitlochry Festival Theatre it has been my plan (and dream) to start a theatrical exchange channel between Manhattan and our theatre in the hills. This is the first show to do so and I couldn’t be happier to be doing it alongside Shirley, who I first worked with over forty years ago!”

“When Alan whispered backstage to me that we might be taking our show A History of Paper to New York, my heart skipped a beat,” Henderson said. “In that moment, I felt excited, a little scared but happy to be holding hands with Alan as we take this beautiful piece of writing with sweet music on the next part of its journey. I never imagined it was possible to have the opportunity to step onto the New York stage. I am glad it’s with my lovely friend Alan Cumming.”

“Creating this show with Alan, Shirley and our amazing creative team has been a dream,” said Andrew Panton. “Some stories ask us to lean a little closer. A History of Paper is one of them – the story of one relationship quietly becoming about all of us:  the people who shape our lives, the memories we hold on to, and the ordinary moments we come to treasure most. The work I’ve seen in New York has long inspired me to make theatre, and to see work developed at Dundee Rep reach international audiences is a powerful reminder of why we invest in new work and the artists who create it. I couldn’t be more excited to bring our beautiful show to New York City audiences.”

Alan Cumming first dazzled New York with his Tony Award-winning performance as the Emcee in Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Cabaret in 1998 and its return engagement in 2014. His other NYC credits include Broadway productions of Design for Living, The Threepenny Opera and his acclaimed solo Macbeth, and the Off-Broadway production of Jeremy O. Harris’ “Daddy.” In London, his stage performances include Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Olivier Award), La Bête, Hamlet, Cabaret, Bent, The Bacchae, and Endgame. Film credits include GoldenEye, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, the Spy Kids trilogy, X2: XMen United, and the forthcoming Avengers: Doomsday, among others. On television, his credits include “The Good Wife,” “Instinct,” and “Schmigadoon!” He is the three-time Emmy Award-winning host and master of ceremonies for NBC’s reality series, “The Traitors USA,” which recently launched its fifth season. Cumming took up the post of Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre in January 2025.

A History of Paper serves as the long-awaited New York stage debut of Shirley Henderson. Her extensive London theatre credits include originating the role of Elizabeth in Girl from the North Country (The Old Vic/West End) for which she won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and The Winter’s Tale (National Theatre). On film, she is widely recognised for her role as Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films, and Jude in the Bridget Jones films, as well as Topsy-Turvy, Trainspotting, and I Swear, among others.

Andrew Panton is the multi-award-winning Artistic Director of Dundee Rep Theatre. In addition to winning the Scottish Critics’ Best Director Award for A History of Paper, his recent credits include Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson’s The High Life, (co-produced with National Theatre of Scotland) and James Graham’s Make it Happen (co-produced with Edinburgh International Festival, National Theatre of Scotland, Neal Street and Playful Productions). No Love Songs (co-produced with Goodspeed Musicals) He has directed multiple Scottish premieres at Dundee Rep including a critically acclaimed production of Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-Winning August: Osage County.