Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Dundee Rep Theatre have announced that their critically acclaimed sold-out production of A History of Paper will have its US premiere in New York in February 2027.
The production, starring Tony, Emmy, BAFTA and Olivier Award winner Alan Cumming, and Olivier and BAFTA Award winner Shirley Henderson will be presented in a co-production with producers Sonia Friedman Productions, Jerry Goehring and Pemberley Productions.
Directed by Dundee Rep Theatre’s award-winning 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. It further highlights the growing international reach of work developed in Scotland, following the success of No Love Songs, which originated at Dundee Rep Theatre and transferred to the US and Australia in 2025.
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.
Speaking about the news, Alan Cumming said: “I am so thrilled to bring A History of Paper from my home country of Scotland to my adopted home in New York City.
“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!”
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.
A History of Paper runs from 12 February till 16 May 2027 Off-Broadway at the Shubert Organization’s Stage 42 (422 West 42nd Street).