Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson delighted a packed-out main marquee as they provided a fabulous finale for the 2024 Wigtown Book Festival.
They shared anecdotes about their lives and discussed their new book Victor & Barry’s Kelvinside Compendium: A Meander Down Memory Close.
The pair earned huge fame and affection for their characters Victor and Barry and as Steve McCracken and Sebastian Flight in the hit comedy The High Life.
They spoke about the importance of coming from a country that valued the arts and of Scotland being confident in its culture and identity.
They recalled how as students they were encouraged to “lose their accents” as sounding Scottish was a barrier to an acting career.
Cumming said: “A Scottish accent was seen as a demerit rather than a good thing.”
Masson continued: “We were one of the first years to rebel against that and Victor and Barry were part of that – it was a confident Scottish voice.
“And we had to keep fighting our corner and keep speaking in our own voice. Over our lifetime Scotland has gained confidence.”
Cumming said that these days people are encouraged to have their own voices, but recalled how different it was in the past: “When I went to live in America for the first time, I realised that all the things that people were celebrating me for were the things that I had been slightly been derided for when I lived in London, my voice, my attitude, my difference, my values.
“These were the things that people said ‘oh, we like that’. And I was like, oh gosh, it is pretty good, isn’t it.”
The pair are currently working with Johnny McKnight on a musical version of The High Life and Masson is rehearsing a new production of The Tempest at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in which he will play Caliban alongside Sigourney Weaver.
Recently announced as the new artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Cumming expressed major ambitions for the organisation: “I feel Pitlochry is like a football, I want to really kick it into the air and take it into the stratosphere.”
Masson praised the Wigtown Book Festival saying: “It’s great to see what the book festival has done here, how important it’s been, how it’s rejuvenated everything.
“The arts are the beating heart of our nation, and it’s important that we sustain that and feed it.”
Cumming spoke about the value of public sector support for the arts and creatives: “I really do feel that Scotland has given me everything.
“It’s given me my education. It gave me my start in theatre and subsidised theatre, I got to do all these plays and make mistakes and that was all funded by a government and a country that valued the arts and valued culture.
“It’s a huge, huge boon to any artist to live in a country that thinks the arts are worthwhile and not just in terms of the amount of money they bring back.”
Other big attractions over the second weekend of the 10-day festival in Scotland’s National Book Town included a festival-in-a-festival devoted to food.
Hosted by The Hebridean Baker Coinneach MacLeod, guests included Scotland’s National Chef Gary MacLean, MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin, Bake Off winner Peter Sawkins and maker of amazing modern Indian cuisine Sanjana Modha.
The festival also welcomed graphic artist Mollie Rae and Jessica Hepburn – the only woman to have climbed Everest, swum the channel and completed the London Marathon – all while listening to Desert Island Discs.
Spectator Literary Editor Sam Leith presented a history of childhood reading.
Adrian Turpin, Wigtown Book Festival Artistic Director, said: “It’s hard to imagine a more joyful end to the festival, which has drawn thousands of visitors from across the UK to Scotland’s National Book Town.
“Forbes and Alan’s commitment to Scottish culture was a rallying cry at a time when the whole arts sector faces increasing uncertainty.”
Pictures are free to use, please credit Colin Tennant.
