Stage and screen star Alan Cumming has said he wants to make audiences “gasp” as he prepares for his first season as artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

The multi-award-winning actor, who took up the role last month, also expressed his desire to “harness” his international profile to “take Pitlochry to the world and the world to Pitlochry.”

Speaking during an onstage Q&A at the venue on Friday, the Perthshire-born star said his appointment came at a time when his profile was at its peak, following the success of the US version of The Traitors, which he presents.

“I’m very aware that I have a reach and a power, and that’s only growing right now—which happens to coincide with me being here,” he told the audience.