00:00I have absolutely nothing prepared because it's too big a subject. It's a huge subject,
00:14the Alan Cummings subject. I wouldn't know where to begin. I first saw Alan, I was visiting the
00:21Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and this was either mid or early 80s and I went to see a production
00:29of Tartuffe, which is a great play and it was a formidable cast, but there was this one young
00:36man who stood out extraordinary and I had never seen energy like it. Clarity, energy, purpose about
00:45his acting and I thought this guy is gonna go far, really, really far and it was our friend, Alan and
00:53he was truly extraordinary and his career has just built systematically since then. But
00:59I think the great thing about Alan is his honesty. He's always remained honest and truthful and
01:07he's always told the truth and that's made him quite respected and in our country he's
01:14a very, very important ambassador. In fact, he's probably the main artistic ambassador for
01:21Scotland and he's done an enormous amount of work. I mean, really, the creating of him actually
01:29becoming the director of the Pitlochery Theatre, which is a wonderful festival theatre in the
01:34heart of the Highlands. And Alan, I thought, how the hell can he do it? Because he does take
01:39things on and I think, are you gonna manage? And he does. He does it brilliantly and he's
01:44already got an incredible plan for the next season in Pitlochery. He's a truly, truly astonishing
01:52person. But above all, he's extraordinarily kind and extraordinarily committed to other
01:58people. It's not just about him, it's about how the work affects other people. And I'm
02:03very, very proud, and I know my wife is too, to call Alan our friend. Thank you.
02:10Thank you!
