Grid Iron Theatre Company has announced the return of its award-winning outdoor production Doppler for a limited run of preview performances at the Explorers Garden, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, from 11–12 September 2025.
Adapted and directed by Ben Harrison from the best-selling novel by Erlend Loe, Doppler is a darkly comic and subversive fable exploring themes of consumerism, isolation, and modern masculinity.
The production, first staged in 2021, follows the story of a man who abandons his comfortable life to live in the forest with an elk after a cycling accident prompts a radical reassessment of his existence.
“I am a man of my time. A failed man of my time. Or just a man of a failed time. Depending on how you look at it.”
Returning to the title role is Keith Fleming, joined by Grid Iron regulars Sean Hay and Itxaso Moreno, with Nik Paget-Tomlinson providing music and live foley. The creative team also includes dramaturg Eszter Marsalko, puppet-maker Fergus Dunnet, set and costume designer Becky Minto, and lighting designer Elle Taylor.
Doppler was originally scheduled for the 2020 Edinburgh Festival Fringe but pivoted to a digital documentary, Doppler – The Story So Far, due to the pandemic. The film has since been viewed by nearly 10,000 people worldwide.
Following its Pitlochry previews, Doppler will travel to Norway to perform as part of Den kulturelle skolesekken (The Cultural School Bag), a national initiative that brings professional arts experiences to schoolchildren across the country.
Anne-Kristin Saether, Team Coordinator – Art & Cultural Development for DKS, Rogaland, said:
“The Cultural Schoolbag in Rogaland are delighted to present Grid Iron Theatre Company and their production Doppler in our program for this schoolyear for Upper Secondary School. About 900 students between the ages of 15 – 19 are scheduled to see Doppler in a forest close to Øksnevad Secondary School. Doppler is one of the 23 productions that are selected to be in our program for the Cultural Schoolbag this year.”
This marks Grid Iron’s first performance at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and their second time touring in Norway, following their 2008 production Tryst for Stavanger’s European Capital of Culture programme.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
