'It would be impossible for me to feel more Scottish': Alan Cumming on his new role as Robert Burns and the return of Victor and Barry

“The sheer amount of information available about Burns is pretty incredible,” he explains.

“He’s been such a presence in Scottish life.

“The thing that most surprised me, though, was that he was not this big, strong, strapping west of Scotland ploughman.”

Cumming adds: “He was much more fragile than that, physically and mentally. He was always falling off horses, had carriages running into him, he was getting sick, getting depressed. And yet still writing these incredible things.”

Burn, which comes to Glasgow’s Theatre Royal at the end of this month, is a creative collaboration between Cumming and Olivier award-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett.

It is a powerful new piece of dance theatre inspired by the life and legacy of Scotland’s most celebrated poet, and after its run at the Edinburgh International Festival, it will transfer to The Joyce Theater in New York, where Cumming now lives.

Burn aims to challenge the "biscuit tin" image of Scotland’s National Bard and goes beyond the poetry to focus on the man himself - his poverty, his personal tragedy, his struggles with mental health and his spectacular success.

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It features the music of acclaimed contemporary musician and composer Anna Meredith, with visually arresting set and video design by Ana Inés Jabares Pita and Lewis den Hertog.

No stranger to a physically demanding role - Cumming won a Tony Award for his performance as the Emcee in the revival of musical Cabaret - he admits taking on a solo dance show was about as physically demanding as it gets.

“I just wanted to do something dancey,” he says, simply.

“When I finished Cabaret on Broadway in 2015 I was 50, and realised I was never going to be that fit again. I was never going to be asked to dance like that again, I was never going to be the lead dancer in a show. And I was sure I had one more thing left in me.”

He admits: “It’s exhausting, my body ached. I was in baths of epsom salts and all sorts of potions every night. It’s going to be really hard for me. 

"I shouldn’t be doing this. But I’ll only be doing what I can.

“I think of myself as quite a physical actor. I wish I’d done it more, but I’m still able now to do it. And I have something to say.

“I’m pretty fit. I’m swimming every day and doing a bit of weights. Over the last couple of years I’ve been conscious this is coming. So I’ve stopped drinking. Well, since last week...”

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He adds: “I have to be strong to carry off something like this. My stamina has to be good, and I have to be as pliable as I can for such an onslaught.

Robert Burns has always fascinated Cumming, he explains.

“Through his work I feel he tells us the absolute truth of who we are as Scots, but the more I researched him the more I realised I didn’t know the absolute truth of him,” he says.

“Burn is my attempt at trying to tell more of his story using my whole body.”

He adds: “The fascinating thing about him, and it’s why I think people are still interested in him and writing about him so many years later, is that Burns speaks for Scotland. He speaks to and for us, and no other country’s Bard does that - Shakespeare isn’t an emblem for England, for example.

“He is such a big part of Scottish DNA. We all learn about him in school and read the poems, so it is exciting to look at him in a different way."

He pauses.

“And I suppose I just thought if I’m asking people to look at Burns in a different way, it might be interesting for audiences to look at me in a different way too," he adds.

Cumming laughs at the idea that being immersed in the world of Burns and his “Scottishness” might have made him feel “more Scottish".

“I think it would be impossible for me to feel more Scottish,” he laughs.

“Most of the time I’m not in Scotland, so I’m reminded of it every day. I’m noticed for it, questioned about it, even revered for it. Scottishness is part of my psyche.”

In addition to the Tony, Cumming has Olivier, Scottish BAFTA and CATS awards under his belts, and he is the recipient of multiple Grammy, Golden Globe and Emmy nominations.

He has appeared in Hollywood blockbusters such as Bond movie GoldenEye and on stage in Macbeth and Bent, and he is a writer - his new memoir, Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life, is published by Canongate.

Fans of a certain vintage, however, may recall Cumming's earliest incarnation in Glasgow, as one half of Victor and Barry, the natty Kelvinside men who shot to the top of the Scottish comedy scene in the 80s.

Cumming and celebrated actor and writer Forbes Masson - the two met at Glasgow’s Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire) in 1982 - also went on to star in BBC sitcom The High Life together, and there is good news - Victor and Barry are coming back to celebrate their 40th anniversary.

“We’re doing a book,” grins Cumming.

“It’s 40 years since we first appeared as Victor and Barry, so this will be a scrapbook-style look at what has happened to them in those decades since we last saw them, a celebration of that important cultural occasion.

“It’s been a lot of fun doing that, so many memories. The funny thing is, while I was rehearsing for Burn in Glasgow, I actually stayed in Kelvinside.”

He laughs: “So cycling to work, picking up a wee coffee on the way - just being back in the world of Victor and Barry. It was hilarious.”

Burn is at the Theatre Royal from August 31 to September 3.