The Scotsman 8 November 2022

It is not a question most of us ever have to worry about it, but for an actor it could make all the difference: on which hand should Captain Hook wear his hook?

For Colin McCredie, playing JM Barrie’s pirate in Peter Pan and Wendy at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, it is a pressing dilemma as he steels himself for two days of fight training. The day after we talk, he and his fellow actors in Ben Occhipinti’s nine-strong Pitlochry ensemble are brushing up their skills in sword fighting. For most of the show, McCredie is earthbound (flying lessons were last week) but he needs to make sure he has his best hand forward when it comes to combat. [READ MORE]

By Mark Fisher

MARK FISHER is a freelance theatre critic and feature writer based in Edinburgh and has written about theatre in Scotland since the late-1980s. He is a theatre critic for The Guardian, a former editor of The List magazine and a frequent contributor to the Scotsman and other publications. He is the co-editor of the play anthology Made in Scotland (1995), and the author of The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide (2012) and How to Write About Theatre (2015) – all Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. He is also the editor of The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls and What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book (both Mark Fisher Ltd).