Pitlochry Festival Theatre - Peter Pan production.

The Guardian 25 November 2022

Captain Hook looks as if he has stepped out of the court of Louis XIV. His head is half wig, half galleon, buoyant on a sea of blond curls. It is such a striking image that it takes a moment to notice the boots finished with pearls or the rings on the fingers of his one working hand. Played by Colin McCredie, this is Hook as a dandy – a baddie more interested in preening than finishing off his adversaries.

And “played” is the operative word. Ben Occhipinti’s wholesome production of an adaptation by Janys Chambers focuses on the make-believe quality of JM Barrie’s original. You could not mistake McCredie for a real villain – he elicits neither a hiss nor a boo. Rather, he is a dressing-up box pirate, more narcissist than threat. [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).