The Crimes of Pete

Pete Miller, a failing author, is being locked up by an authoritarian regime. Not for telling truth to power, because they think he’s sh*t.

Banged up with his two literary rivals - the titan Norman Black and critical darling Natasha Lichfield - he might have found a way out, but who should he bring?

The Crimes of Pete is a jet black comedy about being talentless in the struggle against dictatorship. A critical hit at the Edinburgh Fringe 2026. From the writer of The Bang Gang which came to Riverside last autumn, and directed by El Blackwood. 

Recommended age: 14+

‘As unlikely as it seems, you too will come to accept that the subject of forced disappearance and artistic purges can be a subject for the darkest of comedy in this extremely silly but frankly bitingly funny new comic play… relentlessly precise in pitch and tone.’ ★★★★  The Scotsman

‘A tight fast-paced examination of free-speech, literary critique, and our pre-occupation with legacy. Shepherd-Cross’ script is near perfect, peppered with great one-liners.’ ★★★★ The Wee

‘Hilarious. Ripples of laughter skim around us with guffaws going like a pinball from one to the next.’ ★★★★ Broadway Baby

Starring Omar Ibrahim from Things You Should Have Done, Freddie Cohen from The Bang Gang, and Honor Santa Barnes from Florence.

Hughie Shepherd-Cross is a playwright and screenwriter behind seven plays including The Bang Gang, Out To Lunch, and Ringer. He has written on a recent film starring Richard E Grant and Celia Imrie and won the CHAFF Short Story Prize.