one4review | On 17, Aug 2024

Charles Edward Pipe has written and directed these four mini plays, all with a common theme of a planned crime. The first play is a train robbery, the second a forged will, the third a murder of work colleague and the fourth extortion. The cast of three actors – Flinn Andreae, Laura Pujos, and Jaz Tizzard, have a part in each play and their interaction with each other is just comedic gold. When things goes awry, they manage to create even more laughs in their attempts to cover up any minor mishaps.

The script is excellent, with the fourth play being especially funny. The Cockney rhyming gangster duo Ronnie and Johnnie trying to extort money from a butcher gave us plenty of belly laughs. Each play is short enough not to drag, and to leave the audience wanting more. With such sharp dialogue and impressive acting, Charles Pipe and his three young actors are stars in the making. They came to Edinburgh last year with ‘Five Short Plays Loosely Linked by the Theme of Crime’ and I hope to see them back next year for another helping of devilish crime and howling laughter.

*****

Reviewed by Rona
theSpace on the Mile

4.35pm (50 mins)

Until the 24th August (not 18th)