Amy chats to Charles Edward Pipe as he prepares to take his show Five Short Plays Loosely Linked by the Theme of Crime to the Edinburgh Fringe!
Hey Charles – here’s your chance to give an elevator pitch, can you give us a brief synopsis?
Five Short Plays Loosely Linked by the Theme of Crime does exactly what it says on the tin: it’s an anthology of short plays about crime. The plays cover a variety of settings and genres – there’s a 1960s London gangster farce, there’s one about a retired couple smuggling cigars out of Cuba during the Cold War, and there’s even a Western complete with gunslingers and bank robbers and cowboy boots and hats.
What inspired the show?
I had a few short plays in my back pocket for a while that I had no idea what to do with. One day I realised that coincidentally they were all about criminals in some way, so I decided to write a couple more and turn them into an anthology.
How important is the Fringe for new work? And how does it feel to be at the Fringe this year?
This is my first time bringing a show to the Fringe, so it’s obviously very exciting and more than a little nerve-racking. But the Fringe is the perfect place to experiment and push yourself creatively. It’s so rare anywhere else to find so many people who are actively looking to watch new and weird stuff and to encourage and support emerging artists.
What are the main themes within the production, and what can audiences expect?
Crime, of course! It’s in the title! And some other themes are tackled: friendship, love, the patriarchy, America. In terms of tone and subject matter, all the plays deal with the intersection between comedy and tragedy. They are all comedies, but they consistently depict violent, morbid, and melancholic scenarios. It’s a difficult balancing act but very fulfilling creatively.
Finally, with so many shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, why should people book a ticket to this show?
I know a lot of people go to the Edinburgh Fringe to see new and unique stuff, and I think an anthology piece is the perfect way to do that – it’s effectively five things for the price and runtime of one. Seeing new writing at the Fringe is always a bit of a gamble, and if you end up watching something you don’t enjoy then you’ve lost an hour of your time that could have been spent elsewhere. But in an anthology of five plays, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll enjoy at least one of them.
Five Short Plays Loosely Linked by the Theme of Crime is on at Greenside @ Riddles Court from the 4th – 26th August – times vary, find out more here!
Read Tom’s review of the show here!
Find all our Ed Fringe 2023 content here!
Click here to find tickets and info for all Edinburgh Show!
- A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
Spine-tingling yet heart-warming, Mark Gatiss’s retelling of A Christmas Carol truly encapsulates the haunting atmosphere of a Victorian ghost story, balanced out with enough humour so as to capture the festive season. Led by Keith Allen as Scrooge, with Peter Forbes as Marley, this show is perfect for Christmas viewing. The set design by Paul Wills is instantly captivating, … More A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE - A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503 - PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
Peter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered in London at the Pleasance Theatre in 2013, and earlier this year the show made its Broadway debut. Now the production is back in the West End for the Christmas season. Following on from The Play That Goes Wrong, in this production, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is staged by … More PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE - GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
Drawing heavily from the classic canon of the British supernatural, High Tide’s trio of contemporary Gothic narratives uses traditional storytelling formats to address contemporary themes. Directed by Elayce Ismail, reverent musical interludes accompany tales of apparitions and nighttime conjurings that speak of women from the East of England. Unfortunately, the effect is less chilling and … More GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE - CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH
Drum roll please…(Cue a literal drum rolling across the stage.) The Lyric pantomime is one of traditions with the return of many well-loved jokes and skits. Costumes and sets are all made at the Lyric itself by Good Teeth, with set pieces being reused year on year. This year Cinderella gets the Hammersmith makeover, with … More CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH