HANDS UP!
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
★★★½
“I would absolutely recommend the show for anyone looking for an easy laugh and some promising dramatic talent”
I open this review with a confession. I have seen a lot of student theatre. Too much. And yet shows like this one remind me why I can never really see enough.
Hands Up! from LS6 Theatre Company isn’t perfect, and I’ll explain why in a sec, but its charms and talents far outweigh its flaws. The show pits two lackadaisical uni students stuck in a messy, atemporal polycule with two armed robbers who, it transpires, know as little about themselves as they do their heist. Thus ensues 45 minutes of (intentionally) awkward escapades which range from half hearted Pres games to a mutual outpouring of souls, all scored by the humorous confusion of what the robbers are actually there for.
The dialogue writing is very strong throughout, flowing naturally from joke to joke (and there are many jokes) in a way that largely feels authentic to human conversation. Izzy Higgins packs a lot joke wise, if not plot wise, into the show and the audience was chortling throughout. This was complimented by her direction, which was consistently tight and often imaginative, making the most of the limited space with some really inventive proxemics and lighting choices (Charlie, the bumbling sidekick character’s sudden tortured reliving of their criminal initiation a particular highlight). Humour was also gardened by strong performances throughout; Joe Cox oozes charisma as the haphazard Billy, and Leila Briggs brings a wonderful naturalism to Billy’s friend and ex Elise. Ludo Gibson was hilarious as the aforementioned Charlie, his characterisation mastered through awkward pauses and instinctive comic timing (though sometimes it drifts into a pantomime caricature). The same can be said of Ana Thompson as the unstable lead robber Tina, who at her best brings an infectious theatrical energy to the performance and garners many well earned laughs, but sometimes overdoes it.
Indeed, these moments illustrate the primary prevalent with the production: too often, it feels like it’s looking for the laugh. It often deserves it, but the sense of self awareness around their comedic circumstances undercut the comedy by undercutting one’s immersion in this story as anything more than an extended sketch. This problem is production wide; quite a few of the lines explain the joke, rather than stopping at the moment of implication. Subsequently, the audience don’t fill in the punchline but are instead left to watch it inevitably, laboriously unfold. Similarly, some directorial and performance choices feel too intentional (for comedic purposes); sudden physical sequences or exaggerated deliveries which clearly anticipate a laugh and subsequently don’t always get it, even when it’s deserved. This doesn’t render the show cringe inducing or dull, however, nor does it undercut the show’s real wit and charm. I can imagine with a more lively audience, perhaps, this transactionality wouldn’t have been as intense. I would absolutely recommend the show for anyone looking for an easy laugh and some promising dramatic talent in the later afternoon.
HANDS UP!
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Reviewed on 13th August 2025 at Studio at theSpace @ Niddry St
by Horatio Holloway
