Review Roundup: PINS AND NEEDLES at the Kiln Theatre

The Kiln Theatre is presenting Rob Drummond's Pins and Needles, starring Richard Cant. Rob is putting science and scepticism to the test in his new play. For research, he speaks to Mary, a mother trying to make the best decisions for her family, Toby, an angry son who distrusts institutions, and Edward Jenner, the father of modern vaccinations.

The more he listens, the more he struggles to keep his own subjectivity off the table, which begs the question – how do you know who to trust? Rob Drummond explores the politics around vaccines, and the human stories behind them. See what the critics are saying... 
 

Gary Naylor, BroadwayWorld: Rob Drummond’s new play, Pins and Needles, is a searing indictment of… well, something, I’m just not sure what. And that is, of course, its strength, as it is actually, in heavy disguise, not an indictment of anything, but a celebration of complication. There’s a bit of meta stuff to get through first which, although it has more justification in this script than in most, its irritation still outweighs its cleverness, It’s becoming the theatre gimmick of 2024 taking over from the near ubiquitous onstage handheld camera of 2023.  

Kate Wyver, The Guardian: While the over-explanatory Q&A format allows clarity for each story, the play is strongest when firm opinions take a backseat, allowing murkier, thornier problems to come to the fore. A simmering uncertainty remains from Drummond’s constant, smirking reminder that none of this is wholly trustworthy, but the continual tease of an unreliable narrator ultimately promises more tricksiness than it delivers. Pins and Needles is a sleek story of debate and denial, but it longs for a slightly sharper scratch.

Anya Ryan, London Theatre: Drummond does not shy away from these thorny areas and the play is at its strongest when it lets uncomfortable, conflicting opinions hang in the air. But, despite a cracker of a final scene, with so much information stuffed into its structure, the overall impact feels more like an overly tailored education than fluid drama.

Jasmine, Theatre & Tonic: This play is unsettling, meta, often shocking, and incredibly moving, as through the stories of the four characters onstage you drill endlessly into the question of trust, to find doesn’t have the solid sort of answer you might hope for. All we can do, then, is keep talking to each other.

Beth Bowden, All That Dazzles : But, packing this divisive conversation into 80 minutes is a tough task. It’s not enough time. This is my main critique - it never feels like we really get to the crux of the issues at hand. If this is a play about stepping out of the echo chamber and encouraging us to challenge our strongly held beliefs, the play stops just at the point where this conversation begins. It’s rare nowadays to spend time with people (outside of X, formerly known as Twitter) who genuinely believe something different to ourselves - and spend the time listening to the reasons behind their opinions. But with Pins and Needles, the 3 characters rarely interact, and the story stops at the point where the threads of the story begin to intersect: where the most difficult conversation begins. This leaves the play feeling too predictable, and more of a (really great) introduction to the conversation, history and the science surrounding vaccination.