REVIEW: Piano Smashers, Rob Thompson and Rupert Page, EdFringe 2025 ★★★★

Piano Smashers, a new play by Rupert Page and Rob Thompson is a cathartic (semi) one man show dealing with the struggles of grief and unwanted inheritance. When two siblings inherit their mother’s piano but both haven’t played or seen their mother in decades, they strike up a deal to have it for one year then pass it to the next as they cannot bring themselves to dispose of it. What follows is a brilliantly written and performed 1 hour rollercoaster where the intimacy of the small audience is definitely felt and no one is fully safe from the emotions.

Rob Thompson portrays the narrator brilliantly, welcoming the audience as they come through the door and throughout the piece keeps the gentle demeanour as he brings up audience members to participate in the story, from giving full scenes to people in the front row (with colour overlaid scripts which is an accessibility win) to taking whole audiences out of the auditorium to push the piano into the house when it gets changed over. 

This concept is ringing a bell for any avid theatre followers – Piano Smashers is the little brother of Every Brilliant Thing with similar concepts, themes and successes during the Fringe seasons as this is another returner after coming last year. But strangely enough, after speaking to Rob after the show he had never heard of it! You know he added it onto his list immediately.

While the main plot had amazing flow and kept me entertained throughout, the prologue at the start left me a little confused about the rest of the play. The narrator talking directly to the audience about having to smash his piano for a play, yet it would remain intact with only a tuning needed for later on. Throughout I slowly forgot about the prologue and what purpose it served and it’s one of the only unanswered questions I still have now.

It also features a very loud crash of a piano which while had quite a long lead up, you never knew when it was going to happen and while they added it to the warning, it is worth knowing for anyone who will need ear defenders or other noise cancelling devices as even with hands over ears it was incredibly loud.

But the part that struck mot for me was the epilogue, the ending. You have to watch the show to find out but the audience participation is at its peak and really makes you think about your own experiences and maybe want to call a family member or a friend after to tell them you love them.

Performances of Piano Smashers have now concluded at EdFringe 2025.