Hands up if you love Leeds student theatre! Well, it was a different kind of Hands UP! In March, for the final performance of LUUās Open Theatre Socās, original play āHands Up!ā. This triumph of a play, written for and performed at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe, captured the audience far more seamlessly than Tina and Charlie, the two less-than-adapt thieves, captured Billy and Elise in an attempt to steal an unknown object, at the behest of the āBig Bossā.Ā
Performed in the Alec Clegg theatre, the intimate setting, reminiscent of any living room in Hyde Park, placed the audience on the same level as these relatable characters. Written by Izzy Higgins, who successfully created four different characters who you couldnāt help but laugh at, laugh with, and root for, despite their contrasting aims. The increasingly bizarre series of events that followed began at 11.11am, as Tina and Charlie followed their superstitious ābig bossesā orders and burst into Billy and Eliseās living room, without knowing exactly what it was they needed to steal. Billy and Elise, two exes who remained good friends and housemates, immediately felt relatable and real to the audience. Their romantic past and sense of lingering feelings, showcased by their obvious awareness of proximity and Billyās snarky comments at Elise’s new girlfriend, the absent third housemate, made for a hilarious navigation of this anything but average home invasion.Ā
After their early start, Charlie and Tina attempted to kill time while they waited for a call from their ābig bossā, to reveal exactly what it was they were supposed to be stealing. In this time, the strangest game of Never Have I Ever led to bonding between the unlikely group of characters. Billyās impressively laid-back reaction to the situation was showcased as he and Charlie struck up a friendship over their shared childhood dream of being Beefeaters, much to Eliseās exasperation. Her highly-strung nature led to hilarious interactions as she attempted to keep Billy in check, while interceding on behalf of Charlie, the people-pleasing, ditsy burglar who fell into this āline of workā post-grad, and seems eager both to please the slightly-terrifying Tina, and desperate to befriend Billy and Elise. From an attempted escape, Tinaās revelation about her romantic relationship with the Big Boss, and the increasingly emotional attachment that was forming between Billy, Elise and Charlie, the 45 minutes flew by as the audience laughed out loud at the wittily written one-liners, delivered with such talent by the four actors. If it was ever possible for all four actors to steal the show, that is certainly what happened here. From Ana Thompsonās slightly terrifying monologue as Tina, which revealed that behind this āvillainā was a lovesick girl, to Ludo Gibson, Leila Biggs, and Joe Coxās hilarious dynamic, these four Open Theatre stars brought Higginsā incredible writing to life in the best way.Ā
The play ended with a twist. After Billy and Elise declared they didnāt have the earrings the big boss was after, and Tina and Charlie departed to burgle all the houses on their street, in a hopeful search for them, Elise received a phone call from her girlfriend, the divisive third housemate. The earrings would be arriving today. The case was wrapped up, and so was the play.Ā
This was a triumph of everything that makes theatre so good: leaving at the end of the performance, my friends and I echoed the same sentiment- āomg we REALLY need to do that moreā! It takes an incredible talent to make an audience genuinely laugh out loud: Izzy Higgins captured the perfect balance of comedic one-liners, an interesting and unpredictable plot, delivered with such genuine talent to create characters who were believable and lovable. There is no wonder that this was such a success at the Edinburgh Fringe: Iāll put my āHands Up!ā and say it was the best performance Iāve seen in my time at Leeds.
Editor: Grace Lees