Review: Pins and Needles (Kiln Theatre)

Review by Beth Bowden

⭐️⭐️⭐️

For the inaugural show in Amit Sharma’s first season as Artistic Director of the Kiln Theatre, he directs the world premiere of the new Rob Drummond play Pins and Needles. Interestingly, it is a verbatim play, where Rob the playwright (played by Gavi Singh Chera, metatheatrical) has been commissioned by the Kiln to conduct research into the beliefs and scepticism around vaccinations. 

Dramaturgically, the play is structured around Rob leading us through the ‘scientific method’: his question, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, conclusion. His question: who should we trust when it comes to vaccines? Big Pharma? The Media? The Government? He interviews Mary, a scientist and mother, wanting to follow the evidence around the MMR jab and protect her children. He also chats to Robert, a young man who deeply distrusts Big Pharma and believes his mum has been killed by side effects of the COVID vaccine. He also ‘interviews’ Edward Jenner, who has been dead 200 years and is the so-called ‘father’ of modern vaccinations, in particular in developing the smallpox vaccine. 

The play interweaves these three stories, across time from 200 years ago all the way to 2024, in its quest for the truth. It is an interesting insight into varied opinions around vaccines, and connected stories, beliefs and scientific interests. It does occasionally feel a bit like a dramatised science project, or a Christmas lecture - with lit up red needles hanging from the ceiling, and sciency looking helix shapes onstage (Designer Frankie Bradshaw, and Lighting Designer Rory Beaton). 

Pins and Needles takes the real life stories of people who have differing experiences with vaccines and gives us space to hear them. From the start, Rob challenges us (in a direct address) to cast aside our moral and ethical judgements - to be open.  I commend the production for carving out space to unpack truth, lies, opinions, personal stories, and scientific fact - in fact, I really commend any theatre that prompts you to rethink held beliefs, and leaves open a space for open and honest discussion. For example, the show debunks the long-standing, damaging myth about the MMR jab being linked to autism in children. Through this structure, the show is also a reminder to critically analyse the media, the government, and Big Pharma - to be sceptical of what we read, absorb, and put into our bodies and brains. 

Afterwards, I started to reflect on my own held beliefs. I acknowledged that I do think that ‘the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks’ - and that's a belief I have picked up from my mum, a doctor, whose opinions I trust. She has raised me, and shaped my worldview. I trust her logic, her faith in medicine, and her ability to criticise both science and media. The production doesn’t change my mind - and it is in no way encouraging us to become Anti-Vaxxers - but it does offer space to listen to a different viewpoint. 

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. I wish it went further to confront us - to really put science, scepticism and misinformation to the test - and this unravelling hadn't only begun in the last 20 minutes. 

That said, the play does a lot to unpack truth, lies and critical thought - and is a good reminder to us all, to maintain an equal balance between strongly held, guiding belief, and a healthy dose of doubt in a fake news, technology-filled era. Gavi Singh Chera is warm, earnest and welcoming as Rob, Richard Cant hilariously revives a long-dead scientist who plays the flute, and both Brian Vernel and Vivienne Acheampong as Robert and Mary respectively tell difficult tales. That said, in a slippery twist by Rob Drummond, can we believe the authorial voice of the playwright, or should we take the stories in Pins and Needles with a pinch of salt, too?

Pins and Needles is playing at Kiln Theatre until 26 October.

For tickets and information visit https://kilntheatre.com/whats-on/pins-and-needles/ 

Photos by Mark Senior