A mother bequeaths her piano to her children in a will and they really do not want it because of what it represents to them. Piano Smashers promises to… quite literally… be a smash. To celebrate, whilst destroying a field of priceless Mozart-era pianos with a sledgehammer, Fringe Review’s resident interviewer Dr.Pants asks Robert Thompson about his fringe show. Piano Smashers is on Fri 23 October 7:00 pm and Sat 24 October 5:30 pm during Colchester Fringe.
NAP: Hello Rob! Pleasure to speak to you today while we destroy all these priceless pianos. What is your show about?
RT: Piano Smashers is about “legacy, loss and purging old demons.” (Herald 2025.) If we agree simply to accept the past, then how will things ever change? This play is from the heart, Rupert Page and Rob Thompson have written this play for their adult children who inherit, right now, a global political mess, financial insecurity and climate breakdown. Rupert and Rob are willing them all to challenge, break, redefine and reject what has gone before.
NAP: Is it a true story based on your life?
RT: No, I do own the piano that features in Piano Smashers, but all of the stories in the play are made up by Rupert and Rob.
NAP: To be clear, do you actually smash up a real piano in the show?
RT: Damn right, we do and you’ll love it. Now you’re wondering now how we do it?
NAP: What makes it unique to other shows at the fringe?
RT: Where else can you clearly see such a beautiful piano, and yet, see absolutely nothing?
Intrigued? …and when you do get to know it, to then witness its demise.
If you like your theatre imaginative, this is for you.
NAP: How would you convince me to see your play if I was hesitant?
RT: Audiences in Brighton, Ventnor, Edinburgh, Prague and London have all loved this beautiful show over the last three years. It is in Colchester this year for two shows only. Do not miss this one. Four star reviews from Binge Fringe and Herald in 2025. Numerous wonderful audience testimony. Enjoy an evening with the Piano Smashers and you’ll wake up the following morning with many a reflective thought in your head about your own legacy and inheritance. Life may never be the same again.
NAP: Why did you decide to perform at Colchester Fringe?
RT: We heard great things about Colchester Fringe from the fabulous acts and organisers at Prague Fringe in May this year and we couldn’t resist. Everyone loved it and all had been impressed by its vibrancy and totally refreshing approach. Well organised, fun, inclusive and well lead. Plus, many of them returned year on year because it had been so good.
NAP: What has been the biggest challenge in performing your work?
RT: It’s always funding and making it stand up financially but beyond that I’d say it’s the guilt I have in continually exploiting my wife’s good will and my adult children’s tech skills.
NAP: What are you hopeful audiences will leave your show feeling or doing?
RT: Piano Smashers is truly a communal experience. Our audiences are integral to creating this world. We all go on a shared journey and hope that our wonderful audiences leave having reflected on our story and then maybe, having never previously considered it, question their own stories.
Audiences have loved it in the 50+ shows that we have done and we hope that Colchester audiences too enjoy this magical world.
NAP: What did you do before taking out your violent impulses on musical instruments?
RT: I’m 62 now and I was a school teacher in secondary schools teaching Drama for thirty years. Rupert and I wrote Piano Smashers together in 2023 and we’ve not looked back. Other plays are in the pipeline. Rupert and I met whilst studying a Film and Drama degree course at Bulmershe College H.E. in 1984 and planned to work together and set up a theatre company soon after, education careers and families took over.
It took us until 2023 to write Piano Smashers, but we’re here now and loving every minute of it. Thank you Colchester for inviting us to your fabulous fringe.
Piano Smashers is on Fri 23 October 7:00 pm and Sat 24 October 5:30 pm during Colchester Fringe. While you’re here, read about the other shows happening at Colchester Fringe including Theatre Group GUMBO’s Salaryman Macbeth, Megan Juniper’s Two Blue, and Fringe Review’s very own Dr.Pants and his (a play in a) DARK ROOM.
