Saving Sophie - Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025

One of the cornerstones of the British film industry has long been the cockney crime thriller - gritty, witty, and brimming with larger-than-life characters. Yet this genre is rarely given a stage treatment at the Edinburgh Fringe. Saving Sophie changes that, bringing the swagger and stylised chaos of British gangster cinema to the theatre with humour, knowing nods, and a committed cast.

Isaac Stamper’s script wears its influences proudly on its sleeve, echoing the brash confidence of the 90s and 2000s when Tarantino’s swagger and patter along with Guy Ritchie’s cockney gangster worlds dominated cinema screens with inspired films and pretenders. It revels in that heightened sense of spectacle with big soundtracks, bigger shootouts (why fire one gun when you can brandish two and make them gold?), and a parade of twists and double-crosses. What makes it work on stage, however, is the way it blends those cinematic tropes with something distinctly British and homegrown with the soap-like familiarity of EastEnders, complete with messy family drama, over-the-top betrayals, and comic absurdity that never lets the tension get too serious.

At its centre is the strong, independent female assassin, Alex (Millie Hermann) who anchors the chaos, while around her orbit the familiar figures of cockney crime lords and bumbling sidekicks. The latter come to life in the hilarious duo of Jack and Jill, whose constant breaking of tension with their improvised antics and self-aware humour makes them amazing comic relief. Charles Page and Conrad Klappholz are a particular highlight, leaning into their roles with infectious energy, delighting in the absurdity.

What Saving Sophie achieves is more than parody; it’s a celebration of a genre that shaped a generation of British cinema, refracted through the irreverence and playfulness of Fringe theatre. It has all the grit and glamour of its influences but never forgets to wink at the audience, reminding us that half the fun of a crime thriller lies in just how excessive and improbable it all really is.

Lee Hutchison

This performance was watched on the final day of the run​