Run Sister Run
Photo by Marc Brenner
“Gripping, raw performances bring great emotional depth to Chloë Moss’ gritty family saga”
Award-winning playwright Chloë Moss explores the destructive and redemptive power of family bonds in this gripping story of resilience and survival.
Spanning four decades, Run Sister Run follows sisters Connie and Ursula, tracing the forces that bind them together and threaten to tear them apart.
With wit and compassion, the play draws the past into the present, revealing the lasting impact of the choices that shape us.
This new production fuses Moss’ searing dialogue with movement and original music, bringing to life a relationship marked by pain and a deep, enduring affection.
Winner of an Offies Assessor’s Choice, and nominated in four categories by the Fringe Theatre Awards: Marlie Haco (Director), Tomás Palmer (Set Design), Jo Herbert and Kelly Gough for Duo Performance in a Play, and Toby Mather for Double Telling (Production).
Performance Dates
2nd-26th July 2025 - Arcola Theatre - click here for tickets
Reviews
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - The Live Review
“Run Sister Run unfolds like a photograph in a darkroom, revealing love, damage, and everything in between. Written by Chloë Moss and directed by Marlie Haco, the play explores a fractured sisterhood with remarkable emotional clarity.”
“The staging is minimalist but quietly profound.. an elegant metaphor for the ways we perform, hide, and perhaps distort the truth in the name of family.”
“Violence is staged with choreographic flair and a swelling, string-heavy score, and there’s a kind of visual poetry to the way the mess accumulates.”
“A study in empathy, grief, and the quiet damage we carry… a reverse chronological triumph"
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Everything Theatre
“Moss and Haco paint a vivid picture of the sisters’ emotions at each and every one of their major milestones. It’s a marvellously crafted story… Unmissable.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Creative Reviews UK
“Director Marlie Haco has assembled a stellar ensemble cast that roars with chaos and heightened emotions that can leave you on edge”
"‘Jo Herbert and Kelly Gough give powerhouse performances… You find yourself hanging onto their every word”
“Haco has drilled into the piece and opened up a world that has felt so personal, but also speaks as a universal language… it will linger long after having watched the show.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Theatre Reviews 4U
“Truly captivating… so beautifully raw and compelling.”
“As for the cast, they were sensational… The performers’ ability to encapsulate their characters and be able to switch between these ages was incredible.”
“I have never felt so much passion when writing a review, this show was genuinely so influential and if you ever get the opportunity to go see it, you must… I cannot wait to see what is in store for its future.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - The Stage
“Director Marlie Haco’s new production is fast-paced and impactful… buckets filled with artificial flowers are violently overturned to douse the stage in thousands of tiny petals, symbolising the chaos seeping into the sisters’ lives… Glaring white, delirious purple and seasick blue-green give some sequences the quality of distorted memories or feverish dreams”
'“The scenes between Gough and Herbert are electrifying, yet tender”
“The dialogue is rich and realistic, layered with subtext, studded with revealing offhand remarks .”
★ ★ ★ ★ - London Pub Theatres
“Masterfully constructed, memorable and moving”
“With impressionistic, contemporary direction from Marlie Haco… all the performances are strong and the cast crackles with energy.”
“With a freshly composed, stirring soundtrack by composer Ákos Lustyik and talented ensemble, Run Sister Run demonstrates time does not wither great drama, and this is certainly that.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - The Reviews Hub
“The set is very simple, very effective, and beautiful… A narrow mirror runs the width of the stage, showing only the faces of the actors, an effect the director uses brilliantly.”
“Provoking propulsive profound… it makes effective use of music and of simple, telling choreographed movement, and it features two outstanding performances from Kelly Gough and Jo Herbert.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - Unmissable Theatre
“Powerful and emotionally resonant… The reverse timeline is handled with impressive clarity and creativity…. Movement sequences set to atmospheric music composed by Akos Lustyik and Alex Forey’s striking lighting design make these transitions an inventive and effective storytelling device”
“Exceptional performances from the cast of four… The sisters’ chemistry is electric, anchoring the emotional core of the play.”
“A standout directorial choice is having Jack remain a silent presence at the back of the stage… a haunting reminder of how family histories shape even those not yet born.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - LouReviews
“Marlie Haco‘s direction pulls all this together through a one-act that passes fast and never drags”
“A lot is conveyed through touch… quick physical movements allow a silent commentary on what’s happening.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - Theatre & Tonic
“A very strong production… thanks to a talented cast and creative team. Our two female leads are outstanding in every way… This is certainly one to try and get tickets to, before it inevitably sells out.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - Camden New Journal
“Compelling, bitter-sweet exploration of sisterhood… emotions unfold at close range and flower petals scatter like detritus.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - London Box Office
“Spare and stylised… profoundly messy”
“Delivered by a cast which moves from frenetic to subdued in the blink of an eye… they breathe life into the phrases and word-play which bind them, but which equally have the power to tear them apart.”
Writer - Chloë Moss
Director - Marlie Haco
Set & Costume Designer - Tomás Palmer
Composer & Sound Designer - Ákos Lustyik
Co-sound Designer - Florence Hand
Lighting Designer - Alex Forey
Casting Director - Gabrielle Dawes
Stage Manager - Ella Kirk
Produced by Double Telling
Cast - Jo Herbert, Kelly Gough, Theo Fraser Steele, Charlie Beaven
Photography by Marc Brenner and Toby Mather
