Glitch - Derby Theatre.

Thursday 5th March 2026
"Glitch"
Derby Theatre

This piece of theatre is based on true events. It exploits the conflicts, cuts through the noise and gets to the heart of the reality for these sub postmasters during the time where glitches were found in the Horizon system. 

The curtains are open, tinsel is spread across the minimalist set. You are taken straight into the joyful vibe of running the post office shop, set in the 90s, before the issues started. 

This versatile cast each captured their multiple roles splendidly. Joanne Howarth, who plays Pam Stubbs, is the only person who doesn’t appear as other characters. Pam is at the centre of this story, we first see her as a happy worker who quickly starts to struggle which the new system that has just been installed. Joanne really captures the anger and frustration of Pam as we see the story progress, the longer the issues go on, the more stressed she gets. 

Laura Penneycard plays Nora, the naive post office shop assistant, Tracy, whose life was wrecked by the scandal and left begging for benefits, and Jan, who was sent to prison and lost everyone. Each of these characters is portrayed completely differently, including accents, mannerisms, and hair position.

We then have Naveed Khan who plays David, a regular visitor to Pam’s shop, Daljit, the engineer who comes to audit Pam’s till, Alan, the man who was a leading campaigner for victims of the scandal, as well as other pivotal characters. The monologue that stuck out for me is the conversation between the manager and the engineer. Naveed sat in a chair in the centre of the stage and switched from the scared, closed off engineer to the cocky, condescending manager. This performance was impeccable. 

Finally, Sabina Netherclift, who plays a list of characters, each so different from the next. The most poignant being the story of the partner of Martin Griffiths, as she tells of the last weeks of his life and how he committed suicide as the pressure got too much. 

Together, all four actors work together to create an uneasy atmosphere. Exactly what’s needed to get the point across.

 

The lighting really highlighted the isolation the characters felt using multiple spotlights and cold colours, perfectly designed by Oliver Welsh.

Sophie Gitsham operating lighting and sound effects is also the production stage manager. Sophie’s timings are on point and really embodies the feeling of this show. An asset to the company.

The directing and writing go hand in hand for this show. Zannah Kearns and Gareth Taylor have clearly done their research into the victims affected by the scandal and how the issues continued for so many years. There are quotes used from the actual people and costumes are cleverly co-ordinated to match how the people would have been seen, putting on different jackets etc to represent different characters. A simple but effective way of creating quick and easy transitions. 

Rabble Theatre has done an incredible job at recreating this story and still kept the show short, only 1hr 15 minutes straight through. It’s safe to say they truly capture each and every person’s stories accurately whilst keeping the audience in suspense with shocking facts stated throughout. I came away feeling like I understood how much this affected each person and really felt sympathy for them. It pulls on your heart strings and makes you wonder how this could have really happened. I’m giving this a 5 star, a perfect portrayal of these true events.

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Glitch is at Derby Theatre, until Saturday 7th March 2026.

Written By Kiah Smith