Dolly Peel – Rebel on the Tyne
The Customs House, South Shields
Invited| Review by Stephen Stokoe | 17th September 2025
I was delighted to be invited along to Dolly Peel – Rebel on the Tyne for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was lovely to be back at The Customs House in South Shields again for the first time in a while, secondly, that this production is presented via its First Play Club initiative offering local writers of all ages the opportunity to develop their first work and have it performed on stage, and thirdly because Georgie Rankcom was directing the production.
I am familiar with First Play Club because I was delighted to review two of the three previous works through this annual initiative; Wearmouth, written by Ben Gettins and A Class Feeling – This is Makina by Christina Berriman Dawson were both very interesting and enjoyable productions by two local writers who have gone on and flourished in the entertainment business.
This year’s theme was Dolly Peel and the four playwrights really ran with this historical, colourful and legendary local figure from South Shields. Dolly’s legacy and history is brought to the Customs House stage through four short plays which feature Dolly herself or are set in and around the local landmarks celebrating this remarkable fishwife and nurse. First up we had The Smuggler’s Daughter by Emma Zadow which explored Dolly’s legacy through the eyes of her 17 year old namesake in a dystopian South Shields not to far into the future where individuality of thought is frowned upon. Embracing the spirit of Dolly’s strong minded will, the future Dolly seeks to remind people of their heritage.
The second Cleaning Up by John Dawson, is set in The Dolly Peel pub and features a mother grappling with guilt as she watches her son drown in a world of masculine toxicity and identity. This play does not make for an easy watch but features a beautiful mother and son lament in song as they both contemplate what has occurred prior to the events of the play.
In the third play, Finding Dolly by Tom Kelly, we meet a couple who have reached an impasse in their lives together. One is struggling with boredom in their jobs and the other is writing a thesis on, yes, you’ve guessed it – Dolly Peel. The action takes place in front of the Dolly Peel monument and is cleverly staged with a projection and a physical plinth on the stage allowing the four Dollies to take centre stage as the script demands. There is a poignancy about this script which allows you quickly to bond with the two protagonists and feel for their plight. Like the first vignette, Dolly’s presence and strong willed bloodymindedness is felt echoing through the ages to guide and advise the young lovers through their dilemmas.
Finally, in the fourth play, Dolly Peel of Shadwell Street by Janet Plater, we are in the time of Dolly and she gets to really take the spotlight. We learn about her nursing skills, her drive for what is right, and her love for her heritage in South Shields. I also feel that the shackles have come off in more ways than one as director Georgie Rankcom ekes out the humour of the piece both physically and within the text. This is what Ms Rankcom has become synonymous with over her career having directed, among many other things Stephen Sondheim’s The Frogs and Anyone Can Whistle through her production company Grey Area Theatre Company. Her attention to detail was clear throughout each play but it is in this final segment that her quirkiness and sense of fun was really unleashed. The actors too played their respective roles with a collective air of gay abandon.
Which brings me onto the Dolly Peel Five. These actors took on some challenging roles (sometimes several in each play) with great skill, versatility, and vocal talent. The performing team were Stephanie Putson as the mother in ‘Cleaning Up’, Marc Akinfolarin as pretty much every male character in Dolly Peel of Shadwell Street, Emma Crowley who was ‘Finding Dolly’ as an earnest MA student, Gaz Thompson as the tormented Luke in ‘Cleaning Up’ and last but not least Helen Chong as the 17 year old Dolly Peel in ‘The Smuggler’s Daughter’. All of these versatile actors played multiple roles in all the plays but I wanted to highlight some clear and identifiable ones.
Dolly Peel – Rebel on the Tyne is a glorious celebration of a strong, independent character from the history of South Shields, if not the whole of the north of England, and it is only right and proper that she should be celebrated and remembered at The Customs House in her home town. All the participants should be very proud indeed of their portrayals and representations of this remarkable woman, the writers can also be very proud of their work championing a champion of north eastern culture and it is a delight and a privilege to welcome back a living legend from up here in director, Georgie Rankcom who I know has some very hot irons of her own in the pan but I hope her talent and vision adorns our stages in her native north in the not too distant future.
Dolly Peel – Rebel on the Tyne plays at Customs House South Shields until Saturday 20th September.