Pippa Nixon

In 2011, Nixon played Dorathea in Shakespeare's supposed lost play Cardenio (directed by RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran). Charles Spencer commented in The Telegraph that "Lucy Briggs-Owen and Pippa Nixon give sharply defined neatly contrasting performances as the betrayed girls."[15] In the same season Nixon played the prostitute, Shave'em, in Philip Massanger's city comedy The City Madam, also at the Swan theatre.

It was her portrayal of Titania in Nancy Meckler's A Midsummer Night’s Dream that drew critical attention. The production was Nixon's first in the larger Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Charles Spencer writing in The Telegraph gave the production five stars commenting that "there’s a strong sexual spark between Jo Stone-Fewings and Pippa Nixon, respectively doubling as Theseus and Oberon and Hippolyta and Titania."[16] Pat Ashworth in The Stage also commented on the chemistry between Nixon and Stone-Fewings noting that "Jo Stone-Fewings and Pippa Nixon are beautifully paired as Theseus/Oberon and Hippolyta/Titania."[17] Simon Tavener in What’sOnStage.com commented that "Pippa Nixon makes a strong impression as Titania".[18]

In 2012, Nixon worked again with Maria Aberg in a production of Shakespeare's King John, where she played a female bastard alongside Alex Waldmann's King John. The production which split the critics received a range of stars, and was well received by audiences.

Michael Billington in The Guardian described the performance saying, "Pippa Nixon's Bastard, the illegitimate offspring of Richard I, becomes the key figure in this version; and Nixon successfully turns the character into a perky commentator on, and participant in, the play's world of political expediency."[19] Simon Tavener was full of praise for Nixon's innovative approach to the role exclaiming "Pippa Nixon has been given the part of a lifetime – and she revels in the mischief and wit of the character as well as playing the emotional shifts and inner conflict brilliantly. Outstanding – no other word for it."[20]

In the same season, Nixon played Lady Anne opposite Jonjo O'Neill's Richard III in Richard III. Commenting on this production, the reviewer in the Stratford Observer felt that "There are some particularly strong performances from the women - notably Pippa Nixon as Lady Anne."[21]

Most recently Nixon played both Rosalind and Ophelia in the 2013 season. Here critics were impressed with Nixon's portrayal of Shakespeare's rejected and troubled heroine, Ophelia, in Hamlet. Michael Billington in The Guardian wrote, "Pippa Nixon's Ophelia is outstanding: a passionate schoolgirl fatally besotted by Hamlet."[22] Fiona Mountford writing in The Evening Standard was particularly complimentary about Nixon's performance exclaiming, "Pippa Nixon makes a nicely vulnerable Ophelia, forced into renouncing her ardent love by misguided elders."[23] Paul Taylor in The Independent praised Nixon's approach to Ophelia declaring that ‘Nixon's Ophelia who, heart-rendingly, performs the mad scene in pristine white bridal dress and veil, is stunning".[24] But it was Nixon's captivating performance as Rosalind during the summer of 2013 in the joyous production of As You Like It, that was acclaimed by crics. Nixon was again reunited with director Maria Aberg, and actor Alex Waldmann, a working relationship which hailed them as "the two most exciting actors in the company today".[25] The portrayal of Rosalind received exceptional reviews.

Pat Ashworth in The Stage wrote "Maria Aberg says she could not imagine directing this play with any Rosalind other than Pippa Nixon, whom she deems extraordinary. She is. She has a dancer’s body, a spareness and litheness which make her cocky and capering in the guise of a man and deeply vulnerable as a woman. But it’s her openness and quick-wittedness that is so appealing. She makes us able to read her mind, and that really is extraordinary."[26] Lyn Gardner tweeted: ‘Pippa Nixon is enchanting, knee-trembling, sexy and sad in Maria Aberg’s As You Like It. Up there with the greatest Rosalinds’.[27] Simon Tavener reviewing for What’sOnStage.com made the point that, "For my money, Pippa Nixon is the brightest star in the RSC ensemble at the moment and I hope that they continue to nurture and cherish her."[25] Charles Spencer writing in The Telegraph felt that "Pippa Nixon now gives one of the most entrancing Rosalinds I have ever seen."[28] Echoing Spencer, Michael Billington in his review of As You Like It in The Guardian went so far as to exclaim that, "Its chief delight is Pippa Nixon, who, for me, joins Vanessa Redgrave, Adrian Lester and the late Susan Fleetwood in the select pantheon of memorable Rosalinds ... It is a captivating, wittily androgynous performance that ushers Nixon to the threshold of stardom."[29]