BURT 'N' JOYCE IN CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME

Edinburgh 2005 reviews

British Theatre Guide

Charity Begins at Home
By Mark Whiteley
Hard Graft Theatre Company
Barnardo's Charity Shop, Nicolson Street

When we talk about site-specific theatre, we normally think of, for example, castles or industrial warehouses, tramsheds or country gardens. Charity Begins at Home, however, is a site-specific piece written for a charity shop.

Joyce (Cerianne Roberts) and Bert (Nicholas Gallagher) are a middle-aged husband and wife who run the Barnardo's shop where the action takes place - and, for a few moments, in the street outside: quite what passers-by made of that, I'm not sure! But this is Edinburgh, so they probably don't even notice! He has a certain male bumptiousness about him and she is much more down to earth.

In this character-led comedy much of the time is spent building up the characters through their conversations, arguments and making up, maily about the celebrations for the forthcoming anniversary, while the local radio station plays in the background, telling the story of am armed robbery not too far away. Then they discover a huge amount of money, a gun and a balaclava in a black bag. What happens next?

I won't reveal the ending, except to say that it is unexpected.

Good performances, well directed by Sara Poyzer, and a well-written piece of light comedy that manages to become serious without mawkishness. Word of mouth, so much more important in Edinburgh than we critics, is doing its work here and the 40-capacity house was full.

Peter Lathan

Hairline

Charity Begins At Home

Part of the beauty of the Fringe is that theatre companies get the opportunity to explore all sorts of interesting spaces. Some of these are completely gimmicky but occasionally a company gets a chance to properly use a space. One such example is Hard Graft Theatre staging their show, which is set in a charity shop, in a local Barnardo's store.
As well as having the most elaborate set on the Fringe, Hard Graft have managed to put together a delightful wee story of an elderly couple debating what to do with a haul of swag they found amongst the donations. On one hand they could do the right thing and on the other they could really enjoy their retirement but which is the right choice?
Charity Begins At Home is a well-observed comedy piece with fantastic characterisation and equally remarkable delivery. The script is refreshingly simple and unassuming and is all the better for not trying to be something it's not. Basically, Hard Graft have found an interesting, down-to-earth niche and filled it perfectly.

Richard Biggs Hairline

Three weeks

"The play is charming , a sort of ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ meets ‘Shallow Grave’, with an aging couple entering a moral maze when a bag of stolen money lands on their doorstep. The characters are beautifully drawn and their conclusion is rather heartwarming."