In its tale of three disparate people, living their lonely existences in a Scottish city, it tells a story which is relevant to the Brunton's local audience.
Therese, played by Molly Innes, is a young alcoholic who has hatched a desperate plan with Wull (Paul Samson), in order to rectify her situation.
The plan will also give Wull the springboard he needs to leave town. But to make it work they need some capital, so Therese takes her treasured heirlooms to the pawnbrokers, run by Joseph, played by a spot-on Gareth Thomas.
There is some well observed dialogue and Innes' plaintive depiction of a woman who knows she can change her fate, but isn't able to do so is endearing.
But what intrigues most about the production is the gentle elevation of the characters from their crepuscular existences.
Evelyn Barbour's design and Chris Davey's lighting work effectively to this end, although the play as a whole doesn't quite pull off the up-beat finale it intends.
Thom Dibdin
In a shadowy and twilight world, three people live their separate lives at the edges of a society in which they never quite feel they belong.
Therese, played by a very much on-form Molly Innes, is a drinker. In her dingy high-rise flat, she dreams of the time when she could have become a dancer, and makes plans to change her situation...without ever managing to confront it.
Joseph sits in his pawnbroker's shop, watching the sad people come in to swap the intimate objects of their lives for money. Gareth Thomas, who has become a Brunton regular but is best remembered for his Blake's Seven role, is equally at home with the character.
Paul Samson plays Wull, who hasn't really got a hope in his body. But he has plans and is ready to jump at any opportunity, whether it's placing a bet on a dead cert or cracking into some hare-brained scheme with his childhood friend Therese.
Nothing much would change in their world, if Therese didn't have a problem. A problem more serious, even, than her drinking. A problem so bad that it will drive Wull away from Edinburgh and take her to pawn her few treasured items, passed down by her mother and grandmother, in Joseph's shop. There's a gentle uneasiness to this production, written and directed by David Mark Thomson. With meticulously constructed motivations, he brings these three characters together to create new patterns of hope for their lives where none existed before.
Because Joseph is nearing the end of his days. And as he realises just how alone he is, he reaches out, blindly, to Therese - seeing the frailty in her desperate bid for cash to finance her wild plan. Her relationship with Wull is also exceedingly well-developed.
Less believable, however, are Wull and Joseph's violent confrontations. You can see Thomson's reasons for their structure, to drive the story forward, but the way they appear is unnatural and forced.
In fact, as the play winds towards its end, at rather too great a length for comfort, the approaching climax becomes less and less likely. And when it does arrive it fails to convince... unlike the acting itself, which alone is worth paying to see.
Thom Dibdin
Friday, 17th August 2001
Evening News
Back to Gareth Thomas's other roles
Last updated on 27th of October 2001.