Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Hardly Working
BPM Theatre
Genre: Drama, Fringe Theatre, LGBTQ+ Theatre, LGBTQIA+, New Writing, Theatre
Venue: the Space on the Mile
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Do you ever think about what bartender’s get up to in those quiet moments? Told through moments, it is a queer romance, a love story between two lesbians which is awkward and sweet and somehow both fast and slow. Overall, it is a fun, comedic and heartfelt play with an interesting premise to explore.
Review
Do you ever think about what bartender’s get up to in those quiet moments? The moments before or after a bar closes or when there isn’t a customer in sight… Hardly Working is set in those moments, the plot covering the developing and disintegrating relationship between two workers. Told through moments, it is a queer romance, a love story between two lesbians which is awkward and sweet and somehow both fast and slow. Yet, central to the story is the idea of class insecurity, the divides that exist due to money and opportunity and the ways in which this may affect a relationship.
Played as mostly a two hander, this is a heartfelt story to the backdrop of a surprisingly elaborate set. The challenges of Fringe schedules can lead to very limited sets, but here the use of set is effective and certainly more detailed than expected with a bar complete with an array of glasses and equipment. Another eye-catching element of the play is undoubtedly the male character who appears and disappears at various moments and only seems to be visible to one of the characters. Certainly he is well acted, however throughout the show I alternately found myself asking who the character was and what precisely his purpose was, If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that in his all black outfit he represents the devil on her shoulder, that niggling voice in the back of her head which tells her that everything is certainly not going to be ok. And yet… there are times in which the things he is saying, the advice he is giving, would potentially have helped if she had bothered to listen. Whatever the case, he breathed humour into the scenes he graced with his presence and was an excellent performer.
Our leads Lois and Charity are both well played, feeling like opposites only joined through their romantic interest in each other. Lois is a character who feels ill at ease in her own skin, always checking that things are as they’re supposed to be and struggling to breach the gap between herself and Charity crosses with such ease. She is performed confidently by Lily Simpkiss, really coming into her own towards the end of the play. By contrast, Charity (played by Honor Wiggins) is lively, bubbly and out to have a riotous time. She is an energetic figure who contrasts perfectly with Lois’ careful awkwardness. The fun loving character is played competently, carrying some of the scenes.
This is a play which felt like it had a statement to make, an idea that every scene sought to articulate; however, exactly where playwright Jessie Millson stands on the central conflict isn’t clear. But then perhaps that’s the point. Overall, it is a fun, comedic and heartfelt play with an interesting premise to explore. For me, the unnamed figure was one of the highlights of the show, bringing life and fun onto the stage and often being the untenable source of humour.
