Through raw emotion, compelling stories and snippets of reality, we learn the story of Holly, a woman living on the streets in Edinburgh. As homelessness is a major issue in our society, setting the action in Edinburgh itself brought the action closer to home, and helped us to relate the issues back to our own lives. It is a piece which, through multiple short scenes, attempts to break many taboos and shatter any disillusionment we may ignorantly have when it come to homelessness as a whole. However, this piece did fall slightly short of what it could have achieved overall.
Truthful, honest and realistic portrayal of life on the streets.
This is a two-man show, and from the onset the relationship between Holly and Maria is what drives this piece forward. Recognising each other from an old job interview, Maria is wracked with guilt, and can’t understand how one person’s life can be so different from another’s. This manifests itself in a need to spend more time with Holly, forming a friendship with her and picking up things which she may need… usually a bacon roll, which injected some humour into the heavy piece.
Though the characters mesh together extremely well, the actors individually were, at times, hard to believe. The weakness of their individual monologues unfortunately undermined the dialogue between them. Though it is difficult to convey a situation of emotion turmoil onstage, this needs to be done well or not at all. The lack of some emotions and the overexertion of others made it difficult to believe in what the actors say.
It is also difficult to believe what the actors were saying, however, as we don’t want to believe what is happening on our doorsteps. Though there were some flaws in this piece, it is truthful, honest and realistic portrayal of life on the streets, and a harsh awakening for many audience members who reside year round here in Edinburgh.
