Steak Out

★★★★★

How far would you go for your family? That’s the question Ruaraidh Murray’s new play poses. It’s two nights before Christmas, and an Edinburgh granny, her husband and son are scoping out the posh Butchers in Stockbridge, planning a robbery. Murray’s excellent writing creates an immediacy with the characters, who go beyond stock ‘Burgh stereotypes and become instantly likeable and relatable. Beyond the comedic back and forth, a repartee builds that gives an authenticity to this working-class family. Murray also plays Archie, the buffoonish patriarch, an optimist at odds with reality, it’s his plan for the heist; and he’s dragged his long suffering wife Karen (Reanne Farley) and son Thomas (Sean Langtree) into the scheme.

I don’t want to spoil it, but the heist goes catastrophically wrong, and what starts a well-thought-out plan ends up with impromptu baby-sitting, getting frozen half to death… and speaking of death… ah, like I say, I don’t want to spoil it!

Michael Nardone’s direction is sparse and focused, allowing the characters a natural rhythm with one another. He creates the suspense and tension of a heist in just a few short scenes. Almut Echtler’s design is another highlight, with a particularly gruesome detail.

For all of the hyper-masculine posturing of Archie, there’s so much sensitivity in the play. Sean Langtree lends a delicate performance as Thomas, whose dreams of being a successful actor feel desperately out of reach.

The devastating shot to the heart comes from Reanne Farley’s portrayal of Karen, who holds so much pain within her; you sympathise with her extreme actions, and her final speech imbues the play with a brutal honesty.

You don’t get many local Edinburgh plays at the Fringe. Steak Out easily becomes the benchmark of high-quality new Scottish Theatre. I was left wanting more, I could’ve done with a second act!

Steak Out is on at The Gilded Balloon Teviot, Billiard Room until August 31st