Tuesday, 6th February 2024 at Theatre @41 Monkgate, York.
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Angie Millard directs this production of Alexander Zeldin’s 2014 drama with a keen focus on the sympathetic elements of Zeldin’s characters. Beyond Caring is a pointed, well-observed glimpse at an undervalued workforce, and The York Actor’s Collective do well to stage such a static piece with feeling.
Taking aim at zero hours contracts and the general disregard shown towards those in precarious employment, the play has some important messages about the compassion and sense of value so woefully missing in so many working environments – and particularly in working environments like this one. We meet a cleaning team hired brusquely, “trained” in specialised equipment and corrosive chemicals in the blink of an eye, and then set to work at short notice – and with constantly shifting hours and expectations. Their powerlessness is increasingly apparent, and our collective indignation on their behalf builds steadily thanks to a strong cast.
Victoria Delaney is Grace – suffering with arthritis, she’s been forced back to work following a fitness for work review. Delaney is instantly likeable as Grace and brings her story movingly to the fore as a victim of government red tape and crackdowns, doing her best to work hard and bond with colleagues.
She bonds most endearingly with Chris Pomfrett’s Phil – an average Joe getting by in a dull job by keeping his nose in a book. Grace is a breath of fresh air under the circumstances, but Phil – for all his quiet guy gentleness – is flawed thanks to a complicated home life. And a tricky home life also torments Clare Halliday’s Becky. On the surface a bit of a good-time-girl, she likes her music and a good natter, but she’s also most vocal about the injustices so casually handed down, and her forcefulness is a welcome beacon.
Mick Liversidge cuts a sympathetic figure with a comic edge as down-on-his-luck Sam. With no fixed address and nothing to lean on but a survival instinct and a good nature, he quietly shows the extremes of situations faced by people forced into such insecure employment. On the flip side of things is Neil Vincent’s jobsworth, Ian – a cog with big ideas about his own importance, he demonstrates the classic dance of pushing the pressure down to those on the next rung, basking in his own officiousness and remaining oblivious to the needs and frustrations of his team.
This is a play which says things very quietly. It’s mostly about observing dynamics because very little actually happens, and there are many lulls in which our characters make their way through stilted, uninteresting break time chatter (granted, with flashes of humour as they attempt to find common ground and connection). I often find with plays centring around monotony or inaction that the point is too laboured, making the play itself a bit laborious for viewing. There are elements of that here; while at times the unsaid has the greater power, there are also times when the stunted silences feel too generous and the vague glimpses into the backgrounds of each character are frustratingly limited. I’m all for attempts at quiet devastation, but it feels like this piece is lacking real moments of emotional intensity – with a few more layers pulled back, these characters could really break hearts and deliver a gut punch along the lines of I, Daniel Blake perhaps.
That said, Zeldin’s play, however quietly or subtly, spotlights injustice well through a range of sympathetic characters. It could do with some sharper writing I think, and sharper fangs too considering the seething potential of the subject matter, but it does successfully display the cruel powerlessness of ordinary people who are forced to shut up and put up just to survive.
Beyond Caring is at Theatre @41 Monkgate until February 10th 2024 – more information and tickets can be found here.
Images: John Saunders
Always Time For Theatre 
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