Showing @ The Store, Edinburgh until 26 Feb
A faceless corporate industry has restricted our ability to direct anger, and continual public sector job cuts have quashed our attempts at recovery. There appears to be no integrity in political Britain, as an inherently flawed justice system allows bankers to receive transparent penalties and companies to avoid taxation. Writer/director Michael Shand presents a dark exploration of revenge and redemption in a society pushing further towards a polarised class system.
When three men from starkly contrasting backgrounds arrive at a job interview, mysteriously entitled “for people ashamed of their past”, they soon learn they have plenty in common. Working-class George (Harry Gooch) finds out ex-judge Tam (Mark Mckirdy) falsely convicted two men of murder in which he was the getaway driver, leaving the pair to explain the reasons for their actions. Interrupted by aggressive, surly Peter (Sean-Paul Cockburn), who finds out his girlfriend and son were the victims of the same murder, the trio fiercely come to terms with their entwined histories.
Underneath this text is a philosophical investigation of our desire for salvation. Yet below even that it seems unquestionably topical that these three men should all attend the same job interview. With university degrees proving increasingly redundant, Shand offers a kind of ironic social dystopia where the government have normalised the specifications for employment. He compounds this by externalising the shared individuality of people from opposite ends of society. The edgy and comedic dialogue between Gooch and Mckirdy provides an initial warmth before toppling into anger and unrest. However, the sporadically unrealistic language draws inadvertently comical flashes, diluting the potentially sobering metaphors. And because the depths of the characters’ pasts are crucial to the plot, the revealed information is rushed, resulting in slightly mawkish scenes. Generally though, Shand should be commended for his perceptive use of the three men as examples of widespread ideological frustration; a frustration that seems hard to channel due to failing job prospects, rising tax and a Tory government who couldn’t give a shit.