Review: About Money

There’s quiet potential about Eliza Gearty’s play that looks at isolated teenagers living in poverty in Glasgow. Space loving eight-year-old Sophie (Lois Hagerty) is cared for by her brother, Shaun (Michael McCardie) and his best pal, Eddie (Matthew Boyle). And with no parents around, they are forced to take on responsibility beyond their years.

Trapped in the break between childhood and adulthood, Shaun works day and night at a fast food restaurant to ensure he makes enough for them all to get by. Gearty does a good job of presenting the varied pressures faced by young kinship carers, but her script could use a rework. Scenes between Shaun and his Boss (Rohit Kumar) go round in circles before reaching their purpose.

Shaun’s love interest, Hannah, does little to add to the progression of the plot at all. It is down to the cast, then, to keep our interest peaked – and for the most part they do it. McCardie builds just the right amount of anxiety into his playing of Shaun – even if his angry outburst appears to come from nowhere. Boyle is entirely heartwarming as the all singing and dancing, Eddie. The real stand out though is Hagerty as Sophie. With a raw talent greater than many actors with decades on her, her focus never drops for a second. Any success of this one is owed to this sparkling young star.