A Play of Two Halves
★★★★☆ Comic reality
Tynecastle Park (Venue 547): Fri 14 – Mon 31 Aug 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
A Play of Two Halves is another hugely successful community-focused, football-based offering from Paul Beeson and Bruce Strachan’s Two Halves Productions.
Staged in the 1874 Bar at Heart of Midlothian’s Tynecastle Park, it comprises two linked plays. Moved (written and performed by Beeson) and Season in Bloom (written by Strachan, performed by Ria McLeod and Jenna Stones) are both set throughout the 25/26 season. Hearts (as everyone must know) failed to win the league after mounting their most consistent campaign for 40 years and topping the table for months, being defeated by somewhat controversial events.
Paul Beeson in Moved, with Ria McLeod and Jenna Stones. Pic Robin Mitchell.
Obviously, the plays will appeal first and foremost to Hearts fans, but anyone with any interest in football will get a great deal from them; there’s plenty to interest those poor souls who have no emotional investment in the game. Indeed, it would surely be easy for anyone with no prior knowledge or involvement to appreciate stories as firmly rooted in their time and place as these are.
Moved is the tale of Mal, a roofer who drinks in the Gorgie Arms, which the 1874 bar has become for the production. Mal’s personal and emotional life mirrors the ups and downs of the season.
It’s an extremely well structured piece, with Mal’s history and personality emerging elegantly from a story that also weaves in the events of the footballing campaign.
genuinely excellent
Beeson puts in a tremendous performance. There have been a few of these productions now, so it’s possible to predict who might attend, but it shouldn’t be underestimated just how expertly he works the audience.
It’s also wonderfully paced, empathetic and directed by Strachan with great sympathy. The opportunities for up-to-the-minute gags and references, and the occasional wonderful bit of panto-style ad-libbing, are also taken with aplomb. This is a funny, affecting and genuinely excellent piece of theatre.
Ria McLeod and Jenna Stones in Season in Bloom. Pic Robin Mitchell
A Season in Bloom after the interval, set in the same pub, is bound to suffer a little by comparison, especially as it’s always going to be replaying the same external events. Nevertheless, it’s always involving, and performed by McLeod and Stones with great heart and versatility in a cleverly-written piece using the La Ronde structure. The various different characters are quickly delineated, the connections between them are ingenious, and there is a commitment and empathy to the performance that is magnetic. The whole thing ends with a coda that is unexpected and extremely affecting
Throughout the whole production, there are sensitive explorations of community and mental health, as well as references to the misogyny and homophobia still sadly prevalent in many areas of Scottish life (and therefore bound to be echoed in its football).
The staging is imaginative, with a larger audience and better sight lines than you might imagine possible if you are familiar with the bar.
distracting
One thing that might be better handled is the fact that famously thirsty football-going audiences do seem to require more toilet breaks than other theatre-goers, and it is distracting that even the most subtle attempts to sneak out to use the facilities are directly in the eyelines of the spectators.
Any Hearts fans worried that the events of last season are still too raw, or that the plays might be in any way exploitative, should rest assured that everything is sensitively handled, and it’s more likely to remind you of the shared experience, rewards and sense of belonging that following a football club can bring.
Which is why anyone (except possibly John Beaton or Graeme Shinnie) would get great enjoyment from another rewarding and beautifully accomplished outing from Two Halves productions.
Running time: Two hour and 20minutes (Including one interval).
Tynecastle Park (1874 Bar), McLeod St, EH11 2NL. (Venue 547).
Friday 14 – Monday 31 August 2026.
15, 22, 23, 28, 30: 2.30pm; 14, 17, 22, 23, 28, 30/31: 7.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Facebook: @twohalvesprod
Instagram: @twohalvesprod
Paul Beeson with Jenna Stones in Moved. Pic: Robin Mitchell.
ENDS
