{"product_id":"9781474255479","title":"Beyond Caring","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eBeyond Caring\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Alexander Zeldin\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eI'm a hard worker. I don't push him to the . . . You know I don't go out for breaks when I'm not supposed to. I don't stay in the loo when I'm not supposed to. If I was that kind of person I could have him done for discrimination . . . I just get on with things you know.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFour people arrive to work the night shift in a meat factory. They meet for the first time. They are employed as cleaners by a temp agency. They are all on zero-hours contracts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEvery shift, they clean. Every four hours, they take a break. They drink tea or coffee together. They read magazines. They chat. As it gets light, they go home or to another job. The cycle goes on. And on. Strangers. Until something stirs, until isolated people get too close to one another, too fast.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlexander Zeldin's brutally honest and darkly humorous play, written through devising with the ensemble of the premiere production, exposes stories of an invisible class. It received its world premiere at The Yard on 1 July 2014 and transferred to the National Theatre's Temporary Theatre on 28 April 2015.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Totally compelling . . . This understated 90 minutes is quietly devastating . . . As time moves, slowly, the whole thing gradually becomes more and more heightened, emotionally and theatrically. The beauty of the piece . . . is that it eschews sob stories in favour of genuine tragedy. Just as these people keep themselves pretty much to themselves until the final, desperate moments, so the play always slyly shows and never tells. There are no big speeches. There is much awkward silence. People reveal themselves in small gestures . . . There are gusts of sadness; moments of pure desolation. But mostly there is work, with people struggling to survive: to the end of the shift, the end of the day, to the end of life itself.” —\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The piece has drive and purpose and a social conscience” —\u003ci\u003eThe Stage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eBeyond Caring\u003c\/i\u003e seethes. It brings your blood to boiling point.” —\u003ci\u003eTime Out\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It's an elegy to an invisible class . . . This is character-driven theatre at its purest . . . It's a play about what unremitting poverty does to the soul, where poverty is not starvation, but life without dignity.” —\u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781474255479\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Methuen Drama","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40595350225102,"sku":"9781474255479","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_458307b6-c558-4df0-afbe-bbea1b01ee12.jpg?v=1637829144","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781474255479","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}