Halfway Holme, theSpace Review
Following 2025’s four star production of Goodbye Postie, Deliverance Theatre are back at the Edinburgh Fringe with their new drama, Halfway Home.
Davie has just been released from prison following an assault conviction and moves in with his older brother Freddie and Freddie’s fiancée Laura. Though Davie is initially welcomed with open arms, as time goes on tensions rise, past mistakes are brought to the surface and secrets are uncovered. This 50 minute long play delves into society’s stance on crime, rehabilitation and the impact of austerity.
The trio of performers do a fantastic job of capturing the incredibly complex dynamic within this family. As our central character, Davie delivered a stellar performance as somebody dealing with the guilt of his past while attempting to move on, in a society with very little sympathy or support for criminal offenders. My heart truly went out to Laura, who was tangled up in this situation without knowing the full story. Freddie’s justification for why he wanted to keep things from her was understandable, and this conflict was a particularly interesting aspect of the story. Can you truly keep somebody safe by hiding the past from them?
Each of the characters had a scene where they were delivering a monologue to an offstage character such as a therapist or job interviewer, and this was such a valuable opportunity to delve further into each person’s psyche. These monologues gave a valuable amount of information, without feeling like an exposition dump, and pulled back the curtain on each of their motivations.
Halfway Home is a really strong foundation for a show. With a longer run time, it would be especially interesting to delve deeper into the background of how Davie ended up on the downward trajectory that resulted in him going to prison, all the while his brother was moving up in the world. I would also enjoy finding out more about Laura and Freddie’s relationship, and at what point in the past three years did she realise that she needed support without being able to tell her fiancé?
Halfway Home has finished its run at the 2026 Fringe, but I am highly optimistic that Deliverance Theatre will be back at the Fringe in 2027.
★★★★
Written by Jacqueline for Theatre and Tonic, August 2026.
