The Virtuous Burglar
★★★☆☆ Uproarious
Royal Scots Club (Venue 241): Mon 4 Aug – Sat 9 Aug 2025
Review by Julia Amour
A nod to British 1970s classics is a smart touch adding comic familiarity to Italian farce The Virtuous Burglar, which appears at the Royal Scots Club until 9 August.
This early Dario Fo work is rooted in the broad humour of commedia dell’arte, and only hints at the political satire for which he would later become famous. EGTG (Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group) are wise to play it as escapism, keeping the action uproariously funny except for an unfortunately anti-climactic ending.
The Virtuous Burglar: Robbie Morris. Pic: Robin Mair.
A burglar who has broken into a luxury apartment is forced to hide and is then discovered by the homeowner, who has returned unexpectedly with his lover. The situation escalates as first the owner’s wife arrives, then the burglar’s. In a series of convoluted lies, farcical misunderstandings, and mistaken identities, the burglar is forced to pretend to have multiple wives – even though he is the only one not having an affair.
Director Jenny Tamplin, along with Assistant Director and Intimacy Coordinator Hannah Fitzpatrick, set a cracking pace and delivers on the need for fast action and sharp dialogue.
a louche 1970s mood
The apartment set (by Michael Mulligan and Richard Spiers) makes excellent use of the opulence of the Royal Scots Club’s Hepburn Room as a bourgeois pad. Rhona Sampson keeps lights and sound simple, with Barry White on the opening soundtrack establishing a louche 1970s mood. Groovy costumes by Kate Stephenson complete the setting brilliantly: all kipper ties and halter-neck evening dresses for the bourgeoisie, versus the underworld’s Zapata moustache, workwear and mob-wife chic.
Lucy Hagan-Walker and Josh Knowles in EGTG’s The Virtuous Burglar. Pic: Robin Mair.
Lucy Hagan-Walker is a stand-out as the owner’s lover, combining a hilarious physicality with real edge as a thrill-seeker whose elegance only just disguises utter callousness. Like Penelope Keith in the Good Life turned murderous, she is both poised prima donna and the first to reach for the owner’s pistol as the solution to any obstacle.
The owner – a bumptious local councillor – is played as convincingly narcissistic by Josh Knowles. When the farcical complications escalate, his descent from commanding presence to twitching hysteric has amusing shades of Basil Fawlty, although he ups the volume too often which doesn’t leave anywhere for his frenzy to go.
a wonderfully exaggerated repertoire
The eponymous burglar has to deliver the most physical clowning. Robbie Morris brings a wonderfully exaggerated repertoire of grunts and facial gestures to his role as a put-upon professional just trying to get on with business. His wife (Lois Williams) matches his tone perfectly with her boggling eyes, sceptical eyebrows and pursed lips.
Alexander Cook and Robbie Morris in EGTG’s The Virtuous Burglar. Pic: Robin Mair.
As the confusions and cast numbers increase with supporting roles from Peri Clayton, Alexander Cook and Jen Ward, the dynamism of the whole ensemble is impressive. They range pacily around the space, cleverly using the real doors to the left and right of the set to move the dialogue off-stage as well as on.
Eventually, the burglar is so exasperated by the hypocritical charade and the disrespect with which he’s been treated that he threatens to reveal all, call the police himself, and damn the consequences. Inevitably, the bourgeois philanderers collectively close ranks to drown him out.
creative solution
It’s a real pity that the great ensemble work here is let down by a stage direction that the play should end in an unintelligible cacophony. While the estate of Dario Fo is no doubt vigilant about how his material is used, this is crying out for some creative solution using movement, lighting or sound; preferably all three. Without it, the final scene doesn’t do justice to the quality of entertainment that has gone before, and it makes for a frustrating anticlimax.
This structural problem should not detract though from the generally hilarious, strong and assured performances that make the Virtuous Burglar an hour of frivolous fun.
Running time: One hour (no interval).
Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite), 29-31 Abercromby Place, EH3 6QE (Venue 241).
Mon 4 – Sat 9 August 2025.
Daily: 6.45pm.
Tickets and details: Book here on EdFringe.com.
EGTG website: www.theegtg.com
Facebook: @edingrads
Instagram: @edingrads
X: @TheGrads
Alexander Cook, Peri Clayton, Jen Ward, Lucy Hagan-Walker and Josh Knowles in EGTG’s The Virtuous Burglar. Pic: Robin Mair.
ENDS
