#The Beautiful Game Kevin Lee Drayton Arms Female Football Review

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THE BEAUTIFUL GAME by Kevin Lee The Drayton Arms, 26th August - 1st September ‘a production that showcased six unique and well-developed female characters discussing a passion and an industry’★★★★ The Beautiful Game is a fun, uplifting and optimistic look at the world of women’s football, set in the near future. The cast bring strong and playful performances to the stage and address the difficulties and issues surrounding the plot with nuance and clarity. The relationships presented on stage were believable and easy to watch, and this is due to brilliant characterisation from all of the actors. A particular mention must go to Harriet Grenville for her role as the lead Shannan Turner; she portrayed a headstrong and likeable character who knew her worth, and the power and responsibility that came with it. Her story of her rise to fame in the Liverpool women’s team felt reminiscent of Steven Gerrard’s own journey to Liverpool – scouted at an early age, making the main team in their late teens and going on to England success. This parallel, although not explicit, made this Liverpool supporter smile. Grenville was surrounded by actors whose performances felt natural, and the relationships between them all felt comfortable to watch; it was the strengths of these interactions that were the highlight of the piece. The set, lighting and costumes were thoughtfully designed, and successful in their execution. I was particularly fond of the stage layout, which had the audience sat in half of the pitch, watching the action take part in the opponent’s half. This worked especially well during elements of the play where the actors addressed the audience, as the halfway line doubled up as a platform edge. I have mixed feelings when it comes to the dialogue of the piece. On one side it was joyful to see the subject of women’s football elevated to a similar standing to that of the men’s game in the present day, and it was refreshing to see a production that showcased six unique and well-developed female characters discussing a passion and an industry, with almost no mention of partners and children – this production definitely passes the Bechdel Test! The issue of capitalism and its role within commercial football was also explored and critiqued and this was done in a way that was able to separate the individual salaries of players from the big corporations and their involvement; I found this discourse very interesting. There were limitations however to the piece, and this primarily came through in the choice of language. Lee did well to steer away from the stereotypical “at the end of the day…” dialogue that has become synonymous with the representation of footballers, and as an audience we were grateful for the more interesting discussions that this afforded, however it could be argued that Lee went too far in the other extreme – there were times when the conversations felt more like an academic discussion than colleagues talking in a meeting. Another issue I had with the piece was yet again a result of Lee being played by his own good choices; the character of Shannan that Lee had written was so self-assured and convincing in her determination, that it felt odd that there was such a push to get her to reconsider her decision, as there was no uncertainty in her for the other characters to prey on. It might have been interesting to see a less decided Shannan on the stage, as this might have put more at stake during the negotiation scenes, but this could be a risk as it might lose some of the appeal of Shannan’s charisma and steely determination. If I were to offer my suggestions to improve the production, they would be this: bring in more viewpoints and allow more of your research to be reflected on stage. There are many other narratives and stakeholders who were mentioned in the piece, and I think some of the performance could have been dedicated to exploring the responses of these characters, thus creating a more rounded view into the world of women’s football. Following on from this, the research that no doubt went in to creating this piece could have been better presented. The issue surrounding the inequality between men and women’s football was named, but this felt somewhat superficial as the underlying causes and institutionalised discrimination towards female players was not explored. Similarly, women’s football in the UK is one of the most diverse sports we have; it would be nice to see this diversity reflected on stage. To conclude, I thoroughly enjoyed the production of The Beautiful Game, and it is a heartening, fun exploration of women’s football, with strong female characters at the centre of it. If you have an interest in women’s football and what it could be (or even if you don’t and you want to see some cracking female performances!) get along to see this show. The Beautiful Game, Kevin Lee, The Drayton Arms, 26th August - 1st September, tickets available at https://www.thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk/the-beautiful-game Reviewer Emma Lamond is a Theatre Maker and Arts Educator working in South London. She loves to watch (and make!) feminist theatre and also has a keen interest in political theatre. Twitter: @emmalamond23