Do you have any football memorabilia from the turn of the 20th century? If so, Guy Parry, of the Yorkshire theatre company Northern Broadsides, wants to hear from you on 01422 369704.
This autumn, artistic director Barrie Rutter is staging the first public performances in nearly 100 years of Harold Brighouse’s football play, The Game. Broadsides needs footballs, rattles, boots and other memorabilia for a show that will open in Halifax on September 16, later visiting the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, from November 16 to 20 and York Theatre Royal from November 23 to 27.
Written by a Lancastrian playwright better known for Hobson’s Choice, The Game is set on match day in 1913 when Blackton Rovers are in need of money. Owner Austin Whitworth sells his star centre forward, local football hero Jack Metherell, to a rival club on the eve of a crucial match that could relegate Rovers to the Second Division.
Will honest Jack do Austin’s bidding when asked to throw the match, or will he put his professional honour above loyalty to his old club?
Meanwhile, Austin’s daughter Elsie and Jack are in love – or so they think– but Jack still lives at home, firmly tied to his mother’s apron strings. Will Elsie’s modern ways and feisty temperament win over his domineering mother or is this tryst between the classes doomed from the start?
“From the halcyon days of professional football, where players were working-class heroes and people were supposed to know their place, comes a spirited comedy that combines broad northern humour with the passion, pride, prejudice and principles of two football families,” says Barrie.
The Game’s cast will include Wendi Peters, alias Cilla Battersby-Brown in Coronation Street, in the role of Mrs Metherell, plus Phil Rowson as Jack and Catherine Kinsella as Elsie. Full tour details can be found at northern-broadsides.co.uk
• For Scarborough tickets, phone 01723 370541 or book online at sjt.uk.com; for York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
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