THEATRE 
REVIEWS
The English Game
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Leeds
ENGLAND
All consuming
Once April is here cricket fills the evenings and weekends for the club cricketer in England. They are a very mixed bunch coming from all walks of life and many backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common, they cannot live without their fix of the noble game. This is a play about one team of men, who meet each match day and play out their desires and fantasies to their satisfaction or dismay and the frustration or delight of others. Richard Bean, the author of The English Game, is one such man who wanted to set down how he felt and what joy it can bring.
The scene is set in a north London park where the pavillion has been burnt down and the club has to make do and mend. Will arrives with his ageing father Len for the match and brings all that is required. Other players arrive and interplay their different personalities to provide ongoing situations throughout the ensuing game. Sean Holmes directs to get fast moving montages of situations that can ensue during a cricket match, where the players home lives play more than enough upon the ensuing results. The set is nothing out of the ordinary, but gives just what is required to let the actors go about their tasks.
Some of the team
The acting calls for different talents from the different character personalities involved and the team of actors give each character background and substance to bring it alive. This allows the plot to travel at a pace through this passage of time showing the game as it is played today. No doubt it will take on a different form in years to come as it did in years past, but that is what cricket is, its all consuming.
The theatres air-conditioning added atmosphere as the audience experienced one of the hottest summer days to come. It then cooled down to allow the audience to experience a pleasant summers afternoon to sit and enjoy the cricket. No doubt all part of the grand scheme of things.
The audience sat and enjoyed their experience at a cricket match, and the women present saw another side to the game that may make them look harder at what is going on in future. Overall it was an enjoyable evening out with some outrageous situations relayed and some touching insights brought to light. This is how you make a lot of individuals into a team, many others could learn from it. BA ©
“The English Game” is in Leeds on the 26th May until the 31st May, 2008. Council car parking charge was £1 from 5.30pm until 10pm, unless it is suspended. This is now a No Smoking theatre.
Is there an Air Conditioning certificate prominently displayed in your theatre foyer stating the date of manufacture of the appliance and when the system was last inspected and serviced - if not, complain to the theatre management.
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