The Stage

And Did Those Feet

Published Tuesday 2 October 2007 at 12:30 by Natalie Anglesey

A simple circle of clogs marks the opening of a new play about football which may appear to have a limited appeal to fans of the Beautiful Game.

However, playwrights Les Smith and Martin Thomasson show that, for some, this is more than just a game.

Set in 1923, many survivors of the First World War, promised a brave new world, only had the choice between the mills or the mines and football became a tribal battlefield.

Among the loyal fans of Bolton Wanderers, bereaved parents Alf and Hilda, sensitively played by James Quinn and Susan Twist, find the lead up to the Cup Final and the final match at the new Wembley Stadium, a celebration of a lost loved one.

Young Jim (Paul Simpson) and his brother Ted (Jeff Hordley), due to get married on Cup Final Day to Martha (Hayley Jayne Standing), have saved for a year for the event. There’s also another good performance from Martin Barras as Bob who walked all the way from Bolton to Wembley in his clogs.

Directed at a spanking pace by Mark Babych, with time references of the matches projected on to a cyclorama ,the tremendous excitement of the great day boils up to fever pitch. But there are also moments of real truth and poignant poetry superbly performed by a terrific ensemble cast.

This may not be Shakespeare, but it’s pitched exactly right for the audience at the Bolton Octagon.