Set in a typical changing room, Offside is a tale of two professional footballers. But they are not the pampered male stars of the Premier League, oh no, this is about two women who are benefiting from the current surge in popularity of the women's game.
This well-written play brings to life four main characters: Mickey and Keeley are fictional, two current players on the fringes of the England team, rivals at first, but then friends and colleagues in a trial game; Carrie Boustead and Lily Parr are historical characters, pioneers who played professionally in centuries past, and who are idolised by the two players of today.
Tanya-Loretta Dee (Mickey and Carrie) and Jessica Butcher (Keeley and Lily) switch between characters and times convincingly, drawing the audience into a fascinating narrative about the beautiful game, which sometimes is not quite as beautiful as pundits would have us believe. The principals are supported by the talented and versatile Daphne Kouma, who plays all the vital linking parts: commentators, coaches, journalists and the like. The authors, Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish, have written a text that brings together the historical struggle for equality and recognition for women, not just on the football field. Their calling up of the remarkable Carrie Boustead and Lily Parr is a master-stroke.
Ashamedly, as a keen football fan I had never heard of Boustead and Parr before tonight, a confirmation that the focus has always been on men, and until recently white men. Lancastrian Parr played in the last century, in the 1910's and 20's, in front of crowds of over 50,000 and scored over a thousand goals in her career; Boustead, the Glaswegian daughter of freed slaves, appears to have been the first black female professional player, as long ago as the 1880's. Offside weaves the patterns of their behaviours, sometimes historical and yet always recognisable, to bring out the inner thoughts of women at the peak of their sporting careers, beset by uncertainties and personal problems.
Futures Theatre Company's production of Offside is excellent, and all associated with it can feel pleased with their work, none more so than the Director, Caroline Bryant, who has put together a show of real imagination and depth.