And Did Those Feet

Synopsis

It’s New Year’s Eve, 1922, and as midnight approaches the neighbours gather in Spinners Lane to wish each other all the best for the year to come. As midnight chimes Bob Stott, the corner newsagent, reveals his New Year’s resolution - in April he’s off to Wembley, to watch the Wanderers win the FA Cup. Has Bob gone crazy? In 48 years Bolton Wanderers have been in the FA cup final only twice, and lost both times. And this is certain to be the biggest final ever - the brand new stadium can hold 120,000 and every team in the country will be busting a gut to be there. Cup fever seizes the town as the Wanderers win game after game. The Wanderers are going to Wembley. West Ham United, champions of Division Two are the opposition. They are certain to have a massive following. Who is going from Bolton? In Spinners Lane the neighbours club together to hire their charabang. And Bob Stott decides to walk to London, bedecked with navy blue and white ribbons and wearing brand new irons on his clogs - can he really walk 200 miles in six days? With less than a week to go, Wembley is still not finished - will it be ready on time?! Was it a good idea to employ 120 scouts to control a crowd expected to reach 120,000? And what do you do when you’re wedding’s booked for cup final day - and even the vicar wants to go to the match?

Our Review:

13 March 2010

And Did Those Feet by Les Smith and Martin Thomasson manages the rare achievement of conveying some of the excitement experienced by fans at an event whilst not over-doing it and slipping into purple prose or, worse, sounding risible.

It helps that the script is spoken beautifully by the cast, especially Martin Barrass whose dry northern accent and endless enthusiasm makes him a moving narrator.
 
 The play opens on a divided Bolton community. Brothers Ted (Mark Letheren) and Jim (Curtis Cole) are alienated by shortages of paid employment and the latter’s political beliefs. The relationship between husband and wife Alf (Huw Higginson) and Hilda (Susan Twist) is strained by their inability to cope with their mutual grief over the loss of their son in World War One.

The play explores how the journey of Bolton Wanderers and their victory in, the FC Cup Final in 1923 helps to ease the tension...

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