Reviews

Away from Home (Manchester 24:7 Festival)

WhatsOnStage Reviewer
It can’t be much fun being a football fan these days. The crass commercialisation of the game suggests that players and club owners are interesting more in financial reward than the sport. Then there is the racism. And the homophobia that prevents gay players from declaring their sexuality and denies fans role models.

Kyle (sole performer Rob Ward who co-wrote the play) is a gay football fan who came out two years ago to his family and friends. He has yet to tell them that he earns his living as a male escort and is startled when a new client turns out to be a premiership footballer with the public persona of a straight man. Their relationship deepens and Kyle finds that footballers aren’t the only ones who can be bought and sold.

Away from Home tackles a serious subject without being ponderous or mitigating the ugly side of sport. Although the main characters are, to an extent, both hypocrites they are so well drawn that you sympathise with, rather than condemn, their failings. Ward and his co-writer Martin Jameson (who directs) do not lecture about homophobia but demonstrate its corrosive impact and the human cost of the prejudice. The script is a constant pleasure with great dialogue and subtle plays on words – the terrace chant ‘Who are Yer?’ becomes a challenge to the sexual identity of the closeted footballer.

A potential pitfall for plays with only a single actor is that the director over-compensates and creates a frantic pace. Jameson certainly delivers a fast-moving show but his control is such that it is dramatic and absorbing rather than hysterical and exhausting. As a writer he makes sure that priority is given to telling the story. The show opens with Ward naked apart from a towel not for coy shock effect but to let the audience see tell-tale cuts and bruises on his torso.

Ward’s acting is as good as his writing. He does not suggest the different characters just by change of accent but also physical shifts in body language. His face softens and his eyes widen when portraying the nameless footballer. Ward brings such passion to the role you can’t help but get caught up in Kyle’s enthusiasm for football. In a wonderful sequence he is horrified when required to violate his client while wearing the football strip of the opposing team.

If the current football scene was able to capture the commitment and passion shown in Away from Home it might actually be worth watching the games.

– Dave Cunningham