With muddy knees and soggy feet, we slop around Edinburgh’s Meadows park, aiming roughly for goalposts made from kitbags and spare shoes. “If that had gone in, it would have been stunning,” teases actor Eleanor Rattenbury as the ball flies way wide.
Rattenbury is one of the stars of Pitch, a show about football, and all its sorrows and joys on and off the field. Every Sunday at the fringe, the energetic cast lead post-show kickabouts on the Meadows. A winner of the Pleasance’s Charlie Hartill award, their show – staged at the Pleasance Courtyard – is based on interviews and stories that the company November Theatre gathered from LGBTQ+ grassroots football teams across the country. Written and devised by the company, and staged with dance warm-ups, lip-synced interviews and love stories, it has the fizzy feeling of tales shared with new friends over pints at the pub.
