Emeka Sesay, Francis Lovehall and Kedar Williams-Stirling in Red Pitch
(Picture: Craig Fuller)Behind its up-to-the-minute London argot, Tyrell Williams’s tale of three young, black, wannabe footballers is a quaint tale of awkward male friendship. Teenagers Bilal, Joey and Omz kick balls and banter back and forth on the footie pitch of their south London housing estate, pinning their future hopes on a trial for QPR. Daniel Bailey’s production demands deft footwork and a high level of fitness as well as verbal agility from his likeable cast: it’s 90 minutes of end-to-end stuff.
Swaggering, personable Bilal (Kedar Williams-Stirling) is pushed by his domineering dad, who once had a shot with Leyton Orient. Coiled-spring Omz (Francis Lovehall) is the only one of them who’s Muslim, and effectively a carer for his young brother and confused grandad. The most finely-drawn character is lanky peacemaker Joey (Emeka Sesay), whose mum works for the NHS and who alone has a backup plan. He’s the goalie, naturally. Fractious and occasionally hostile, they are united by bonds of long friendship and by their obsessions: footie, food, Instagram, girls, probably in that order.
