Stepping up to bat in this show of two very different innings are the enduring legacies of vitriolic nationalism and the violence of colonialism. But for the most part, in this story of sport and superiority, we’re just watching people muck about and gossip. Kate Attwell’s journey through cricket wittily interrogates wilful ignorance in the face of corruption and brutality. With the added delight of interval ballgames.
The players are soggy as they run on to the stage, seeking shelter from the rain that stops play at the Women’s Cricket World Cup match between England and India. Ego runs wild in the break room as they wait out the weather, patience flailing and tensions rising. There’s a muscular beauty to Diane Page’s direction as the group of six prowl and goad each other on Cat Fuller’s cracked circular stage. The England team are hot-headed, the India team much cooler, the competitors’ warring considerations of history and global politics entangled with their complaints about the rain and the celebrity athletes they’re dating.
