Considering football is played and adored by millions across the globe, it's a little surprising that there are few theatre productions based on it.
Perhaps the reason for that is because it is already so prominent in our daily lives, or maybe producers have been a tad wary ever since The Beautiful Game, a collaboration between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton, lost £3m over a year-long run at London's Cambridge Theatre in 2000.
But The Red Lion - currently running at the Bristol Old Vic's Weston Studio - shows that football is not just a game played on well-kept grass in front of spectators. The three-hander is instead set away from the pitch, in the dressing room of a non-league team with an ill-tempered, meddling manager played superbly by Broadchurch star and local boy Joe Sims.
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The 90-minute (see what they did there?) play, which highlights the uglier sides to the beautiful game, is made up of slick dialogue between Sims' character, Kidd, kit man and club stalwart Yates and promising young player Jordan. And while pure discussion might not be what people expect when they buy tickets to see a "play about football", the razor sharp script, strong acting and twisting plot keep you gripped from kick-off until the final whistle.
Sims demonstrates just why he's impressed casting agents for top productions as soon as he enters the stage with an accomplished performance - but his man of the match effort is assisted admirably by Bristol City icon David Lloyd, whose understated portrayal as general club dogsbody will ring true with all who have played football at any level, and Thomas McGee as the non-league starlet destined for big things, making his stage debut following a city-wide call-out.
With well delivered one liners that make you laugh out loud and moments that genuinely make you gasp, The Red Lion documents the power struggle between kit man and manager as they try to profiteer on the gifted young player, whose naivety is well played by debutant McGee. For Yates, Jordan could restore the declining fortunes of the whole team - but cut-throat manager Kidd is determined to make the skilled yet troubled youngster his own for financial gain.
The trio soon find themselves entangled in a web of lies, not knowing who to trust or where to turn. Although fiction, you can't help but wonder what really goes on behind the closed doors of non-league changing rooms up and down the country as you watch the action unfold - especially as all three actors have had some involvement in the game in some way.
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The minimalist yet effective set design complements the production, designed like the typical changing room you'd expect to encounter in the lower rungs of English football complete with a treatment table, Belkin sink and benches adorned with the team kit. Mock advertising banners draped over the balcony railings cleverly to add to the effect.
And the horseshoe seating arrangement of The Weston Studio helps further, bringing viewers into the heart of the action and making it feel like we are all in the same changing room as the three characters, as if we're they're unfortunate teammates witnessing the action from the benches.
From the poster advertising The Red Lion you'd be forgiven for thinking the it's simply a play about football, but it's much more than that, and it deserves to be seen before its run ends on February 19 whether you're a footy fanatic or someone with no interest in the sport whatsoever.
For tickets to see The Red Lion and more information, head to Bristol Old Vic's website.
