THE “remarkable untold story” of the world's first black international footballer who captained Scotland to a historic 6-1 win over England is set to premiere in Glasgow next week.
Andrew Watson's story about how he faced racism and discrimination, and fought his way to break down barriers and become the world’s first international black footballer when he arrived in Scotland, will soon hit the stage.
The story about how Watson went on to play for Scotland’s national team between 1881 and 1882 will be told at the world-famous A Play, A Pie and A Pint.
The Corinthian – named after the Brazilian side Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, who Watson played for – will run from June 1 to 6, with the ticket including a drink and a meat or vegan pie.
Written by Joe McCann, directed by Martin McCormick, and starring Dayton Mungai in a one-man show, the “tour de force” production is a “raw, unflinching exploration” of Watson’s life and what it means to belong nowhere and everywhere at once.
“I always wanted to write a play about football, but I never could quite find the right story, and then I was reading about Andrew Watson years ago,” McCann told The National.
“At the time, there seemed to be so many football players coming out.”
He went on to explain: “I wanted to do a football play, but something that's not really a football play too, so it's more about erasure and identity and legacy, so a man who's essentially been written [out] from history.
“A man who was a pioneer in many ways, but also being a pioneer didn't mean he had it easy, he's the first, black international footballer, he represented Scotland and even though he wore the Scottish shirt, it didn't mean he fully belonged in Scotland.”
McCann, a black working-class writer from Glasgow, said the semi-biographical play is a “call to arms” for all those written out of history and a testament to the enduring power of refusing to disappear.
He explained that just because Watson broke down barriers, it didn’t mean he was always accepted, as he experienced a large amount of racism and discrimination.
McCann adds that by the time Watson died, he was forgotten and his name only really resurfaced around five to six years ago.
“He's a metaphor of sorts for every outsider who has had to earn their place,” McCann said.
“I think it's something that's always going to be relevant, and it speaks to people today because we still have a struggle in Scotland.
“Like who belongs, the cost of belonging, who gets to belong, who decides who belongs, does a person of colour belong in a Scotland shirt? Does he belong in Scotland?
“Does a person of colour feel truly Scottish or fully connected to the country?
“I think it's an important story, and it'll be something that will be relevant forever, I would say. There's always going to be that question of, does someone belong in this country if they don't look like your typical Scots?”
Born in 1856 in Demerara, British Guiana, Watson was the son of a wealthy Scottish sugar planter, Peter Miller Watson.
During his playing career, he went on to represent teams including Queen's Park, Parkgrove, Bootle and Corinthians.
McCann’s previous work has garnered critical acclaim, including the black comedy The Bookies, which won a Pick of The Fringe award at the Edinburgh festival, and his play Alföld, which received a Critics' Award for Theatre in Scotland nomination for its run with A Play, A Pie and A Pint.
He said that when writing the latter parts of The Corinthian, he had Mungai in mind, as he knew the young actor would bring the “fire” in his performance.
“He's a brilliant actor, I'm so happy to have him,” McCann said.
“It's a tough role because he has to embody so many different characters.
“He's not just playing Andrew Watson, he's playing Andrew Watson's mother.
“He's playing Andrew Watson's father. He's playing Andrew Watson's teammates, his friends.”
McCann added that the timing of the play, with it showing just weeks out from Scotland’s opening World Cup match against Haiti on June 14, has certainly helped with generating excitement from audiences.
However, he did say that when the theatre suggested hosting the play just weeks out from the World Cup, Scotland hadn’t even qualified yet.
“The Denmark game had not happened, it was like, let's hope Scotland qualify and there'll be a bit of buzz about the World Cup.
“But I mean, they've been right because there's been a lot of attention for the play.”The Corinthian runs at Oran Mor in Glasgow from Monday, June 1 to Saturday, June 6. For more information and tickets, visit A Play, A Pie and a Pint's website
