ED2011 5/5 Reviews ED2011 Theatre Reviews

On The Bench (Class Stage Productions)

By | Published on Friday 12 August 2011

This wryly entertaining satire on the lifestyles of over-paid, over-sexed and over-exposed footballers entirely exceeds expectations. Inventive and thought-provoking, the all-female casting is far from gimmicky, and each skilled and versatile performer is as adept at capturing the mannerisms of swaggering sportsmen as the bored prostitutes who service them in the backs of limousines. The punch-lines come thick and fast throughout Kirsty Eyre’s well-crafted and witty script, and a bittersweet ending plays on the audience’s investment in the characters. Ultimately, it is a comment on the self-destruction of love-rat multi-millionaires who court the paparazzi whilst expecting their smuttiest secrets to be wiped with a man-sized super-injunction. This show deserves big audiences, of football fans and feminists alike.

C, 4 – 29 Aug (not 16), 8.30pm (9.20pm), £6.50 – £9.50, fpp286.
tw rating 5/5
[tfw]



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