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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
World Cup Final 1966
Verdict: Fast-paced football play
World Cup Final 1966 runs at Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) from 25 November 04 to 15 January 05. The show transfers to Edinburgh in 2005 and returns to London in 2006.
World Cup Final 1966 retells the legendary tale of 'that game'. It follows the rise and rise of Alf Ramsey - from Ipswich Town to managing the inaugural and only team to have had the ecstatic pleasure of raising the solid 18-carat gold statue above their heads. And follows the Charlton Brothers from their two-up, two-down, bath-in-front-of-the-fire beginnings in Newcastle.
World Cup Final 1966 throws in the history of football, the development of tactics, and player formation. It brings to the stage a game imbued with a fierce sense of national pride, gentlemanlinness - and a certain innocence.
It's a gleeful ride through a golden age of football, eons away from today's sex-texting, diamond-earring-clad millionaire tabloid-fodder.
Ed Woodall as Bobby Charlton evokes a loveable character - Jimmy Corrigan in physique, modest in demeanour. He's far from the uber-toned, groomed and polished players of the new millennium.
There's complex, furiously funny choreography. The cast not only depict the England team, but also the hair-pulling Uruguayans, the French, Mexican and German players. It fizzes with energy. From the kick-off, the audience is intrinsic to the action, scoring goals, singing along, cheering the players along to the final crescendo of the fourth goal.
It's thoroughly enjoyable, and raises more than a chuckle. Kids in the audience love it. It's marvellously fast-paced - a roller-coaster of a show.
Cast Credits: (alpha order): Will Adamsdale - Bobby Moore. Niall Ashdown - Nobby Stiles. Jason Barnett - Alf Ramsey. Derek Elroy - Gordon Banks. Stephen Harper - Ray Wilson. Sarah Mitchell - Martin Peters. Emily Mytton - Roger Hunt. Anthony Shuster - Geoff Hurst. Ian Summers - Alan Ball. Jason Thorpe - Jimmy Grieves. Roy Weskin - Bobby Charlton. Edward Woodall - Jack Charlton.
Company Credits: Writers - Carl Heap & Tom Morris. Director - Carl Heap. Producer - Emma Stenning. Designer - Ti Green. Light Designer - Mark Dymmock. Musical Director and Composer - Joe Townsend. Choreographer - Darren Royston. Production Manager - Chris Umney. Stage Manager - Elke Laleman. Assistant Director - Amy Leech. Assistant Producer - Amy Matthews. Costume Supervisor - Jill Pennington. Set Builder - Fabian Alonso. Scenic Painters - Viv Sendall and Erican Stokes. Production Technician - Amy Burkitt-Harrington. Assistant Costumers and Painters - Marina Temelkoska, Ljubica Temelkoska-Adams. Assistant Choreographers - James White, Nina Richmond Goring. Assistant Set Builder - Gilberto Da Silva. Print Design - Nigel Roberts. Photography - Sheila Burnett. Programme Design - David Hardcastle. Supported by the sponsorship programme of QVC.
END
(c) Rachael Booth 2004
reviewed Thursday 9 December 04
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
