On paper the subject of this play has all the makings of a tense and moving historical / biographical play examining the Austria of the 1930s immediately post Anschluss. Matthias Sindelar, a paper light man, was the leading goal scorer of the Austrian football team known as the Wunderteam. His style of football and fame in Austria mirrored that of his direct English contemporary, Stanley Matthews and was characterised by superlative touch skills, which made him a master of ‘dribbling’. However what makes him of interest beyond the ranks of those interested in football history is the fact that he defied the German high command by refusing to throw a match, which was supposed to show the harmonious bonding of two nations after the Anschluss when Austria was effectively annexed by Germany. He is said to have celebrated the win extravagantly in front of the German officialdom present. Some months later he and his girlfriend, Camilla Castagnola, were found dead, supposedly as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

However, this co-created play does not deliver what we might suppose is offered on the tin. The subject is used by the female co-creators to descant on the iniquities of yet another play about a dead white man. The ‘director’, Lee Simpson, a self-confessed football nut is continually thwarted in the telling of a compelling story by the antics, callisthenics and reminiscences of his co-creators. Gaps in the place of women in history undoubtedly need addressing. However as a piece of entertainment last night suffered from ignoring the most basic of dramatic conventions, namely that theatre is essentially about showing not telling. Not all the buzz-words of ‘Feminazism’ (a word they bandy half ironically) can make up for a failure to engage the audience imaginatively. A play about writing and performing a play is always going to be a tall order outside the slapstick conventions of “The Play that Goes Wrong” sort.

The show is not short of humour and for the most part, if not quite tongue-in-cheek is at least genial. Lee Simpson has the avuncular air of someone trying to organise a children’s tea party only to find that he spends most of his time juggling with jelly in his attempt to impose some kind of form on events. The cast are all, individually, engaging and float well-drawn and diverse characters before us.  Yet the show fails to draw its elements into a coherent whole. There is little point in complaining about the show someone doesn’t create, you simply have to get out there and create it yourself.  ★★☆☆☆     Graham Wyles   27^th January 2019