The game of football was dubbed “the beautiful game” by none other than the great Brazilian legend, Pele. Yet, he could have easily called it the “the crazy game”. Each year, millions of lives around the world are significantly affected (for better or worse) by the fortunes of the team those individuals support.
Robert Farquhar’s hilarious dark comedy for three actors was revived at the Blue Box theatre by Mostly Harmless Productions (in conjunction with Mellow Drama) by popular demand. Set in the UK, it is a fast paced comedy that sees Degsy and Cliff (two passionate football fans and close friends) react to their team’s relegation courtesy of a last minute goal in the last game of the season resulting from, what they believe to be, a wrong refereeing decision.
As they drown their sorrow in the pub after the game Cliff tells Degsy that they’ve been cheated and it’s about time they took matters into their own hands. In his drunken stupor, Degsy decides to heed Cliff’s advice quite literally and kidnaps the referee. His plan is to make the referee admit his mistake and get the game replayed.
The direction matched the writing perfectly, both in its fast pace and economy
John Montanaro and Steve Casaletto both gave excellent performances as Degsy and Cliff respectively. Montanaro gave his dim witted character great depth by not playing him two dimensionally. There were times when the audience could not quite tell whether Degsy was a psychopath or simply an imbecile. Montanaro’s Degsy was all braggadaccio and laddish swagger, yet still nursing a broken heart from the departure of his ex-girlfriend who spurned his marriage proposal live on local radio.
He was perfectly complemented by Casaletto’s Cliff – a character who is easily influenced by peer pressure and who finds himself as an unwilling accomplice to his mate’s crazy plan. Casaletto played Cliff very skilfully thanks to some great comic timing. He also endeared himself greatly to the audience as he shifted rapidly from addressing the other characters to addressing the audience. The referee was played by Chris Dingli who, despite the fact that he spends a great deal of the play either unconscious or with his head covered by a black bin bag, still manages to flesh out a strong character and elicit a few laughs.
The play was expertly directed by James Calvert who, like the main characters, lives and breathes football. The direction matched the writing perfectly, both in its fast pace and economy. Staging was pared down to just three chairs and yet the audience was transported from Degsy’s living room to a catastrophic drive down the motorway in Cliff’s van, from a hilarious chase in a country lane to a divine encounter in a disused church.
Mostly Harmless’s avowed mission is to “spread joy, merriment and mirth amongst the Maltese masses” through their productions. I can only say that with productions like this they are not only achieving their goal, but doing so in a very professional manner. The choice of script as well as the quality of the direction and performances on show, clearly demonstrated that entertaining people through theatre need not be equated with cheap laughs in sub-standard productions.