Home Ground

Brilliantly devised by the Bristol Old Vic Young Company, Home Ground follows the story of a local football team that find out their historic football pitch is getting demolished and decide to take matters into their own hands to save it.

The story follows themes of friendship, community and loss of space while embedding plenty of comedic elements. The Company is one of the largest youth theatres in the UK, with over three hundred young people involved in weekly sessions, theatre masterclasses, community projects and full-scale performances.

In the last 50 years, more than 10,000 school playing fields, and many public recreation spaces, have been sold off for development. During the early part of that period, it was also thought that being involved in competition of any sort was not a good thing for young people.

The show was devised by every member of the company, with the production showing a lot of detail within each character, with their voices and traits being very clear to the audience. At the start of the show, to add to the comedic elements, the commentator announced each member of the team with their nicknames. The 13 performers not only have to navigate the stage inventively but crucially give each other space to shine when their moment arrives.

Director Krista Matthews makes the audience feel immersed as by the end of the show banners and flags draped from the balcony seats of the Weston Studio which made you feel if they were sitting in the stands of a football stadium.

Performed to three sides and a gallery above, the set comprises a swirl of astroturf with pitch markings, covering half the stage and up the back flat. Using few props, the performers’ movement and teamwork shines through. Much credit must go to movement director, David Gilbert, but the strength in the ensemble elevates the play, as well as the realistic dialogue.

As you would expect with a bunch of teenagers, each with their own interests and agendas, there is plenty of conflict and friction on display. A team comprises individuals and groups within groups, and these elements are the most successful. The girls bicker, take the mickey and confide in each other, but always remain united.

There is the drama queen, bemoaning the stud mark down her leg that might prevent her wearing a dress that weekend, only for her ego to deflated by the girls singing the Eastenders theme tune.

Jeopardy escalates when the team challenges the property developer, and here the piece shifts approach, adopting a more humorous tack. We meet a variety of employees before the girls are ushered into see the legendary ‘Terry’ occupying the top floor.

Betsy May Wright does well at several characterisations, especially portraying the beat-loving, sauna-dipping megalomaniac Terry, complete with thigh-high boots and glittery hard hat with bags of insouciance.

Natalia Chan's lighting, was bright with white lights that imitated flood lights. During tense and dramatic parts of the show, shone lights onto the backs of the actors creating silhouettes of the characters which added moods and feelings created by the show. Chan's lighting was used greatly during the cabaret musical number, using fun splashes of purples and blues to add to the upbeat but also creating a mysterious atmosphere of the CEO's office.

Matthews and their team have masterfully created a vibrant and energising one hour of pure theatre.