How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won The FA Cup

When my friends asked me if I’d like to go to see this play about football, which to be honest, I’m not all that fussed about, the thing that made me go was that I’ve never seen a play at the Village Hall which I haven’t enjoyed. New Perspectives Theatre Company only seen to have professional productions – well of the ones I’ve seen, which over the years amounts to quite a few now. I have subsequently read reviews such as “This delightful adaptation is one of this year's (Edinburgh Festival) Fringe highlights” from the British Theatre Guide, who awarded the play 5 stars. I was unaware of the quality of drama which was about to unfold… We decided that Owen would be old enough to come along now (he’s almost 10) and that he could be trusted to sit quietly, so as not to disturb the audience, so we embarked on another unknown evening at the Village Hall as a family. The snow was falling quite steadily and we all wrapped up warm, knowing the Hall does have a tendency to be cold, which in case you’ve forgotten is why we are trying to raise funds for the Village Hall! We were pleased to see so many faces had ventured into the cold night with the same idea as us – to have a relaxing evening’s entertainment with friends. Tonight’s play was set on the stage and was, we were told an almost one man production (one man on the stage and one man doing the lights/music etc). I was very interested to see how one man was going to morph into a football team – the mind boggles… then it became obvious, when you have a very talented actor such as Mark Jardine (I have also found out he’s been In Corrie and Emmerdale!), that’s no problem at all. Mark portrayed every character with such animated emotion, a breadth of facial expressions and extensive repertoire of voices, that you were never in doubt who the protagonist was at any one point. It made us laugh, get swept up in the excitement of the FA cup and even shed a little tear now and then. I looked across at Owen once or twice throughout the show and he was transfixed by the performance (this intensity of concentration is normally only reserved for Harry Potter, Star Wars or drum practice). “So Owen, what did you think of the play at the Village Hall?” “It was brilliant” came his reply. “Can I go next time?” “Sure can”. Sarah Town-Smith (and family!)

Absolutely fantastic, highly entertaining - what an actor!