Red Pitch was originally performed at the Bush Theatre in February 2022, the production won all five major debut awards, ALT’s editor was given an opportunity to find out about the development of the show and how the cast and creatives felt about the West End transfer. Red Pitch opens @sohoplace on Friday 15 March – Saturday 4 May 2024. Present at the Roundtable was Director Daniel Bailey, Writer Tyrell Williams, Sound Khalil Madovi Cast Kedar Williams-Stirling, Emeka Sesay and Francis Lovehall.
Writer Tyrell Williams gives an in depth insight into the process from the page to the screen in the early days of the play.
“We completed a year long residency just before going into lockdown, we then put on a performance for 3 nights. That was a good experience to feel what is looked like and to expand on 10 minutes. Then lockdown happened and during then I was still writing and developing it. Then my agent was going back and forth with some drafts and said that The Bush wanted to hear a reading of it. So Daniel got in the actors, which we got together to discuss. The actors came in and producers and then shortly after that I heard the Bush wanted to do the play and I was like this exciting cool lets go. But at that time it still was not ready and there was lots of redrafting and lots of input from the cast. We had drama therapist (King) which was very important in locking the story especially at the end. It was useful. That was the journey.
Director Daniel Bailey spoke about how different it was from a directors viewpoint and how Tyrell was doing a lot of the legwork.
Daniel says addressing Tyrell. ” What you don’t always talk about is the believe and the resilience, you just had such a fire in your belly and persistence from the moment that you started. From the time you saw the football pitch gone and seeing your two blocks and that stuck with you throughout but there was a point during lockdown I was not thinking about Red Pitch honestly. But Tyrell was just sending stuff asking if I wanted to read another play (laughs) but I had such an affinity to it and an obligation to Tyrell and well because of that tenacity. Lynette and I were doing a lot of work during lockdown so something comes back two years after we had worked on it. And Tyrell was like this is the ending and I was like I am not sure about that. So it is different from the directors point of view. But it was 4 years in the making.
The award-winning play about brotherhood, ambition, girls, community, and what it really means to belong. What happens when your football pitch, a place you’ve laughed, fought, and forged friendships – the very existence of your close knit community – is threatened by impending demolition? Can lifelong friends continue to dream of stardom, or will their goals be torn down alongside their home?
Tyrell was asked how he felt seeing his debut play move from the Bush to the West end he said. “It feels really exciting I want to make sure that young and the people the story is about come to see the play.” In terms of Daniel bringing his story to life his states “we have developed a real friendship a real brotherhood. and when I saw the set for the first time I thought he has captured the ends”.
Daniel pointed out how the original idea was set in a flat. In terms of the sound and design Khalil Madovi said.
“From a sound design viewpoint he wanted to maintain the balance, personality and intimacy of the play, while also with the beauty of how multi-dimensional this story is there that is the opportunity to scale it up for the space. Coming to a larger stage meant part of the beauty is being able to scale stuff up, to portray the scale of these boy dreams. But also to keep the heart of the story”
So what is the heart of the story? Daniel said. “When we talk about the heart and essence of the play we talk about story of friendship and family, dreams and looking to the future and football of course that is a major theme. And for us also this a story that many of us have gone through as nuanced as it is, as detailed as it, I guess personal as it is there are so many universal themes, that ultimately feel anybody can be a pert of the story. So when we talk about the essence it is things that anyone can connect to.”
Daniel also spoke about working very hard to bring in the audiences that they had at the Bush Theatre. For him it is not just about getting bums on seats. He said when it started in Oval House in 2018 it was the community that voted for it to win and it is that same community that followed it to the Bush, and will follow it again to Sohoplace. It has really created its own community and that community will be here. He acknowledges the capacity is 3 times of the Bush. Daniel continued.
“We realise it will attract a new community that might not have experienced what these boys have experienced but we think universal themes will bring people in”. He added on the maintaining the authenticity at Sohoplace that “the words ain’t changing” which is down to having great collaborations like Khalil. He spoke about getting free tickets out and that the same cast and crew and will make sure they reach out to the right media like ALT A REVIEW and network”. His outreach skills was borne from working as a care worker.
The actors jointly felt that they did not feel the pressure of the west end as they knew the team was coming with them. And the play was a solid piece and could stand up to the rest of them. Each of the actors talked on their characters.
Emeka Sesay (Joey) said. “I love Joey because of how his is as an individual and how he cares about his friends and has an understanding of the world in terms of things like gentrification. My character is very grounded and I like the way my character makes me feel. Since doing the play I am more of an open book and I am able to communicate a lot better.
Kedar Williams-Stirling (Bilal) How I resonate with this character is his relationship with Omz and Joey and the impact they have on him. It is the same way my friends have supported and inspired me. The challenging thing is how good is the football. Growing up I did not really play football that much. Compared to the other two.
Francis Lovehall (Omz) I grew up playing football I was playing at professional level, it was what I wanted to do for a long time I was raised in Aylesbury Estate, in this way I feel very close to the character. When you are raised in certain environments you can be pulled in different directions.
Red Pitch. South London. Three lifelong friends Omz, Bilal and Joey are playing football. Like they always have. Living out dreams of football stardom. Beyond their football pitch, local shops are closing, old flats are being demolished as new flats shoot up, some residents struggle to stay while others rush to leave. When a small football pitch has been a home from home, a place where you’ve laughed, fought and forged friendships, what happens when it’s under threat?
A coming-of-age story about what it means to belong to a place, Tyrell Williams’s fast-paced and sharp-edged new play Red Pitch tells a powerful story about gentrification or regeneration and the impact of this relentless change on London’s communities.
When: 15th March – 4th May 2024
Monday to Saturday: 7.30pm
Wednesday and Saturday: 3pm
