REVIEW | Our Girls Our Game, British Youth Music Theatre
★★★★
Reviewer - Hollie
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.
Caution: This show includes some bad language and flashing lights.
She shoots and she scores!
Based on the true story of the Dick Kerr Ladies Football Team and their 4-0 victory on Boxing Day 1920, this new production and affiliation of the British Youth Music Theatre and the Birmingham Hippodrome is a confident tackle of teamwork!
The production begins in 1917 during the middle of the war with the women of Preston in Yorkshire working in a factory. Without the right to vote and whilst going through the trials and tribulations of being a woman during the First World War, the women decide to form a female football team to raise money for the war effort from the ticket sales.
The performance is about what women can do when they work together. The women use the skills from their work in the factory to come together as a team instead of fighting over positions on the pitch.
Kick-Run-Pass!
The musical score written by composer Vikki Stone and the dance that goes alongside it created by choreographer Jane Mcmurtrie work well here together to use the talents of the young actors alongside the selection of instruments and percussion to reflect the sounds of the stadium.
With tremendous speed and determination the ensemble work together and have a clear natural camaraderie so it is hard to believe that they have only been working on the production for two weeks!
“Who would want to watch women play football?” the male reporters and commentators declare. Fresh from the success of the Women’s England Football Team and their European Championship win of 2022, this production is a timely piece of theatre and many similarities can be made with the themes of votes, strikes and the importance of women’s football both in 1920 and today in 2023.
The constant movement and pace on stage shows the passing of time and the clever use of the stage as a football pitch and the multi-dimensional scenery and costumes allow the audience to understand the importance of working together as a team for the same outcome.
At the end of the war the women decide they don’t want to go back to being ladies maids. They decide they want to do what they have always done - “fight and be smarter than the men and refuse to give up!”
The Dick Kerr Ladies team became the first women’s team to play internationally. They were big, strong and powerful and surprised everyone at the time with their determination to keep fighting and keep playing!
This show will inspire other girls and women to play the beautiful game by putting on their boots and playing football! With many moments of subtle humour throughout the show, this production appeals to the whole family. A wonderful production from the British Youth Music Theatre. I look forward to seeing what they do next.
