Crucible theatre, Sheffield A dynamic team of actors capture the spirit of female footballers during the first world war – though the storytelling is sometimes fumbled The rise of interest in women’s football continues off the pitch in this play by Stefano Massini, adapted for Sheffield Theatres by Tim Firth. Like Amanda Whittington’s The Invincibles and Offside by Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish, The Ladies Football Club recounts the striking story of the game’s development during the first world war. While the men were away fighting, women took up their places in the factory and on the football field – before being rudely booted out of both after peace returned. This fictionalisation of that history is set on local turf, following the football-playing female munitions workers of Sheffield. The storytelling in Elizabeth Newman’s production has the pacy, frenetic rhythm of a match, passing rapidly back and forth between the dynamic 11-strong ensemble. It’s matched by Scott Graham’s movement direction, which strings together sequences of exaggerated lunges, kicks and headers, evoking the game without ever attempting to realistically replicate it on stage. This all makes for a relentless forward momentum, as the team move swiftly from lunchtime kickabouts to their first match to playing in front of tens of thousands in London. Continue reading...