By FRANK RUHRMUND

THE CORNISHMAN  August 21, 2008

Beautiful game played out on boards

"As a lover of the oval ball, a confirmed rugby man, I never thought there would come a day when I would find myself saying how much I had enjoyed a game played with a round ball.  The game in question being that of the needle match played in Pitchside in the Acorn Arts Centre between the two girls' soccer sides the Angels and the Devils. Unable to be played in Penlee Park as on the fixture list, the park at the time being only suitable for water-polo, both sides, who came under the management of the newly-formed professional Cornish theatre company True West, had to adapt quickly to the change of venue and to playing on boards instead of grass.  A challenge they met with skill and style. 

A totally charming piece of community theatre, written by Nick Whitby, it concerned the problems facing the Angels, a side faced with relegation, and the efforts of their arch rivals, the Devils, who were determined to do everything they could to ensure that their opponents did go down and as quickly as possible.  And that's not counting the parents of some of the Angels who were prepared to stop at nothing to prevent their little dears from having to taste defeat.  All of which may make the committed soccer or rugby fan shrug his or her shoulders and say: "so what?"  the "what" of it is the fact that those who did so missed the most arresting and nail-biting soccer match they are ever likely to see.  A game in which the goal-posts were shifted to suit the action, in which sporting spectators were recruited to embellish all that was happening on and off the pitch - and all praise to them who joined in so readily, from budding cheerleaders to extra players who acquitted themselves so well - and one which brought with it two opposing armies of supporters. 

It was a cracker of a game.  A high-energy exercise and as astute and as amusing a study of terrace culture and football madness as you could wish for, it was beautifully played.  Alan Munden, Tori Cannell, Claudia Hope, Lollie Brewer, Sarah Simpson, Marc Manning or Joe Long who shared the roles of First Singer and Graham - and I'm not sure who I saw on the night - were all splendid, and it will be a long while before I forget any of them.  At the same time I shall never forget Dominic Power who, as the coach of the Devils, and with a swift bit of cross-dressing, was also Bel, one of the Devils themselves, was simply superb. 

From its acrobatics to its footwork, team talks to family fortunes, crowd to individual behaviour, it was 90 or so non-stop minutes of great and glorious fun.  So good, in fact, that I'm still laughing and can hardly wait for True West's next home game whether on the soccer or rugby field but preferably, of course, on the boards."