Hooligan – Noun; a violent young trouble maker, typically one of a gang
Eg. Harry and his mates act like hooligans every Saturday at the football matches.
A play on football hooliganism, what could really interest me? Growing up in inner London I was exposed to football from a young age, yet I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve never been to a football match. Despite living close proximately to West Ham’s stomping grounds (old and new), I was always left to imagine inside the mind of football goers. Would they be angry if I wore the opposing team’s colours in their presents? Do people really get harassed for not supporting the local team?
In the eyes of some, football is addictive and your love for it can be inherited or it can grow over time. Take Harry Philton played by Josh Barrow for an example. First glance, you may think Harry is your average everyday normal school boy. Until his cheeky and overly sarcastic comments highlight he has more charisma than most students his age do. He’s the class clown, who isn’t cool enough to be in any form of gang, cult or even have a girlfriend is easy to run through your mind. However, Harry oozes an incredible amount of charisma with his witty charm, sarcastic and carefree attitude it’s not long before the whole school is following his example and chanting
Following the trivia of school life; when all you can think about is chanting at any given moment; struggling home life when the football pitch feels more like a home. When your Mother practically pays you to leave the house and even the difficulties of your first ‘serious’ relationship because your girlfriend fancies the semi-professional footballer who is secretly your favourite player. Zigger Zagger exceeded the expectations that I had. I felt like I was going on a journey with Harry rather than just spending 90 minutes waiting for the whistle to end and praying it does not go into extra time. You do not need to be a football fan, but anyone who understands British humour will love this play.
Despite a strong performance from each cast member, I feel that the play became slightly inadequate and began to drag in the second half when three characters decided began singing and dancing. First up was the careers advisor whose character had a natural bubbly and over the top aura about him. However as the second chorus ended and the third verse of the song began I felt myself wondering when it would end. It didn’t gel well with the rest of the production and could have been cut to become shorter or cut altogether, as it didn’t add much depth. I am a fan of breaking into song and dance but it just did not work well this time.
Wilton Music Hall was the perfect setting for this production, with strong chants and a simplistic production and left me feeling as if I had really lived life through a true football fans eyes. However, I may probably be a minority when it comes to my opinions about football. We all have a bit of hooliganism in us somewhere inside.