An unusual picture: a referee, two assistants, three actors and a Hungarian theatre director
Tuesday, 21 September 2004.
The preparations for the premiere of a new play have been going on in the past weeks at the New End Theatre in London.
Spinach and Chips is about the three officials of a football match who have fights, conflicts and rivalry in the dressing room on the day of a very important game.
What can a referee do if his yellow card disappears in the interval?
How can an assistant keep up with the pace if he has a serious hangover?
What happens if the referee has an affair with the girlfriend of one of his assistants?
Situations like this make this play a pitch black comedy, where we also see the depth of the personal aspects of winning and losing, the building and the destroying of careers and how the characters experience them during their interactions.
The three London actors, Gary Condes, Jonathan Lisle and Travis Oliver, worked with exceptional dedication on the formation of their characters but also needed a little help from the professionals.
So, with the help of The FA, the actors went about researching their roles and experienced football from inside the dressing rooms.
At a quarter to one on Saturday afternoon, Mr. Mick Ewens, secretary of the Hornchurch Football Club and Mr. Graham Butland, representative of The FA, were waiting for the actors and the theatre director, Peter Fekete, at the entrance of the club's stadium in Upminster.
The precise and thorough preparations impressed the theatre people from the very first moment. They had the chance to walk around the stadium and received from Mr. Butland a substantial briefing regarding the background of professional refereeing. In the meantime, the three young officials arrived to run the day’s game.
The actors and the director were very excited to find out to what extent they would have a chance to observe the details of the work taking place in the referee’s changing room. This is when the most “intimate” part of the research work began. The three officials, Mr. Searle, Mr. West and Mr. Tilley kindly invited their “colleagues” to their changing room.
An unusual picture: a referee, two assistants, three actors and a Hungarian theatre director all squeezed in the same room. Due to the very good facilities of Hornchurch Football Club, there was enough room for all seven of them.
Interesting details such as the exact movements of the officials covering their jewelry before the match, the checking of the teamsheets, the use of the flags as well as the briefing by the referee could all be observed on the spot.
The fans arriving in the stadium were also surprised to see that four men in suits, like bodyguards, were watching the movements of the officials very closely, follow them to the pitch and surround them during the warm-up. The half-time break and post-match took place in a similar manner. The officials were doing their usual routine, and the guests were taking notes.
By the way, the home team won the game.
Spinach&ChipsFlyer.pdf