Show: ENG-ER-LAND
Society: Special Events (British Isles & Eire)
Venue: Warwick Arts Centre (and touring). University of Warwick, Coventry, Warwickshire CV4 7AL
Credits: by Hannah Kumari. Funded by Arts Council England and supported by The Football Supporters’ Association.
Type: Sardines
Author: Alexander Wood
Performance Date: 16/02/2022
Eng-er-land
Alexander Wood | 18 Feb 2022 18:47pm
Hannah Kumari, playwright and actor in this solo piece sets the scene, drawing us in, addressing members of the audience directly. With references to Euro 96, Gina G on her Walkman and Woolworths, it’s 1997 and she’s going to Highfield Road for the first time to see her team, Coventry City, play Manchester City.
Such a thrill for Lizzie, this football-crazy girl. And she shows it. So chatty with us, almost breathless in her excitement, giving us advice about the game and what to do at the ground – ‘Make sure you have a pee before you go in…’, you wouldn’t want to miss anything. Oh, and bring your own snacks and drink ‘cos you wouldn’t want to eat the pies. And her glorious team – a local team for local people you might say, with players like Strachan, Jess and Dublin her local heroes. Not for Lizzie the superficially obvious attractions of Manchester United and Liverpool – the thought of Coventry kids supporting them a crazy anomaly which can never end up happily.
And when she reaches the ground it’s like heaven – the size of the arena, all those Coventry fans with one purpose, the noise and the emerald green of the grass. Breathtaking.
Just a story about a 13 year old grammar school girl from Rugby and her unconditional love for football and her team….
Not really.
As the play progresses we learn more about Lizzie’s world where even her own identity is a bit of a problem. Her dad, born in England but with both parents Scots insists that she should see herself as a Scot too, just like him. Her mum was born in India but moved to England as an infant – and when she bumps into her in town Lizzie wants to be able to speak to her granny but without a shared language…
Then there are those annoying posh girls from Rugby School. On her football day out Lizzie resents their presence in Coventry, even if ‘their grandparents probably own the place’.
And the racism. Why do friends Lauren and Sarah decide they’d rather go to Rachel’s party than to Highfield Road with Lizzie? And why does the man in the stands stare hard at her when she joins in the chanting?
In these subtle ways Hannah Kumari’s script uses her (and Lizzie’s) love of the beautiful game as a taking off point for an examination of the challenges Lizzie – a working class girl with an Asian background – faces.
The play was conceived during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 and first performed at the Jermyn Street Theatre in England’s fever pitch summer of 2021.
Since then a new ending has been added. In some respects it could be regarded as a bit of an ‘add on’ to the show’s first version but in others it asks important questions about how Lizzie’s experiences on her big day out in Coventry have changed her.
Lively, witty, intelligent, thought-provoking and beautifully acted, ENG-ER-LAND is highly recommended.