“The play works as both a striking portrait of friendship rent asunder but also reinforced, and as a separate enquiry into a community under threat. You’re soon aware of the extended social network – an unseen grandfather, for one – that informs these adolescents’ lives and of the hairpin turns between camaraderie and cruelty that are part of anyone’s growing pains.”
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It’s difficult to believe that this is Tyrell Williams’ debut. It’s intelligent, nuanced and the dialogue is tight...It’s a next-level coming-of-age story.
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“ ‘Red Pitch’ is a story that deserves to be told; it’s vibrant, it’s poignant but most of all it’s 90 minutes of authentic joy. It’s a show to be seen by a wider audience and fast.”
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“It’s so beautifully crafted – empathetically acted, deftly directed by Daniel Bailey and with a lovely football court set by Amelia Jane Hankin – that it manages to feel hugely meaningful while relatively little happens.”
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As well as a coming-of-age story, this is an account of social displacement by gentrification...It’s still rare to see a play about young, black, working-class youths on our stages: rarer still to see one in which they are celebrated like this.
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“The plot is tight, but never schematic...The movement direction by Dickson Mbi is also superb. The snatches of skills are realistic, but the slow-motion bends and swerves between scenes serve the double purpose of suggesting another more graceful world beyond the one where the boys struggle and strive...That little detail is just one of the careful joys of a magnificent production of a play that is set to become a classic.”
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A promising debut about football, friendship and gentrification...While the writing doesn’t always dig deep, the piece gathers momentum thanks to Daniel Bailey’s crisp direction and the strong performances.
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To the background sound of construction work, and the foregrounding of dance music, this excellent piece of new writing is effortlessly and energetically entertaining.
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