Flannery’s one-man play about football… says some serious things about the commercial exploitation of theshort-lived pro sportsman and about the loneliness of the imaginative misfit.
THE GUARDIAN

Quotes:
Very funny, touching and involving

Recommended to football fans, football widows and widowers,fans of excellent monologues and physical theatre, and anyone you fancies an entertaining night out

Jem Wall’s performance is finely judged. We feel the abandonment when he’s throwing himself across goal, and the tension as he declines mentally and physically.

Football… is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the violence.
George Orwell

Football is an art more central to our culture than
anything the Arts Council deigns to recognise.
Germaine Greer

The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible.  It's the biggest sin in football to make him do any work.
George Graham

All that I know most surely about morality and the
obligations of man, I owe to football.
Albert Camus

THE BOY’S OWN STORY

by Peter Flannery

Director Gregory Thompson, Starring Jem Wall
Featuring the voices of Alistair McGowan as the commentators

Football is a team game until the goalkeeper makes a mistake.

John McKenna the best goalkeeper never to play for England is making a comeback as player/manager with Sunday league club Saltdean.

Jem Wall stars as John McKenna in Peter Flannery’s monologue.  During the course of a match McKenna reflects on how he got into the game, his FA Cup Final appearance, life as a professional footballer, and re-creates Gordon Banks’ wonder save from Pele in the 1970 world cup.

Staged in a full size goal on real grass, this funny, poignant play of the goalkeeper’s art, considers the separateness of the goalkeeper as a metaphor for the loneliness of an individual daring to be different.  As he puts it, “Their job is to score goals, mine is to stop ‘em… I’m here to spoil their game.”

Flannery has updated “one of my favourite pieces, extremely personal, and my most performed play in the last 25 years” for this revival to reflect the current era of the beautiful game.  The Boy’s Own Story (written in 1978) tackles obsession, fear and failure, and also asks what happens when you stop playing and the best days of your life are over?

Kevin Keegan, Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton and Pele come off the bench for cameo roles, with appearances from Lineker, Hansen and Motty courtesy of Alistair McGowan’s voiceover.  But as the game draws to full time, we question if McKenna really is making a comeback?  Did he ever play the beautiful game?  Was it all in his head…?

Peter Flannery’s credits include: the BBC Bafta winning series Our Friends In The North; the play Singer for the RSC; and the film Funny Bones for Hollywood Pictures. Recent work includes the feature film The One And Only, and episodes of the ITV series Rose And Maloney.

Directed by Gregory Thompson whose credits include: The Pull of Negative Gravity (Traverse) winning the Guardian Best Director award, As You Like It (RSC) and numerous international productions for AandBC, including the Tempest at Somerset House, London.

Jem Wall’s theatre credits include: Great Expectations (RSC), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Golden Ass (The Globe), The Machine Wreckers (National Theatre) and Serious Money (Royal Court).

WORKSHOP – GOAL!
a rewarding way of exploring drama and sport

A high quality education programme is available based on the production of THE BOYS’ OWN STORY, written by Peter Flannery.  Staged in a full size goal on real grass, this funny, poignant play of the goalkeeper’s art, tells the tale of John McKenna, the best goalkeeper never to play for England.

Flannery’s one-man play about football… says some serious things about the commercial exploitation of the short-lived pro-sportsman and about
the loneliness of the imaginative misfit.
THE GUARDIAN

Led by actor Jem Wall, who plays the Goalkeeper, the workshop is structured to meet the needs and requirements of individual groups.

The workshop is suitable for pupils at Keystage 2 & 3 (Years 6 to 9) and is also available for older groups.

The workshop is particularly suitable for:

• Drama students;
• Students of the creative and performing arts;
• Youth theatre group;
• Community theatre groups.

What You Get:

• An introduction to the play;
• A vocal and physical warm-up;
• A range of dramatic techniques and apply them to different creative tasks.

During the play the famous save by Gordon Banks from Pele in the 1970 World Cup is re-created (regularly voted as the best save ever).  The group will look at the dramatic techniques involved in the dramatisation of the save.  These include, Tableaux, Image, Mime, Narrative and Language.

The second part of the workshop will enable the participants to apply these techniques to restage a great sporting moment of their choice.  It could be anything from:

• ‘that diving header in the last school match’;
• Theo Walcott’s hat-trick for England;
• to great goal celebrations;
• or atrocious fouls, and astonishing misses!

The workshop aims to:

• Develop new language skills;
• Develop drama skills and techniques;
• Develop teamwork;
• Increase confidence and self-esteem.

Jem Wall – Workshop Leader

Jem is an associate of The National Theatre’s Education Department.  He has designed and delivered drama workshops to young people aged up to 18 years in schools through Gifted and Talented programmes as well as INSET courses for teachers.  He has been an Actor for 20 years in theatre (RSC, National Theatre, Globe Theatre) and on TV (The Bill, Judge John Deed, Murphy’s Law).

The Cost

Workshops can be tailor made to suit your requirements so prices may vary accordingly.  Workshops can last from between 45 minutes to one hour and a half depending on the age and ability level of the group.  The normal cost is £200.00 per workshop.

Requirements: