Theatre / Reviews
Review: World Cup Final 1966, Hippodrome
We all know how it’s going to end. Of course we do. Three lions on the shirt, Jules Rimet still gleaming and all that.
What happened on that hallowed Wembley turf is now part of English folklore. The photographs, names of players, commentary. And how many other Hungarian linesmen are so celebrated?
So for the Bristol Old Vic to retell such a well-known story was always going to be a gamble, and as we learnt even more biographical details about manager Alf Ramsey in the first half I thought that it might be a gamble that hadn’t paid off.
But after the half-time oranges (yes, really), the pace really picked up and by the time of the final itself the Old Vic audience was cheering the action with the patriotic fervour of a football crowd.
The fun of World Cup Final 1966 – and there is plenty of fun to be had – is the journey along the way as a group of disparate individuals are brought together by the talismanic Ramsey on a quest for a gold trophy worthy of Jason and the Argonauts.
The bickering of the Charlton brothers (Kyle Lima and Roy Weskin) and the subsequent scolding by their mum (Tom Wainwright) is priceless, as is the dance of the Uruguay team led by Karla Shacklock with admirable support from Wainwright and Stewart Wright.
Dance takes the place of action in many of the games, and it is here that Tom Morris’ direction is at its best – helped by professional dancer Shacklock in her other role as movement director.
The semi-final against Portugal is also ingeniously staged, this time in a jazz club frequented by a group of journalists.
Familiar Old Vic touches abound, not least the playing of multiple roles.
Mime artist extraordinaire Les Bubb embodies a transistor radio, Brian Hargreaves wins everyone’s sympathy as the oft-forgotten Roger Hunt while also leading the musicians, and Wright plays the unfortunate Jimmy Greaves morphing into James Bond before reciting the immortal lines of commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme.
Church candles become goal posts and arrows, on a set by Katie Sykes noticeable for its lack of decoration – the only colour added by flags on stage and unfurled around the auditorium and a vivid splash of green as the final is played.
Wonderfully witty and enormous fun, World Cup Final 1966 will have you cheering on England and cheering on the Bristol Old Vic’s latest winning work, whether you’re a football fan or not.
World Cup Final 1966 is at Bristol Old Vic until July 12. For tickets and more information, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/worldcupfinal1966.html. Children go free with every full-price adult ticket purchased.
Photos by Simon Annand
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