Written and Devised by the Company
PITCH
November Theatre’s second show, PITCH, was a bold, joyful, goal-scoring exploration of the relationship between football and the queer community.
Winner of the Charlie Hartill Pleasance Fund 2023, the show went on to tour to Manchester, Bristol and London, culminating in a performance at Stamford Bridge for Football Pride 2024.
‘PITCH really has it all’ -
★★★★★ Theatre Scotland
‘Pulsating choreography and slick stage design results in a production with a huge Impact’
- ★★★★★ Theatre & Tonic
‘A pleasure to witness. You need not know a thing about football to understand what goes on in this stirring and spirit-lifting production’
-★★★★ London Theatre1
’Fun and upbeat’
★★★★ Theatre Weekly
HOW WE MADE THE SHOW
“PITCH was inspired by the joy of watching football in queer communities, a hunger to start playing again, and a curiosity about the community that football fosters amongst queer people.”
“We spoke to hundreds of queer folk across the UK – fans, players, teams, and even chairs on boards at the Women’s Super League. Our cast are also members of the queer community with a relationship to football.
We took those interviews and the cast’s experience, and spent a total of 4 weeks making loads of stuff inspired by those sources.
We’re talking full on referee drag, some improvisations that made us cry with laughter, and more scenes than we had room for in the play. Throughout the process we looked at what we had and started to shape a show – finding a story that investigates multiple queer relationships to football through the eyes of a grassroots team, that also pays homage to the vast and complex history of the queer community and football.
The result is a show that has a narrative heart, and has grown out of queer theatre traditions in the form of drag, lip sync, and stylistic disruption.”
-Nell Bailey and Ellie Roser
WRITTEN AND DEVISED BY THE COMPANY, CONCEPTUALISED BY NELL BAILEY AND ELLIE ROSER
CAST AND CREATIVES
Bill - Elijah Harris
Squid - Ethan Peters
Kate - Eleanor Rattenbury
Aimee - Elizabeth Hope
Clo - Meg Lewis
Director - Nell Bailey
Set and Costume Design - Ellie Roser
Sound Design - Esther Kehinde Ajayi
Associate Sound Designer - Emily Darley
Lighting Design - Martha Godfrey
Associate Lighting Design - Xander Kovacs
Movement Direction - Maisie Newman
Associate Movement Direction - Jerome Scott
Assistant Director - Holly Gibson
Dramaturg - Martha Watson Allpress
Executive Producer - Kamila Serkabaeva
Originating Producer - Sarah Verghese Productions
Hackney WFC
“As a woman, in a queer space, sport has been fundamental to all of our survival I would say”
Adam Hayworth, founder of Out and Out Football
“I think football needs to be for all, in order to progress with the sport. I think it grows as a sport, and gets more interesting, if it is for all.”
EDINBURGH - A NOVEMBER THEATRE CO-PRODUCTION WITH PLEASANCE THEATRE TRUST & SARAH VERGHESE PRODUCTIONS
TOUR - THE TOUR WAS A NOVEMBER THEATRE PRODUCTION MADE POSSIBLE BY PUBLIC FUNDING FROM THE NATIONAL LOTTERY THROUGH ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND AND UNITY THEATRE TRUST.
