Istanbul: You'll Never Walk Alone, is a riotous, breathless account of Liverpool Football Club's remarkable victory (coming back from 3-0 down to win on penalties) over AC Milan in 2005's
Champions League final, held at the Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul in Turkey, as seen through the eyes of the fans.But it's not just for LFC supporters or even, necessarily, followers of football.
Written by Nick Howden-Seenstra and Sam Angell, co-founders of From the Gut theatre company, and devised by the actors from accounts by the LFC faithful, the show explores the highs and lows, the irrationalities and the commitments of fandom of all sorts, how they can affect personal relationships and even your health!
Starting with a phone-in show on 'Radio Anfield', the five-strong cast, playing multiple roles, introduce us to the characters we'll follow on the road to Istanbul and beyond. These include Danny, who has to watch the match from his hospital bed, desperate for a drink to help him through the ordeal; Grace, one of the lucky ones who manages to make it to the Stadium, persuades a fellow supporter not to leave at half-time and maybe finds love during the match; and an extended family around the television trying to come to terms both with the nerve-wracking events and their daughter Stacey's new "posh" boyfriend.
It's all fast and furious, packing a lot into 60 minutes and does at times get a bit confusing. The timeline chops and changes, it might have been better to focus on the day itself - the uninitiated only really learn how victory was attained in a short coda at the end of the play. Some characters are more rounded than others, but there is an admirable lack of cliche - Istanbul: You'll Never Walk Alone is about Scousers, football, class and gender.
All the cast are excellent, some slightly dodgy accents apart, and it's snappily directed by Alexander Tol, who uses the small performance space very well.
From the Gut are a young, recently formed company and this show demonstrates their commitment to energetic, witty, enthusiastic theatre. The great, new Katzpace in the cellar of a Bierkeller near London Bridge is a real find. More please.
It's a very odd sensation, reviewing a play that is already sold out. Usually you are invited to write a review in the hope that what you say might encourage people to buy tickets. In this case, I feel like my job is more about telling people who already have tickets how lucky they are.