In a society which teaches men to be macho and bottle up their emotions, Moorcroft is an unflinching – but entertaining – spotlight on male mental health issues.
Originally produced by Glasgow’s Tron Theatre in 2022, the play did so well that the National Theatre of Scotland has sent it on tour around the country.
And Kirkcaldy’s Adam Smith Theatre was the perfect venue for a play about a small-town pub football team and the impact it has on the young men who play for it.
Although it’s set in Paisley – the play is inspired by writer/director Eilidh Loan’s father and memories of his own youthful footballing friends – there are parks in Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Cumbernauld and any of the other venues it’s visiting where lads like this and their stories exist.
Martin Docherty is Garry, who brings the teenage team together in the late ‘80s, and he plays the part well both as the young lad he was and as the older man looking back on those days.
Also in the team are Mick (Jatinder Singh Randhawa), who suffers racist abuse, Tubs (Dylan Wood), who decides to come out as gay despite the predictable small town response, and Mince (Bailey Newsome), whose lack of smarts is his own armour against the world.
Parka-wearing mod Sooty (Kyle Gardiner) and ambitious Noodles (Santino Smith) both fall victim to different health concerns, while Paul (Sean Connor) is the most complex character – beaten by his dad at home, his own pain and sadness spews out into the world as racism and homophobia.
Few of these characters have happy endings, but what really counts is that when they’re together and playing football is when they’re genuinely happy.
Through brisk patter, kitsch dance sequences, toilet humour (literally), a soundtrack featuring period music like Joy Division and often industrial and discriminatory language to get the point across, Loan and her team show what proper male bonding looks like.
Moorcroft is currently touring Scotland, including dates at Dundee Rep Theatre on Friday and Saturday October 27 and 28. www.nationaltheatrescotland.com
