Barrackers - Reviews

Adelaide Theatre Guide Website 4.10.02
Barrackers!

Mayfair Theatre Friday, October 4th
Review by Michael Coghlan

"It's more than a game." Anyone who stoops to watching Sam Newman's footy show knows this is the show's theme song, and Barrackers begins with a mimed version of this stirring anthem. Sam

Newman and many other football media notables are the target of good-natured ridicule throughout this fast moving and very complex production.

I am an avid football follower who is sometimes embarrassed by my fascination with the game, but I walked away from Barrackers feeling proud of the fact. Barrackers portrays the many levels of our national game, many of which extend beyond the boundaries of the field.

The four man cast of Barrackers in turn take on the role of commentators, players, and supporters - the typical beer swilling Aussie blokes, wives of the players, the classic fanatic old ladies, and the chardonnay sipping types in the corporate boxes.

Scores of separate scenes are linked together with appropriate music (mostly Australian) and is an astounding feat of memory and timing. The show is based around a game of the Fernwood Ferrets who haven't won a game for two years, and depicts the tidal wave of emotions that the various people around the club go through during the average game.

And it is a very funny show. Best afield was writer/director Matt Byrne - his ability to add just that little bit of swagger or slur, curved lip or smart arsed aside is outstanding. Not far behind him was Rodney Hutton, who plays the token wogboy of the supporter group, and Stats McAvaney. ("This is SPECIAL!"). But like all good football teams, this was a great team effort and all played well.

This show has done the rounds of football clubs and anyone closely associated with football won't have any trouble recognising the types that Barrackers give their 15 minutes of fame. Played inside football clubs I can imagine this show causing absolute pandemonium and side splitting laughter and crowd involvement. It doesn't work quite as well in the more passive environment of the theatre, but the cast do a great job in getting us all involved in the fortunes of the hapless Ferrets.

Matt Byrne's address to the audience as the coach at half time is worth the money on its own. And so is their wonderful club song(s). If you have the slightest interest in football, and you want to see how footy club culture can be reconstructed as art and great entertainment in one foul swoop then go and see this. To quote a review from the Melbourne Age,"Barrackers is sharp.' I reckon they were surprisingly easy on the umpires though…..

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