 Arriving just a week after the England women’s team added another major trophy to their growing legacy, Kate Coulson’s Lioness couldn’t feel more timely. It’s a thoughtful and emotionally grounded reminder that behind every medal and every moment of celebration, lies a longer and often more complex journey and the grassroots that is the foundation.
We meet Marnie, a goalkeeper frozen in the moment before a decisive penalty kick and one that could see her team relegated to the third tier of the women’s football pyramid. As captain, the weight of the outcome rests squarely on her shoulders. From this precarious point, we rewind through the matches, sacrifices and choices that brought her to this make-or-break moment. Coulson, channelling shades of Jodie Comer in her seamless character transitions and vocal dexterity, doesn’t just play Marnie but she brings to life a full starting eleven, their coach, her partner, and others in her orbit. It’s a magnetic solo performance that offers both intimacy and range, painting a full portrait of life inside the women’s game. Marnie’s role as a goalkeeper is more than symbolic. It’s often one of the most psychologically demanding positions in football where you are isolated, under intense scrutiny, and where one error can mean the difference between triumph and heartbreak. The play explores the pressures that build around her: from online abuse to the everyday sexism that persists in sport, and the strain of balancing her identity with a relationship to a male footballer whose path is can have signficant benefits and drawbacks to her own. Coulson also weaves in a concise and moving history of the women’s game, delivered through Marnie addressing a group of young girls just starting out in football. It’s here the play shines most as a reminder of how far the game has come and how far there still is to go. After all, women’s football in England was banned by the FA for 50 years, only reinstated in 1971. Today, while interest and attendance continue to grow, many players still juggle jobs alongside training, and professional contracts across the lower tiers remain inconsistent. Lioness doesn’t shout to make its point. Instead, it speaks with passion, drawing us into the internal and external battles of its lead character. It’s a moving, human portrait of what it means to carry a team, a dream, and a history all at once. Lee Hutchison Lioness Venue: Clover Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court Dates: August 4th to 23rd (excluding 10th and 17th) Time: 1240 Tickets: www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/lioness |
|
