Football takes to the North East stage – again

Published: 22 July 2017
Reporter: Peter Lathan

Wise Men Say / Cornered

In the autumn of 2014, North East theatre company Cranked Anvil toured Tom Kelly’s I Left My Heart in Roker Park, the story of a man whose life is inextricably entwined with the fortunes of Sunderland football club. Now the company is to tour two short plays—and both with a Sunderland AFC theme.

Wise Men Say celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Stadium of Light, the ground which replaced Roker Park, the “ancestral home” of Sunderland Football Club. It’s written and performed by Paul Dunn, Cranked Anvil’s founder, who performed in I Left….

It not only celebrates the anniversary but also delves into the highs and lows of what it’s like to support “the lads”, and how being a lifelong fan affects not only his life, but the lives of those around him.

“Doing I Left My Heart In Roker Park three years ago was an amazing experience,” Dunn said. “The audiences were phenomenal, and the Sunderland fans who came—many of which had never been to the theatre before—were some of the best I’ve ever had in any show. I can’t wait to do this new one!”

The other piece in the show, Cornered, is written by BBC Look North’s Jeff Brown. It tells the story of Dave Corner, and the fateful day in 1985 when the 18-year-old stepped out onto the hallowed turf of Wembley to play for his beloved Sunderland in the Milk Cup against Norwich—and ended up being the most hated man in Sunderland for his error on the pitch which gave Norwich the goal and cost his team the cup.

“The play,” said Brown, “is an attempt to explain what life’s been like for the man himself in the intervening 32 years, and, if not to excuse the momentary lapse which led to Norwich City’s winner, then maybe to attempt a rehabilitation.

“Not that sympathy or forgiveness is something Davey himself has actively sought. Having spent a fair amount of time in his company, since first pitching to him the idea of a play based around his story, I can honestly say you’d struggle to find a more honest, cheerful, down-to-earth guy. Certainly not among the current football fraternity!

“As a long-time sports writer—then broadcaster—the wafer-thin margin between success and failure has always been a fascination: the dropped catch, the double-fault, the stumble in sight of the finishing line. Heroes can become failures in the time it takes you to jump out of your seat.”

I Left My Heart in Roker Park was not performed in Sunderland three year ago as there wasn’t a suitable venue, but now the development of the Music, Arts and Culture Quarter (MACQ) means that the former Londonderry pub, now renamed The Peacock, is, Dunn feels, a perfect venue.

The double bill tours to:

  • 6-8 September – Customs House South Shields
  • 9 September – Gala Theatre, Durham
  • 14 September – Arts Centre Washington
  • 22 September – The Peacock, Sunderland

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