Serdar Bilis, directs playwright Nick LeatherâÂÂs latest piece. The fantastic story of a one-time wonder boy growing-up to play in a Merseyside derby is something with which many will easily identify.
Immediately on entering through the doors of the Everyman Theatre, there is the feel of going to a football match.
We are greeted by the five-strong cast, disguised as ticket touts, trying to buy any spare tickets and football chants could be heard in the background. The programme is in the style of the Liverpool Echo, well designed to look like a sports pull-out at first glance.
Going into the auditorium fells like walking into a stand - the theatre transformed into a stadium with the audience surrounding the centre stage "pitch".
Scoreboards stand in opposite corners that include BillyâÂÂs age and banners for both teams surround the outside to give an arena feel.
At the start of the performance, the audience is silenced as a stadium MC starts talking and gets some audience interaction by getting them to cheer the players onto the pitch.
Throughout most of the play we crowd noises in the background that are brought forward during the derby match with the cast adding to the atmosphere with chanting and match commentary.
Billy Wonderful follows the life of Billy Walters, a young budding footballer with potential, over twenty-two years of his life. From the age of eight to the age of thirty. Billy is intent on being a top-class footballer. At the age of seventeen, Billy is given a ã6,000-a-week contract - enough to turn the head of a young footballer.
Billy makes his Everton debut at nineteen and the match is played throughout the whole play, he comes onto the pitch at the beginning with the full-time whistle at the end. During this same time Billy's life from the age of eight is played-out, switching to and from the match.
Ninety minutes runs parallel to the twenty-two years in which Billy's fellow players become friends and family, enemies and lovers.
The cast is a mixture of well-known local actors. David Lyons plays Billy while Neil Caple, Rob Law, Michael Ledwich and Shaun Mason take-on other main characters, as well as a multitude of minor parts.
As a football fan I thought it was a really well worked performance, which has all the makings to be another success for Nick Leather. It captivates the whole match day experience from the moment you enter the theatre and should not be missed.
Billy Wonderful is suitable for all ages and will not disappoint even those who are not admirers of The Beautiful Game. Although not aimed to be a comic story, some football one-liners are thrown-in. These along with the female roles being acted-out by the all-male cast had the whole audience in laughing.
Rating 8/10
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