“Failure is fine, but success is the reward for past failures”
In Last Goal Wins, writer Justice Ezi delves into themes of identity, racism, and power within the sport as well as why players represent other nations: “I had this idea about a young footballer whose heritage differed from the country he played for and wanted to understand where they felt they belonged,” he told Linda Emmanuel.
The Black Box studio holds a simple set: a bench, a Nigerian flag as a backdrop, and an illuminated representation of the goalposts raised high on both sides of the stage. Two players are practising their drills while the coach proudly surveys them. Celebratory African music plays as we take our seats.
Two determined footballers are competing for the final places on the Nigerian team ahead of the World Cup. Victory (Benjamin Akintuyosi) is fully Nigerian and needs to win his place on the national team for the pride of his family. Youssef (Alexander Lobo Moreno) has dual Moroccan and Nigerian heritage yet cannot speak the language of his father’s village in Nigeria when he visits the country.
Kindly coach Kamso (Jerome Ngonadi) supports their desire with extra private coaching; he tells them they represent traditional Nigeria. When Victory shows frustration on the field, he comforts him with the words “failure is fine, but success is the reward for past failures.”
Swaggering Manager, Zanza (Kossim Osseni), with sights on the Premier League and sponsorship from a large, controversial oil company with a questionable history in Nigeria, autonomously decides to diversify the team. He presents a last-minute recruit, Michael D’Arcy (Cameron Forrest), an Arsenal player born in Lagos, spending his early years there before his father took him to the UK. Michael is white and can speak the language. Who can be more Nigerian of the three and win those last two places on the squad? The scene for conflict is set.
Director, Kalungi Ssebandeke, brought out the joyful and fast-paced energy in this highly accomplished ensemble. The humorous Nigerian bantering relationship between the coach and manager was a double act that delighted the audience. In their youth, they were both activists fiercely protesting oil companies in the Niger Delta, yet are now poles apart in their politics. Coach Kamso pleads with Manager Zanza to find another sponsor for the team.
The movement director, Gabrielle Nimmo, displayed choreographic excellence, showing why football is considered the beautiful game.
This World Cup-themed play runs until 12th July and is the first in a trilogy of plays being developed and jointly produced by award-winning, local playwright Ryan Calais Cameron and Carmel O’Connor of the Broadway Theatre under the banner of The Ryan Calais Cameron who says, ‘“The new writing sector is facing a massive crisis and we risk losing an entire generation of Global Majority working class voices if we don’t build doors for them to walk through.
“This is a really big deal for us, for Catford. People talk about me giving back, but these three artists we’re working with, Justice Ezi, Demi Wilson-Smith and Kaleb D’Aguilar are inspiring.”
“This is an area (Catford) where people look at it and think there’s nothing good coming from it and here we are, standing in a place about to watch an incredible play”
“I want to encourage all of us as a community, to continue to put back into it, it’s not going to survive without us. We have a theatre, we have peace, we have our stories. Lets make it happen.”
Booking and full season details: https://www.broadwaytheatre.org.uk/the-ryan-calais-cameron-season/
