"First Touch" by Nathaniel Price

Nottingham Playhouse.

First off, let me just state that you do not need to be a fan of football to enjoy, or understand this play. Nathaniel Price knows what he is talking about with this play as he was once signed to the Crystal Palace youth academy, so knows the ins and outs of the start of a promising football career. Thankfully, he did not have to experience what Clayton James had to deal with. The play is inspired by recent abuse scandals in sport.

Set in the 1970's it's all about 17-year-old Nottingham lad Clayton James, a footballer whose unblinkered devotion to the game has taken him to the brink of being signed. Football is his life and he dreams of being the next Viv Anderson. He has a girlfriend, Serena and a loving family, Patterson, his dad, Freya, his mum, as well as a young brother, Courtney, so life is as good as it can be given the era of Margaret Thatcher, strikes, racism, homophobia and hooliganism.

He is taken under the wing of Coach Lafferty played by Arthur Wilson as a 12-year-old in 1975. Lafferty had been away from the scene for a few years but sees potential in Clayton and wants him to do well in the sport. Now he's back and wants to train up Clayton's younger brother. But at what cost?

There is a scene where different questions are being asked in two different time periods by Lafferty to Courtney and Clayton. The answers are the same but the intentions could also be the same, which is why 1979 Clayton tries to warn off the offer, because he can see what happened with 1975 Clayton, trying to protect his little brother, all the while trying to keep the secret he was harbouring. A secret he kept until after his mother died and he was into his forties.

Clayton is played by Raphael Akuwudike. This is his first professional theatre role since graduating from drama school, and what a way to kick off his professional acting career. There is a really uncomfortable scene when he has to describe the abuse, and while it was in no way graphic, it was uneasy to listen to.

Nicholas Bailey, a familiar face on the TV thanks to Eastenders among other things, plays Clayton's dad, Patterson. At times the frustration of the work situation overflowed, and due to the reduced wages coming in, it meant that he was unable to support his elder son as much as he, and Clayton, would have liked. Pulled between being a loving and supportive father and the main bread-winner was hard for proud Patterson. It's always nice to see a face you know from the television on stage, in a role different to what you've seen them in, proving their worth as a jobbing actor.

Claire Goose, well-known from Casualty, plays Freya, Clayton's mum. Loving and supportive of her family but all the while trying to juggle everything else, typical of any woman. Her treat was to have her hair done by Serena when she went to try and patch up the rift that had occurred between Clayton and Serena.

Clayton's girlfriend, Serena, is played by Clare Oxley. A completely natural performance for this actor from Derbyshire, and also another success for the Nottingham Television Workshop. The chemistry between the two sweethearts is delightful to witness. The role of Serena is Claire's stage debut.

Clayton's little bro Courtney is played by Taiden Fairall, and wants to follow in his big brother's footsteps and wants to be a footballer too, something that Clayton tries to dissuade him from doing. In the real world, Taiden is 12 years old and plays a 12 year old onstage and hails from Leicester. He is in training at the Nottingham Television Workshop and this is Taiden's stage debut. A complete natural and looks to be having a ball on stage in this role.

Neal Craig plays Uncle Kevin, Freya's brother, who just loves to wind up Patterson with his non-PC banter, but then again political correctness had not been invented in the 1970's, and some of his comments do actually shock, even though I lived through this period and can remember the racism and the words used to describe anyone with a darker skin; and they still jar when hearing anyone being called these names.

The set design, by Charlotte Espiner. Sport is a kind of theatre of it's own, just think of wrestling, it's all performance with sporting technique combined, and the set design brings in a football pitch stage design, combining it with the dressing rooms, as well as the James's front room, and the training area all in the same zone. At the end of Act One - or the first half - a cavalcade of footballs are released onstage and with the set being ramped by steps from the back, they all fell towards the audience, but cleverly spreading the mass of balls on the various levels of the set.

Talking of training, we get to see the whole cast, who are on the stage the majority of the time, taking part in the training, running up the staired set and from wing to wing - does this make them all wingers? They won't need to go to the gym after this run, especially under the stage lights!

Directed by Jeff James, there is a lot of humour within this play but he keeps the unease creeping up on you until the middle of Act Two, accentuating the shocking revelation by having the lights close in on Clayton, making sure that we are completely focused on this particular speech. You can literally feel the weight lifted from his shoulders, and his heart, when Clayton revealed what had happened all of those years ago to the authorities.

The two acts are split into two 45 minute halves which counts down on the back wall of the set; another clever touch!

Kieran Lucas' sound design kept everything bouncy with snippets from Carl Douglas, Chic and other 1970's dancefloor classics for the training sections. This alone balances the fun with the more serious subject matter.

The play's title is also a very clever play on words using the phrase of "First Touch" as a footballing term as well as an indication of the abuse highlighted by this play.

It was a bit of a disappointment not to see the theatre more full for this very entertaining, but also slightly uncomfortable piece of theatre.

"First Touch" is at the Nottingham Playhouse until 21 May.