Review: The Ruck

Despite this, Kevin Fegan’s clever dialogue is hugely entertaining and without preaching he manages to convey a huge range of social issues in a sensitive way the play, which came about following Fegan’s residency with the Batley Bulldogs, follows the Batley ‘Rhubarbs’, a successful girls under-16 rugby league team, on their ground-breaking tour of Australia.

Spen the coach (the excellent Richard Hand) who is also father to one of the girls on the team offers up a comprehensive history of Batley in the opening scene and sets the tone of the ensuing drama. The first act sees the girls in training at their home ground; the introduction of a new team member, the hijab-wearing Muslim Iffy, and their excitement at the chance of going to Australia for two weeks. We learn some of their secrets and gain insights into their personalities and how they deal with the problems they’ve encountered, but there are more secrets to be revealed in the second half. The four ‘girls’ who stand in for the whole team, Esther-Grace Button (Shelley), Josie Cerise (Emley), Emily Spowage (Heaton) and Sophie Mercer (Iffy) all give good well-rounded performances.

There’s lots of physicality and the rugby-playing scenes are beautifully and cleverly done. The simple two-tier set works perfectly and the musical numbers with members of the cast popping out of the wings to play instruments add a touch of light-hearted frivolity to the proceedings.

At the Civic Barnsley on Friday.