Perth Voice Interactive

SPORTS-related concussion injuries are increasingly gaining attention in Australia with almost 3,100 hospitalisations in 2020–21, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Now Perth’s Black Swan Theatre Company is shedding light on the issue through its state-wide tour of the award-winning play Barracking for the Umpire, with a Perth pre-tour, encore season.

Set in Donnybrook (the hometown of playwright Andrea Gibbs), the play delves into the lives of a football-loving family, highlighting the deep impact of the sport on their community and family bonds. 

As Delveen (Pippa Grandison), the wife of retired footy legend Doug Williams (Steve Le Marquand), says early in the play: “Footy’s a religion. Having it described as ‘just sport’ doesn’t do it justice … It’s Australia’s beautiful game.”

However, Delveen has to try to manage the cumulative effects of Doug’s history of hard knocks. 

Building on this, the play explores not just football’s cultural significance but raises questions about identity, sexuality, and gender bias in sports, particularly in the treatment of female athletes and journalists.

Along the way there are plenty of laughs. 

As playwright Andrea Gibbs explained, her intention is that “the audience falls in love with and is involved with the family.”

This balances the tragedy of watching Doug lose his relationship with what he values most, his connection with his loved ones.

The central plot device is simple: Donnybrook Football Club, The Mighty Dons, want to honour Doug with a Lifetime Achievement award and that draws his children home. 

So, Ben (Ian Wilkes), a rising AFL star, and Mena (Ebony McGuire), an ambitious sports journalist, travel back home to celebrate. 

They reunite with their parents and eldest sister Charaine (Jo Morris), who lives in town and has just broken up with Tom (Michael Abercromby), who runs the local footy club.

The audience easily relates to this family as they gather for their patriarch’s big day. 

But subtly difficult truths emerge, and not just about Doug’s mental fragility.

Should gay players come under pressure to come out publicly about their sexuality? 

Are women sports journalists condemned by sexism to second-rate careers? 

Do women in relationships with hero players have to surrender their own identities?

Gibbs has seen the realities of these issues in her own life. 

In her ABC career she witnessed female sports reporters limited to reporting from the sideline or interviewing in the change rooms, never in the commentary box.

The play also addresses the challenges of toxic masculinity and its toll on families, particularly when dealing with the mental and physical decline of a beloved player. 

Actor Joel Jackson is terrifying in the role of a ghostly, psychopathic coach haunting Doug, taunting him to relive the tough games and by turns smarmily comforting him and then mercilessly berating him.

Jackson’s performance is just one component of a superb ensemble cast working its way from a gentle, humorous look at a family and its secrets to a confronting portrayal of the cost of sporting heroism.

Barracking for the Umpire is Andrea Gibbs’ first play and won the Performing Arts WA (PAWA) Award for Outstanding New Work after its 2022 season. 

She is also known for her work as an ABC Weekends presenter and Barefaced Stories.

Gibbs was invited to write the play by the Black Swan Theatre Company under its Funny Girl Initiative writing program. 

The Company noticed a dearth of comedies and other plays written by women in its repertoire and established the program to plug the gap.

Gibbs is particularly interested in seeing regional reactions to the play. 

She believes country audiences will see their communities mirrored. 

She is looking forward to heartfelt conversations in the foyer after each performance.

Barracking for the Umpire is at the Subiaco Arts Centre from April 23 to May 5, followed by an extensive regional tour from Albany to Broome.

by BARRY HEALY