FAIR PLAY is an exploration of the upsides and downsides of women’s athletics written by UK’s Ella Road and produced at the Old Fitz by Emma Whitehead, director and producer at Lost Thought Theatre Company.
The play concerns two young women from different backgrounds who aspire to be top track runners. Rachel Crossan plays Ann, the Nigerian living in London. Elodie Westhoff plays Sophie, a local. Rachel and Elodie are top notch performers.
They are on stage for almost two hours with constant dialogue interspersed with running, exercise, giggles, revealing secrets, overcoming disappointments and finally accommodating the many difficult issues associated with professional sport. They are exceptionally robust actors. Choreographer Cassidy McDermott Smith did a genius job of ensuring perfect timing of the many moves the two actors performed with precision.
Congratulations to Production Designer Kate Beere.The uncluttered blue set with the white track lines suits the space and the story. EJ Zielinski’s lighting designs were good, and especially the ‘working around the clock’ projections by Aron Murray. Sound designers Mitchell Brown’s and Osibi Akerejola’s low-impact soundscapes created many moods without interfering.
FAIR PLAY caused this reviewer to head to the internet to find out if the play is based on a true story. Hopefully I’m not giving away too much answer that question. The health problems that effect Sophie are most definitely based on fact. Over-training and under-eating cause hormonal and bone density problems. The controversy that foiled the fictional Ann at the European Games is based on at least three women Nigerian runners who have challenged the sporting administrators’ determination that they have unusual testosterone levels. FAIR PLAY is fictional drama exploring real contemporary controversies in athletics, told through the story of the friendship of Anna and Sophie.
You don’t have be sporty be interested in sport to get a lot out of this play It’s also about science, ethics, relationships, culture and identity.
It’s well acted, well produced and super entertaining with lots of funny moments.
The few reservations that I have; the first part of the play felt slightly too long with the play taking a while to get to the main issues, albeit with some early clues. Also the controversies and the women’s reactions to them seem to occur all at once, and are less dramatic than one would expect in real life.
FAIR PLAY is playing the Old Fitz Theatre until March 21 2026.
Production photography by Robert Miniter
https://tickets.iwannaticket.com.au/event/fair-play-f769zi
