Review: Never Lost At Home
A brand-new musical has opened at the New Wolsey Theatre, Never Lost at Home by the talented Peter Rowe, tells the story of Ipswich Town Football Club through the 1980-81 season and their journey to their UEFA Cup win.
The tale is told through the eyes of an obsessive ITFC fan family as they make a pact to attend every away match of the season, following the heroic squad, under the management of Bobby Robson, across Europe. A task in itself at the time, these obsessive fans encounter Greek Riots, Polish revolution, a Czech blizzard and a stolen passport all to watch their beloved Town play.
Never Lost at Home is cleverly created using a combination of fabulous stage acting and brilliant audio-visual sequences depicting the matches, acted out by a community chorus of young people, with match commentary from BBC Radio Suffolk’s Mark Murphy.
The New Wolsey has become well known for its amazing actor musician performances and this production certainly doesn’t disappoint, as the 80s tunes just keep coming. And, although belted out from above the stage, they never distract from the drama of the narrative unfolding below.
Returning from the success of the 2018 show Our Blue Heaven, Peter Peverley reprises his role of Bobby Robson, and what a performance he gives? Peverley has Robson’s mannerisms to a T and has clearly took some time to study the football manager. He certainly does this role justice and is a joy to watch.
Never Lost at Home not only tells the story of the Blues and their historic win it also portrays the social history of the Town, at a time when the country was facing mass unemployment, with many large firms in Ipswich laying off workers and how this affected them and their families.
Well done New Wolsey for another outstanding production. Even if you’re not a fan of football, you can’t help but get carried along with the emotion of this production as Ipswich Town finally bring it home and hold that trophy aloft!
Come on you Blues!!!!
Never Lost at Home is at the New Wolsey Theatre until 9th October. To book tickets visit www.wolseytheatre.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01473 295900. This production is also available to live stream at home.
Review: Mark Keable, Ipswich24 Magazine
Picture Mike Kwasniak