Writer: Nicky Allt
Director: Howard Gray
There can’t many football teams that can boast such a rabid fan base as Sunderland AFC. With an appreciation of their team so loud that the crowd’s vocal reaction has earned its own name and despite the club’s many ups and downs over the years, tens of thousands of Makems flock to The Stadium of Light on a match day to join in with The Roker Roar. With such a large and committed set of followers, it has been a genius move by Alterean Media to create a stage show all about SAFC, although it’s nice to report that The Sunderland Story is far from a quick cash-grab.
This oral history of the club is presented as characters gather at a funeral, remembering the happy times that the team has given not just them, but the generations before them. Starting at the Club’s inception in 1880, the audience is taken on a journey through the history of both the club and the city as they battle through two world wars and the devastation that Margaret Thatcher wreaked on the North East.
The “Sunderland ‘til they die” Carter family is made up of father Billy (an extremely charming Phil Corbitt), mother Ruby (versatile Jayne Mckenzie), and fighting siblings Neila (Jude Nelson: beautiful vocals) and Kevin (a hugely enthusiastic Ainsley Fannen). Joining them is family friend Charlie Thompson (a very funny Mack McNally) and a busker (an excellent James Hedley).
The cast are all brilliant and are perfectly accompanied by the four piece band The Black Cats. Corbitt and McNally’s easy chemistry make them a very believable pair of friends and their banter is hilarious, as is the bickering that goes on between the warring brother and sister played by Fannen and Nelson. Nicky Allt’s script manages to avoid being a dull procession of facts and figures by injecting a lot of comic moments featuring the famous North Eastern sense of humour and there are also some real emotional moments, such as when the surviving members of the 1973 FA Cup winning team come on stage carrying the trophy, and an in memoriam film plays showing the key players (and a notable fan, Bradley Lowery) who are no longer with us.
The fixed set backed by a large screen provides everything required of it, and the use of props and quick costume changes by the cast are very well handled. The lighting is very atmospheric, although the sound mix often doesn’t allow the lyrics of the songs to be heard – a shame when a lot of the information on the club seems to getting delivered that way. However, Sunderland Empire is a difficult theatre to get the sound right in, and having a live band on stage won’t make it any easier.
The electric atmosphere in the theatre for this show is akin to a football stadium, and the majority of the audience are extremely vocal in cheering and joining in with familiar songs. In theatrical terms the closest it would come to would be a pantomime, except instead of children excitedly shouting and cheering, it’s grown men. And what a wonderful sight it is to see this demographic that is usually so underrepresented in theatres having such a good time. Let’s hope that this encourages them back to see other perhaps less football-centric productions in the future.
The Sunderland Story has enough to appeal beyond the followers of SAFC and provides an uplifting and humorous night out to anyone game enough to give it a go. However it’s a must for anyone who dons the red and white on a Saturday, and to those people, please feel free to alter this review to five stars.
Runs until 31st May 2025
