When a lower division team meets the might of the Premiership in a cup-tie, how will a kiss between two men affect their chances? Gaffer! is the story of George, a
star footballer-turned-manager, who, in the wake of his team's amazing victory in a crucial cup-tie, is photographed in a compromising situation with the new young team hero.

George is an ordinary man caught up and trapped in extraordinary circumstances - the game, which he has loved all his life, has turned around to bite him, as he begins to question not only his own sexuality but also his past experiences in the game.

We spoke to the play’s author, Chris Chibnall, to find out more about a production that challenges the impact of homophobia on football, and the personal dilemmas that might face the victims involved.

Your new play opens in a few weeks. What can we expect from the show?
I’d hope, on the most basic level, a great night out. An involving story, some good laughs, a lot of emotion - all as part of one man’s journey of self-discovery.

Also, if our leading man, Deka Walmsley (pictured), is as good on the night as he’s proving in rehearsals, I think you’ll be in the presence of a superb performer at the height of his game. I hope the audience will fall in love with him as much as we have done!

What is it that drew you to the subject?
Managers are fascinating: dedicated, passionate and obsessive. They wear their hearts on their sleeves – which, as a dramatist, is a gift. They let you inside their mind and their heart all too quickly: it’s both their strength and their downfall. In a media-savvy age, it’s great to have characters who are happy to tell it like it is, poking fun at themselves as well as those around them.

Plus, football today is a high-stakes game for those in charge. It's a changing world – a traditional society struggling to keep pace with the modern world.

Football suddenly seems to be gaining prominence in the gay community. Why do you think this is?
It’s a great sport, full of passion and drama. The appeal isn’t hard to define. If you mean why now: I think the creation of gay football teams (e.g. the Yorkshire Terriers) means that people feel less alone and isolated in their passion for the sport. As a team, or a bunch of like-minded people, you're always stronger so you can face up to any potential abuse.

I also think that certain footballers using gay iconography in their marketing imagery has moved the sport away from the hooligan image that haunted it during the 70s/80s. It's become a much more inclusive sport over the last ten years: hopefully over the next ten, it'll become even more so.

Footballers are famed for their vanity in their personal appearance. Why does a sport that is so gay friendly in many ways hate the idea of homosexuality?
I wrote the play as a way of raising the issue. I don’t have a simple answer. I suppose integration is often about small steps: the fact that Beckham is now, supposedly, a gay icon (and proud about it) is an advancement in itself. It’s no longer a problem for a straight man to be appealing to a gay man – it can actually be a badge of honour. But that’s only the first of many steps on the road to genuine equality.

Why do footballers hate the idea of homosexuality? Fear, paranoia and insecurity. The usual parameters of prejudice.

If a prominent footballer were to suddenly come out of the closet, what would be the re-action of the fans and players?
Fear, initially, manifesting itself as abuse from the fans, for a while. But then, after a while (and depending on the strength of the player’s character), boredom and acceptance. Look at the way black players have become part of the modern game: the first black players were subjected to terrible abuse. But now, the best players in the country are black and it’s simply not an issue.

As for the players, it’s difficult to generalise. Some players are enlightened, some aren’t.

That’s why we’re really pleased that the Football Association are backing the play and using it as part of a campaign to kick homophobia out of football. The issue needs common-sense leadership from the top. So many problematic issues (race, hooliganism, corruption) have now been dealt with in football, it’s crazy that homophobia has gone unchallenged for so long.

Do you think we’re likely to see a top player come out soon?
Who knows? I’ve been told by plenty of people in the know that there are a number of gay Premiership footballers. But I wouldn't hold your breath for them to come out. I’d like to think that the FA campaign might change that – we’ll see. I just wonder: who would have the courage to be the first?

There’re a large number of sex scandals filling the papers at the moment about football, suggesting the games highly sexed. So what’s so special about footballers?
They’re young, they earn a lot of money, they spend their days toning their bodies and they have a lot of free time. You do the maths. I mean, would we be sitting around discussing my play if we had their myriad opportunities for sex? So long as it’s consensual, good luck to them.

Gaffer! is a one-man show, which is hugely challenging for an actor. Why did you decide to keep the play so self-contained?
George, is such a huge character, it’s unfair to ask another character to share the stage with him. So I didn’t.

I love the theatricality of one performer creating a world of more than forty different people. I went to Morocco a couple of years back and watched the old storytellers outside the Jmaa El Fnaar (the main bazaar) as they held audiences, spellbound, with their storytelling skills. This play is my response to that: the performer has a great story to tell and lures the audience in to their world. It’s what theatre – and storytelling – is all about. There’s nowhere to hide, with just one actor. The show has to be good, at its core.

There are only a handful of out gay athletes in the world. Why do you think sport is such a homophobic environment?
It’s no good asking a writer about athletes. I spend most of my days staring at a computer screen. I’m in position to explain the homophobia of sport. I’m as baffled by it as the next man. Sorry.

Gaffer! has the backing of the Football Association, which is supporting the education initiatives that will accompany the show. Why is this important?
Because, if homophobia is to be driven out of sport, the lead has come from the top. Standards of acceptable behaviour need to be defined for everyone within the game. Because the influence of the game spreads out into wider society - just as the FA’s hugely successful Kick Racism Out Of Football campaign has transformed football’s approach to racism, so the FA’s initiative to tackle homophobia must be applauded and supported. It’d be much easier for them to say “It’s not an issue” and bury their heads in the sand. The fact they’re taking a stand should be welcomed. Find out more about Football For All.

What would you hope an audience takes with them after Gaffer!?
A feeling that it was worth the ticket price, for a start (only £5 on Mondays, folks). I hope a smile, some sympathy for the main character and a different perspective from when they came in. Possibly also a replica shirt, which I’ll be selling outside the theatre after the show. I’ll do you a discount if you mention Rainbow Network!

You’re obviously a fan of football. So who’s your favourite player?
That’s like asking me for my favourite Quality Street: it depends on my mood. I guess Joe Cole at Chelsea, Jermain Defoe at Spurs and Thierry Henry at Arsenal. Creative, positive players who make a sport look like an art form.

For you, what’s the best bit about “the beautiful game”?
The drama, the passion, the surprise, the fun, the ridiculousness, the sadness, the trauma, the despondency, the elation, the sheer bloody unexpectedness.

And finally, what’s next for Chris Chibnall?
My play Kiss Me Like You Mean It, is running at the Theatre de l'Oeuvre in Paris under the title Un Baiser, Un Vrai, so that's enormously exciting. I’ll be zipping back and forth between Southwark and York (where Gaffer! is also playing. I’m writing a new play for Soho Theatre, overseeing the fourth series of my TV show, Born and Bred and hoping the BBC pick up another series that I’ve written a pilot script for.

And then maybe a nice lie down.

Gaffer! by Chris Chibnall
Southwark Playhouse
5 Playhouse Court
62 Southwark Bridge Road
London, SE1 0AS
0207 620 3494 / boxoffice@southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

13–30 October 2004 at 7.30pm (Monday-Saturday)

Tickets: £10, £6 conc. & £5 on Mondays.  Concessions: Students, Disabled, Senior Citizens and Unemployed.  All tickets £5 from 13th-16th October 2004

Gaffer! is also at the York theatre Royal from 3- 27 November 2004

The FA’s commitment to opposing homophobia at all levels of the game has led to the backing of this new play.  In response to increasing awareness of homophobic attitudes within the game, a comprehensive education programme will also be delivered through the Ethics and Sports Equity Department of The Football Association. 

Buy the original Broadway cast recording of Bat Boy online and save yourself some money while you tune into this quirky, modern musical.

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