“Up ‘n’ Under Par”: The Loft Theatre tackle Godber’s dated rugby play

In the modest but charming arena of Leamington’s Loft Theatre, the story of a plucky underdog Rugby League team played out. The local troupe were tasked with presenting John Godber’s 1984 play Up ‘n’ Under. The production begins with a cast member cheekily poking his head out from the theatre’s red curtain to deliver an opening prologue that can only be described as a sort of Butlins Shakespeare; an entertainer who mocks some of Bards ‘proper’ speeches. He introduces us to our flawed hero Arthur, who bets that he can train a team who have never won a game to beat Yorkshire’s finest in just five weeks. “Well, this never happens in Rocky”, he observes as his quest seems doomed.  

We’ve seen it before, a rags to riches story that relies on the working man’s charm. Yet the Loft are still taking a gamble with their choice of play- offering it to the aging, cosy, Rugby Union playing town of Leamington Spa. Sadly then, the largest issue with this production is the selected script itself.  

Just over a year ago, Connor Bailey (Phil), Charlie Longman (Frank) and star talent Mark Roberts (Arthur) – the Loft’s equivalent of Laurence Olivier – performed in Godber’s most successful play, Bouncers. Perhaps that is why each of them slides naturally into their roles in Up ‘n’ Under as well-built gentle giant types with an abundance of Yorkshire wit. Lorna Middleton also returns as director, giving her the opportunity to cement her own method of displaying Godber’s work. It should have been a riot, but the lauded playwright seems to work against the cast and crew.  

Ultimately, Godber makes caricatures of the rugby team, and treats them with a distinct lack of care and delicacy. It’s a play that acknowledges that men don’t talk about their emotions, but at the same time, it never actually suggests that they should

For a start, Godber’s characterisation is cowardly to say the least. We are offered glimpses into the struggles of the male characters who, though each skilled and charming in his own way, seem only to be able to talk about beer and porn. But there is nothing to relate them to the audience, or to raise questions about how British society treats its working classes. We can infer from one or two lines that Arthur is an alcoholic, but the play makes no attempt to explore the condition. Frank has lost out in a divorce that has distanced him from his children but again, this is mentioned in passing and does not seem to have any consequence. Ultimately, Godber makes caricatures of the rugby team, and treats them with a distinct lack of care and delicacy. It’s a play that acknowledges that men don’t talk about their emotions, but at the same time, it never actually suggests that they should. Rosie Pankhurst does well to anchor the production as Hazel, seemingly the only competent and sportingly astute character. Sadly however, despite having all the marks of the play’s true protagonist, Hazel, the only female character, is used mainly as a diversity hire to be demeaned by the others.  

I also had to question whether Godber in fact knows all that much about Rugby League. I came into this play hoping to learn about something that is for me, a middle-class London boy, a very foreign sport, but Up ‘n’ Under does not really give it an identity. As my date, an expert in both categories, put it, the play is ‘not accurate enough to appeal to rugby fans, and has not got enough substance for theatre fans’. As such, a muted applause greeted the toiling players (if you’ll pardon the double entendre) on opening night.   

Roberts delivers a great turn as the hopeless yet lovable Arthur, with the rest of his team providing the physical gags

However, to focus merely on Godber’s text would be doing an injustice to the tight-knit, talented community at the Loft, who provide 16-25 year olds like myself with night after night of free amateur theatre. Roberts delivers a great turn as the hopeless yet lovable Arthur, with the rest of his team providing the physical gags. Undoubtedly the funniest moment of the production is Arthur’s mouthguard team talk, where Roberts transforms a cheesy speech into a hilarious muffle.  

Up ‘n’ Under teaches us very little, nor does it speak to a 2025 audience of any age or background. Nice try with the concept Godber, but there was simply no conversion

Kudos must also go to the wardrobe department. They offer a stroke of genius, designing rugby shirts that are red on the front and black on the back so that, at the play’s climax, the actors can play both the underdog protagonists and the burly, sneering opposition team. However, I couldn’t help but want a little more from the set. The fact that the play’s action begins in front of the curtain suggests that there will be a grand reveal of a fabulous space behind, but we are offered only green walls and a couple of clothes hangers to denote a changing room. Whilst I appreciate that the lowly rugby club would have minimal resources, the Loft, having seen some of their previous highly impressive sets, could certainly have afforded to get a little more creative as the play went on.   

This being said, everyone involved performed their roles dutifully and there really wasn’t a lot wrong with the production itself. Unfortunately, Up ‘n’ Under teaches us very little, nor does it speak to a 2025 audience of any age or background. Nice try with the concept Godber, but there was simply no conversion.