The Corinthian - A Play, A Pie and A Pint ★★★★

How fitting it is to have The Corinthian arrive at this pivotal moment – right before Scotland are due to play in the World Cup again, 28 years after they last bowed out. While we live in a pivotal moment in Scottish football history now, The Corinthian shows us that perhaps we ought to revise our thinking a little.

Written by Joe McCann, The Corinthian is a retelling of the story of Andrew Watson – the first Black person to play football at an international level. Though born and partly raised in the British Guianese island of Demerara (the sugar is attributed to it), his father is a wealthy Scottish plantation owner who has married a Black woman, who is also a sugar farmer. The story takes place in the late 1800s, only a few decades after the 1833 Act was passed in British Parliament to abolish slavery.

After moving to Scotland, Watson eventually pursues his passion for football and uses his monetary privilege to get a trial at Queen’s Park, then the biggest club in Britain. Though this journey is complex and difficult, facing racial discrimination constantly from both teammates and opposition, he eventually goes on to achieve three caps for Scotland and turns professional.

While this may be construed as an average fish-out-of-water story, it is clear that McCann’s writing is concerned with the minefield of a post-abolition British Empire. Watson faces an undercurrent of racist abuse when he is advised not to participate in the trial and is called various slurs by his teammates, who sometimes refuse to pass to him. Racism was, and unfortunately still is, a dark underbelly of the most popular sport in the world.

Taking on the feat of an emotional one-man show is Dayton Mungwai, who portrays Watson with a mix of earnestness, cheek and world-weariness. When Watson is a young boy in Demerara, Mungwai excels in showing true innocence. His desire to play football is apparent, though it is his love for his mother that shines through, eventually taking on the emotional backbone of his character arc.

Mungwai’s ability to switch from playing his mother and father to other characters keeps the pace of the show brisk, in part due to Martin McCormick’s focused direction. The conversational tone of the piece helps keep the audience engaged, even if there are moments that feel a little gratuitous in how much interaction Watson has with the audience.

One feat of the performance as a whole, perhaps of the ensemble of writing and directing, is being able to juggle its non-chronological narrative. There are Proustian moments throughout when Watson is reminded of Demerara, the roots of his mother’s culture and his football experience. He invents a trick that shifts his weight from one foot to another, effectively an early “dummy”, which his mother asks him to repeat over and over again.

Mungwai ensures the transitions are fluid, aided by the luscious warm tint of the lighting design by Ana Reid, who contrasts this with the cloudy greyish-blue of Greenock, a familiar sight to those who live in Scotland. Sound design plays a crucial role; percussion is used to maintain the energy in the football match sequences, and a strange birdcall is utilised as a sort of Proust’s Madeline for Watson. Ross Nurney balances these sonic metaphors with ease.

While focusing on Watson’s roots and home life, it is important to recognise his importance for Black footballers. In a predominantly white sport, Watson argued his case that it didn’t matter where he came from as long as he could be judged on the merit of his skill. And skilful he was. He was made captain for a game against England, a 6-1 thumping to boot, a moment that he holds vital for the rest of his life.