Some tickets are still available for the last game of the season for  I Left My Heart in Roker Park at the Customs House on Saturday October 11^th @ 7.45

http://customshouse.co.uk/whats-on/Theatre/1702/i-left-my-heart-in-roker-park  

I Left My Heart In Roker Park

“This funny and poignant drama is about far more than the beautiful game…The scene where Kevin describes his second wife’s death is superbly written and brilliantly acted by Paul Dunn…The raw emotional power of this scene, with Kevin’s overwhelming grief laid bare is theatre at its best.” Rob Lawson Sunderland Echo

I Left My Heartin Roker Park By Tom Kelly Customs House, South Shields 19 September 2014

This one-man show is a tour de force. Written by Jarrow-born Tom Kelly in 1997, and first performed in 1997 as Sunderland AFC’s home of 99 years was demolished, this play has now been updated and revived for the first time since 2004. Paul Dunn plays Kevin Halliday whose life – with its ups and downs of marriage, fatherhood and divorce – revolves around his love and passion for the other love of his life: Sunderland AFC. 

Regardless of the colour of the stripes on your replica shirt, this is a play that amply illustrates how deeply ingrained a sense of identity is intertwined with football in the psyche of so many people in the North East. Kelly’s script skilfully balances pathos with humour while Dunn more than does the two-hour show justice. Never does he let the pace slacken – and whether you are a football fan or not you’ll enjoy this. If football is in your blood you’ll love it and if that blood runs red and white you’ll be likely to shed tears of pride as well as joy. This short run includes performances at Washington Arts Centre and The Gala Theatre in Durham as well as The Customs House. Catch it if you can.

Rob Mason http://ne4me.co.uk/reviews-2/i-left-my-heart-294.hml

I Left My Heart in Roker Park Tom Kelly Cranked Anvil Customs House, South Shields From 19 September 2014 to 22 September 2014 Review by Peter Lathan

When a company takes a production on tour, even a local tour, and has to keep adding extra dates, you know that the play has to be something special. That’s the situation with Cranked Anvil’s production of Tom Kelly’s one-man play I Left My Heart in Roker Park. At the end of its last night (a performance which had been added because of popular demand) at the Customs House, the theatre announced there would be an additional performance in October.

So what is so special? To begin with, it’s a play about something which is almost a local religion – football. Not only that, it’s about a local team, Sunderland, which, because of its intense rivalry with neighbouring Newcastle, excites strong emotion, particularly in South Shields where the population seems to be evenly split between Mackem (Sunderland) and Magpie (Newcastle) supporters.

But actually, although football fever may be the initial driving force behind the play’s popularity, there’s more to I Left My Heart than “the beautiful game.” It’s about an ordinary man, Kevin Halliday, who is a real Sunderland fan – in the true sense of the word, for he is a fanatic who has a detailed, almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the team from over thirty years of support. His life and the fortunes of the team are inextricably intertwined in his mind. For his memory of every life event, there’s a memory of what was happening with the team, whether it’s his marriage and divorce, his promotions at work or his friendships. It’s a fascinating life story. Kevin is a kind of modern day Everyman whose life is shot through with humour and pathos, with joy and despair, with a determination to accept everything life throws at him, good and bad. His enthusiasm and openness makes him an engaging, even endearing character and Tom Kelly’s writing and direction ensure that the audience empathises every step of the way. Paul Dunn truly embodies the character. He makes the emotional transitions, both personal and sporting, seamless and carries the audience along with him every step of the way. He is completely at home on the stage and we, the audience, do feel that we are in a one-to-one conversation with this engaging man. I Left My Heart in Roker Park will return to the Customs House on 11th October but before then it visits the Gala in Durham on 23rd, 26th 27^th and 28th September and Arts Centre Washington on Thursday September 25^th.

British Theatre Guide http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/i-left-my-heart-customs-house-10702