Five women who meet on a community center soccer team in Scotland are now on the same soccer team and about to compete for the Homeless World Cup. Coming from widely different backgrounds, this a story of friendship- female friendship, amidst troubling times in each one’s life. That is the background behind “Same Team” by Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse, the play making its American debut, on the stage at Inis Nua Theatre.
The subtitle of the play is “A Street Soccer Story.” But this play is less about the sport than it is about the five women from these different backgrounds who come together to try to win for Scotland.
One woman, Jo, is struggling with drug addiction. She is the captain of this ragtag team. Another, The B, is an angry woman, just released from prison. Then there is Sammy, a single mother dealing with a most challenging relationship with her own mother. She is also facing a possible eviction from her home. Noor is the young one. She is caring for her grandfather, who suffers from dementia. Finally, there is Lorraine. Her husband has left her. She is lost as she tries to find a new identity.
As they practice on their local field in Dundee, Scotland, then travel on the train to the competition, and finally arrive at the site of the tournament in Milan, Italy, they bond in a most special way that goes far beyond their play on the soccer field.
We see that they are lonely. They are scared, though they express it in different ways. Some are homeless. They have nothing… except they discover, each other. Sounds like a powerful play? Mayber it is. But I had one major difficulty sitting in the audience of the production of “Same Team” on opening night. I couldn’t easily follow the story lines because I didn’t understand what they were saying much of the time. When I got home, I read about the play to fill in the gaps.
I am sure that the actors were speaking with an effective Scottish accent since dialect coach, Leonard Kelly has worked with many theaters in the Philadelphia area. But I have to say that I missed close to half of what they were saying. The friend I was with had the same problem. And at the act break, I found that others were having the same problem. I wish that the women just had the lilt of the accent instead of the full one. I often felt as though they were speaking in a forein language. Hey, even when I watch a British film on tv, I have to turn on the subtitles.
If you do go, be sure to read a summary of the play before to make it easier to follow the stories of each of the women as the come together on the same team.
“Same Team” by Robbie Gordon & Jack Nurse at Inis Nua Theatre Company at The Proscenium Stage at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks St., Phila., PA 19102, 215-454-9776, inisnuatheatre.org, thru June 14,, 2026
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 