Preview: The Damned United, Tobacco Factory Theatres

Leeds’ Red Ladder Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse stage David Peace’s brilliant novel about Brian Clough’s short, ill-fated tenure as Leeds United manager.

1974. Brian Clough, the enfant terrible of British football, tries to redeem his career and reputation by winning the European Cup with his new team, Leeds United. The team he has openly despised for years, the team he hates and which hates him. Don Revie’s Leeds.

Adapted from David Peace’s brilliant and ingenious novel, The Damned United takes you inside the tortured mind of a genius slamming up against his limits.

“powerful and demanding, Red Ladder’s production of The Damned United is every bit as belligerent and uncompromising as the protagonist of its story” – Broadway Baby

“Yes, this a play about football, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a tribute to an era-defining genius, a portrait of a man terminally wrapped-up in his own bravado, a study of loyalty and friendship under pressure…” – The Stage

Here’s director Rod Dixon.

How much does your stage version draw on, and differ from, a) the book and b) the subsequent film?
The stage adaptation only uses the book as source material: this version deliberately distances itself from the film. The playwright, Anders Lustgarten, worked hard to recreate David Peace’s style from his novel – particularly in Peter Taylor’s dialogue, as Taylor is in many ways the authorial voice in this version.

Which parts of the story were most obviously theatrical?
Actually the challenge was to turn a novel which is largely internal turmoil into a dramatic narrative. The key is the straining relationship between Brian Clough and Peter Taylor – and, more importantly, Taylor’s absence from Clough’s life at Leeds. We wanted to capture the lonely isolation of a tragic hero who is a victim of his own flaws. Classic hubris.
To bring The Damned United to life, the sound and video designs by Nina Dunn become as important as the action. Ironically, the football ‘facts’ are almost irrelevant!

Why has this short, strange chapter of one man’s life proved so fascinating in its various media?
There is something highly prescient about Clough’s story. He dealt with the media like a modern-day celebrity, and he became so famous that his sacking was front-page, headline news even in the broadsheets. To this day, Leeds fans have never forgiven him and Derby fans still laud him… modern managers don’t carry that much impact.

How much is the story about 1970s football culture? About a certain Yorkshire stubbornness? About the bravado and (over-?)self-confidence of Brian Clough?
David Peace is fascinated by this era (see also his Red Riding trilogy) – he wanted the film to be a black-and-white art movie but the film producers rejected that in favour of a more populist approach. We have tried to honour David’s vision with a piece which captures the 70’s testosterone-fuelled world (hence the bad language!) and the prescience of how modern football has become the epitome of free-market capitalism, where players are mere commodities.
Ultimately, though, The Damned United is a play about male rivalry and jealousy.

The Damned United June 5-6, Tobacco Factory Theatres. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/the-damned-united

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