Pitch

Jack and Andrew are participants in a Back to Work scheme, and currently employed at a soon to be disused sports ground as ground keepers. This is a problem, because neither Andrew, who has a mild disability, which to his colleagues’ chagrin he has learnt to use quite advantageously, nor Jack, a ruffian, a raw survivor, who does not have any greater claim than muscle in this world, plan to walk away from this job quietly. These two characters of the play are joined by two more – the Boss and the Pitch, who although absent are never far away from the conversation pieces of the play. The Boss administers absolute instructions to ensure that the pitch is fit for an approaching match between two local schools. Jack and Andrew prepare the pitch with this purpose in mind that is until romance stands in their way. She is Andrews’ sister, a model, who Andrew stops at no length to describe in detail to Jack. From this description Jack’s interest in Andrew’s sister is heightened. She sounds like a woman Jack would love to meet. The mere possibility of meeting a professional model has infatuated Jack to such a point that any hope of his concentrating on his work is crushed. While Andrew and Jack mark out the pitch they waste their employer’s time fantasising about Jack’s possible date with Andrew’s sister, and bickering about everything and nothing in particular whilst planning a uprising against their Boss. The events of the play happen in the space of a week. Pitch is a picture of society, in which individuals have shrunken from active subjects to mere observers of their own life. Oppression has become anonymous and appears faceless, in theory not targeted towards anyone or anything. The characters of the play have to invent their own lives; their hopes, fears, crimes, and even their exploitation. Nobody comes and nobody goes, nobody looks anymore. Any activity on the Pitch is of no consequence outside of it. Andrew and Jack’s lives have shrivelled into a verbal game – into a kind of virtual reality, which has no correspondence with authentic experience. The only way of connecting with reality is to count the days. Pitch is a totalitarian depiction of a man isolated from society. “Grounds men are the last of their kind Andrew. With us, it’s either take it or leave it. Grounds men are the original Champions, ‘cause only they get to do exactly what they feel like. ‘ave ye ever seen a Champion settle for mediocrity? ‘ave ye ever seen a Champion get bossed around? ‘ave ye ever seen a Champion allow anyone to tread on his toes? We’re talking about Heroes me boy. We’re talking about Olympic athletes.” (JACK)