“The Red Lion” reviewed by Julia W. Rath

***“The Red Lion” by Patrick Marber is a play about larger cultural transitions when it comes to football (soccer) in the United Kingdom. This three-character story is a slice of life of what can happen to a player, manager, and caretaker whose paths intersect through their commitment to a men’s football team. The underlying question that this play asks is whether the general public likes the direction in which the sport has moved: that is, away from collegiality and character-building and towards promoting the stardom of top athletes so as to increase team revenue and corporate profits.

Jimmy Kidd (Andrew Pond), the Red Lion’s manager, instructs his players about what he thinks is best for the team as a whole and for them as individuals with regard to their careers. John Yates (Daniel Houle) is the team’s caretaker, and in this role, he is their strength and conditioning coach as well as the building’s custodian. Unlike Jimmy, John views football more as a fun sport and the organization more as a club. He accuses Jimmy of cheating when it comes to how he treats his players, whereas Jimmy sees John as a vestige of old ideas and a culture that doesn’t exist anymore. Jimmy is a sober man whose job, in large part, is to sign contracts with the players. Sometimes he breaks down the fourth wall, with his bourgeois philosophy having to do with how he can make money by helping out young people and the team as a whole. In contrast, John likes his beer and is content with life’s simple pleasures. Above all, he enjoys schmoozing with the players. Any thoughts of money are secondary, and he doesn’t seem to fully understand all of the monetary deals involved in playing the game today.

Robert Jordan (Octavio Montes De Oca), is a super-talented star-quality football player. Coaches, managers, and owners would be envious of his talent, and Robert is thinking about joining The Red Lion. Jimmy wants to show Robert how he could live his dreams and the high life. By urging Robert to sign a contract with the team, not only would he have enough money in his pockets and have the opportunity to grow into a star player, but Jimmy and others would benefit financially as well. In contrast, John offers Robert the chance for the team to be his second family, together with a paternal love that Robert never had. As a father figure, John can look out for Robert’s best interests in a very different way than what Jimmy can offer.

This sets up the love/hate relationship between Jimmy and John. Jimmy respects John for the talent that he once was and for his affection for the players, whereas John respects Jimmy for the fact that he has taken him on—and kept him on—in a world that has changed radically from his youth. And at the same time, they hate each other, because both have a different sense of loyalty to the sport as a whole. For Jimmy, loyalty means having his players listen to their managers and do what they are told to do, both on the field and in their private lives. For John, loyalty is to the sporting family and to one’s teammates. The constant dialogue between the two men is somewhat reminiscent of Vladimir and Estragon in “Waiting for Godot” and where Godot can be likened to Robert, who may or may not be the football team’s savior.

The story thus hinges on whether Robert will sign a contract with The Red Lion or if he plans to go elsewhere to a different team—and sign a contract with them, or not.

So what happens to a standout player who comes up at the time when football has far less to do with team bonding and sportsmanship and more to do with being a money-making enterprise? Robert understands that football is not just fun but also a career. He wants to be fair to himself and not be exploited for his talent, and yet he wants to be given the opportunity to become greater than he has ever imagined. Thus, he is caught in between two mindsets and doesn’t really know which way to go. But while Robert is a very gifted athlete (spoiler alert), he is apparently on steroids or some other drug… and apparently nobody knows this. So ends the first act.

If Jimmy could be considered the modern football manager and John the traditional football advocate, one thing that they both have in common is the disdain for an athlete hiding an injury at the point of hire. Using drugs to cover up pain and not telling anybody about their use would, at some level, be considered a betrayal of trust. This leads to the biggest problem with this play: that no one does a drug test on Robert before wanting to sign him up. As we all know, cheating was rampant in past years with the use of steroids, whereas new performance enhancing drugs are continually being invented today so as to be more and more undetectable.

Directed by Stephanie Murphy, the play is never dull, but it gets somewhat tedious over its two-hour span including a 15-minute intermission. The second act (which occurs about three months after the first) moves a bit faster and holds our interest more, but then it slows down again. There’s also a third act, which is both a resolution and a denouement. I found that over time, it became easier to understand the heavy cockney accents, which are initially tough to follow. The fact that the characters call each other by their last names in the first act and later by their first names in the second act can be confusing, not to mention that some portions are a bit repetitive.

Costume design by Jennifer M. Hawk is perfect with numbered jerseys in the team colors of red, white, and black. Scenic design by Jeremiah Barr features an equipment/changing/all-purpose room; this, plus Jessica Lauren Fisher’s prop design, provides us with a nice backdrop for the action. We see five benches, a massage table, sink and mirror, iron and ironing board, locker, team photos hanging high up on the wall, and especially The Red Lion logo—centered above the main doors—which the characters tap affectionately whenever they leave the room. Further, Michael Meschbach’s lighting design works well for this production. I especially liked the red light on the double doors towards the end. Kate Schnetzer’s sound design is perfect for the Berenice Theatre, the larger of the two inside of the Bramble Arts Loft.

In all, there is the traditional understanding of a football team being a club of its members, that is, where the players are central and where building character among them is key. While winning might be important, it’s not everything. What’s more important is to be a team player and not necessarily a standout or a champion. This is the old-fashioned definition of what it means to be an amateur, namely, competing for the love of the sport and adhering to a strict honor code. Then there is the modern professional understanding of football, where players are paid and money changes hands. For today’s manager, having star players who can monetize rewards for the team’s owner becomes paramount. In this vein, winning becomes everything.

From Jimmy’s standpoint, it is the old system that is corrupt or that leads to corruption, with its favoritism of some players over others who may not necessarily be the best at winning. He looks at the game more from the perspective of points, statistics, and cash-in-hand which are considered more objective standards than the subjective, collegial, and sentimental bonds that dominated yesteryear. But from John’s standpoint, it is the current system that is corrupt, with its emphasis on revenue and its focus on star athletes, who can be bought, sold, and traded. While the love of the game has always been first and foremost for the fans, it has become obvious over the years that the “glory days” of the amateur player are largely gone, and money makes the world go round.

“The Red Lion” runs through May 16, 2026, at Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark Street, in Chicago.

General admission tickets are $30.

Performance schedule:

Fridays and Saturdays – 7:30 p.m.

Sundays – 3:00 p.m.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/eclectic-full-contact/6852d625009fe80fb63401c5/tickets#/productions-view.

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