''Playing Away'' is a 1986 TV comedy film directed by Horace Ové, from a screenplay by Caryl Phillips.

Premise

In the story, an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team, fictitiously named "Sneddington" (based in

Lavenham Lavenham is a village, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Lavenham Guildhall, Guildhall, Little ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

), invites a team of

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...

heritage based in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

(

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

) to play a charity game in support of their "Third World Week." According to

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and tele ...

, "The gentle comedy of manners and unexpected reversal of white and black stereotypes in ''Playing Away'' contrasts sharply with the stylistic experimentation and the militant denunciations of racial prejudice in director Horace Ové's earlier feature, ''

Pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

'' (1975)."

Reception

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewer

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

called it "witty and wise without being seriously disturbing for a minute".Vincent Canby
"Playing Away (1986)"
''The New York Times'', 13 March 1987.

Production

The cricket match scenes were filmed at Botany Bay Cricket Club in

Enfield, London Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 333,587 in 2021. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, London, Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, London, ...

. The film cost £924,000.

Cast

* Norman Beaton * Nicholas Farrell *Brian Bovell * Ross Kemp * Gary Beadle * Trevor Thomas * Ram John Holder * Bruce Purchase *

Joseph Marcell Joseph Marcell (born 14 August 1948) is a Saint Lucian-British actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Geoffrey Butler, the butler on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from September 1990 until the show ended in May 19 ...

* Patrick Holt *

Neil Morrissey Neil Anthony Morrissey (born 4 July 1962) is an English actor, businessman, narrator, and television presenter. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Rocky in ''Boon (TV series), Boon'', and Tony in ''Men Behaving Badly''. Other notable acti ...

References

External links

*
''New York Times'' Film Review
1986 films British sports comedy films Cricket films 1980s sports comedy films 1980s English-language films Black British films 1980s British films British comedy television films English-language sports comedy films {{sport-film-stub