Old Big ’Ead is back at Nottingham Playhouse – for a special one-off fixture. Actor Colin Tarrant returns for a rematch as Brian Clough following his celebrated appearance in Old Big ’Ead in The Spirit of the Man, one of the venue’s all-time greatest hits. Now the Playhouse is hosting a special rehearsed reading of THE DEVIL’S LEAGUE, a brand-new play centred on the Master Manager from the same team, due to be produced in neighbouring Derby. The reading takes place at Nottingham Playhouse for one night only –  Thursday 24 January at 7.30pm – and all tickets are free when booked via the Box Office (0115 941 9419).

THE DEVIL’S LEAGUE reunites Colin Tarrant with Old Big ’Ead team-mates including playwright Stephen Lowe and director Alan Dossor. Set during the 1984 miners’ strike, it’s a fantastical black comedy in which Cloughie struggles with publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell for the soul of British football: an epic stand-off which not draws in Ursula Andress, Frank Sinatra and the Seven Dwarfs, but also reveals the solution at last to the mystery of Maxwell’s death aboard (or more precisely falling off) his yacht.

With the play scheduled to run at Derby Playhouse from 16 February – 22 March, this is a special opportunity for Nottingham fans to catch a glimpse of the team in training during its pre-season try-out. Writer Stephen Lowe says:

We want all those potential supporters at this end of Brian Clough Way to  know about the production. So we are delighted to take up this generous offer from Nottingham Playhouse to stage a rehearsed reading of the play in the first week of our rehearsals. Like Old Big ’Ead, this is not simply a play for football fans but for the whole family in what will be a very funny, but also extremely moving, evening.

Also returning to the pitch for THE DEVIL’S LEAGUE are designer Jamie Vartan and composer Ben Goddard, joined by new signings John Hodgkinson as Robert Maxwell and Clare Calbraith as Helen.

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