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

Caryl Phillips Caryl Phillips (born 13 March 1958) is a Kittitian-British novelist, playwright and essayist. Best known for his novels (for which he has won multiple awards), Phillips is often described as a Black Atlantic writer, since much of his fictional ...

Premise

In the story, an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team, fictitiously named "Sneddington" (based in Lavenham,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

), invites a team of West Indian heritage based in

Brixton Brixton is a district in 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 ce ...

(

South London South London is the southern part of 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, London Borou ...

) to play a charity game in support of their "Third World Week." According to Screenonline, "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'' (1975)."

Reception

'' New York Times'' reviewer Vincent Canby 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. The film cost £924,000.

Cast

* Norman Beaton * Nicholas Farrell *Brian Bovell * Ross Kemp *

Gary Beadle Gary Beadle (born 8 July 1965) is a British actor, best known for playing Paul Trueman in ''EastEnders'' and Gary Barwick in ''Operation Good Guys''. Life and career Beadle was raised as one of five children in Bermondsey, South London, wher ...

* Trevor Thomas * Ram John Holder * Bruce Purchase * Joseph Marcell * Patrick Holt *

Neil Morrissey Neil Anthony Morrissey (born 4 July 1962) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Tony in ''Men Behaving Badly''. Other notable acting roles include Deputy Head Eddie Lawson in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'', ...

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 {{sport-film-stub