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Football and opera might seem like an unlikely pairing but as we all know, the beautiful game does involve a lot of singing. Just think about the crowds of fans at the Euros last summer belting out ‘Football’s coming home’. (But don’t think about flare bum guy, whatever you do).
Presumably, the calibre of singing will be somewhat higher at the new football opera that’s heading to the stage and screen this year, to tie in with the 2022 World Cup.
Commissioned by Sky Arts, ‘Gods of the Game: A Football Opera’ will be performed in October at the Theatre in the Woods at Grange Park Opera in Surrey, and will air on Sky Arts, Now and Freeview shortly afterwards.
The show, which is directed by Londoner and artistic director of the Young Vic Kwame Kwei-Armah, is about corruption in the football world. It tells the story of two childhood friends who are now football icons, fronting their nation’s bid to host the World Cup. They uncover a world of bribery and corruption… but presumably football prevails? And maybe even ‘comes home’? The performance will be 90 minutes, yes, like a football match.
Not your ordinary opera, it will also include a ‘footy fan chorus’, which is exactly what it sounds like. They’ll be casting a load of football fans who will be giving a crash course in opera so they can perform a ‘ specially composed chorus’ in a football stadium in the UK. Footage of these opera-singing football fans will then be played on stage during the performance.
So if you’re a football fan with a strong set of pipes, now’s your chance to really put them to good use.
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