Dancing Shoes: The George Best Story

Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin

It is difficult to conceive of the audience demographic for a football musical, but this GBL Production about the life of George Best invents one. Through a series of rousing anthems that would not be out of place in a football stadium, Dancing Shoespresents a totally uncritical musical biography of the footballing legend, who was perhaps more famous in his lifetime for his off-pitch lifestyle than his sporting skill.

Focusing almost entirely on Best’s journey from the backstreets of Belfast to Manchester United’s Theatre of Dreams, Dancing Shoes is pure hagiography, and any Belfast native, Best or football fan, will revel in the nostalgic presentation of local community and a football culture that was not the cut-throat commercial industry it is today. For others, however, the evening slowly turns into an uncomfortable celebration of alcohol and misogyny.

Writers Marie Jones and Martin Lynch bring a light comic touch to the dramatic text, which uses local idiom and reference to create an intimate portrait of Belfast in the 1960s. However, although JJ Gilmour and Pat Gribben draw on an impressive range of musical influences – from pop-rock to reggae – the lyrics are very poor (“If you want to take the world on/You’ll have to eat your spuds, son”). The songs do little to provide emotional tone or plot exegesis, though some of the choral chants will certainly stay in your head long after you leave the theatre. Under the direction of Peter Sheridan, meanwhile, the ensemble cast of eight effortlessly spread themselves over more than 100 roles, and Aidan O’Neill provides a solid presence throughout as Georgie.

Midway through the second-act the celebratory tone shifts suddenly as Best's life spirals out of control, but instead of probing the psychology of a hero's downfall, Dancing Shoesrolls out Best's fellow-troubled sporting star, Alex Higgins, for a surreal musical number: a battle between the boozers, in which each asserts their superior ability to drink themselves to death. This is the second-last scene in the play and the comedic approach to the material is disturbing. Combined with the sentimental eulogies that follow at Best's funeral and the celebratory encore, Dancing Shoesis for those who would prefer to remember Best for the hero he might have been rather than the flawed and tragic figure that he was.

Runs until Sunday. Then the Millennium Forum, Derry, Sept 19-24; University Concert Hall, Limerick, Sept 27th to Oct 1.