Playing Away
1986 television film
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Playing Away is a 1986 TV comedy film directed by Horace Ové, from a screenplay by Caryl Phillips.[1]
| Playing Away | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Written by | Caryl Phillips |
| Directed by | Horace Ové |
| Starring | Norman Beaton Nicholas Farrell Robert Urquhart |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Vijay Amarnani |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Release | 25 November 1986 |
Premise
In the story, an English cricket team, fictitiously named "Sneddington" (based in Lavenham, Suffolk), invites a team of West Indian heritage based in Brixton (South London) 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)."[2]
Reception
New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby called it "witty and wise without being seriously disturbing for a minute".[3]
Production
The cricket match scenes were filmed at Botany Bay Cricket Club in Enfield, London.[citation needed]
The film cost £924,000.[4]
