The feel good musical Bend It Like Beckham is about the young Jess, played by Natalie Dew, who dreams of following in the footsteps of her idol David Beckham, but isn’t sure if she’s able to pursue that dream. She’s struggling to live up to her parents expectations of going to university, getting a career and marrying an Indian man. Her life turns upside down when she starts to play for the Southall football team. A mix of the British and Indian culture keeps you entertained during the performance.

I went to watch this movie-based musical, directed by Gurinder Chadha on Saturday 3rd October 2015 at 7.30pm in the Phoenix Theatre. We were sitting front row, although you cannot see the back of the stage, you can see the emotions through the facial expressions of the actors. In the finale a few of the cast members started to cry, which made us cry, something you wouldn’t be able to see when you’re further in the back.

It’s amazing to see how the ensemble is able to keep their stamina while they’re singing and dancing the choreography by Aletta Collins. Most of the choreography is football-based and the rest have an Indian touch to them. I especially loved the football based choreography, that’s something I would love to do on stage. The football was showed through projection and designed by Scott Penrose. It was mind blowing to see how the dancers were able to coordinate themselves so that the audience believed that they were kicking the projection of the ball.

The show starts at the Southall market, where the whole cast is introduced and sets the scene. You can hear the Indian influences from the very first song ‘UB2’ until the finale in the music by Howard Goodhall and lyrics by Charles Hart. Howard collaborated with Kuljit Bhamra to give the songs an Indian touch to them. One of the cast members sings the Indian riffing parts and it’s stunning to hear. The song with the most Indian influences in it is ‘the Wedding and Football final’, in this song they sing about ‘Sadaa Chardi Kalaa’ which refers to the metal state of optimism and joy. The beautiful and amazing harmonies in the song ‘Glorious’ are what left me speechless after the show.

After the opening, Jules’ makes her entrance and she spots Jess playing football and asks her to be in the Southall football team (the Harriers). Jess joins the team and loves training there, but keeps it a secret from her family. A friendship begins to form between Jules and Jess, you can see the differences between their cultures, but you can also see the similarities within their personalities.

By the end of the show, Jess pursues her dreams together with Jules, she gets a full scholarship for an American college and to be in their football team. It shows that you should never give up on your dreams and that you should always work hard to pursue them. I definitely recommend this show, because of the amazing cast and creatives.

Phoenix theatre