Francis Lovehall, Kedar Williams-Stirling and Emeka Sesay in Red Pitch. Image by Craig Fuller.
The way they’re changing endz is nuts.
Red Pitch. South London. Three lifelong friends Omz, Bilal and Joey are playing football. Like they always have. Living out dreams of football stardom. Beyond their football pitch, local shops are closing, old flats are being demolished as new flats shoot up, some residents struggle to stay while others rush to leave. When a small football pitch has been a home from home, a place you’ve laughed, fought and forged friendships, what happens when it’s under threat?
A coming of age story about what it means to belong to a place. Directed by Bush Theatre Associate Artistic Director Daniel Bailey (The High Table), Tyrell Williams’ fast-paced and sharp-edged new play tells a powerful story about gentrification or regeneration and the impact of this relentless change on London’s communities.
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Daniel Bailey is a director, dramaturg and writer for stage and screen. He is currently Associate Artistic Director at the Bush Theatre, London, having joined the team in 2019 alongside Artistic Director Lynette Linton. Prior roles include Associate Director at Birmingham Rep Theatre (after initially joining as part of the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme), Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio, Associate Artist at Theatre Royal Stratford East, Resident Assistant Director at The Finborough Theatre, and on the Young Vic’s directing programme.
His directing work at the Bush Theatre includes the upcoming Lenny Henry’s August in England (co-directed with Lynette Linton) which opens spring 2023, Red Pitch by Tyrell Williams (Stage Debut Award Winner 2022) and Temi Wilkey’s The High Table (Stage Debut Award winner 2020). I Wonder If (presented with YV Taking Part) had a run at the Young Vic Theatre in late 2022 before going on a community tour, and Daniel was the Creative Associate on the UK Premiere of Bootycandy at Gate Theatre.
His work at Birmingham Rep includes Joe Penhall’s Blue Orange; Concubine; Stuff; I Knew You; Abuelo, Jump! We’ll Catch You; Made In India/Britain; and Exhale. His previous directing work includes plays with Talawa Theatre Company, Manchester Royal Exchange, New Heritage Theatre, and the New Vic.
His film and TV director credits include: Dropped (Mothers Best Child); On Belonging (Young Vic); Malachi (S.E.D); Floating on Clouds (Kingdom Entertainment Group) and Y.O.L.O. Therapy (S.E.D).
Tyrell Williams is an award-winning writer and director for theatre, film and television.
When initially presented at Bush Theatre in 2022, his first play Red Pitch, directed by Daniel Bailey, completed a sold-out run and Tyrell won the George Devine Award, Stage Debut Award for Best Writer, Evening Standard Award for most promising playwright and Red Pitch was awarded Best New Play at the OffWestEnd Awards 2023.
Red Pitch is currently in development for a screen adaptation with Fudge Park and he has written an episode of an unnamed Apple TV+ series .
Tyrell has been named one of Deadline’s 5 rising writers to watch in 2023, and is currently on attachment to the National Theatre Studio.
In 2015, Tyrell co-created, co-wrote and directed the viral web series #HoodDocumentary which has had over 4million views on YouTube. Following its online acclaim, #HoodDocumentary eventually went on to be commissioned for BBC Three which Tyrell directed and co-wrote. Tyrell was on the BAFTA Elevate scheme 2018 and was a Broadcast Hotshot in 2016.
