One Night in Istanbul – Gaiety Theatre – Review

2 June 2015 – 6 June 2015

Where were you on the 25th of May 2005? For a certain group of people that date is stuck in their memory forever. It has become the stuff of legend, as Liverpool came back from three nil down against AC Milan to win the Champions League final, and it all took place one night in Istanbul.

This is the story of four men that travel over to see the game. Two middle aged men Tommy Kelly and Gerry Edwards arrive in their hotel room along with their adult sons Jamie and Joseph. They set out to get tickets for the game and bring the trophy back to Liverpool for the fifth time. There is more of a plot to the play than you would expect, as the four men find a bag stuffed with money in the air conditioning unit in their room. It’s not long before the criminals who own the bag want it back!

There are songs along the way with a small band lurking at the edges, who come to centre stage between scenes and sing of Liverpool’s former glories, with a screen over the stage showing footage of previous finals.

The first half of the play has one serious draw back, a surprising lack of football. It deals with the two older men recounting stories of their previous finals in Rome and Paris, the women they met and their brushes with the law. Much like Liverpool on that night in Istanbul, the second half was much better, as the play moves on to focus on football and the night in question.

This show is by the same team that brought “YNWA…The Official History of LFC” to the Gaiety last year. This is light entertainment and is a very professional production that is filled with songs, toilet humour jokes and guest appearances. It is by no means aimed at theatre buffs, but will no doubt manage to draw football fans into the theatre over the next few nights to relive former glories!