A play about passion, life-long devotion and one big family that will touch the hearts of even the most hard-hearted of audience members. Weaving the struggles of Leeds United as they play for promotion under Marcelo Bielsa with the fight United season ticket holder Howard and his small family have with his dementia. To quote Bill Shankly ‘Some people think football is a matter of life and death, it’s not it’s much more than that’

We watch as Howard (played by Reece Dinsdale) struggles with his failing memory, fighting to remember how to do simple tasks and his devoted wife Sue (Shobna Gulati) with immense patience determined to keep her marriage vows and care for him whatever. Howard’s concern that other fans wouldn’t understand the changes he is going through makes him fear going to match days, but Sue’s insistence that they go pays off as the fans treat him as they always have.

But as we all know that promotion year would be complicated by the COVID epidemic and, as Howard’s dementia advances, Sue is hospitalised and Howard’s care falls onto their daughter Hazel (Natalie Davies). Howard has already stated that he does not want to be a burden on Sue and Hazel and in his notebook there is a note saying he wants to go to a care home, but does he remember? When Sue is discharged from hospital, she feels she can’t accept Howard’s decision, her marriage vows are important to her and she can’t break them, can she?

In Reece’s portrayal of Howard’s slow decline into dementia and Shobna’s unshakeable love and support for him I see members of my own friends and family, it is emotional whilst interspersed with humour, just the same as many other families.

If the family are a picture of hundreds of other families across not only Leeds, but the country, the supporting actors (Dean Smith and Everal A. Walsh) are fans, directors, care workers even Bielsa himself, injecting humour and relieving the pressure on us, the audience, as we watch Howard slowly slip further into his dementia.

Writer Chris O’Connor has managed to weave the story of the fans love affair with Bielsa and all those ups and downs with the simple story of one family’s love for each other. His experiences of dementia in his family obviously influence the story as with Shobna and Natalie’s portrayal of their roles. Director Gitika Buttoo has managed to produce a play for Leeds, encapsulating a universal story of love and support. Having a dementia consultant in Dr Nicky Taylor has helped with not only the production but also how dementia sufferers can be welcomed and supported into the theatre.

An emotional rollercoaster that allows us to view how dementia affects a family, perhaps some of us can see ourselves, friends, and family on that stage. We laugh with them, we cry with them, we even sing with them. Leaving the theatre, I felt surrounded by a city who were all supporting each other and we were Marching on Together.

Through It All Together Leeds Playhouse until Sat 19th July