Play inspired by Leeds United promotion hero Marcelo Bielsa set for Leeds Playhouse summer debut

The five-year anniversary of Bielsa’s great escape from the Championship will be marked at Leeds Playhouse thanks to a show written by lifelong Whites supporter Chris O’Connor. He and Leeds Playhouse artistic director James Brining, himself an Elland Road season ticket holder, have teamed up to bring the idea to life in a run that starts on June 23 and concludes on July 19.

Described as a ‘love letter’ to Bielsa, the beautiful game and the bond that unites families and fans, Through It All Together follows the lives of ordinary Yorkshire couple Howard and Sue as they navigate the challenges of a dementia diagnosis, all the while following their beloved Leeds United and an attempt to regain Premier League status.

O’Connor and Brining sat down with the YEP this week for an exclusive interview on the story behind the story, why O’Connor was so inspired to write by Bielsa and why Brining wanted to bring it to the stage. O’Connor said: “When I was growing up we were in the Champions League, and I just thought that's how it would be. Then we have 16 years outside the top flight. It took so long that it just became this, I don't know, like it just weighed on me. And then when Bielsa came in, so much just lifted. It lifted my kind of negative perception of football, which seems to have lost something about its soul, and it just was a huge breath of fresh air. So as a writer, I wanted to write something about that and capture that."

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