Craig Thompson is probably best known for his role in Coronation Street, or as the moustached protagonist in Murdoch Mysteries. But the actor, who took his stage name from the long-serving Owl from the 1960s and 1970s, is also a vehement Wednesdayite.
Over his time travelling home and away with the Owls he’s seen plenty of good and plenty of bad from the lads in blue and white, but one of the most memorable Wednesday moments came whilst he was on a film set in Canada. And his experience of the Miracle of Hillsborough has now been set to stage.
“You kind of set the ball rolling when you took my article off Owlstalk and published it in the Sheffield Star,” he told me, speaking a couple of days before tickets go on sale. “It’s actually the only thing I’ve ever written! But yeah, I was chatting to a friend of mine last year, Jonathan Maitland, who’s a playwright. We were just talking about writing one-man shows or things for Edinburgh, and he asked me if I’d ever written anything. I said, ‘No, apart from an article about football’.
“He said, ‘Send it to me and I’ll read it!’ So I sent it to him, and it was his idea to turn it into a play, not mine. My article was the genesis of the thing, but it was Jonathan who decided it would make a good play. He originally thought it’d make a good one-man show for Edinburgh, about 45 minutes. Then he thought of expanding it to three men because it takes place in my trailer at work with two Canadian guys. So he thought he’d call it Three Men in a Trailer.
“So it is very Wednesday-centric, but I’m sure fans of other clubs would get the whole thing, and that it would resonate with them.”
“Then he decided to interview me all about my backstory, my parents and my family. He’s expanded it to seven actors now, and it’s about 80 minutes without an interval… It’s segued into my family, and it’s about dads and sons and family connections that keep you bonded together through a certain football club. So it is very Wednesday-centric, but I’m sure fans of other clubs would get the whole thing, and that it would resonate with them.”
It’s called ‘The Miracle of Sheffield: Mum, Dad, Football & Me’, and the world premiere will be at the Library Theatre in the Steel City on March 25th, running through until April 23rd.
Craig will be playing two of the parts, both himself in 2023 as well as his dad in the ‘80s, and they’re hoping that they’ll be some good crowds in the 250-seater – with fans of all teams set for a good time.
“The action splits from 2023 in Toronto to early-’80s Sheffield in a Working Men’s Club,” the lead went on to explain. “So it features my mum and dad, and me as a young boy… My cousin came to see the rehearsal read-through. He’s a Cambridge professor and he’s a mad Wednesday fan - he’s also 70 years old! He was a page boy at my mum and dad’s wedding.
“After the read-through, he was in tears. He thought he was just coming to see a play about Sheffield Wednesday, and he couldn’t believe it was about his family as well, you know what I mean? So he was in bits in the bar, but in a good way. It was emotional for him.
“We had a lot of people at the rehearsal read-through who were not Wednesday-connected or football-connected, and everybody enjoyed it. There were a lot of people there who got a lot out of it, I think, many who said you didn’t have to be a football fan to enjoy it. It’s a play that I would invite people to see if they don’t go to theatre, if you know what I mean?”
Craig’s never hid his love for Wednesday, crowbarring the Owls – sometimes literally – into his various roles over the years. Now, with a new dawn at Hillsborough and positivity about the place again, he’s looking forward to treading the boards back in his home town once again – especially with the beautiful game at the heart of it.
“It’s more than just football - we all know that. It’s more than 90 minutes. It’s about the social aspect and maintaining contact with people you don’t really see anymore.”
Tickets range from £18 to £25, and are available at www.miracleofsheffield.com from Wednesday morning.
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Bumped into him a few times at away games nice bloke mad Wednesdayite 💙
Always is the one rushing off to get his train back to London after the match .
Defo getting tickets for this 👌 🔵⚪️