By REBECCA BILLS
BARASSI The Stage Show is coming to The Memo next month.
Written by Sherbrooke local Tee O’Neill, she said the play was based on the iconic Australian footballer, coach, motivator and father of modern football Ron Barassi.
Best described as a story of passion and courage, of success and failure, Ms O’Neill said the story started in World War II when Barassi’s champion footballer father is tragically killed in Libya.
“You really feel the ghost of his father throughout the performance,” she said.
“It follows the development of young Ron under the care and mentorship of legendary coach Norm Smith, and as he develops into ‘the father of modern football’.”
Ever driven to challenge himself and to live up to the impossible memory of his father, Barassi makes the transition from champion player to the game’s most ferocious, unstoppable super coach, achieving the status of legend along the way.
Ms O’Neill said she remembered being at a match where Barassi was coaching and was enthralled by the way he encouraged his team to succeed through sheer passion and genuine love for the game.
Ms O’Neill grew up playing football as a child in the late 70s but was stopped when she was 13 as the coaches did not think she was big enough to play against the ‘boys’.
“Football really broke my heart,” she said.
“I turned my back on the game for a while, but it was during that same time that Barassi was coming into his own and so many of father’s friends and my father remember how unstoppable he was.
“And while his football success knew no bounds, his marriage, business and old Melbourne club were crumbling.”
Presented by Jager Productions, Barassi has watched and approved the authenticity of the play.
“Barassi did see the show and it was one of the most nerve wrecking things as a writer,” Ms O’Neill said.
“He said on Neil Mitchell the following day that it was 96 per cent accurate – I will never know what the four per cent of inaccuracies are, but I’m so happy with that number.
“I had met with him before I started writing the performance to get permission, but it still didn’t make it any less scary.”
Barassi: The Stage Show will be performed at The Memo on Saturday 2 August at 8pm.
Tickets are $34, $30 for concession and $28 for Jarmbi.
For more information, call 9754 8723 or visit www.burrinja.org.au.
