The FootballActress ****

There are thousands of artists at the Edinburgh Fringe: some are well-known stars, but mostly they are following their dreams. And so we meet the multi-talented Lucia Mallardi.

Mallardi delivers the distilled narrative of her life—so far, at least. As a child, she only really wanted to be a performer, but was also a very talented footballer, if ever given the opportunity to demonstrate her skills. However, she knuckled down to a sensible career path, accepting a place at Pescara University to study Economics. Instead, her other great passion took over, and she moved to Rome to play football for Lazio.

Women’s football has come a long way recently, with many leagues now boasting professional teams and sometimes attaining very large attendances. Mallardi survived and thrived, always looking to take the next step in her career. However, at the time, Italian women’s football was still mainly amateur. German women’s football was ahead of the curve, and she was offered a professional contract in Berlin.

Mallardi eventually began to perform as a footballing street artist, relinquishing her professional football career and returning to her original idea of creative performance. She honed her act and has performed in many countries around the world, including Spain, England, and Thailand.

There were challenges. She had to learn German rapidly, her time in Thailand nearly went badly wrong when she stumbled upon a military coup, and gender politics were never far away—she had to battle just to be able to play football as a teenager. However, perhaps the hardest aspect was the suspicion that her family was disappointed with her career choices. The telephone calls home bring some pathos to the proceedings.

Mallardi’s autobiographical show is a fusion of comedy, drama, storytelling, dance, impersonations, juggling, and footballing artistry. Her movement and balance are almost balletic. She is a charming performer, engaging with the audience easily. Her juggling—be it with clubs or a football—is essentially allegorical to her life, where she has relentlessly juggled many disciplines and ideas.

A word about language: it is never easy to perform in a foreign language, but Mallardi’s performance in English at the Edinburgh Fringe is confident and accomplished.

England has just retained its women’s football European Championship, and some of these players have become household names. Stereotypes have been challenged and are being dismantled. The players offer clear inspiration to girls. One of Lucia Mallardi’s stated intentions as a performer and former semi-professional player is to offer similar inspiration to the marginalised; her rhythmic and striking production certainly made an impact on everyone present.