Market Boy by David Eldridge

Further to yesterday’s posting, there is no need to look back to the 17th century to find a writer associated with the town.

The contemporary playwright David Eldridge was born in Romford, and in his teens worked on a shoe stall in the market – an experience he would draw upon when writing his play Market Boy.

Set in Romford Market in the 1980s, the play was staged at the National’s Olivier Theatre in the summer of 2006 as part of the prestigious Travelex season.

I saw the production the night that England played Sweden in the World Cup (very poor scheduling on my part!), and recorded my reaction as follows:

"Rude, crude, full of life, and great fun. I loved it! From the moment they began setting up a market stall at the very start of the play I felt, 'this is the market, this is Romford'. It's not got much in the way of a story, as such, but it captures the vitality of the market during the 'boom' of the mid 80s to the gloom of the 'bust' in the early 90s."

The play was also generally well-received by the critics, with Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph calling it “an ensemble production of dazzling flair and comic vitality” and Sam Marlowe in the Times remarking “it’s the most fun I’ve had at the theatre in ages”.