Described as 'the funniest woman dramatist since Shelagh Delaney (Michael Billington, Guardian), Debbie Horsfield has created a formidable quartet, Alice, Nita, Phil and Beth: these are the 'Red Devils' four young women from Salford whose personal and political development is charted through a series of love affairs, employment crises, domestic dramas and steadfast devotion to Manchester United. The plays in the Red Devils Trilogy can be read and enjoyed in isolation: they were premiered at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983 and were then played in London: Red Devils at the Man in Moon in 1984, and True Dare Kiss and Command or Promise at the National Theatre in 1985.In the first play, Red Devils, the four are football crazy teenagers. 'They will give their all, or almost, to see their home team playing Arsenal in the 1979 Cup Final. But Debbie Horsfield's play... uses the sporting contest to view the lives and limited horizons of the quartet, their conflicts and tensions' The Times.'Totally absorbing, funny, disturbing and true' Financial TimesIn True Dare Kiss and Command or Promise, the four girls have become women: Alice is disastrously married to Kevin, Nita wants to set up her own hairdressers, Phil has left home for the alien world of university and Beth is into punk gear and football. These two plays have been 'accused and applauded for their resemblance to soap opera, but Debbie Horsfield's wit and her abililty to carry several strands of storytelling simultaneously sets her apart as a talent to watch' Words'Funny, bitingly intelligent, full of raw, vital experience' The Times'New writing at its most promising' Sunday Times
