Through It All Together - a play about Bielsa
"It's his presence and the way people talk about him. He lives in our imagination as much as he does in reality."That's how Leeds Playhouse artistic director James Brining eulogises former Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa and how the Argentine affected the club and the city."He had an aura about him that I do not see in any other football manager. He has a different quality."Bielsa has been gone from Elland Road for almost three years. His body of work and other-worldly way, you feel, will resonate forever around these parts.Brining wants to make sure it is remembered and reinvigorated in his new production being premiered in Leeds this June - Through It All Together.The play, written by Chris O'Connor, is about a fictional couple, Howard and Sue, massive Leeds fans, one of whom is living with dementia.Listen to Adam Pope's full interview with Brining and O'Connor here"I'm trying to reflect the city and how many different aspects of that city went on a journey during Bielsa's era," explains O'Connor, an avid Leeds fan himself."I'm always unsure how football translates on stage. It's hard to do well and I've also wanted to write something about dementia. I have a close family member who lives with it."
For Brining, Bielsa's influence was omnipresent: "What he is and was is something beyond that (football). What he did was about reframing what a club could be in relation to its fans and its city."He demonstrated that fairly modest Championship players could play in the Premier League and excel because of belief, teamwork, the values he instilled in them and the culture that he created."After the premiere in Leeds this summer, ideally after another promotion, the duo have high hopes to see the play go on tour."First and foremost you want to write entertaining stories," adds O'Connor. "But I'd like some people to maybe feel differently about dementia. And I'd like people to relive memories we all had when Leeds got promoted."As for Bielsa himself, Brining says they will reach out and let him know he has inspired the play. Brining missed Bielsa when he visited the Playhouse with his family during his tenure at the club.Shortly afterwards he wrote to the artistic director to say how much he enjoyed the experience: "The theatre is important for people's souls. I love what you are doing and together we are doing the same sort of thing." In his own humble way I think he will approve from the wings with a "Very good, Brining!"Through It All Together runs at the Leeds Playhouse from 23 June to 19 July.Listen to West Yorkshire Sport Daily, weeknights at 18:00, and subscribe to BBC Radio Leeds' Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast on BBC Sounds.
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Wales Online
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Ryan Reynolds' new £50m purchase and net worth after divorce from Hollywood actress The Wrexham AFC co-owner has accumulated a vast fortune from a string of box office hits and a number of savvy investments Ryan Reynolds with his wife Blake Lively Ryan Reynolds has joined forces with another Hollywood actor to buy another sports teams, following the astonishing success of his takeover of Wrexham AFC with Rob McElhenney. Alongside McElhenney, Reynolds has overseen the Welsh club's rise from non-league to the Championship in just four seasons, as they became the first side in history to win three consecutive promotions in the top five leagues of English football. The fairytale run has put Wrexham on the map across the world, with the club now one more promotion away from the heights of the Premier League. 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Much of his success last year came from his hit Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine, while family film IF and Emmy-winning documentary Welcome to Wrexham also contributed. Reynolds has supplemented his Hollywood earnings with a series of savvy investment moves, acquiring up to a 20 per cent stake in American gin company Aviation Gin before selling in a massive $600 million (£443 million) deal in 2020. He also sold a substantial stake in telecoms firm Mint Mobile to T-Mobile in 2023, with the huge $1.35 billion (£997 million) deal seeing him pocket over $300 million (£220 million) alone. The Deadpool star has made a sizeable investment in Wrexham, with he and fellow co-owner McElhenney believed to have pumped more than £20 million of their own money into the club since taking over in 2020. In 2023, an episode of Welcome to Wrexham revealed that they had lost around $12 million (£8.9 million) since taking over the club, with Reynolds responding by saying: "I'm going to throw up." 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Reynolds - who has also been linked to actresses Sandra Bullock, Melissa Joan Hart, and Charlize Theron - soon began dating actress Scarlett Johansson and they got married in 2008, tying the knot in a private ceremony in Vancouver. However, they parted ways in 2010, with both Reynolds and Johansson admitting that the relationship fell apart due to their busy schedules and a lack of quality time spent together. "We work and then go home," the actress later told Time Out. "I'd just stare at the wall for a few hours before I got to sleep." Friendship with Rob McElhenney While they have overseen one of the most remarkable changes in fortune in football history together, Reynolds and McElhenney weren't really friends when they moved to buy Wrexham, having only interacted with each other online on a couple of occasions. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't Reynolds' idea to take over a football club, with McElhenney instead leading the charge having worked with British comedy writer and football fan Humphrey Ker, who gave him the inspiration to invest in a team. While he was not overly interested in football, McElhenney was intrigued by Ker's love of Liverpool FC and, as a result, the script writer recommended that he watch Netflix series Sunderland 'Til I Die during the coronavirus pandemic. The series fascinated the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star and led him to decide that he wanted his own football club to make his own documentary about. After the actor determined his budget, Ker then helped him pick out some suitable candidates - with Wrexham standing out to McElhenney due to the club's history, passionate fanbase and need for new investment in the wake of the pandemic. He then reached out to Reynolds - who had previously messaged him about his favourite Always Sunny scene - to try and secure further money to invest and attach another big name to the club. Reynolds was excited about the idea and did not want to be simply a sponsor, but a co-owner alongside McElhenney. In November 2020, the duo bought the club for £2 million and the rest is history - with the two now very good friends despite not meeting in person until April 2021. McElhenney has since told People that Reynolds is one of his closest friends, describing him as a "kind and generous soul, and somebody you can rely on." Article continues below Hailing the actor as a "truly inspiring person," he added: "Our families have grown incredibly close, and even though we live on opposite coasts, we feel like we're right next to each other."
