"Cricket as a metaphor for English life gets fresh innings in Playing Away, a bright new comedy written by Caryl Phillips (author of The Final Passage) and directed by Horace Ové. The good people of the idyllic Suffolk village of Sheddington are determined not to let their untroubled circumstances blind them to the plight of others 'less fortunate': to mark the climax of their Third World Week, the parish council extends an invitation to the Brixton Conquistadors XI for a 'friendly' match on the village green. The Brixton team is captained by Willie boy (Norman Beaton), a street-sagacious veteran with no illusions about his ability to control his team; unlike Sheddington's dashing young captain, Derek (Nicholas Farrell), who has every confidence in his chaps-though with less reason. In the course of a weekend spiked with tension and spiced with romance, both sides gain a new perspective on themselves and each other. Ové's film observes the coming together of contrasting cultures with great humor, cleverly updating England, Their England to the multi-cultural eighties." Clive Hodgson, London Film Festival