On the same team with community psychology

Celebrating its vibrant history, the 2024 edition of The Edinburgh Fringe Festival showcased thousands of performances including theatre, comedy, dance, music, and more. This year the female experience, sport and mental health were highlighted as major themes. Reflecting these, Same Team by Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse, directed by Bryony Shanahan, was my favourite performance.

Same Team is a play that focuses on the journey of a Scottish women's football team as they prepare to compete in the Homeless World Cup – a tournament that unites homeless individuals from across the globe for a week-long competition each year. The tournament aims to shift how people view those experiencing homelessness, empower players while developing new skills, leverage football as a tool to combat social isolation, and foster relationships.

Based around Street Soccer Scotland's Street45 programme, the narrative of Same Team delves into the personal stories of the team members, each facing unique challenges related to homelessness, social isolation, and personal identity. The characters discuss topics such as economic deprivation, carer burden, domestic abuse, addiction and suicide. As the women come together to form a team, they find strength in their shared experiences. 

The play explores resilience, community, and empowerment, with sport becoming a catalyst for change. Through teamwork and solidarity, the women not only strive for success on the football pitch but also find a renewed sense of purpose and belonging. This chimed with me because these same ideas are at the core of Community Psychology approaches. 

Community Psychology uses an ecological perspective, which means that it views individuals within the context of their environments. In the play, The B is portrayed as a fiery, boisterous and unpredictable character who often struggles to contain her emotions. Over the course of the play, we learn that this anger comes from oppression she has experienced through domestic abuse in the home. The audience are invited to be curious about their initial interpretations of The B through understanding her wider context. By taking a broader perspective, we are able to see The B as an individual who is attempting to reclaim their power and safety. 

In Community Psychology, belonging and connectedness among group members is central: the sense that one matters to a group and that needs will be met through membership. Often in homelessness, this is lost. The play highlights that The Homeless World Cup allows individuals to build close relationships with their fellow team members and the strengths these connections bring. In the play, it is this sense of community that prevents Jo from breaking her sobriety. She is reminded that she is cared for and that other team mates are relying on her.

The play also illustrates how projects like The Homeless World Cup help to make people experiencing homelessness visible again to wider society. This process of being seen is the first step in increasing a sense of belonging and acceptance.

Another core concept in Community Psychology is empowerment – increasing the control that marginalised people have over their own lives. In the play, we meet young carer Noor, who typically places the needs of others before her own. The support of the team and resources made available to her via the project allow Noor to feel empowered. Through this she feels able to leave her role of young carer to pursue her dream of participating in The Homeless World Cup. The play skillfully highlights how empowering individuals to make choices that align with their values is key to good mental health. 

The benefit of working closely with community members is underlined by the authentic insight into the homeless experience offered by the play. Same Team subverts typical narratives we may hold about people experiencing homelessness and shows support to a project that is successful in tackling an issue too easily neglected by society. It's more than just a piece of theatre – it's a piece of Community Psychology work that has broadened my perspective of what a psychological intervention may look like. 

• Reviewed by Sharon-Lin Harwood, (Trainee Clinical Psychologist and founder of PsychYourselfUp newsletter @SharonBPsych