Nuffield will present The Saints on 1-17 August 2014, a newly commissioned play, written by Luke Barnes and directed by Matthew Dunster. Taking place in Nuffield Playing Field, a specially built pop-up theatre which combines outdoor stadium with Jacobean venue, the production explores the unequivocally theatrical experience of attending a football match, from the sense of spectacle and occasion to the intimacy and power of crowd behaviour and the sense of belonging and community this creates.

Kenny Glynn is the world’s biggest Saints fan and for 25 years he has been locked in a game of football against the world. On his 26th Birthday the world steps up its game and Kenny Glynn faces the match of his life as he takes on women, money and status with the help of his mates, his family and the guiding spirit of Matt Le Tissier. Can they conquer all the things the world is throwing at them? Will Southampton ever win the FA cup again? And what can we learn from the icons we hold so dearly at the club?

The Saints explores football in Southampton, the history of the club and how it's shaped our understanding of ourselves in the city. It is the flagship production of the Art at the Heart Festival, presented by Nuffield in collaboration with other Southampton arts organisations. The festival is a precursor to the opening of the new arts complex in 2016.