New Forest Players 
Ballard School, New Milton
Bethany Sivewright 
17 February 2026
If you’ve read the title Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial on a promotional poster, you may well have conjured up images of gossiping wives, a suspenseful courtroom drama or a tense penalty shootout. While there are no actual footballs in this production, you’ll certainly be treated to a plethora of clever footballing references and no end of gossip and drama in the courtroom! The play depicts the true story of the £4 million libel case brought by Rebekha Vardy against Coleen Rooney in 2022, adapted by Liv Hennessy from actual court transcripts. If you followed the story at the time, you’ll know that Coleen Rooney publicly ‘outed’ Rebekha Vardy on social media, accusing her of leaking information to the tabloids from Rooney’s private Instagram account, having gathered evidence that Vardy was the culprit by setting an online trap that she had fallen right into. Vardy subsequently took Rooney to court, claiming she had done no such thing and suing for defamation. A trial that sparked the public interest, dubbed “Wagatha Christie” by the press, ensued… but who won? Well, you’ll have to go along to watch the New Forest Players in action to find out!
The first half sees Rebekha Vardy, played by Lou Mellanie Hutchings, take centre stage on the witness stand. Lou does a convincing job of persuading us that she may well be the true victim in this case, becoming increasingly flustered under cross-examination and even turning on the water works as the pressure begins to get to her. Following a ‘half time’ break, Rachel MacKay gives a very dignified performance as Coleen Rooney takes to the stand, showing her to be cool and collected under pressure. Director Jane Courtice has done well to bring out the contrast between the two women in both attitude and character, and both actresses showcase their ability to display a range of emotion while confined to a single spot on stage – not an easy feat. Particular mention must also go to Rachel’s excellent Scouse accent, which was consistent throughout. Representing the two women in court are barristers David Sherborne (Paul Berry) and Hugh Tomlinson, QC (Peter Cutler). Paul is particularly stand-out in his relentless questioning of Vardy, ramping up the aggression just enough to expose her weaknesses while never becoming overly forceful, while Peter delivers some crushing blows to Rooney’s defence. Guiding the audience through the intricacies of the case, and providing amusing running commentary, are pundits Jackie and Jem, brought to life by Courtney Fereday and Tina Ward respectively. Courtney gives a particularly animated performance and the actresses bounce off each other well, bringing some welcome light relief to an otherwise serious dissection of the case. They also showcase their talents by ‘standing in’ for other witnesses, each giving a very different performance from their pundit role. The final player is Mrs Justice Steyn, portrayed by Wendy Beaumont, refereeing the case almost entirely silently before delivering her final verdict with aplomb.
The set is minimal but incredibly effective; the audience are seated in a semi-circle in front of the stage, giving the feeling that you are in the courtroom witnessing the drama unfold first-hand. Much of the production is fairly static due to the nature of the courtroom drama. I personally would have liked to see a little more movement from the barristers in order to bring increased animation to their cross-examinations, although Paul and Peter do well to portray this using mostly their voices and facial expressions alone. The majority of the movement is brought by the pundits, who inject a great deal of life into the production, filling the stage whenever they take over and popping in and out of the audience until you feel that they are encouraging you to not just observe, but participate in the speculation and unfolding drama of it all. Use of spotlights and freeze frames presents a nice contrast between what’s happening inside and outside of the courtroom, while there are lots of amusing nods to the footballing world sprinkled throughout the set, sound effects and even the programme.
I knew very little about this story before attending tonight’s production and found it fascinating and gripping to watch. Whether you are an avid follower of the gossip columns, a football fan or simply looking for a different night out, I would certainly recommend getting stuck into the Wagatha Christie drama with the New Forest Players. Being an adaption of a seven-day trial into just a couple of hours it is quite a wordy play (and contains some adult language taken directly from the court transcripts), but I remained hooked throughout and couldn’t have guessed which way it was going to go. Performances run from Wednesday 18th to Saturday 21st February, you don’t want to be guilty of missing it!
