‘I must be crackers’: former squash world No 1 who’s written his own one-man musical

An intriguing year-on-tour insight was first laid bare in his self-penned book Shot And A Ghost in 2012 – from the obsessive tendencies and constant hand-washing to stave off illnesses before tournaments to self-doubt, anxieties and the lung-bursting rallies competing in close confines on glass courts from Cairo to Kuwait City.

Along with “this very selfish life” came the stress he and his partner Vanessa Atkinson, a former world women’s No 1, suffered as they battled with the decision of whether to have children.

Willstrop later won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games – his last major singles title – while learning lines for a production of Death And The Maiden with Harrogate Dramatic Society. And now the couple have two sons.

Seven years on, and still not officially retired at 41, his penchant for the stage will be evident during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a solo musical play he has written called Daddy, Tomorrow Will I Be A Man? The show is framed around a training session, coupled with poignant recollections of his mother, who died when he was 17, along with the push and pull of being a world-class athlete and mulling over parenthood. It also features six songs written by Willstrop, inspired by the lyrics and rhymes of the late Stephen Sondheim ... and Eminem.

“It’s a personal story,” Willstrop says, “and hopefully the universal aspect is about how much we want to be successful and what really matters, in my case fatherhood.

“The decision to have a child got totally out of my control and when you have two goals it seemed to me a big decision at the time.”

Willstrop first found amateur dramatics after being taken to a community play with Atkinson’s parents while recovering from hip surgery in 2014. He emailed Adel Players in Leeds and was soon in a village hall production. “I had played in the buzz of Grand Central station but this was electrifying in itself,” he says.

“There was being scared of it going wrong and the same feeling in squash where I could walk onto the court and be petrified to fail or succeed. It’s the same in drama where you have to hold yourself together, the changing of emotions in the room and contests going on with the characters.

“As I moved out of the squash arena, live performance was my next outlet. The aspect of sharing something with the audience would scare some people, but I seem to want it.”

Willstrop never became world or British Open champion (he was four times a runner-up in all over his career), but across three weeks in May and June he coached Egypt’s controversial and charismatic Mostafa Asal to both men’s titles. The current world No 1 is a divisive figure, having been banned three times on tour for court misdemeanours, while this season the 24-year-old was the subject of several social media “cheating” videos which scrutinised his contact with opponents.

Asal first travelled to Pontefract Squash Club in 2023 to work with Willstrop, regarded as the “gentleman of squash”. Asal also had to navigate the no-nonsense and knowledgeable members who, says Willstrop, don’t shout, throw rackets or talk back to the referees.

“I’m in a leadership role now and it takes some adapting from being selfish and narrow-minded as a player,” he says. “I have to hold Mostafa accountable too and my hope is that he becomes a wonderful athlete for the game.

“Some people will always think he’s a cheat but we have to be true to each other. I am proud of all that he’s achieved.

“I have conflict in my day-to-day work at Pontefract, I have strong standards of discipline trying to keep the kids in check and that involves conflict with parents. It’s all around you as a coach and I am grateful to have a way of getting away from squash.”

By that he means his 21 dates in Edinburgh, which started on Friday. It will be a far cry from the dual days of rehearsing his script portraying an ex-RAF pilot with a drink problem in Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea before competing on court at Dubai’s Opera House in the World Series Finals.

“Acting is one thing with people on stage helping you, but I am now leaning on all my experiences of dealing with pressure on a squash court by doing this,” Willstrop says. “What’s more exposing than telling a personal story?

“Being a sportsperson and going into theatre doesn’t always translate. I keep thinking it must be an unusual and unique take to write your own solo play about your life. I must be crackers.”