July/August 2010

Sucker Punch

Theatre: Royal Court Theatre Downstairs
Playwright: Roy Williams
Run: Extended until Saturday 31st July 2010
Stars:

Review by Joy Francis

Playwright Roy Williams has a tendency to get the Royal Court Theatre to do his bidding. Back in 2003 for his acclaimed play Fallout, they got rid of the stalls and ‘caged’ the audience in at the sides. With his latest play, Sucker Punch, the theatre went a step further and installed a life-sized boxing ring partly surrounded by raised seating, creating a thrilling, visceral experience.

Set in a down at heel boxing gym in south London during the 1980s, Sucker Punch sweats with painful reminders of what black people faced from Margaret ‘we are being swamped’ Thatcher and the controversial sus laws to the unsettling race riots and casual racism. Seeing the set adorned with promotional banners for Lonsdale and the Daily Mirror, you half expect former black British boxers Frank Bruno and Nigel Benn to jog out into the ring, a testament to the authentic feel created by set designer Miriam Buether.

Charlie, the racist gym owner, is knocking two black 16-year-olds Leon and Troy into shape by getting them to clean his toilets after he caught them breaking into his establishment. His unorthodox rehabilitation technique has an ulterior motive as he primes them to be boxers to put him into the limelight once more and out of mounting debt.

Troy is less willing to play along as his anger at police intimation and his confusion over his black male identity puts him at odds with Charlie’s dismissive attitude and his best friend Leon’s tendency to conform. As Leon grows in confidence and skill with a misplaced affection for Charlie as a surrogate father, Troy finds himself isolated and angry at what he sees as Leon’s betrayal. The cracks in their relationship begin to appear when Leon starts a clandestine relationship with Charlie’s privately-educated daughter Becky. It comes to a head when Leon runs off during a street battle with the police leaving Troy to face the music.

Over 90 interval-free minutes, you are largely kept on the edge of your seat as we witness Leon’s convincing transformation into a boxer of merit. He skips at speed while talking us through his rapid rise in the boxing world from the British and European titles with his sights on the Olympics. In the background hovers his waster father who sees his son as a meal ticket to maintain his philandering lifestyle under the guise of fatherly concern. His deep seated envy of his son is palpable, and he is ever quick to make Leon feel that he isn’t black enough.

Four years later Leon and Troy meet again, in the ring, for a devastating and grinding 14 rounds of blood, sweat and suppressed tears as two former friends battle for their lost friendship and self respect. The handiwork of Errol Christie, the former captain of the English boxing team in the 1980s and now trainer to the cast, is all over the impressive fight scenes.

While the play moves apace and is engrossing, the weakest link, through no fault of her own, is Charlie’s daughter Becky. She is always on the periphery, a distraction in a man’s world. Her father ignores her warnings over his mounting debts. Leon fails to listen to her over their relationship while Troy doesn’t respect her enough to listen to her. Her increasing isolation could have added to the drama, but instead her voice felt hectoring and one note next to the more fully formed male characters.

Standout performances aplenty with Nigel Lindsay stimulating occasional compassion as Charlie, Anthony Welsh (Troy) does effortless anger while Daniel Kaluuya as Leon is a tour de force of humour, pathos and determination. If you aren’t knocked out by this production then you are not alive.

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