STAGE WEST
  • Home
  • About David
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • David Coddon Fiction
  • Theatre Reviews
  • New Page

Theater reviews

Stage West

History gets a royale makeover

1/1/2014

0 Comments

 
​The configuration of the Old Globe’s Sheryl & Harvey White Theatre – a theater in the round – is ideal for a prizefight. There’s a keen view from every seat, and you’re close enough to just about feel the smack of fist against skin and bone. But the boxing is only simulated in Marco Ramirez’s The Royale, directed by Rachel Chavkin. It would have to be. That the simulations don’t work very well is immaterial because, big surprise, this is not a play about boxing. It’s about race. That message is delivered with uppercut intensity in this one-act drama loosely based on the real-life story of heavyweight Jack Johnson, the first African-American to hold the title.
            In this case, Jay “The Sport” Jackson (“The Sport” doesn’t seem like much of a nickname for a fighter) is trying to break through the white wall of big-time boxing even as bigotry, hatred and violence surround his quest. The depth of the conflict doesn’t really take hold until well into the play when Jackson’s sister, Nina (Montego Glover), appears. She also plays a key part in the big fight, which is the script’s most inspired turn. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    David L. Coddon is theater critic for San Diego CityBeat

    Archives

    January 2021
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    January 2016
    January 2015
    December 2014
    January 2014
    January 2013
    January 2012
    January 2011

    Categories

    All
    Theatre Review

David Coddon

About 
David Coddon Fiction
Theatre Reviews

Support

Contact
FAQ
Terms of Use
© COPYRIGHT 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About David
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • David Coddon Fiction
  • Theatre Reviews
  • New Page