It's a strange thing that boxing, that most dramatic of sports, hasn't been the subject of more plays. It has a protagonist and antagonist, the ring is a ready-made stage, and the sport has thrown up more than its fair share of larger-than-life characters. So, as with buses, when you're waiting for one to come along, two arrive in quick succession; Roy Williams's Sucker Punch, which was at the Royal Court earlier this year, and now the equally brilliant Beautiful Burnout. Comparisons are invidious, so I won't make any, other than to remark that they are two very different beasts.
We are in a Glasgow gym where trainer, Bobby Burgess, known as God to his teenage charges, puts them through their paces (you will spend much of the evening admiring the actors’ fitness). There’s Ajay (Taqi Nazeer), the most talented of the bunch, and a showboater in the making; Neil and Ainsley, desperate for the chance to turn professional; and Dina (Vicki Manderson), who will have no truck with women’s boxing, as she wants to be in the ring with guys. They are joined by Cameron (Ryan Fletcher), whom Bobby immediately spots is a natural.
As with much in Lavery's wonderfully subtle play, we come to know their stories by degrees. In Dina’s case, we learn that Bobby (Ewan Stewart) once had a relationship with her mother and a fond quasi father-daughter relationship has blossomed, but that her latest “uncle” has gropy hands; her being a boxer keeps them at arm’s length. And all that in just half a dozen exchanges between Dina and Bobby.
We see, too, that not everyone can have their moment of glory as lack of real talent, despite his hard work and dedication, does for Ainsley (Henry Pettigrew) and injury for Neil (Eddie Kay), while Ajay has the handicap of an ego too big for Bobby’s gym, and so has to leave. These are familiar stories, but the way they are told - with video, stop-action replays, a revolving stage and some tightly choreographed training and fight scenes - is wholly original.
Co-directors Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett’s balletic choreography, driven by a pumping score by Underworld, gives a stunning physicality to the play. The movement evokes all the beauty of a sport whose attractions many cannot comprehend, and one device - freeze-framing some moves mid-punch so we can see the split-second reactions and thinking demanded of the boxers - is inspired, and disproves the notion held by some that boxing is for dummies.
But amid the action and humour (of which there is plenty), there’s a deeply affecting human story being told, too, through Carlotta (Lorraine M McIntosh), who loses her son to the sport in more ways than one. McIntosh, like the rest of the cast, gives a compelling performance in a memorable piece of theatre.
- Beautiful Burnout continues at York Hall, London E2 until 2 October, then tours to Glenrothes, Sheffield, Chichester and New York
- Find Underworld on Amazon
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