First staged in 2010 at the Royal Court Theatre in London, Sucker Punch is a play written by Roy Williams. Set in the 80s, this play doesn’t hold back telling the story of what it was like to be young and black growing up in that era.
Coach and gym owner Charlie (Chas) played by Liam Smith thinks Tommy, played by John Rogers, has a bright future, but when Tommy leaves to go to a rival manager, Charlie turns his attention to Leon, played by Shem Hamilton.
The racist language is shocking in the play but is chillingly reflective of an 80s society. Charlie and Tommy continually and relentlessly use racist language towards Leon and Troy, played by Christian Alifoe.
Charlie and Leon develop a bond, but with Charlie’s prejudice still bubbling under the surface, he is never fully accepted the same as Tommy.
When Charlie finds out Leon is seeing his daughter, Becky, played by Poppy Winter, he gives Leon an ultimatum. Leon chooses the club over Becky, which signals the start of his downfall.
Shem Hamilton’s portrayal of Leon was really engaging. The skipping rope scene was incredible – and exhausting just to watch.
The fight scenes with Troy and Leon were equally as captivating. Troy, having moved to the States to continue his career after being thrown out of the gym by Charlie, returns after his manager agrees to the fight. He wins the fight, which Leon finds hard to accept.
Leon’s dad Squid, played by Wayne Rollins, adds humour to the play, his comic timing is excellent continually talking about his conquests. He does not care about Leon, seemingly only visiting him when he needs more money.
The action all takes place in or around the boxing ring and the set makes makes full use of this, with the lighting, whether that be the glare of the floodlights in the boxing ring, or the atmospheric mood changes, really setting the scene.
Although the set doesn’t move, the subtle changes, like the addition of the bunting for the Olympic scenes, and Charlie’s office changing to a match viewing area were really effective.
It was good to see the show was captioned last night, although the text didn’t always keep up with the actors, creating a delay between the on stage acting and the written word at times.
Sucker Punch is at Curve until Saturday 29 April.
Tickets £10-£25
