OBSERVER: Shadow Boxing
He is a Boxer, with problems. Living in the shadows of his infamous father who had a failed boxing career. At the same time, his own sexuality comes to play and he has many dilemmas in meeting the expectations of his father and the world.
Shadow Boxing written by English actor James Gaddes in 1989, is a physically demanding monologue set in the round (square) of a boxing ring.
With audiences on all four sides of the simple set, Samuel Addison as Flynn provides an emotion-charged performance that he often shared directly with an audience member.
In the ring was a punch bag, a mirror for his self-reflections, a corner stool and the final corner his personal bag.
Life as a child was difficult for Flynn – school yard bullying, and he preferred reading rather than playing outside.
While all the time his father’s shadow was close, with Flynn witnessing his father’s most grueling fight, with a broken jaw, crawling across the ring to Flynn, who just walked away.
From here there is an urgency in his storytelling, determined to become the rugged fighter that he wanted the world to respect.
While continually sparring and punching at imaginary opponents, all at a furious pace, he relates his life experiences with a change of voice – as his father, the sports journalist, his trainer, and more poignantly, his lovers. All non-stop while he skipped, ran, a combination of sit-ups and push-ups at an exhausting rate. .
A sweaty body, much techno music, strobe lighting as Flynn uses a title fight for what he wanted, an epic coming out to the world of an openly gay champion boxer.
However, the sporting world and that of the Boxing regime were not quite ready to accept his complex persona.
Samuel Addison put bite and boundless energy to the script, with much credit going to the production team at Feet First Collective theatre company.
Review by Graeme McCoubrie