Review - The Royale, and some other thoughts

I keep telling myself I need to stop buying theater tickets if I think I'm going to be able to afford to go to Italy for Thanksgiving this year, but I just can't seem to stop myself.  I'm going to try MUCH harder to resist (though I must see The Humans; it is not negotiable, gosh darn it).  But after hearing wonderful things about Marco Ramirez's new play, The Royale, I succumbed to the siren song of TDF and picked up a ticket for last night.

I just love seeing plays at the Mitzi Newhouse at Lincoln Center; the space is fairly intimate, even with its sharp sight lines and sort-of-steep rake, and I always feel like a part of the action.  Last night, being a part of the action of The Royale, was quite an overwhelming experience.  I found the play to be enormously powerful, with much to say about how far we've come and how far we still have to go.

The play is loosely inspired by the life of African American boxer Jack Johnson and an episode in his life where he greatly desired to fight a retired, white, heavyweight champion.  It takes place in the early 20th century and opens with a fight where no punches are thrown - it's mesmerizing the way the action has been directed; you feel the blows that aren't really there because of the percussive quality of the writing and the acting.  Each punch is signified by a foot stomp or a block throw, and many of the lines are highlighted with claps and/or grunts.  We're hearing the thoughts going through the boxers' minds as they fight, and many of the thoughts are amusing and many are quite sad.  It's a visceral scene, and I really did feel exhilarated and breathless, as if I'd seen a real boxing match.  Jay Jackson remains champion, but has been impressed by his young foe and hires him as a sparring partner. 

photo credit: T Charles Erickson

Jay is a charismatic athlete, full of bravado and machismo, yet still charming, gentle and sincere. He wants stories about his fights to be on the front page of the papers instead of the fifth page, and knows that the only way to accomplish this is to take on a white fighter.  He also believes that if he can win a fight against a white champion, that will do his people more good than being a winner without that fight.  He has a manager who understands him, and the fight game, all too well; a promoter who, although racist, still seems to have Jay's fighting interests at heart.  The other characters in the play are Jay's young sparring partner, Fish, and Jay's sister, Nina, who appears at the end of the play.

There are so many facets to the story Ramirez is telling in The Royale, it's kind of hard to get them all straight in my head.  I felt for the plight of Jay, who just wanted to be known as a great boxer instead of a great black boxer.  He wanted to avenge the wrongs he feels have been done to his family (especially his sister) and to lift the plight of his people.  But he wants to do all this through his tunnel-vision idea that fighting, and beating, a white man will change everything.  He sees this through his own lens without seeing it through everyone else's.  Once other characters start showing him what is happening in the world outside of Jay's head and the gym where he prepares for his fight, he suddenly becomes less sure and more afraid, and the tunnel-vision isn't quite so clear.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

The acting is spectacular in The Royale - every single cast member was powerful and moving and they all played off each other beautifully.  I was especially taken with Khris Davis as Jay - he is a big, strong, handsome actor who could have just come across as someone who could play an athlete because he looks like one, but he had so many more layers and emotions than that.  His performance throughout, but especially in the final fight scene, was truly momentous.  But, again, I liked all the actors.  I also liked the physical production very much, especially the lighting.  There was one scene where Jay sparred with a punching bag, where suddenly the lighting changes and we see the shadow behind getting larger and larger.  It was quite a stunning visual.  And I thought the direction was first-rate, as well.  Finding an alternate language to the fighting/boxing was ingenious and the play flowed beautifully throughout.

There were many twists and turns to the story that I didn't expect; by the end of the play, I was gasping with sobs at the powerful way Ramirez combines the emotional, the physical and the universal in one story.  I couldn't help thinking of angry mobs today that I read about on the news, and how people of color still struggle to rise to the top of their professions.  The 90 minutes of the play flew by and I was on a roller coaster of emotion throughout.  I highly recommend The Royale and think you should run out and get yourself a ticket immediately. Of course, not everyone felt that way.  Seat neighbor report:  the couple of in front of me were more interested in PDAs than in the play; the gent beside me was more interested in his bag of pretzels than in the play; behind me, a nice couple snored throughout; and at the bus stop after the play, as I was trying to compose myself and stop sobbing long enough to get home, the man behind me was telling someone on his cell phone that the play was "lousy.  too much talking."  O.M.G.  But there you have it.

In other news, last weekend, I had yet another birthday.  It was a grand day, filled with sunshine and fun.  I saw a matinee performance of Charles Busch's new show, Cleopatra, then I had dinner with some dear ones.  I'm seeing Charles' show again in a couple of weeks, so I think I'll put off writing about it more thoroughly until then.  I saw the third performance, and even though they billed it as the "opening," there were still some kinks that will be ironed out as the run continues.  Even with the tiny rough spots, though, I had a grand time.  Charles is a riot, his costumes are spectacular, his supporting cast is terrific, and I laughed A LOT. Cleopatra was fun fun fun, and the perfect choice as a birthday treat. And my dinner at La Palapa afterwards was tasty tasty tasty. It was a terrific birthday all around.  I'll put some photos below of my recent adventures. Enjoy!  May this year be our best year yet!