''Sucker Punch'' is a play by the award-winning British

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Roy Williams. It was first staged in 2010 at the Royal Court Theatre in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The play was nominated for the

Evening Standard Award The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standa ...

and the Olivier Award for Best New Play.

Plot

Set in a run-down London

boxing ring A boxing ring, often referred to simply as a ring or the squared circle, is the space in which a boxing match occurs. A modern ring consists of a square raised platform with a post at each corner. Four ropes are attached to the posts and pulled p ...

in the 1980s, two young black boys, Leon and Troy, are

trained Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

by a white trainer, Charlie, who had seen their potential. Troy soon rebels and is ejected from the gym by Charlie; he moves to the United States where he gains a boxing reputation. Charlie's daughter and Leon begin an affair, but when Charlie discovers this he objects at the idea of his daughter associating with a black man, forcing Leon to choose between training and his daughter. Leon leaves her and attempts to ingratiate himself with the white community to the fury of his family. Later, Troy returns with a fake American accent and a manipulative new manager; he and Leon are forced to

fight Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

Cast

Gary Beadle Gary Beadle (born 8 July 1965) is a British actor, best known for playing Paul Trueman in ''EastEnders'' and Gary Barwick in ''Operation Good Guys''. Life and career Beadle was raised as one of five children in Bermondsey, South London, wher ...

Daniel Kaluuya Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nomin ...

Trevor Laird Trevor Laird is an English actor. Biography Born in Islington, London. Laird trained at the Anna Scher Theatre. Early roles included a 1976 role in a TV adaptation of the Peter Prince novel ''Playthings'', directed by Stephen Frears, and sev ...

Nigel Lindsay Nigel Lindsay (born 17 January 1969) is an English actor. He is best known on television for his roles as Sir Robert Peel in the first two seasons of ''Victoria'', Jo Jo Marshall in the Netflix series '' Safe'' and as Barry in the BAFTA-winnin ...

* Jason Maza *Sarah Ridgeway * Anthony Welsh

Premiere

The play, staged in 2010 at the Royal Court's ''Jerwood Theatre Downstairs'' in

, was directed by Sacha Wares. It received positive reviews with particular attention drawn to the young star

who won both the 2010 Critics Circle and

for ''Outstanding Newcomer''. The play also starred Anthony Welsh,

, Jason Maza and Sarah Ridgeway. The play's set, where the downstairs theatre was converted into a boxing ring, was designed by

Miriam Buether Miriam Buether is a German stage designer who primarily works in London theatre. She was born in Germany and studied stage design at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London and costume design at the Akademie für Kostüm Des ...

who won the

2010 for ''Best Designer''. Leon Baugh's choreography for the play won him the Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer."Leon Baugh Named Best Theatre Choreographer"
''Olivier Awards'', 13 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-14. Williams won the 2010

Alfred Fagon Award The Alfred Fagon Award is granted annually for the best new play by a Black British playwright of Caribbean or African descent, resident in the United Kingdom. It was instituted in 1996 and first awarded in 1997, to recognise the work of Black Brit ...

, his second, for the play.

References

{{reflist 2010 plays English plays Fiction set in the 1980s Plays set in London Plays about race and ethnicity