Theatre review: The Fight

Molly Stubbs

I was initially made aware of The Fight, Theatr na nÓg’s newest production, not on one of my hunts through the ‘What’s On’ sections of various culture guides, but by my husband. He, bless his soul, is not the most artistically inclined, so I was immediately curious as to how he’d beaten me to the punch on this occasion.

Though he may not be a big fan of theatre, he is indeed a dedicated follower of fighting. When he noticed an article on BBC detailing a new play about a Merthyr-born boxer, William Cuthbert Taylor, who was barred from competing for a British title because he was “not white enough,” he rightly assumed it was the perfect intersection of our interests.

A month later, I made my way to Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Theatre alongside a gaggle of schoolchildren to watch Cuthbert’s story retold.

Written by Geinor Styles and directed by Kev McCurdy, The Fight follows Cuthbert (Simeon Desvignes) throughout his boxing career. He begins as humble ringside support for his father, Charlie (Zach J Levene), an amateur boxer going fifteen rounds to earn thirty pence at the county fair. After noticing Cuthbert’s natural ability, Charlie eagerly begins training his son and, even though his mother, Margaret (Tonya Smith), is initially worried, the family rally around the young boy as he goes from strength to strength.

Joyous

What he couldn’t achieve due to the colour bar, put in place by the British Boxing Board of Control in 1911, has come to define Cuthbert Taylor’s career far more than what he achieved in spite of it. But, somewhat refreshingly, The Fight doesn’t exactly follow that line. In fact, it blatantly refuses to be a tragedy, detailing instead the various highs of Cuthbert’s career with such joyous tone that the lows are rendered sentences in a full and fulfilling life story.

Much of the above can be credited to The Fight’s cast. Desvignes plays the teenage Cuthbert with such animated energy that sympathy abounds even in anticipation of the systematic barriers that will eventually get in the way of his childhood dream. Similarly, I don’t think Levene stood still even for a second, his bouncing Liverpudlian lilt the perfect complement to his character’s drive.

Right hooks

Tonya Smith, as well as playing Cuthbert’s loving mother, plays his ‘rival’, Mrs Price, a racist busybody who acts as a stand-in for many of Cuthbert’s contemporaries. The stark difference between Mrs Price and Cuthbert’s mother, often appearing in back-to-back scenes, is testament to Smith’s versatility. And she is not the only player who takes on multiple roles. Of the ten or so characters in The Fight, Berwyn Pearce embodies a vast majority of them. With enough stage-presence to turn one-liners into unforgettable right hooks, he certainly puts the support in supporting cast.

Character changes are embellished by beautiful period costumes and props, selected by Carl Davies and Millie Else. These lend a charming realism, but also weave themselves effortlessly into the staging. A wartime radio crackles with commentary of Cuthbert’s command of the ring downstage, as upstage we see him throw the very same winning blows. A quick twist of a gas lamp’s valve brings up a warm spotlight as Cuthbert’s mother darns a sheet.

This is just one pull from The Fight’s lighting designer, Elanor Higgins’ treasure chest. When that same sheet is hung up on a washing line, we see through whimsical shadowgraphy Cuthbert practicing his moves. Speaking of, the fight choreography throughout the play is pleasingly convincing, even sat in the close quarters of the Dylan Thomas Theatre.

Where realism becomes real life, though, is the archival footage that’s projected onto the backdrop at key moments throughout. Combined with audiovisual design by Ceri James, these elements create a powerful fusion of non-fiction and emotion, delivering an educational experience that neither could achieve alone.

The Fight also includes at least one full scene that’s entirely in Welsh. As someone whose Welsh language skills barely stretch beyond GCSE, I could just about grasp the gist of what was being said, but I don’t think I would have wanted subtitles anyhow. By that point in the play, a translation of the conversations held by residents of 1920s Merthyr Tydfil would’ve broken the immersion so expertly crafted beforehand.

Shameful past

The BBC article that initially brought my attention to The Fight, is headlined “Boxing’s shameful past retold in play”. I find that a very interesting choice of phrasing.

It’s easy to attribute what is actually Britain’s shameful past, our shameful past, to a few bad or even rogue actors and be done with it. But the trajectory of Cuthbert Taylor’s life wasn’t only dominated by the British Boxing Board of Control. The colour bar was a symptom of a racist system, both in fact and in law. He was one of hundreds of thousands of British people denied opportunities because of their ethnic heritage and class.

Despite our belief that such injustices are relegated to history, the reality is that these issues still persist today. Reuters found that “Race-related hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales have risen 43% in the five years to 2023.” Wales also has the highest income disparity in the United Kingdom based on ethnicity, with minorities 3.5 times more likely to live in poverty than those who are White.

The Fight was developed alongside Show Racism the Red Card and will be presented to 5,000 Welsh schoolchildren this autumn term. With this in mind, it’s clear that the play’s significance extends far beyond the theatre. Through its blend of artistry and advocacy, it proves that acknowledging and learning from the past is neither an uncomfortable nor passive experience. It’s also a reminder that there has been and will be bad in the world, but if we follow after and fight like Cuthbert Taylor, there will always be far more resilience, hope, and goodness.

Though The Fight was created in support of the Welsh primary curriculum, it will be showing to the public at Theatr Brycheiniog on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of November 2024.

Visit Theatr Brycheiniog’s site for more details and to book tickets.