By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Tim Fuller
Jay (Bechir Sylvain) listens to the wisdom of his sister Nina (Erica Chamblee).
"The Royale” opening Arizona Theater Company's season, is somewhat abstract and takes a little getting used to, although the message is clear – today's white people should feel ashamed of the way they have historically treated black people.
While the five performers are excellent and the acting is wonderful in this story set during 1908 about the first African American heavyweight boxing champion, metaphor becomes everything to the 90-minute production, performed without an intermission.
On a sparsely lit bare stage, scenic designer Misha Kachman centers the squared ring of boxing as a platform with a tall pole at each corner and no ropes.
On a bracket at the left of the ring is that familiar round gong of prize fights and on the right side a punching bag hangs waiting. As the story progresses, a round of ropes is added to the four poles.
But first, a little history. The story of Jay (Bechir Sylvain) is based on the true story from more than 100 years ago of the magnificently talented African American boxer Jack Johnson. He was so fearsome that the white Heavyweight Champion of the World, James J. Jeffries, retired rather than face Johnson in the ring.
In 1908, Jeffries finally came out of retirement to fight Johnson...and lost what was billed as “The Fight of the Century.” According to Wikipedia, Johnson's victory was immediately followed by race riots breaking out all across the U.S.
This reality is the fear that drives “The Royale.” We feel in Sylvain's performance the burden Jay the boxer carries as the most prominent and powerful member of his race forced to face a fight others have set up for him.
Jay didn't want to change the world with his fists. He only wanted be respected as the true world champion. Here he was, given such supreme gifts. Yet because of the nation's strong white hatred he wasn't able to use his world-class skills.
And in a smaller but pivotal performance, his sister Nina (Erica Chamblee) keeps reminding Jay that if he beats a white man in the ring, many black people will suffer through no fault of their own. There will be a new reason for white people to hate black people and it will be his fault. Jay's fault.
Did he want to bring that violence on all Negroes? But if he loses the fight, his people will also lose their own dignity.
Deep down inside himself, with the heart of a true champion, Jay knows he can win. But what counts for more, his own ego or his own people?
In “The Royale,” three additional cast members help to create the pain of this dilemma that falls on the muscular shoulders of a pioneering champion. Joining Sylvain and Chamblee are Fish (Roberto Antonio Martin), who is Jay's sparring partner, Wynton (Edwin Lee Gibson), who is Jay's trainer and Max (Peter Howard), the fight promoter and ring announcer.
There is no staged fighting. In those scenes, the fighters stand several feet apart to describe their internal feelings in the ebb and flow of the ring action. We can believe this battle of blows easily enough, but even stronger is Jay's struggle to become the world's champion.
“The Royale” continues through Sept 28 with performances at varous times Tuesdays through Sundays in the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets are $40-$70. For details and reservations, 622-2823 or visit arizonatheatre.org
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