Bitch Boxer by Charlie Josephine – ★★★★☆
Athletes are arguably the closest things human beings have to real-life superheroes. The ability to use mental and physical energy to command speed, strength, and agility is dumbfounding.
Bitch Boxer tells the story of one such superhero, who channels the pain of loss and grief into a life-changing moment for herself, for women and the history of sport. Charlie Josephine’s hit play, directed by Prime Isaac at the Arcola Theatre, follows Chloe Jackson, a 21-year old woman boxer gunning for a place at the 2012 Olympics; the first year women were allowed to compete in the sport. Starring Jodie Campbell, this one-woman play is a display of strength and fortitude, love and resilience and the true power of a mouthy EastEnder.
The one-hour show takes place entirely inside the boxing ring, fitting as Chloe Jackson approaches all aspects of her life as a fight she must win. A solitary punching bag swings steadily in one corner of the stage, made up of a collection of stitched-together men’s shirts, potentially symbolic of the fight against a patriarchal society that Chloe feels up against. Or perhaps, it’s something to do with her father, the person she feels closest to, and who she shares a love of boxing with. We learn that it is her father who introduced her to boxing, who trained her and supported her the most when she began her journey to the Olympics. This shared excitement is cut short when Chloe’s father dies, and she is now left to deal with grief.
Campbell does an impressive job of portraying what suppressed grief looks like. Unable to take the pain of grief out with her fists, Chloe internalises it, pushing away her loved ones, trying and failing to channel it all into her boxing. Campbell bounces around the stage, cracking jokes and performing stoicism in the face of her loss. She pushes girlfriend Jamie away, sharing thoughts and feelings with the audience that she can’t seem to share with the one that loves her most. Jessie Addinall’s lighting design helps us shift between the different stages of grief that Chloe goes through, from straight-up denial and intense anger that causes her to implode.
Campbell, as Chloe, floating like a butterfly, stinging with her tongue, has the audience in the palm of her hands for the entire 60 minutes of the show. She takes on the different characters in Chloe’s life, ranging from her “slag” of a mother to her coach and long-time friend of her father, as well as her father himself. To voice Chloe’s father, Campbell keeps the same tone and demeanor as she does for Chloe so it almost feels like they are one and the same, that he is speaking through her.
We see this most clearly in the final scene, where Chloe delivers the knockout punch in a career-defining fight. Near defeat, she reminds herself of what her father would say and it is enough to get her off the ropes and propel her to victory. Campbell’s energy and physicality meet here with Isaac’s direction to give the audience a thrilling experience. The energy is atmospheric, as we find ourselves cheering Chloe on as she revs up the crowd, Rihanna’s 2012 Hard setting the tone for Chloe’s performance.
The play is short in length, and it is filled with content, but there are moments between action and dialogue that feel wasted and last too long, considering the show’s run time. The “filler” scenes do sometimes interrupt the flow of the story, and you find yourself wishing the action would pick up again, but this is a minor fault.
Campbell, Isaac and Josephine create a thoroughly watchable and entertaining one-hour that speaks to strength in the face of pain, and what it means to bet on yourself. Chloe’s character is inspiring, and she is impossible not to root for.
Bitch Boxer is showing at the Arcola Theatre until 14 March.
★★★★☆
By Melody Adebisi