Relaxed Performance – Sensory Guide
Tuesday 15 October at 2pm
The Carne Studio Theatre, LAMDA
Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes, plus a 15 minute interval
Content warnings: Contains use of racist language, references to fighting/violence, depictions of fighting/violence, references to intimacy/sex, strong language, sexism, homophobic language, and alcohol/implied alcoholism.
Relaxed Performances at LAMDA
• You are welcome to come and go from the theatre as you need
• There is a break-out room available, the Rittner Room
• House lighting is on low throughout, never going to full black-out
• Loud noises are reduced in sound level
• No strobe lighting is used
• You are welcome to react to the show however you may need
• At the end of this document is a show synopsis/sensory guide
Here is a guide to sensory information symbols in this document:
Indicates potentially loud or sudden noises
Indicates bright or sudden lighting changes
Indicates a sad or potentially distressing scene
Indicates fighting, or use of guns/weapons
Arriving at LAMDA
When you arrive at LAMDA, the box office is to your right. You should pick up your ticket here, using your name.
Toilets are located right next to box office.
LAMDA staff will be wearing LAMDA branded T-Shirts or lanyards. If you need any assistance whilst in the building, please ask them.
This is the Theatre Foyer. You may be asked to wait here until the house is open. You will be shown how to get to the Carne Studio Theatre by an usher.
This performance will take place in the Carne Studio Theatre.
This is the entrance.
When you enter the theatre, an Usher will take your ticket from you. You are welcome to sit where you like.
You can come and go from the space wheneveryou like. The house lights will stay on low throughout the show.
If you aren’t sure at any point during your visit where to go, please ask an usher.
The break-out space which you are welcome to use at any point is the bar area. It is next to the Sainsbury Theatre. It can be accessed via the stairs or lift in the main entrance foyer from the Carne Theatre.
Before the show begins, the actors will introduce themselves and the characters they are playing.
The lights in the theatre will dim and she show will start. You can come and go as you need through the doors you entered by.
At the end of the show the actors will come on and bow. You are welcome to clap at this point if you would like.
Sucker Punch Company Headshots
TROY
Tobias Adetula
CHARLIE Lewis Bowes
RAY Mostyn Crawford
LEON Kenndrick Horton
SQUID Jamar Morgan
BECKY Muireann Ní Fhaogáin
TOMMY Reuben Thomas
Below is a synopsis of the play to aid in contexualising the following sensory guide.
Roy Williams’ energetic new play Sucker Punch tells the story of two young black teenagers, Leon and Troy, against a backdrop of Thatcherite politics and the simmering racial tensions prominent in the 1980s.
Set in a South East London boxing gym with the majority of the action taking place on a genuine 80’s boxing ring, the beginning of the play sees Leon and Troy cleaning the gym as punishment from abrasive white trainer and gym manager, Charlie, after they were caught breaking in. Tommy is the third young white boxer who Charlie is training. Tommy, well on his way to becoming a professional boxer, throws racist comments at Leon and Troy while Charlie’s back is turned As derogatory jokes are shared Tommy attempts to wind Leon up by practicing some of his boxing moves on him Leon is taking jabs from Tommy, but retaliates and slaps Tommy in the face, a move that confirms Leon’s potential as a boxer Charlie hands him some gloves and points to the ring. As the spotlight lands on Leon, and the atmosphere intensifies, he delivers his first fight for the audience.
Leon’s relationship with his father, ‘Squid’, is unfulfilling, based around gambling, money, and women, while a final confrontation with Troy occurs when Leon abandons him resulting in Troy getting beaten up by the police returning to the gym bloodied and bruised. Leon has to decide whether to stay with Charlie in the gym or leave with Troy. Leon makes his choice and Troy leaves for America to live with his dad.
As things progress for Leon, he faces many obstacles in his pursuit to become a professional boxer, and the nation’s favourite. He falls for Charlie’s ‘fiery’ daughter, Becky, and they begin a relationship behind Charlie’s back, under the watchful eye of Tommy who does not approve of the mixed racial relationship After losing a big fight to Leon he decides to tell Charlie about the secret relationship between Becky and Leon
The audience watch as Leon grapples with the racism, fame, competition and the difficult choices he has to make between friendship, love and boxing, as the play moves through the 80s fight by fight in a slick, fast-paced sequence.
Now at the height of his boxing career having secured Charlie as his trainer and beaten Tommy in a major fight, he faces a major confrontation: the final showdown, with Troy. Returning from America with a newly adopted American accent, Troy has been propelled to boxing stardom after being found at a gas station by an American boxing agent, returning to London to face Leon for the first time since his departure. Winning this fight is not only pivotal in securing Leon’s championship but also the survival of the gym where he started.
The arena then comes alive with sounds of James Brown, the flashing of photographers, crowds roaring, and gum shields at the ready as both boys appear from the audience in their silk shorts and boxing gloves. Ducking and diving, bobbing and weaving the boys embark on a beautifully choreographed fight sequence with upper cuts and jabs from all angles, the atmosphere aided by strobe lighting and visceral sound effects. But there can only be one winner In the final moments of the play, Leon and Troy discover how the fight has changed their lives.
Synopsis provided by the Royal Court Education Pack
Below is a sensory guide for the performance that shows potential distressing actions in the play, split up by scenes
During some changes of scenes throughout the play, the character of Squid interacts with the audience and he may try and talk to you; you do not have to respond if you don’t want to.
During most changes in scenes throughout the play, the lights dim and there are a variety of loud noises from pulsating heartbeats to high pitch noises. Throughout the play there is strong and racist language used.
There is a lot of fighting and boxing in the play, which is quick and energetic, but has been choreographed so that the actors are not hurting each other.
Pre-show
Before the play begins, there are radio reports from the 1980s about far right activity and race riots, which could be upsetting to hear.
ACT 1
Scene 1
There is strong language and racist remarks from the beginning of the play
Troy says misogynistic comments about Becky Troy pushes Leon off the stool to speak to Becky Tommy tries to imitate and talk to Leon and Troy in Jamaican patois
Troy is angry so goes to hit Tommy but Leon grabs and stops him
Tommy slaps Leon multiple times
Tommy and Leon start fighting and take swings at each other. Leon hits Tommy in the face.
Tommy and Charlie use derogatory racist language about Leon and Troy
Scene 2
Leon has his first fight - at the end of it there is a loud bell ringing
Scene 3
We find out that that Toy got stopped on the way to the fight by the police because of his skin colour
Scene 4
Tommy and Charlie start having a heated discussion about Tommy’s future with Charlie as his manager
Charlie is getting frustrated and shouts at Troy
Scene 5
Leon has another boxing match
Charlie is yelling at Leon for dropping his guard Leon leaves and Charlie clutches his side in pain
Scene 6
There is an underscoring of police sirens through this scene
Charlie runs into the space swinging a baseball bat around as he thinks there’s an intruder
Leon has bruised hands after being in a fight with the police
Charlie tells Leon he needs to stop being friends with Troy
Troy enters and is upset and angry that Leon left him
Troy shoves Charlie and they have a close face to face stand off
Troy and Leon start arguing Leon swings a punch at Troy - Troy grabs him and holds him with his arms across his neck and chest, before leaving
Scene 7
During this scene there is tense music
There is a big fight between Leon and Tommy, which is fast and vicious. It has all been choreographed.
Bottles are thrown at Leon from the audience which smash when they hit the ground - this is not real glass and the actors won’t get hurt by it Leon wins the fight by punching Tommy so that he falls to the ground
The bell rings and the crowd are very loud Tommy tells Charlie that Leon and Becky are together, and Charlie leaves Leon alone after the fight.
INTERVAL
You will be asked to leave the auditorium so that the stage crew can clean up the space.
ACT 2
Scene 1
Squid is reading aloud the hate mail that Leon is receiving
Leon and Becky find out that Squid bet on Tommy to win the fight, not Leon, his son
Charlie enters drunk after being missing for 3 days
Charlie says nasty things to Becky
Leon lunges at Charlie for saying nasty things to his daughter
Charlie tries to kick Leon out of the gym - he shouts at Leon and says that all white people hate him
Leon is upset and shouts back
Charlie says he wouldn’t want to ever have grandchildren from a multi-ethnic background which makes Leon very upset
Charlie says he’ll be Leon’s trainer if he leaves Becky alone
Leon doesn’t leave with Becky, and she slaps him and storms out upset
Scene 2
There is tense music under Leon’s monologue Becky and Leon have an upsetting discussion where she says he broke her heart
Charlie enters with Ray, a boxing promoter from USA who manages Troy, since he moved there Leon finds out that Troy hasn’t mentioned Leon since he’s been with Ray which Leon gets upset about
Scene
3
There is a flickering light as Leon is on the phone to Troy in America
Troy says that he never knew Leon Squid comes into the gym to wish Leon luck before the fight with Troy
He shouts at Leon and they have an argument about how Leon has changed Leon forcefully pushes Squid away
Scene 4
There is tense music through the scene change and into this scene There is a flickering light, and then two singular red and blue moving lights which move across the audience
There is a big boxing match between Leon and Troy, which is the biggest fight of Troy’s career
The fight is aggressive - it has been choreographed so they don’t actually hurt each other
Troy has blood across his face - this is fake blood
Leon falls to the floor
Leon has blood coming from his mouth - this is fake
Leon is getting badly hit by Troy, but not enough to knock him out
Leon gets pain in his side after Troy leaves the ring
Scene 5
Bailiffs (played by the Stage Managers) come into the space to remove the items from the gym
Leon and Troy seem to be making friends again after the fight, until Ray comes in and shouts at Troy to leave with him, which Troy won’t automatically do
Troy leaves with Ray, leaving Leon alone
Charlie arrives and tells Leon to leave the gym but he doesn’t know where else to go
Leon tells Charlie that he’s done with boxing forever
There is a blackout for the end of the play, and loud music plays as audience leave the theatre