Jordan Cowan
Presented by Someone Like U Productions
Reviewed 20 June 2015
After reviewing U.K. Snuff Box Theatre’s production of Charlotte Josephine’s Bitch Boxer at Holden Street Theatres for the 2014 Fringe, this reviewer was convinced that any other production of this marvellous play would pale in comparison.
How wrong we can be sometimes! This latest production by newly formed local company, Someone Like U Productions, punches last year’s effort out of the ring!!
David Mealor’s version is incredibly intimate, using only the Goodwood Institute stage. Instead of a boxing ring setting, the audience this time are taken into a dingy boxing arena dressing room atmosphere and seated one end of the stage with Stage Manager/lighting and sound operator, Emily Barraclough. Barraclough’s precision with the complex lighting and sound plots goes a long way in making this production extremely memorable. As do Chris Petridis’s lighting design, mainly using four television screens, and Will Spartalis’s incredibly atmospheric sound design.
Mealor brings every bit of emotion, confrontation and realism out in both the story of a girl fighting for recognition as a boxer and struggling with her own conflicts, and the performance of Jordan Cowan – and WHAT a performance!!
Cowan is an absolute dynamo in the role and her performance is simply a powerhouse of brilliant acting. In fact, Cowan doesn’t even appear to be acting – she is one those wonderfully gifted actors who seem to just make it happen and an audience accepts what they see and hear: and what one sees and hears in this instance is absolutely stunning – a sublime piece of acting.
Cowan impressed this reviewer in Mealor’s The Dark Room with her grittiness and truthfulness, but comes of age with this role.
Last year’s production of Bitch Boxer was a play not to be missed: this version from an impressive new company is DEFINITELY not to be missed!!
Reviewed by Brian Godfrey
Twitter: @briangods
Venue: Goodwood Institute 166 Goodwood Road, Goodwood
Season: 17 – 24 June 2015
Duration: 1 hour
Tickets: $15.00 – $25.00
Bookings: www.trybooking.com
More News
