Beautiful Burnout caught my eye last week as it was the first theatre production I’d seen at the Crucible Theatre involving a social media call. The National Theatre of Scotland and Frantic Assembly invited the bloggerazzi to come and interview the cast, take pictures and film extracts of the production. In return, they received a round of free tickets for Friday night’s show. It seemed a canny way to promote the production, especially in the arts age of austerity, and although I couldn’t attend the social media call, Michael Jameson‘s blog gave me a flavour of things to come.
From the moment Cameron stepped out of a washing machine in the first scene, we were taken on a relentless and inevitable struggle between the banality of everyday life and the glamorous dream to which many young boxers aspire.
This was my first experience of physical theatre and I was struck by the actors’ fitness as they danced, punched and ate up every corner of the stage. With adrenalin-fuelled electronica from Underworld of Born Slippy fame, it had me covered in goose bumps from the first punch.
Although some of the characters could have been more developed, I couldn’t keep my eyes off the only female boxer in the gym with her powerful and easy movements. Ironically, in the play she struggles to find her place in this very physical male world, yet I couldn’t help noticing she put some of the lads to shame when it came to punishing rounds of press ups.
Whatever your thoughts on boxing, and I for one am ambivalent about the sport, there was an interesting dichotomy between the supportive environment, discipline and skill and the sport’s brutal goal, as young boxers trained to annihilate the opposition. I can honestly say that the way this was played out choreographically on stage was simply beautiful.
The Crucible’s theatre in the round lent itself to a production from the boxing ring and the way the stage and sound were used, made me feel like every inch of physical and acoustic space was filled with movement and energy.
I came out feeling like I’d just done twelve rounds in the ring myself – definitely a play for endorphin junkies.
Tickets: £15 – £22
Sheffield Crucible Theatre
Book tickets online or tel: 0114 2496000
Running till 13 November