The Royale is an excellent play written by Marco Ramirez, loosely based on the story of boxing champion Jack Johnson. He was also the basis for The Great White Hope which made James Earl Jones famous and won the 1969 Tony Award for Best Play. Having never seen that play, I knew only a little of this story. In 1908, Mr. Johnson was the first African American boxer to claim the crown of World Heavyweight Champion when he was finally allowed to fight a previous white champion. The resulting victory was followed by race riots around the country.
Visiting San Francisco for Thanksgiving, I decided to see the Aurora Theatre’s production of this play, one that I missed in New York last year. I have been rewarded with an exemplary production of an absorbing period piece. While The Royale has a small cast of five, it is populated with some larger than life characters. Boxing is certainly a focal point, ingeniously directed and choreographed by Darryl V. Jones. The real battle here is the racial tensions percolating underneath and also in full view. For that reason, this play beautiful demonstrates the importance of reflecting on past injustices to help illuminate a saner future.
A marvel of perfect casting in both talent and appearance, everyone excels from the white promoter (Tim Kniffin) to our hero’s sister (Atim Udoffia). The star of the show, here named Jay, is Calvin M. Thompson in a rivetingly intense performance that is both physically and emotionally complex. Additionally, I loved Satchel André, a non-equity actor, who gave a completely effective characterization of Fish, the novice up-and-coming African American boxer. This is high quality stuff from start to finish. The Royale is an outstanding, thought-provoking, and relevant drama.
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