Jordan Cowan in Bitch Boxer
Bitch Boxer is an intensely physical one-woman show where blood, sweat and tears are balanced with a contemplated, emotional and often downright hilarious dialogue.
“I think female actors are dying to play these roles,” said Jordan Cowan, who is slipping on the boxing gloves as Someone Like U’s production of Bitch Boxer comes to Sydney for two special runs, following a highly regarded season at Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Based around the true event of women’s boxing being green-lit as an Olympic sport for the first time at the London 2012 games, Charlotte Josephine’s acclaimed script meets tough-skinned Chloe in the hour before the qualifying fight that will decide whether she makes it into the Olympics.
For Cowan (a first-time producer on the project as well as first-time solo performer) art and life began to intersect in the making of the show. The sensation of sitting in the empty dressing room echoed that of Chloe preparing to step into the ring.
Months of intensive boxing training went into this through performance, along with overcoming an infected jaw – which apparently left the actor so unwell that her director and boxing coach both “yelled” at her and told her to “go home” as she insisted on showing up to rehearsals despite being very unwell.
Audiences who caught the previous production of Bitch Boxer to hit Sydney by Katherine Shearer of Bull Ant Productions (which ran at the Old 505 Theatre in May) will nevertheless find enrichment in appreciating the different takes on this groundbreaking script.
July 14 – 17. Bondi Pavilion Theatre, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Beach. $20. Tickets: bondifeast.com.au
July 21 – 26. District 1 Theatre, 7 Randle Lane, Surry Hills. $15-$25. Tickets: trybooking.com
