Have you ever wondered what judo, live drumming and flashbacks to an abusive incident all infused into one showing results in? Well, WRESTLELADSWRESTLE has the answer – a wonderfully courageous piece of art.
Created by Latinx Anglo-Bolivian artist Jennifer Jackson and further developed by Simon Carroll Jones, the play turns the clock back to Jennifer seeing her Bolivian mother fall victim to racial slurs as a UK immigrant, which led to her mum taking her to judo lessons.
Evocative of an underground gym, the show is wonderfully courageous as Jennifer tackles themes of oppression and violence against females, whilst impressively keeping the audience joyous and hopeful throughout.
Sarah Readman’s visual captioning of Jenni’s verbal instructions for each judo move immediately creates a sense of community with the audience, cleverly mirroring how Jenni received judo lessons.
Thirty participants joined her on stage as a girl gang as Jennifer drew on her experience as the under 50kg British Judo Champion at the age of 15 – not only championing female empowerment but managing to abstain from the typical generalisation of men being the root cause of female trauma.
Jennifer’s re-imagination of herself responding differently to the racist incident provokes the audience consider the relatable question we always ask ourselves: what if?
Despite this, it could be said that the show didn’t initially allow the audience time to fully absorb each part due to the quick scene changes from the gym to the frequent flashbacks, which felt disjointed at times.
The authentic feeling of a gritty gym is portrayed brilliantly by the infectiously punchy live drumming of Isobel Odelola, which is complemented by the girl gang’s seemingly natural camaraderie with each other.
As Jennifer was drawing on her real-life experiences, she was able to give an incredibly candid and detailed description of the incident, in a way which relates to the audience, telling the story like one would to a friend by using witty jokes.
Fundamental questions of why females still need to self-defend are asked and these serious themes were extremely well balanced by Jennifer’s humour and mini anecdotes included in her storytelling.
On the whole, this is an enthralling sporting spectacle showing how one can possess strength through vulnerability, and how others can help you to overcome past trauma.
WRESTLELADSWRESTLE will be showing at HOME until the 12th October.
Featured Image credit: HOME MCR
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