Dancing in the Mirror will receive its premiere at The Fellowship Inn this spring, bringing Sir Henry Cooper’s story back to the place where his career began. Written by Sunday Times best-selling author Rhik Samadder, the production blends professional performers with forty members of Lewisham Creative Chorus.
The play follows Jade, a young boxer from Bellingham who uncovers long-buried family secrets after discovering her estranged father is still alive. Spanning more than a century of South London history, it explores belonging, identity and intergenerational trauma.
Performances will take place in the Grade II listed Fellowship Inn, originally built as a community arts hub for the Bellingham Estate. The pub became famous for hosting Cooper’s training camps ahead of his iconic 1963 fight with Muhammad Ali.
Neal Cooper, the boxer’s nephew and an opera singer, will portray his uncle in the production. He joins a cast of eight actors alongside Lewisham Creative Chorus, who have been based at The Fellowship Inn since 2022.
To support the production’s fundraising efforts, director Thomas Guthrie will take part in a charity boxing match against former British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion Julius Francis at Miguel’s Boxing Gym in Brixton. The event forms part of the Big Give Arts for Impact week, running 17 to 24 March.
Playwright Rhik Samadder said, “Spending a year embedded in the Lewisham Creative Chorus has been profound. What a wealth of experience, talent, and ideas there is in this extraordinary group, and artistic seriousness. I can’t wait for them to show the world. It has also been a joy to spend creative time with my mother- who it turns out is an inspiration to everyone. She’s far more popular than I could ever be, and the therapy bills for coming to terms with this will surely bankrupt me”.
Director Thomas Guthrie said, “All art, all storytelling is communal. The idea that ‘community art’ is somehow lesser makes no sense at all to me. The more human, the more connecting, the more rooted in a time and place, the better. Working with Rhik, the Lewisham Creative Chorus and the whole creative team here has been extraordinary. We can grow from project to project in a way that isn’t possible in a one-off production. Dancing in the Mirror is the fruit of many lives’ work – and an enormous joy.”
On preparing for the fundraising match, Guthrie added, “Training with Richie has not only been an extraordinary experience in itself, it’s deepened how I understand Jade, the whole show even. The mental focus, the physical courage, the particular kind of pride involved in standing in front of someone who wants to beat you down and holding your ground – that’s what this play is about – and what Henry Cooper was all about too.”
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
