Troupe today announces the transfer of the Off West End Award-nominated The Sweet Science of Bruising to Wilton’s Music Hall, following its sold-out run at Southwark Playhouse last year. As a Victorian music hall, Wilton’s offers a new authenticity to the play which follows four female boxers in 1869. The production opens on 7 June, with previews from 5 June, and runs until 29 June.
“When that bell rings, your life is entirely in your hands.”
Deep in the heart of Victorian London is a theatre where only the strongest survive. Controlled by men and constrained by corsets, four very different women are drawn into the dark underground world of female boxing; each finds an unexpected freedom in the ring. As their lives begin to intertwine their journey takes us from grand drawing rooms to rowdy backstreet pubs where the women fight inequality as well as each other. But with the final showdown approaching, only one can become the Lady Boxing Champion of the World…
Fresh from a sold-out run at Southwark Playhouse, Joy Wilkinson (current writer for Doctor Who) brings to life this little-known but important part of the City’s history. Featuring an ensemble cast and thrilling live boxing matches, The Sweet Science of Bruising is staged in the electrifying atmosphere of the world’s oldest grand music hall located in London’s East End, Wilton’s Music Hall.Full cast to be announced.
Joy Wilkinson today said, “From the very beginning, I had this fantasy about staging the play at Wilton’s, and I’m beyond thrilled that it’s finally become a reality. Wilton’s is the perfect setting, it opened shortly before our story begins and is exactly the kind of place where you would find our characters. Steeped in history, it conjures just the right atmosphere to transport audiences and really get them immersed in our Victorian lady boxing show. I can’t wait!”
