Mad Cow Theatre Will Perform THE ROYALE Next Month

Mad Cow Theatre has announced the second production of its 24th season, Marco Ramirez's searing drama The Royale, to be performed at Mad Cow's Zehngebot-Stonerock Black Box Theatre on November 17 through December 5, 2021.

The year is 1905, and Jay Jackson is a gladiator in the boxing ring. He possesses strength, skills, intellect, and enormous courage. But since he is Black, challenging the white world champ also requires an abundance of ambition... and caution. It simply never happened before. Outside the ring, Jay is supported by a loyal team and a questionable promoter, but inside the ring, he is alone with the burden of generations of inequity. Torn between an inner drive to gain the recognition he rightfully deserves and the painful awareness of what dangers may lie ahead for the African-American community if he is victorious, Jay realizes that this battle reverberates far beyond the boxing ring.

This six-round play-inspired by legendary fighter Jack Johnson and the "fight of the century"-brings to life an explosive encounter in segregated America while it examines the hefty price paid by an underdog in a racist nation.

Marco Ramirez is an award-winning American playwright. He has had plays produced at The Globe Theater, Center Theatre Group, The Bush Theater (London), The Kennedy Center, The Juilliard School, The Arsht Center, and Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays, where he's twice received the Heideman Award. As an Emmy-nominated television writer, he has written for numerous hit shows, including FX's Sons of Anarchy; AMC's Fear the Walking Dead; and the Netflix shows Orange Is the New Black and Daredevil, based on the Marvel Comic. He trained at both New York University and The Juilliard School. Ramirez reflects, "There are so many boxer stories about whether the boxer can win the fight. In the world of theater, it is more of a moral and ethical question about whether he should win the fight."

About the play, The Sunday Times reported, "This story may be a century-old...but Ramirez's 2013 text seems increasingly pertinent in racially fraught America, where resentment spills into violence and even victory may seem another kind of defeat." According to the Chicago Tribune, "Ramirez avoids cliches, preferring to delve deep into his leading character's psyche and probe such complex questions as whether breaking down barriers or smashing glass ceilings can be almost an accident, and, either way, something not worth the personal cost."

Mad Cow Theatre will be announcing the creative team in the next few weeks.

The Royale runs November 17 through December 5, 2021 in the Zehngebot-Stonerock Theatre at Mad Cow Theatre, 54 W. Church Street (second floor) in Downtown Orlando. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays.

Opening Night is November 17th at 7:30 p.m. The opening-night performance will be followed by Mad Cow's traditional champagne reception in the lobby.

Tickets are $30 - $52. Tickets are available at madcowtheatre.com or by calling patron services at Mad Cow Theatre at 407-297-8788 ext. 1.

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