New Urbanite play takes you into the ring with boxers fighting for their dreams
Playwrights submitting pitches for the Charles Rowan Beye New Play Initiative at Urbanite Theatre in 2020 were told their final work had to have no more than four characters and some elements of humor.
Though he is known more as a dramatic writer of plays and TV scripts (including the streaming hit “13 Reasons Why,” Franky D. Gonzalez thought he could meet the requirements.
“I thought I could do a comedic piece. But I realized comedy and humor are not the same thing,” he said. “At the end of the day, I am not a comedy writer, so when they chose it, I was surprised and wasn’t sure if would be able to pull it off.”
He promises some humor in the premiere of his four-character play “That Must Be the Entrance to Heaven,” which opens June 9 as the season-closing production for Urbanite.
Arts Newsletter: Sign up to receive the latest news on the Sarasota area arts scene every Monday
Concerts, festivals, arts and more: 75+ fun things to do in June in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties
‘Shear Madness’ at FST: Audience decides 'whodunnit' and how in comic murder mystery
It is about four Latino boxers each chasing a major world title and their dreams. Manuel is trying to carve his own legacy; Edgar is undocumented and trying to stay in the country; Armando is fighting the ravages of age; and Juan is trying to compete with a lot of heart if not the skill of the others.
Gonzalez describes himself as “an encyclopedia of boxing. I study the matches. I’m going to watch the fights this weekend and I watched the fights last week.”
In an interview with director Kathleen Capdesuner before a recent rehearsal, Gonzalez said, “Nothing catches the human drama more beautifully than boxing. In so many industries, your success stands atop the dreams of others. There is nothing more demonstrative than a boxing record or MMA record of 25 wins. That’s 25 dreams you’ve crushed, how many people you’ve beaten.”
Most boxers are not successful. “You are clinging to the rungs. You have to adapt to different phases. A boxer may pull their shoulder in the middle of a match and have to figure out how to adapt or else they lose. At the end of the day, it’s a battle of two wills.”
There is boxing in the play, and the human drama that goes with it, but audiences who aren’t fans of the sport shouldn’t worry.
“I never really enjoyed watching people hit each other. But I learned a lot about boxing doing this play,” Capdesuner, who worked with Gonzalez on a recent workshop at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis. The fight sequences in the play are “so tied to the storytelling, because of what they’re fighting for. But there are also incredible moments of poetry, about what it means to be free. It doesn’t matter where you came from. You don’t need to know boxing, but it’s a treat if you do because you’ll see some creative techniques.”
B,G, FitzGerald: Beloved Sarasota actor and costume designer dies at 78
2023-24 season: Venice Theatre plans extensive new season while rebuilding from Hurricane Ian damage
Meet Michelle Hart: Hair-raising decisions: Asolo Rep wig designer connects with actors through hair
The cast is all new to Urbanite and features Peter Pasco as Edgar, Juan Ramirez Jr. as Juan, Edgar Sanchez as Armando and Rodney Nelson as Manuel. Diego Villada is the fight director.
Each of the characters is in the sport for different reasons but all lead to similar dreams of supporting families and being free. Juan, for example, is fighting poverty. “Why else would he be taking punches to the face? For jobbers like him, that money is the only way to pay their bills because they don’t know how to do much else,” Gonzalez said.
Capdsenur said “A lot of the actors are boxing fans themselves so there is an extra energy being around them and find out what excites them about the sport,” she said.
Seeking a new artistic leader: Sarasota Orchestra resumes music director search with guest conductors in 2023-24 season
A future home? Players Centre may get to turn Payne Park auditorium into a theater
Comedy on the spot: Sarasota Improv Festival brings laughs back to FST after four-year pandemic break
Gonzalez said even non-boxing fans will be “charmed by these actors. They are all charismatic, with such energetic, infectious personalities, you’re moved by them. It really is not so much about boxing as it is what drives us to succeed. That is a universal story, especially in America. You pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and get out there.”
Gonzalez, who is based in Dallas and Los Angeles, has written more than two dozen full-length and shorter plays and has worked at such theaters as Goodman Theatre, The Lark, Sundance Institute, Ars Nova, and the Dallas Theater Center. He also has won numerous commissions and awards. He said his television work, which includes projects still in development and potentially threatened by the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, has provided him with good lessons in editing.
“My earliest version, this thing clocked in at over 160 pages, which is massive, it would easily have been over four hours.” He knew that would be too much for the audience and for the actors who would only get about four weeks of rehearsals.
“This was a wonderful experience of marrying my TV training and my playwriting. I trimmed quite a bit, and my goal was to never lose an emotional beat and not a single story. I think we got that.”
‘That Must Be the Entrance to Heaven’
By Franky D. Gonzalez. Directed by Katheleen Capdesuner. Runs Jun 9-July 9 at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St., Sarasota. Tickets are $39, $25 for 40 and younger, $5 students. 941-321-1397; urbanitetheatre.com
Follow Jay Handelman on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact him at jay.handelman@heraldtribune.com. And please support local journalism by subscribing to the Herald-Tribune.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Boxers battle for their dreams in Urbanite Theatre world premiere
