‘Relentless’ amplifies community voices through fictitious boxing legend
“Relentless” follows the fictional story of boxer Monique “the Miracle” Jeffries, who returns to her gym and is challenged with tangled relationships. The play premiered worldwide at Syracuse Stage on Feb. 4. Courtesy of Joanna Penalva
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.
Three years ago, Melissa Crespo met playwright Rae Binstock through a mutual friend. Immediately, she knew they’d be a “good fit” and that her script, “Relentless,” was an important work she wanted to direct. For Robert Hupp, the play amplifies the Black voices it represents.
“It’s really important for (Syracuse Stage) to reflect and refract our community,” Hupp, Syracuse Stage’s Artistic Director, said. “This play really helps tell a story that hasn’t been told. The voices that we meet, the characters we meet are characters important enough for us to put on stage.”
“Relentless” premiered worldwide at the Syracuse Stage on Feb. 4 and will run through Feb. 22. The play follows Monique “the Miracle” Jefferies, a former professional boxer destined for greatness, as she navigates her return to the tangled relationships of her childhood boxing gym, Bailey’s. Monique and her old coach, Johnny, challenge each other as new club members present opportunities to either maintain or reinvent Bailey’s identity.
“Both protagonists are right and wrong,” Crespo, Syracuse Stage associate artistic director, said. “It’s complicated — like we are all complicated. It’s really beautiful and tragic at the same time.”
Hupp said this is an “important” story for Syracuse and theatres nationwide to spotlight. He credits Crespo for her strong direction and development of the show from the ground up.
Though Binstock was an athlete in high school, she knew nothing about boxing. But, when Binstock needed a day job, her sudden interest in the sport prompted her to look for an opening at a boxing gym. Binstock decided that the best way to learn the sport was to immerse herself in it, so she applied for a front desk job at boxing gyms all over the country.
Binstock was promptly rejected by almost every gym she wrote to, except for Gleason’s Gym — the oldest boxing gym in the nation — which gave her a chance she never looked back on. At Gleason’s, she met Darryl Pierre, a trainer and a formative mentor, to whom they partially dedicate the play.
Binstock said she was blown away by the amount of diversity Gleason’s offered. No matter the age, race, religion or gender identity, there were members from every background. Boxing worked as a connector of people and a way for people to provide “something for their soul,” Binstock said.
Playwright Rae Binstock combined her need of a day job and her interest in boxing to create “Relentless.” The play is inspired by her experiences during her time at boxing gym Gleason’s in Brooklyn. Courtesy of Joanna Penalva
In the play, Bailey’s, which is similarly set in Brooklyn, is designed to capture the magic of Gleason’s. Binstock loosely derives the story from real people and experiences she has encountered to create the fictional community space. While rehearsing for the show, the cast trained at Gleason’s with Binstock, Crespo and Teniece Divya Johnson, a fight choreographer.
Monique’s return to Bailey’s boxing gym creates challenges of race, gentrification and confronting the past, especially when Monique prepares her trainee, “Wookie,” to enter an amateur tournament.
“The play is not (only) about boxing but a world where people are passionately committed to that sport,” Hupp said. “The clash of their convictions, their loyalty versus the past and our disregard for the past and future.”
The play taps into its sports genre, including intense, choreographed fight scenes. To engage audiences, Binstock said the play would have to “approach it in a way that is proactive.” For people who don’t know a lot about boxing, it becomes a spectacle people don’t always see in the theater, Binstock said.
Binstock, Crespo and Hupp shared the goal of wanting to introduce unaware audiences to a new perspective of boxing. Hupp emphasized the novelty of experiencing “Relentless” at Syracuse Stage. The play will continue to be revised, and Binstock will add and change elements from her observations, but at Syracuse Stage, it’s “really special” to host the show at its initial, rawest moment.
For audiences new to boxing, Binstock hopes drawing on a “classic American” sport will get people interested in boxing history.
“It’s a show about being open to new things, in a way that is empowering rather than scary or resentful,” Binstock said.
