Shadow Boxing

Shadow Boxing by James Gaddas is a challenging solo work that explores masculinities, sexuality, violence and identity. It looks at how human beings create their own fights, both inside and outside of the ring. We meet Flynn late one night after he has made the courageous decision to come out of the shadows. With minimal props and set performer Samuel Addison shows us what brought him to this decision and we witness its aftermath. The character Flynn allows us to delve into the paradoxical nature of humanity. A paradox Gaddas distils through the metaphor of hands: which can be used to create, hold and caress, or to beat, pound and destroy.

Feet First Collective known for its larger scale immersive works Frankenstein, S-27 and MEDUSA. Shadow Boxing follows in the footsteps of the finely etched miniature This Is Where We Live, which toured to Melbourne in 2022 to critical acclaim. It offers the opportunity for the company’s theatrically bold and physically inventive style to be distilled in a one-person show.

About the play:
James Gaddas wrote Shadow Boxing in 1989. Described as “fast paced and physically intense” (George Nott for the Watford Observer) and “haunting [and] poignant” (Beverly Bronnert for Weekend Special) it has been performed widely; including at Edinburgh Fringe, the Brits off Broadway Festival and the Baxter Theatre Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2021 a streamed version produced by Room 15 Theatre and was part of the United Solo Festival. It had its Australian premiere in 1994 it at the Kings Head Theatre in Adelaide in a production by Tamarama Rocks Surfers. Playwright Gaddas is also a British stage and television actor.