Cygnet Productions presents J.M. March’s The Set-Up, a tale of betrayal in the underbelly of the boxing world, told in verse, music, and stylized movement in an original adaptation by Louanne Moldovan, David Meyers and Shelly Lipkin. It runs February 12 – March 5 at Shaking-the-Tree Theater, 823 SE Grant St.
It is 1928 in Hell’s Kitchen in New York and Pansy Jones is a tough, smart, small-time contender with a big-time heart who fights for recognition in the boxing ring and recognition as a black man. The boxer is a champ (inspired by real life champion Jack Johnson) whose return to the ring is secretly set up for defeat. A fix is arranged for the fight, against the white fighter, Sailor Gray, but Jones’ managers figure he’ll lose and don’t tell him to take a dive so they can keep all the winnings for themselves.
It’s a Jazz Age melodrama, telling the story with nervous, rapidly moving rhyme. “Imagine the world of Damon Runyon presented by Homer, in the format of an epic poem in rhyming couplets.”
Tickets are $25, $20 seniors and students at brownpapertickets.com/event/2484134