Theatre in Review: The Opponent (A Red Orchid Theatre/59E59)Do most plays about boxing suffer from an underpowered first act, followed by a knockout finale? I admit I'm working from a tiny sample here, but in my admittedly limited experience, the answer, two out of three times, is yes. Aside from Clifford Odets' Golden Boy, which I won't hear a word against, both Rocky and now The Opponent limp along until intermission, when their authors at last start to land some powerful blows. The Opponent is performed in 59E59's tiny Theater C -- I'd call it a postage-stamp space, but I don't want to offend the Postal Service -- yet in its way it is as theatrical as that musical spectacle at the Winter Garden. Joey Wade's set design turns the entire room into the interior of a seedy Louisiana gym, with filthy, water-stained concrete covered with posters advertising starry fight cards from better days. Nestled in a corner is a boxing ring, with the audience broken up into two sections placed at a 90-degree angle. We are so close to the action that even bouts of practice sparring feel brutally real. When an actor steps down to the audience level for a jump-rope session, it's hard not to duck each time the rope comes whirling around. On the other hand, much of Brett Neveu's drama seems like a lengthy series of warmups. In one corner is Tremont "Tre" Billiford, once something of a contender and nowadays a trainer with a shrinking clientele. In the other corner is Donell Fuseles, an eager young talent, hungry for the money and fame that a successful career can bring. The first act is a practice session as Donell prepares for a crucial bout with the better-known fighter Jas Dennis. We learn that Donell is talented but undisciplined and a tad reckless, a big talker who doesn't focus on the fundamentals. We also learn that Tre's life has been one slow slide to the bottom, his influence on the local boxing community waning as young comers look elsewhere to learn the game. It's a lot of exposition, much of it focused on a parade of offstage characters, and, delivered in thick Cajun accents, it makes for some for notably heavy going. For all of its flavorful atmosphere, the first act of The Opponent doesn't make a strong enough argument for why we should care about these two. Things pick up markedly in Act II, set five years later. Donell enters and Tre appears not to know him; is he punch-drunk or willfully misremembering the identity of his former disciple? Donell grudgingly admits that things haven't gone as planned; facing the fate of an also-ran, he wants to jumpstart his stalled career with another fight against Jas Dennis. His cagey exchanges with Tre reveal simmering resentments, most of them rooted in their last meeting half a decade earlier, on the day of the Jas Dennis bout. The talk turns increasingly hostile, leading to a mano-a-mano ring confrontation that resolves nothing but exposes both men as losers living in the shadows of their shattered dreams. The Opponent is the initial New York production of the Chicago-based company A Red Orchid, which has established a residency at 59E59. If the author is content to play rope-a-dope with the audience for too long, letting an entire act slip by before getting to any substantial conflict, he does have a gift for terse, sometimes wounding, dialogue, and at least we are introduced to some fine actors. Kamal Angelo Bolden's Donell is a boastful and wary figure, eager for Tre's approval yet too proud to ask for it. He partners beautifully with Guy Van Swearingen's Tre, who cloaks his harshest observations in jokes and throwaway comments, and who poignantly refuses to admit that time has passed him by. Even in the script's weaker moments, their psychological sparring holds one's attention. If A Red Orchid routinely works with actors of this caliber, it can come around any time it wants to. In addition to Wade's set, the rest of the design is equally adept. Mike Durst's lighting -- which covers the entire theatre in house-light-style looks -- works subtly to heighten the drama. Myron Elliott's costumes feel accurate and Joe Court's sound design blends zydeco and hip-hop music with real fight broadcasts, all adding a grittily authentic touch to the action. Special mention goes to John Tovar's fight direction, especially in the authentically tense final confrontation. In the end, The Opponent is stronger on atmosphere and physical action than on plot and character. Still, in their New York debut, the members of A Red Orchid show some fancy moves.--David Barbour 
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