#74: ‘On The Ropes’ by Vernon Vanriel and Dougie Blaxland

‘On The Ropes’ is the story of former British professional boxer Vernon ‘The Entertainer’ Vanriel, co-written by Dougie Blaxland and directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour for its debut at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, north London.

I haven’t posted for a while as I’ve been busy with work, and I’ve got a writing project of my own which is taking up some of my time, so all of this means that my reading for this blog has slipped a little. I will be getting back to a great looking boxing book next week, so I’ll have another book post coming soon.

This slight hiatus in reading has, though, allowed me time to reflect on this fantastic play which I saw with my wife and very good (boxing and theatre buff) friends, back in February of this year.

The play describes the often traumatic and disjointed life and career of British title prospect Vanriel, also known as ‘The Entertainer’ due to his penchant for flashy ring entrances, and ability to embrace fans with his personality and style. Incidentally, he lays claim to being the first British fighter to enter the ring accompanied by music; I’d love to hear from anyone who can back this up, as its seems to me crazy that ring music only became common in British rings in the early 1980s. I was, however, born in 1981, so this all predates my living memory, and most footage I’ve seen of bouts from the late 70s begins with the fighters already in the ring.

Vanriel’s career suffered an irreversible setback in 1982 when, in the Boxing News, he openly questioned and criticised the promoters, managers, and trainers who held most control over British boxing at that time, resulting in him being ostracised within the sport and never getting a chance to fight for titles beyond one tilt at the Southern Area Title in 1983. Due to a series of unfortunate events, Vanriel fell off the boxing community’s radar and wasn’t known prominently again until more recently, and for non-sporting reasons.

Vanriel arrived in Britain from Jamaica, aged 6, along with his family, as part of the Windrush generation. As a result of what has since become a national scandal, he found himself ill, homeless and stateless on the island of his birth between the ages of 50 and 64. With the help of an exposé in The Guardian newspaper, and support from north London MP David Lammy, Vanriel was finally allowed to return to the UK.

As with all theatre productions about boxing, one of the biggest questions is how do you represent the physical act of boxing? While both trying to avoid clichés, and attempting to add some fresh perspective. This production team made what I think is the smart move, by treating all boxing movement as dance, which helped avoid the pitfalls of awkwardly-staged fight scenes, but also helped to tie Vanriel’s story to the music that was so prominent in the production. The music selection was excellent!

The music, in turn, then highlighted ‘The Entertainer’s’ personality and his ability to engage, first friends and local supporters, and then wider boxing audiences. For such a desperately distressing and sad story, what comes through strikingly is Vanriel’s ‘fighter’s will’, to rise after every knockdown and setback; a will that is almost taken for granted within the sport and in boxing clubs, but which seems almost superhuman when aimed at faceless bureaucratic civil services and government departments.

I really hope this play gets another run and a national tour – the writers, production team and, most of all, Vernon ‘The Entertainer’ Vanriel deserve that.