The epic themes of the play, which mainly takes place in the present, but begins in 1968 and fasts forward to 2525, are explored through the prism of a dysfunctional family, whose break-up mirrors the impending ecological disaster.
Roy Williams' plays can be enjoyed at many levels and so it is with his latest and original offering at the Royal Court, Sucker Punch which follows a group of young boxers in a club in a run down area of London in the 1980s. Besides the sports story which culminates in a boxing match being excitingly staged in a real ring, there are observations about race and friendship and about racism and sport.
The performances are all good but Delroy Lindo's inspirational, sympathetic old visionary and healer and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's haunted Herald Loomis stand out as mesmerising. David Lan's intelligent production will make you think about the damage done by those years' of uprooting and slavery to the psyche of the African American.