Z Space presents:
TOugh
A One Woman Show by Chris Black
July 24 - August 9, 2014 at Z Below
The Isadora Duncan and Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award winning Chris Black hits the stage at Z Below with a punchy one-woman performance inspired by the life of famed boxer John L Sullivan. Traveling throughout the US from 1881 to 1892, Sullivan would signal his arrival and willingness to mix it up with "My name is John L. Sullivan and I can lick any son-of-a-bitch in the house.”
While Sullivan’s background, rise to fame, dominance and decline motivate TOUGH, Black’s real interest lies in what means “to be strong” and tapping into the special something that both performers and athletes harness in order to become extraordinary. As well as how they confront what she calls “the onset of can’t” that occurs in the career of every athlete and dancer when relied upon talents and endurance begin to flag.
Black—whose work runs the gamut from serious to funny and poignant—begins TOUGH by throwing her hat into the ring accompanied by the announcement of ring rules, all while enjoying some good whiskey. In the show, Black sports a custom suit designed and produced by Kipper Clothiers, a San Francisco company that specializes in well cut menswear for the LGBT community. The suit, especially made for the performance, incorporates the five foot ten, two hundred and twenty pound hell raiser into Black's own diminutive but sinewy five foot one, one hundred and five pound frame.
