The Royale by Marco Ramirez | 2022/23 Mainstage Season

THE ROYALE by Marco Ramirez

Explore Upcoming Performances

2022/23 Mainstage Season

THE ROYALE

Philadelphia Premiere
By Marco Ramirez
Directed and Choreographed by Zuhairah McGill

November 10 - December 11, 2022

Set in the early 1900s, The Royale takes inspiration from the life of Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight world boxing champion. Ramirez's riveting drama is filled with the rhythms of the ring and of the people fighting for freedom, dignity, and success in a fascinating and important chapter in our national story.

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THE ROYALE on THE LANTERN SEARCHLIGHT BLOG

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Artist Interview: Director Zuhairah McGill
The Royale director talks about the play and the history that inspired it

Reconstruction, Segregation, and Racial Violence at the Turn of the 20th Century
The Royale is set in a time when hard-won progress was being violently undone

Artist Interview: Actor Phillip Brown
The Royale actor on the joys, challenges, and opportunities of this unique and moving production

Meet the Playwright: Marco Ramirez
The award-winning writer who brought Jay Jackson's story to life in The Royale

"We want a good, clean fight": The History of Boxing
The development of the sport at the center of Marco Ramirez's The Royale

Jack Johnson, Heavyweight Champion of the World
The inspiring figure who inspired Marco Ramirez's The Royale

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THE CAST

Phillip Brown as Jay • Morgan Charéce Hall as Nina • Gregory Isaac as Max • Brian Anthony Wilson as Wynton • Kahlil A. Wyatt as Fish

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Will Lowry, Scenic & Lighting Designer • Ali Turns, Costume Designer • Jairous L. Parker, Sound Designer • Simon "One Punch" Carr, Boxing/Movement Consultant • Dr. Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, Production Dramaturgy Consultant • Rebecca Smith, Stage Manager • Zaria Leonard-White, Assistant Director

THE ROYALE in the NEWS

Talkin' Broadway (11/25/22)
The Royale is an absolute knock-out. Thrilling, tragic, and utterly magnificent, it is a uniquely American story that explores what it means to be the champion against all odds.

The Philadelphia Inquirer (11/23/22)
The boxer faced an almost unbearable dilemma. If he, a Black man, knocked out the reigning white champion, he would win the title. But at what cost?

Broad Street Review (11/22/22)
Now onstage at the Lantern, The Royale tells the true story of Jack Johnson, who defied Jim Crow laws with his historic boxing career.

Philadelphia Magazine (11/10/22)
Meet Philly's Busiest Actor: Brian Anthony Wilson – From The Wire to Law & Order: SVU to The Royale and other countless stage productions, the Germantown born-and-bred talent has quite the resume

The Philadelphia Tribune (11/8/22)
Actor Phillip Brown takes on a heavyweight role as his next project in The Royale

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Header Photo: Lawrence Stallings in the world premiere of Me and the Devil (2021); Anthony Lawton and Dave Johnson in Travesties (2022); Melissa Rakiro and Joanna Liao in Twelfth Night (2023); and Paul L. Nolan, Sally Mercer, and Charles McMahon in Copenhagen (2018). Photos by Mark Garvin.

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