Round 2
Shadowboxing
AFO FEST
SHADOWBOXING
Written and Performed by Grant Sullivan
Directed by Sal Romeo
October 2011
SHADOWBOXING jabs and feints across one corner of an iconic ring, with regulation ropes and two contrasting punching bags. A fast-paced, sharply written, and intensely personal memoir,
SHADOWBOXING charts the rise and fall of a young boxer through Sullivan’s stream-of-consciousness prose and pugilistic motion. Through its physicality and rapid patter, SHADOWBOXING immerses audiences in one man’s life in and out of the boxing ring.
Press and Awards
CRITIC’S CHOICE!
“Shadowboxing packs an emotional wallop… Sullivan’s visceral confessional is a wry, kinetic tour de force and
a moving parable about manhood itself…Takes top prize for unforgettable effect.”
Los Angeles Times
CRITIC’S PICK!
“With savage grace, propelled by inner fury, Sullivan has shown us boxing as art, as theatre, as dance and as survival factor. Aims for the heart and scores a TKO…Shadowboxing is a knockout”
Backstage
RECOMMENDED!
“Spiked with biting humor and irony”
LA Weekly
Ovation Award Nominee
Trailer
GRANT SULLIVAN (performer/playwright) was born the youngest of five boys and raised in Pittsburgh PA during the decline of the Steel Industry. He was schooled on The Corner of Grad and Cloverlea by some fantastic teachers: Ducky, Goober, Ozone, Chopper, Toaster, KO, Macky, Beefy and many, many others. He boxed out of Hogan’s Gym on 8th Ave. in downtown Pittsburgh and had the opportunity to work with many great trainers in Lee Spellman, PK Pecora, Big Al Anderson, Eddie Miller and David Kadir. After hanging up his gloves, he traded one stage for another and performed numerous plays on both the East and West Coasts. After Oscar-Nominated Director Mark Rydell saw Grant in a performance of Shadowboxing, he cast him alongside Ray Liotta, Danny Devito, and Forrest Whitaker in the film Evenmoney, Grant is a lifetime member of The Actor’s Studio and currently resides in Los Angeles. Shadowboxing, which was nominated for an Ovation Award, is the first production of his original written work.