The Sweet Science of Bruising (NHB Modern Plays)

London, 1869. Four very different Victorian women are drawn into the dark underground world of female boxing by the eccentric Professor Sharp. Controlled by men and constrained by corsets, each finds an unexpected freedom in the boxing ring.

As their lives begin to intertwine, their journey takes us through grand drawing rooms, bustling theatres and rowdy Southwark pubs, where the women fight inequality as well as each other. But with the final showdown approaching, only one can become the Lady Boxing Champion of the World...

Joy Wilkinson's play The Sweet Science of Bruising is an epic tale of passion, politics and pugilism. It premiered at Southwark Playhouse, London, in 2018, in a production by Troupe.

Auteur

Joy Wilkinson is a playwright and screenwriter whose plays include: The Sweet Science of Bruising (Southwark Playhouse, 2018); Acting Leader (part of Women, Power and Politics season at the Tricycle Theatre, London, in 2010); Fair (Finborough Theatre, 2005; Trafalgar Studios, West End, 2006); and Felt Effects (joint winner of the 2004 Verity Bargate Award, staged at Theatre503, London, 2006).

She has been a Screen International Star of Tomorrow, a two-time Brit List nominee, one of Den Of Geek's '50 Brilliant Screenwriters To Watch Out For', and she was mentored by Sir Kenneth Branagh on the prestigious BFI/Lighthouse Guiding Lights scheme.