REVIEW: Wrestleladswrestle, Sheffield Playhouse

AN AUTHENTIC underground gym provides the unlikely setting for exploring how to fight racism and sexism.

But performer, choreographer and judo champion Jenni Jackson is an extraordinarily original creator who takes on the racists and violent men in an explosive piece of physical theatre.

Jackson flashes back to when she as a child witnessed her Bolivian mother being subjected to racial slurs as a migrant.

In turn this led to her mum, just 4 ft 11 ins tall, taking her to judo lessons where she would utter a made-up swear word under her breath to Jenni's young opponents.

Themes of oppression and empowerment are tackled with candour and plenty of humour leaving the audience uplifted.

Jackson's anecdotes are stitched into an incredibly honest performance that is touching and compelling as she throws down the gauntlet to us all.

One joke Jackson's mother told her perhaps explains what she is trying to achieve.

"A man on the bus had a bag of mice and kept shaking the bag.

“Others asked him why he was doing that.

“To stop them self-organising, he replied."

The play, developed by Simon Carroll-Jones who performs admirably as Jenni's judo fall-guy, uses Sarah Readman’s visual captioning of verbal instructions for each judo move to create a shared experience especially when many other 'Girl Gang' participants join in.

Jackson draws on another double-edged story of her own to challenge stereotypical examples of violence against women as her heart overcomes hate during her journey through the martial arts – navigating her way from Bolivia to Coventry through dance, music and her beloved judo.

And with great beats from on-stage drummer Isobel Odelola setting the pace.

Jackson shows off her skills as she demonstrates how to remove an unwanted, and threatening, guest from your house party while an unruly blow-up male doll is left well and truly deflated. Jackson has lots of moves in her armoury.

And there's a party atmosphere at the end as the gang goes wild and more male dolls get punched and punctured.

Brave and pertinent, Jackson really puts serious issues on the mat in an entertaining and engaging way.