It is Monday night, and Dan Jr. has five more days to go before he stages his big comeback. Well, not his comeback so much as his actual fight. Circumstances beyond his control kept him from his battle five years ago. The fight that would have made father and family proud. This is the opening to the gripping Fight Night, now playing at 59E59 Theaters.

A Legacy of Champions

Dan Jr.’s family members are known boxing men—champions! Olympiads! So, with Fight Night only five nights away, Dan is preparing, which means jumping rope, boxing the air, doing calisthenics that would exhaust a 6-year-old, and sharing his story with us. Dan Jr. is the unfortunate child, sibling, and only male known member of his family in his small town community who has never won nor fought a proper boxing match, but that will all change in five days.

Here’s a quick preview:

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Fishamble (@fishamble)

Wrestling with Identity

We follow Dan as he moves through his workouts, doubts, and fears! What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a father? The male ego and its inept imbalance. It’s the belief that it must prove itself by physical and mental force. Dan Jr. is questioning that.

The Embodiment of Struggle

Dan Jr. is embodied by the actor Aonghus Og McAnally, and I say “embodied” because it feels like it’s not an actor on a stage telling us this story, but a man telling his story.

The Psychology of Competition

How do men compete with themselves, with family, and with others? Dan asks these questions and continues with, “Why is this competition necessary for our familial survival?”

The Pressure to Provide and Perform

Dan pushes himself physically day after day, all the while looking for work to financially support his family. He is trying to impress. His Da. His wife. His son. Himself. Family dynamics can create this competitive atmosphere of trying to impress the other. Creating an atmosphere of high expectations that can also destroy.

The Burden of Legacy

McAnally’s Dan had me thinking and considering the role of the parent. What is it about the ego as the parental being that wants our child to be “somebody?” What does it do to the family dynamic when we push to make our children what we believe they should be? And what is the emotional toil on us when we feel we are living in the shadows of our family’s legacy? Especially when you are now, yourself, a Da, with a toddler. A young lad. What do you want to teach him about being male? Competition or composition? What does it feel like to go against your own Da? The one you worshiped and feared.

A Powerful Theatrical Experience

Fight Night is a powerful, heartwarming, energetic, moving, one-man, full-house menu of emotions and thoughts, and considerations on what it means to be a member of a family and all the complexities that go with that, now playing at 59E59 through April 20th. It is an hour of the not easily forgotten beauties and complexities of family.

Creative Team and Performance Details

Fight Night Written by Gavin Kostick, Directed by Bryan Burroughs With: Aonghus Óg McAnally Creative Team: Gabrielle Guagenti, Stage Manager; Colm Maher, Lighting Design; Eoin Kilkenny, Production Manager; Laura MacNaughton, Producer; Archer Bradshaw, Relighter; Madison Lane, Stage Manager; Yetti Steinman, Stage Manager Fight Night is part of Fishamble‘s Brits Off Broadway productions at 59E59 Theaters 59E59 Theaters NYC 10022 Tickets HERE Fight Night. 1 hr, no intermission