Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Adam Riches: Jimmy
Tigco
Genre: Biographical Drama, Physical Theatre, Theatre
Venue: Summerhall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
When comedians are asked to give dramatic performances, more often than not they knock it out of the park. In this case, Adam Riches owns a court. As American tennis champion Jimmy Connors, Riches sweats up a storm and takes his audience on a wild ride.
Review
Ace plays about tennis are rare as grand slams. Can’t speak for the U.K., but plays centering on tennis legends (real and fictional) haven’t fared so well in New York thus far this century. Playwright greats A.R. Gurney (with Bill) and Terrence McNally (with Deuce, starring no less than Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes) struggled to make much of a mark, and most recently the very talented Anna Ziegler set her play The Last Match on an actual tennis court but struggled to land a script as exciting as her setting.
Now along comes Edinburgh Fringe 2024 with not one but two strong works set at fabled tennis matches. Tennis at Zoo Southside is a delightful and hilarious non-verbal play from Danish company Don Gnu that playfully sends up 1980 Wimbledon final between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. And just down the road at Summerhall the very verbal Adam Riches: Jimmy contends with American tennis champion Jimmy Connors in his magical, unexpected run at the 1991 US Open. Together the plays make a brilliant double bill.
For now let’s put Adam Riches: Jimmy on center court. It’s the more serious of the two works, one that examines the high costs paid to achieve greatness. The show begins with Connor’s first round at the 1991 US Open, one he’s getting to play as a wildcard at the ripe age of 39. Connors is losing badly to Patrick McEnroe, younger brother of John, John of course being fellow tennis champion and long-time rival of Connors. As ignominious defeat to the lesser McEnroe player approaches, Connors ruminates on the end of his career and how he got to this point, remembrances that spark a turnaround in his spirit and game that not only get him past McEnroe but put him on a path to one last championship. After that, Connors plays like a beast unleashed, ready for one last blast of glory.
Dressed in tennis whites, Riches captures the momentum of that fabled 1991 run, throwing himself around the stage, sweating up a storm and taking the audience on a wild ride. The woman sitting next to me was so enraptured by the show that she audibly gasped and exhaled when the show ended. I understood her response. Adam Riches: Jimmy is a winner.
