"Can two men raised to fight ever learn to love?" The story of 'Gorgeous 'George O'Connell, bare-knuckle fighter and traveller, who enters the world of professional boxing, which puts him on a collision course with his roots, his identity and his greatest fear. In the opposite corner, gay boxer Dane The Pain Samson, the young pretender and son of a boxing legend, is fighting his own battles that lead to a tragedy that neither could predict. Gypsy Queen is an unconventional love story between two fighters who discover the greatest challenge lies outside the ring.
Rob Ward is a writer, performer and co-director of Emmerson & Ward Productions. His 2013 play Away From Home (co-written with Martin Jameson) toured nationally and internationally between 2013 and 2015, picking up the Manchester Theatre Awards for Best New Play and Best Fringe Performance. His 2016 play Gypsy Queen has also toured nationally and internationally since it premiered on the West End (Arts Theatre) and has gained critical acclaim. In 2017 Rob was named one of the British Councils Emerging Artists. Both of these plays dealt with the subject of homophobia and LGBT+ visibility in sport as well as other takes on modern queer identity. Rob has since written Conversations (Digital production commissioned by Curve in 2021) and Love It If We Beat Them (commissioned by Live Theatre) is currently in development.
"""Very tightly written and finely engineers a number of neat oppositions: love and lust, family and friendship, religion and bigotry, identity and community."" 4 Stars - The Independent
4 Stars - The Reviews Hub"