Lewisham Pub Where Henry Cooper Trained Is Staging New Boxing Play

By Rhik Samadder

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Last Updated 12 May 2026

Rhik Samadder Lewisham Pub Where Henry Cooper Trained Is Staging New Boxing Play

Henry Cooper in front of the Fewllowship arms — Dancing in the Mirror is being staged in the Bellingham pub where Henry Cooper trained. Image: Doyle of London via CC BY-SA 4.0/public domain

I grew up in Lewisham. I've seen it change a lot, just in my lifetime. I wondered what might have changed over a century.

Boxing has always long fascinated me too. It is controversial, working class, deeply symbolic. Boxers are often hugely charismatic, surprising figures.

These two aspects of my life collide in Dancing in the Mirror, the play I've written that tells the story of Jade, a young boxer who grew up in care, and Mica, a clerk and aspiring actor learning to find his voice. When Jade discovers her estranged father is still alive, their paths cross and recross in a story about belonging, the meaning of pain, and which dreams are worth chasing.

It has live music, actors of the highest calibre and songs you'll be humming for months. If all goes to plan, it should be funny, too.

"I don't know if you've tried writing a play from up to 40 sets of notes, but it gives you tinnitus." - Rhik Samadder on penning his debut play. Image: courtesy of Mobius

The venue is important; we're staging the play at the Fellowship, a historic Bellingham pub with a fascinating social history. The Bellingham Estate, on which the pub sits, was built to house soldiers returning from the First World War, and people displaced by inner London slum clearances. I was fascinated by this psycho-geographical mix: forward-looking, while carrying wounds.

The Fellowship itself was designed to sit at the heart of its community, being built with a creche. The boxer Henry Cooper trained here, before the fight in which he knocked down Muhammed Ali (then Cassius Clay). Bands including Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers also played here. It now has its own art deco themed cinema, as every pub should.

A handsome timber framed pub — The Fellowship Inn in 1926, a few years after it was built. Image: courtesy of Mobius

I wrote Dancing in the Mirror after spending a year embedded in the Lewisham Creative Chorus, a 40-strong choir who wanted to put on an ambitious, original show. I don't know if you've tried writing a play from up to 40 sets of notes, but it gives you tinnitus. Luckily I'm not singing in the show. Luckily, they are. They sound incredible.

This is my first play, after years of being a newspaper columnist and features writer. I used to review kitchen gadgets, which wasn't good preparation for this at all. (Although I suppose all live theatre is a…whisk? Sorry.) I was surprised at how life-affirming the process was. The chance to be all these people, across history, and write about love? Now that's a dream job.

Dancing in the Mirror, the Fellowship Inn, Bellingham, 22-23 May 2026