Vernon Vanriel came to the UK as a child in 1962 and became a top boxer - dubbed by fans 'The Entertainer'.
When his career ended, he suffered from mental health and addiction issues before an extended visit to his birthplace Jamaica saw him stranded, penniless for 13 years. When the Windrush scandal broke, the UK Home Office flew him home first class, but still refused him citizenship.
Told in 12 rounds, with a soundrack of his favourite Reggae tunes, On The Ropes at Park Theatre is co-written with playwright Dougie Blaxland and tells his life story.
Q: Can you remember your journey and first impressions of London?
A: I only have dim recollections of the journey but I remember the excitement the whole family had of starting a new life in Britain. I also remember how grey everything looked - particularly the sky and buidings. And the cold - I felt like I was cold for almost all my childhood.
Q: What was it like growing up in Tottenham?
A: From Day One I loved Tottenham and the humour of North London people which I share. The area has a buzz and vitality that excites me as much now as when I was a kid. The music scene was inspiring and I have always felt that the vibrant culture of the place is the reason why so many great musicians come from Tottenham. I joined Tottenham Gym when I was 14 or 15 because I had done some boxing at school and enjoyed it. It was there that I met George Patrick who first trained me and encouraged me to take the sport seriously. He was the first to recognise that I could be a professional.
Q: What was it like to be managed by Terry Lawless?
A: I was managed by Terry Lawless and also by Frank Warren. They were typical of the sport at that time - manager/promoters who made their living from having a stable of young fighters.
Q: What was it like to fight at the Royal Albert Hall?
A: Fighting at The Royal Albert Hall was the highlight of every boxer's career and one of the most memorable nights of my life was fighting the highly ranked American Sammy Lee Young there in 1983. The place was packed with people shouting my name 'cos I was the British boy fighting the American - it was televised with Harry Carpenter commentating and when I knocked Sammy Lee out in the second round the whole place erupted.
Q: You went to Jamaica to spend time with your son and had to stay for 13 years, how did it feel to be refused the right to return?
A: I couldn't believe it when I tried to get a flight home to be told that the rules had changed and I was no longer British even though I'd lived, worked and paid taxes in the UK for 43 years - I wasn't even allowed to go home for 24 hours to the funeral of my beloved sister Blossom. And my family couldn't come outo to see me in case they got trapped the same way. Those 13 years had a devastating impact on me - I had a son and a daughter back in London and I lost all that time with them.
I was effectively stateless - I had no rights - no money and no home - so I lived like a vagrant sleeping in a chicken coop, a disused shack by the road and a derelict church. There was also no medical care available to me and I couldn't afford to have a pacemaker fitted when I developed serious heart problems which meant I was at high risk of dropping dead at any time.
Q: When the Windrush scandal broke did you feel vindicated?
A: The greatest moment came in December 2021 - three years after I got home - when I won an historic case in the High Court against the British Governent - Justice Bourne ruled that the Home Office had acted illegally in denying my citizenship. This was a huge moment not just for me but for the thousands of other people who had been caught up in The Windrush Scandal brought about by the Government's "hostile environment" policy.
Q: How do you feel about your story being told - with music?
A: My story had to be told as a musical because music is in my soul and the soundtrack of the show is also the soundtrack of my life. The songs in the play are the ones that tell my story.
Q: What is it like watching someone else play you?
A: It is humbling to have a great actor like Mensah Bediako play me; and yet it feels right and fitting to have someone who has been such a prominent member of the Royal Shakespeare Company play me - it reinforces the fact that I am truly British.
Q: What do you hope On The Ropes achieves?
A: I want audiences to go away uplifted by my story - somehow or other I have managed to survive against the odds. It may be because of my boxing background that I have never given up. I also hope that people go away and think carefully about it means to be British and how narrow some people's concept of Britishness has become.
Q: Where are you living now and are you angry about what happened to you?
A: I am back living in Tottenham and I am not angry at what has happened to me but determined to do what I can to ensure that it doesn't happen to anyone else in the future. I hope that On The Ropes has a real impact and helps change deeply engrained attitudes towards immigration.
On The Ropes runs at Park Theatre, Finsbury Park until Feburary 4. https://parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/on-the-ropes/about
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