Exclusive Interview with Playwright of “Relentless,” Rae Binstock

By: Isabella Galan

“Relentless” has officially made its world premiere at the Syracuse Stage, following the relationship of a female former pro boxer and her coach as they navigate the future of their boxing gym Bailey’s. But the show extends beyond the stage, inspired by the experiences of playwright Rae Binstock.

A Boston native, Binstock moved to New York for school and was looking for a job. Wanting to kill two Photo is courtesy of Syracuse Stagebirds with one stone, she decided to apply for front desk positions at local gyms to get a free membership. The only place that got back to her was Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn.

“I started working there at the front desk and I immediately saw that Gleason’s was an incredibly special place,” Binstock recalled.

During her time there, she started training with Darryl Pierre, who immediately became one of her mentors and life coaches. When looking back on her relationship with Pierre she said “[He] completely changed my life, made me totally fall in love with boxing, gave me a bunch of lessons about being a person and how to live that I’m still working with and through to this day.” When he suddenly passed away in March of 2022, Binstock knew she wanted to find a way to keep his story alive.

“There are great artists and great people who have statues and memorials and all of these things that commemorate the work that they did. And because Darryl did not have that level of fame and recognition, he doesn’t have those things. And so we, the students that he taught, the people that he affected, we have to be his statues and his memorials,” she said when she spoke at Pierre’s funeral. It is that mentality that pushed Binstock to create this piece, bringing boxing to the stage.

She originally planned for “Relentless” to be a TV series, but after working with a mentor, they realized this was a story more suited for the stage. When an opportunity opened up for “Relentless” to host its world premiere at the Syracuse Stage, Binstock could not have been more grateful.

“I’ve had such a good time being here, and it’s exactly the kind of place that a lot of people in the boxing world kind of come from, like more removed, but also with enough kind of urban center that you meet other people and you can get involved in boxing,” she said. However, she has big plans for this play moving forward– eventually wanting to bring it to other parts of the country. “I’d love for the show to be up in New York. It’s the theater capital of the country and it’s where I met Darryl. It’s where he’s from. It’s where my boxing home is. But also, I really really want to bring it to other places. I want to bring it to places that young people who either box or are the type of people who need something like boxing can see it” Binstock said. 

The show will be running at the Syracuse Stage from now until February 22nd.