How does a former child soldier from Uganda end up a world-class boxer? Snatched from his school at six years old, Kassim “the Dream” Ouma was drafted into the National Resistance Army and forced to commit many atrocities. After joining the boxing team and defecting to the U.S., Kassim quickly rose through the ranks to win the junior middleweight boxing championship, adopting a hip-hop lifestyle and many supporters along the way. However, he still raises controversy due to his violent past and his shockingly apolitical attitude toward Museveni, the Ugandan president and NRA leader, who eventually grants him a pardon. When Kassim returns home, you finally catch a glimpse of his humanity and begin to fathom the reservoir of grief beneath his cocky boxer exterior. As he reunites with his grandmother and visits his father’s grave, you suddenly understand that boxing has provided a two-fold outlet — allowing him to release his pent-up anger and absorb others’, dulling the pain, blow by crushing blow. (Liesl Swanbeck)
Opens at The Roxie Monday, August 10th
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