Shorty
An African-American boxer in his thirties. Shorty is the "Faust" character in this retelling, making a deal with the devil's agent, Shadow, to sell his soul in exchange for worldly power and pleasure. He becomes the greatest boxer in the world, but despite this glory, Shorty realizes his mistake and wishes for the life he had before. His true ambition is to become an actor and a participant in the arts, but he was forced to fight due to financial trouble.
Shadow
The "Mephistopheles" character in this retelling of Faust, Shadow appears to be a shadowy African-American man in his forties whose real name is Buster McCauley, but he is actually an Earthly agent of the Devil. He makes a deal with Shorty to give him great strength and power in the ring in return for his soul.
Angie
Shorty's sister, Angie is an African-American woman in her late twenties who owns and sings in a jazz club. She is close to Shorty, acting with him in his paraphrased version of Faust in the ring, and she demonstrates great loyalty and love for her brother.
Micky
A Caucasian journalist in his forties. Micky hosts the interview with Shorty and Shadow in Scene 1 where they discuss the upcoming match against Eddie Jones, tolerating a disruption from Todd Ketchel.
Todd Ketchel
Formerly known as the "Great White Hope," Todd Ketchel is a white boxer and Shorty's childhood friend. He was the only boxer to ever defeat Shorty, but Shadow takes a strong dislike to him on account of his skin color, and his influence has forced Ketchel to suffer a hit to his reputation. Ketchel is now considered to be past his prime, and he is drunk for a significant part of the play.
Susie
Susie is Todd's wife, a Caucasian woman in her late twenties. She acts as a peacemaking intermediary between Todd and Shorty.
Chuck
An African-American man in his forties, Chuck is Todd Ketchel's manager. Opportunistic and greedy, Chuck offers to dump Ketchel and become Shorty's new manager, but Shorty declines. Chuck also asks him to win the match in the third round so that he can win a bet, demonstrating his true nature.
