The love child of Marty Supreme and Death of a Salesman, Golden Boy, directed by Sam Yates at the Almeida, is to be brought to cinemas by National Theatre Live as an unmissable, unmoveable piece of theatre. The play follows Joe Bonaparte (Josh O’Connor), a young violinist lured towards the brutality of fighting after being promised fame and wealth.
O’Connor’s performance turns the typical trope of the angry, misunderstood sports protagonist on its head. Undermining the haughty connotations of his name (Bonaparte), O’Connor never lets Joe become arrogant; he is endlessly endearing and rawly evokes the blind ambition and earnestness of a young man hungry for success. Whilst arguably other performances throughout the play are compromised by their tendency to lean towards the over-dramatic, O’Connor gently guides the audience through Joe’s apexes of love and grief. His restless, uncontainable physicality encapsulates suffocation and anger, and we helplessly watch as he becomes more and more unhinged.
Stanley Townsend, playing Joe’s loving father, presents another stand-out performance. He carries the heart and goodness of the play, reminding us how young Joe is in his emotional goodbye: “I hope you win every fight,” he chokes out, reminding us that this so-called “fighter” is somebody’s little boy. In this way, the play is reminiscent of Greek tragedy — the dark ending is exactly what the audience is thinking, but what we least want to happen, mirroring the dark realisation from Joe himself that he has become exactly what his father feared. The audience can do nothing but watch the play’s relentless progression towards ugliness and suffering, with full knowledge of what’s coming.
Yates’ direction is similarly brilliant. Constant reminders of Joe’s past as a musician, such as the quartet of violinists hidden within the set (and revealed during the emotional climaxes) or the presence of Joe’s younger self, clutching at his violin and watching on, embodies his painful guilt at where his life has taken him. Music, “the great cheer up in the language of all countries,” is antithetical to the violence and pain that boxing brings Joe.
Despite the script first being performed 90 years ago, the energetic, fast-paced dialogue is exciting to watch; every character speaks with an astonishing sincerity.This does cause various melodramatic, over-acted moments, and some choices overlook the sense of comedy present in the original script. However, for the most part, Golden Boy is a poignant, pertinent piece of theatre, offering a devastating confrontation between love and success, and asking how much we are willing to give of ourselves in exchange for our dreams.
Golden Boy comes to cinemas worldwide from 5 November with National Theatre Live. You can find your local venue here.
Image by Marc Brenner provided to The Student as Press Material
