By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

WHEN?: Saturday 19 September (matinee), runs through 31 October 2026 RUNTIME: 145 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Boxing or playing the violin?

• Read on for reasons including how to see this on NT Live if not at the sold-out Almeida

This is the choice faced by Josh O’Connor’s (film Disclosure Day) Joe Bonaparte as the titular golden boy in Clifford Odets’ 1937 American classic which is actually at a deeper level more about the lure of capitalism, ugliness and its lack of soul.

Director Sam Yates (VANYA, Duke Of York’s Theatre) gives us a beautifully realised and elegant vision including a string quartet which appears to be a late addition to the programme yet adds a great deal despite often being shuttered out of sight of the conflicted Bonaparte.

O’Connor’s anti-hero is quick to anger and therefore hard to empathise with and his 1st stage role for 11 years impresses with both its physical muscularity but also the emotional heft of a man in his 20s ready to betray the idealism of his father for a shot at a boxing title and financial riches that could mean he never plays his beloved violin again.

Odets of course was writing about the situation in which he found himself in – turning his back on the work with which which he made his name to make serious dollar as a Hollywood screenwriter – and this may appeal to O’Connor whose last film was a Spielberg summer blockbuster although he’s no stranger to more indie fare (film God’s Own Country).

O’Connor is also surrounded by a superior ensemble. Daniel Mays (Guys And Dolls, Bridge Theatre) is Tom Moody, Bonaparte’s manager, and reminds of the American wide boy he played to such acclaim in the aforementioned monsta-winning Guys And Dolls.

Hayley Squires (All My Sons, Wyndham’s Theatre) is Moody’s mistress, Lorna, who’s asked to keep an eye on the golden boy but can’t help but take a shine to him.

Zubin Varla (A Little Life, Harold Pinter Theatre) is the unapologetically gay and aggressive manager offering to take Bonaparte to the next level whatever that may be.

We found the 1st act a little too languid and it was only really when the stakes increased in the 2nd not least when Bonaparte really takes it out on a punchbag as he flies through the air when the emotional intensity really gripped.

O’Connor’s performance is the reason to see this as part of NTLive if not during the sold-out Almeida run because he proves his range being no less captivating when he is quietly contemplatative as well as displaying fiery all guns blazing rage

Golden Boy definitely deserves to transfer to the West End but we suspect the demands of O’Connor’s film career are the only reason that you’ll only see it there on a cinema screen there rather than a stage.

• Main pictures by Marc Brenner via Facebook courtesy Almeida Tickets
• Have you seen Josh O’Connor before and what did you think of him? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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