Three of my greatest joys in life are watching sport, going to the theatre and playing violin. So it felt almost embarrassing to discover a classic play that combined all three, yet I’d never heard of it before. To be fair, Golden Boy has not been performed in the UK in more than 40 years and its curious premise may be one of the reasons.
Written in 1937, it’s about a gifted young violinist in Depression-era America who also has a talent for boxing and is lured away from music by the pursuit of fame and money in the ring. In the current London production he is played by Josh O’Connor, who Knives Out fans have seen with his fists up as a boxer turned priest in Wake Up Dead Man. O’Connor is no less convincing on stage than on film, attacking a heavy bag with the kind of power that does indeed make you worry for his precious hands.
Nor is that ab definition entirely the work of a makeup artist. A drama about a fatal choice between a future as struggling musician or stone-cold killer may seem unlikely, perhaps to the point of absurdity. It didn’t feel so in the room.
For a start, playwright Clifford Odets, one of the foundational voices of American theatre, was reflecting a time when New York life was bleak, opportunities were few and boxing presented a mirage of escape from poverty. Equally, it was clear we were watching a kind of allegory. As our hero finds his feet inside the ropes, he is losing his more tender self and the chance of a quieter contentment.
Boxing has always provided rich material for stories on stage and screen. There are more Hollywood movies about boxing than any other sport. Writers, directors and performers are endlessly drawn to it, despite the common belief, as held in Odets’s play, that an artistic nature is in opposition to physical violence.
Perhaps part of the appeal is the way a fighter in the ring resembles the protagonist in a Greek tragedy, a human figure stripped down to its rawest state – facing destiny and learning the limits of autonomy. Perhaps it’s the performance potential of the choreographed ballet across the canvas as bodies duck, dodge, dance and explosively collide. Whatever the reason, it appears you can load a boxing narrative with any amount and variety of subtext, psychodrama or heavyweight (pun intended) themes.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
