Golden Boy by Clifford Odets is about Joe Bonaparte whose gives up on his dream of becoming a violinist when he gets seduced into the world of prize fighting. Joe Bonaparte is played by an entertaining Fergus Scully who could rival Billy Elliot for genuine tenderness. His on again off again relationship with Lorna Moon, played by Alexandra Allwine was filled with rich with meaningful moments.
On the surface Joe is risking his career as a violinist by subjecting his hands to injury but the real story is between Joe and his Italian immigrant father portrayed by a powerful and moving Mark Couchot. Golden Boy starts off really big which only gives them room to go down but they make up for it with immersive acting and genuine moments of family, love and dirty business. The minimal stage elements were smartly placed and there was an ease and elegance with which all of the actors moved set pieces and framed the space. It doesn’t matter if you like boxing or not, this is a brilliant cast of actors who will literally take you into another world and for a play that was almost two hours long I left wanting just a little bit more.
Golden Boy
March 23-27, 2016
The Secret Theatre
Long Island City, New York
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Written by Clifford Odets, directed by Lillian Meredith, starring: Alexandra Allwine, Mark Couchot, Brian Dunlop, Bryan Hamilton, Hunter Hoffman, Kazu Imafuku, Tucker Lewis, Taylor Petracek, Fergus Scully, Elizabeth Seldin, Malachy Silva