Josh O’Connor has the coiled, restless energy of a young Richard Gere in this pulpy, punchy boxing drama by Clifford Odets, written and set in the Depression-hit New York of 1937. He’s Joe Bonaparte, a young Italian-American torn between his impecunious true calling, music, and the easier, dirtier money to be made with his fists.
Though O’Connor, returning to the stage after ten years of glitzy screen roles, is the top draw on the bill, Sam Yates’s production is a full-throated ensemble piece. It leans with relish into both the wise-guy humour and the overwrought emotion of the script.
