Josh O'Connor's Golden Boy to Screen in Cinemas Worldwide via National Theatre Live
The Almeida Theatre's sold-out revival of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy, starring Josh O'Connor, will be filmed during its limited run and broadcast to cinemas worldwide through National Theatre Live from 5 November 2026 (WhatsOnStage).
For anyone who has found the production fully booked — the Almeida's What's On page lists the entire run as sold out — the cinema screening is the next best route in. NT Live, the programme that films stage productions and beams them into cinemas around the world, will capture the show during its dates at the 325-seat Islington venue.
O'Connor plays Joe Bonaparte, a violinist pulled into the brutal world of professional boxing in 1930s New York — the role at the heart of Odets' 1937 play about art, money and the body as commodity. The production is directed by Sam Yates and forms part of Rupert Goold's final season as the Almeida's artistic director, announced in May 2025 (WhatsOnStage).
The cast around O'Connor is substantial. Daniel Mays, Hayley Squires, Stanley Townsend, Zubin Varla, Richard Fleeshman, David Ganly, Patrick Martins, Jason Barnett, Oliver Ryan and Nicholas Woodeson make up the full company, rounded out and announced in a Variety exclusive in June 2026, when a trailer for the revival was also unveiled (Variety). The creative team includes set and costume designer Rosanna Vize, lighting designer James Farncombe, sound designer Dan Balfour, composer Isobel Waller-Bridge, video designer Jack Phelan, movement director Imogen Knight, fight director Kate Waters and associate director Yasmin Hafesji.
Golden Boy runs at the Almeida from 9 September to 31 October 2026, with an official press night on 15 September following previews. The NT Live release follows just over a week after the stage run closes. The Almeida offers £5 tickets for audience members aged 25 and under at performances from 9 to 16 September (excluding 15 September), using the promo code 25UNDER — though with the run listed as sold out, availability may be limited (Almeida Theatre).
The screening joins a growing NT Live slate. The Misanthrope, starring Sandra Oh, is released in cinemas from 22 September 2026 (WhatsOnStage).
O'Connor, known to screen audiences for The Crown and Challengers, returns to the London stage in a production that pairs a heavyweight American classic with one of Britain's most intimate subsidised venues. For the cinema audience, that intimacy will be the draw: a front-row seat the Almeida's waitlist can no longer provide.
