Going for Gold ★★★ Park Theatre | November 6 - 30, 2024


In 1962, when nine-year-old Frankie Lucas enters Ken Rimmington's amateur boxing club, the boy's life is changed forever. Rimmington, an ambitious young policeman who is running the boxing facility as an outreach programme for disadvantaged youth, starts the young Lucas on a path which will define his life. In 1972, and in 1973, he becomes the British Amateur Boxing Association's middleweight champion, but in 1974 he is passed over to represent England in the Commonwealth Games in favour of a boxer whom he has previously defeated. Nevertheless, he then goes on to represent his birthplace of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in those games and claims the gold medal for his athletic prowess. Next, he joins the boxing team coached by George Francis, and at this point, his career stalls and begins to spiral downward as he becomes involved in drugs and suffers from mental illness. Lisa Lintott has written a compassionate and compelling biography of Lucas' personal and professional journey, but the work suffers from being overly narrated. We are told the story rather than seeing it, and the aim seems to be to be to get all the facts in, rather than to explore the themes of the boxer's life. The show's programme provides an outline of the chronology and characters, and it becomes requisite to supplement the play in order to keep it all clearly in mind. For us, the strongest scene is the conclusion, when Frankie interacts with his son, Michael, and reviews the challenges of his life which could serve as metaphor for the experience of too many talented immigrants who seek fulfillment of their dreams in an inhospitable environment. Going for Gold is a worthy tribute to a talented and complex individual, but ultimately it lacks dramatic punch.

Rated: ★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by James Potter

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When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: 13 Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4 3JP, UK

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