Royal Court’s 'Conteh' draws buzz

Liverpool’s Royal Court has opened “Conteh,” a new stage drama about former world boxing champion John Conteh, written by and starring Aron Julius. (liverpoolsroyalcourt.com) The theatre lists the run from April 29 to May 9, 2026, and bills it as a “blow by blow drama” of Conteh’s life on Merseyside and beyond. Julius plays Conteh, with Amber Blease, Helen Carter, Zach Levene and Mark Moraghan in the cast. (liverpoolsroyalcourt.com) (cultureliverpool.co.uk) The story starts with the milestones that made Conteh a Liverpool star: fighting out of a Kirkby club at 10, winning Commonwealth Games gold at 19, and becoming world light-heavyweight champion at 24. (liverpoolsroyalcourt.com) (wbcboxing.com) The Royal Court’s production notes and early reviews say the play does not stop at the title belts. It follows the “highest of high lives” of the 1970s and 1980s and the people around Conteh who “were quick to take advantage.” (liverpoolsroyalcourt.com) (goodnewsliverpool.co.uk) That makes the show a sports biography and a Liverpool story at the same time. The Royal Court has framed it as part of a 2026 lineup built around local lives, and The Guide Liverpool reported the play grew from Julius’s effort to preserve Conteh’s legacy as a “Liverpool, British and global legend.” (theguideliverpool.com) Reviews published in the first days of the run have focused on Julius’s central performance and the production’s treatment of Conteh’s decline into alcoholism. Good News Liverpool wrote that the play “does not shy away” from the darker period after his boxing success and shows therapy and sobriety as part of the later arc. (goodnewsliverpool.co.uk) The Guardian’s review called it “the dazzling rise and bruising fall of a 70s boxing great” and said the opening-night curtain call included Conteh himself. Another review from Arts Review Hub said the production goes beyond “the expected sports story.” (theguardian.com) (artsreviewhub.com) Conteh’s boxing record gives the stage version its backbone. The World Boxing Council says he won the vacant light-heavyweight title against Jorge Ahumada at Wembley on October 1, 1974, after taking Commonwealth Games gold as an amateur in 1970. (wbcboxing.com) (wikipedia.org) His life outside the ring has long been part of his public story too. Recent local coverage around the play says Conteh told the Liverpool Echo he has been sober for more than 30 years and wanted to pass on what helped him recover. (tiktok.com) (europesays.com) At the Royal Court, that combination of title-fight history, Kirkby roots and recovery is what the audience is now seeing onstage. The run lasts through May 9, with British Sign Language on April 28 and audio description on April 30. (liverpoolsroyalcourt.com)