Beautiful Thing
From: Saturday, 13th April 2013
To: Saturday, 25 May 2013
Our Review: 
Your Reviews:
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Synopsis
Starring Suranne Jones, Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing runs at West End's Arts Theatre from 13 April to 25 May.
Set during a heat wave on a rundown Thamesmead estate, Beautiful Thing is an urban fairytale full of characters that abound with attitude, energy, frankness and humour. The story follows Jamie, an introvert, troubled teen whose dislike of football is reason enough for his classmates to bully him at every opportunity. Living with is pre-occupied single mum, Sandra, Jamie finds himself infatuated with his next door neighbour and classmate Ste. Ste, who is living with his drug-dealing brother and abusive, alcoholic father in the flat next door, is one night beaten so badly that Sandra takes pity and lets him sleep over. In the absence of a third bed, Ste has to make do with sleeping 'top-to-toe' with Jamie. Much to his delight, Jamie is able to provide Ste with the comfort and reassurance he craves and also a little massage with some peppermint foot lotion.
The boys’ relationship is helped along by Leah, a sassy, Mama Cass-obsessed neighbour and Sandra’s dippy neo-hippy lover, Tony, as they discover themselves, each other and a Beautiful Thing.
Jonathan Harvey deftly combines comedy with ardent drama in his critically acclaimed award winning play, and truly captures what it is to be sixteen and in the first full flush of love, so book tickets now.
Our Review:
18 April 2013
It’s 20 years since Jonathan Harvey’s gay coming-of-age story first hit the London stage. Premiering at the Bush Theatre in 1993, the story of Ste and Jamie’s journey towards young love transferred to the West End before becoming a seminal gay film back in 1996, and now it’s back at the Arts Theatre before a national tour. Any child of the ‘90s with a faint appreciation for Harvey’s work will be thrilled to see it back, although it’s hard not to compare it with the film, which benefited from spot-on performances and a beautifully gentle touch.
As mouthy but supportive mum Sandra, Suranne Jones excels at the comic side of her character but could show much more gump...
Latest User Review
robg - 13 May 2013:
saw this on saturday and wanted to love it but didnt ,i liked it but i think the film is so iconic for us gay men of a certain age , temeka as leah , linda henry as sandra ...as much as i try i cant help but compare , saying that zaraah is great as Leah.. she revels in the part , and suranne jones is a good sandra but expected more ,we felt some of her lines were very rushed and difficult to catch some of the classic lines , the 2 lads do a good job but again felt some of the tender moments didnt quite gel ...one scene that really worked was jamie and ste saying goodnight with the autuminal shades, a real short moment but really touching , i love this play and saw the 2006 production at sound theatre ,i really did like that set more than this current one , the bed rising through the floor is good idea , but still prefer 2006 set where jamies room was central and always at the front of stage , and the flats and walkway above and behind , just me own personal views ...
Cast
Suranne Jones (Sandra)
Zaraah Abrahams (Leah)
Oliver Farnworth (Tony)
Jake Davies (Jamie)
Danny-Boy Hatchard (Ste)
Creative
Jonathan Harvey (Author)
Tom O'Connell (for QNQ Ltd) (Producer)
Nikolai Foster (Director)
Colin Richmond (Design)
George Dennis (Sound)
David Plater (Lighting)
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