Beautiful Thing

Synopsis

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. Beautiful Thing truly captures what it is to be sixteen and in the first full flush of love.

Our Review:

26 July 2006

Romeo and Juliet might have had a posh balcony in Verona from which to proclaim their inflamed passion for each other. But after spending an evening laughing and crying my way through this enthralling revival of Jonathan Harvey’s gay urban fairy tale, I’ve got to admit that even Shakespeare couldn’t have come up with a sexier location for a young lover’s trysting place than one of the grim concrete walkways linking Thamesmead’s glum high-rise social housing.

Up here, two star-cross’d schoolboy neighbours fall for each other. And in Toby Frow’s beautifully judged production – first seen at Sound Theatre in January but now substantially re-cast – sensitive Jamie and sporty Ste’s gradual sexual awakening as they find their true gay selves never fails to set your pulse racing and your heart aflutter alongside theirs.

These days even gay chavs like these can grow up looking forward to registering a civil partnership if they want to, in the same way that glitzy celebs like ...

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Latest User Review

84.68.115.250) - 28 August 2006:

I've seen many performances of BT over the years; some of them very well performed and some of them with very photogenic lads playing Jamie and Ste, but none have touched me in quite the same way as this particular production has. I honestly don't know why. There is just something very special about it that has let me experience again some of those 'first-time' emotions that you normally only believe you'll experience once in your life. I *really* adore this production and the way it makes me feel. My non-BT friends don't understand it at all and think I am mad, but the point is that, with the excellent stage production and direction, as well as the superb acting from all involved (a special mention to the excellent Jonathan Bailey as Jamie), this really is a production to die for and I fear we may not see a BT play of such high calibre for many a year to come. ...

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