Beautiful Thing was seen as ground breaking when it premiered back in 1993. At a time when the AIDS crisis was at its height and Section 28 decreed that no school could teach that homosexuality was acceptable, writer Jonathan Harvey was undeniably brave to depict a gay relationship in positive terms. Twenty-five years later this no longer seems provocative or shocking, and the play might even be thought a little soft-centred, but that is because society has moved on, and we should be grateful for the progress we have made. Nevertheless, Beautiful Thing still has important things to say about inclusivity and the importance of community.
This production underlines that theme of togetherness by featuring a splendid community choir whose members come from diverse backgrounds and whose age-range spans seventy years. They affirm the optimistic tone of the play by opening with It’s Getting Better, Cass Elliot’s hit from 1969. Musical Director Thomas Johnson generally sticks with that kind of sunshine pop throughout, not least because a character in the play, the tarty Leah, is somewhat improbably a Mama Cass fan. Leah lives on a council estate in Thamesmead, South London, and she is mouthy and full of fight. Having been expelled from school, she seems to relish being as rude as possible to her neighbours. Making her stage debut, Amy-Leigh Hickman plays Leah as a damaged, lost soul who has come to believe that the best form of defence is attack. But there is real wit in her verbal onslaughts, and that takes the edge off her relentless hostility. Leah’s passion for songs such as Dream A Little Dream of Me is initially the only hint we get that she might have a gentler side.
In the flat next to Leah’s we find Jamie. He is a teenage schoolboy much given to bunking off games, and Sandra is his mum, a barmaid who is trying to move on from a series of disastrous, abusive relationships. Ted Reilly – remembered by many as Johnny Carter in Eastenders – is outstandingly good as Jamie. He gives us a sensitive, sympathetic portrait of a football-hating introvert, bullied at school and forever in conflict with his despairing mum. Phoebe Thomas is excellent as the harassed Sandra, a single mother who is not without flaws, but who is trying to improve their lot in life. She gives Jamie tough love, sometimes of a very tough kind indeed. Sandra’s latest man is Tony, a would-be artist who is much given to voicing the kind of peace and love platitudes that put one in mind of a flower-bedecked hippie. Finn Hanlon gets some of the biggest laughs of the evening as this well-intentioned but ultimately ineffectual dreamer.
Jamie is attracted to Ste, a young lad who lives in the next flat along and who is frequently beaten up by his drunken father. After a particularly bruising encounter Ste is offered shelter by Jamie and Sandra, and, preferring Jamie’s bed to sleeping on the floor, they spend the night head-to-toe. Things move on, but Ste is slower than Jamie in coming to accept the direction that their relationship is taking. Tristan Waterson, also making his stage debut, very skilfully charts Ste’s journey from denial to acceptance. Some of the most touching scenes in the play are where Jamie and Ste tentatively move step-by-step towards greater intimacy.
Leah spills the beans about Jamie and Ste, and there is a noisy crisis featuring a chaotic shouting match between all the protagonists. Eventually everything is neatly resolved and Beautiful Thing ends with a very positive affirmation of the importance of tolerance and mutual support – even the abrasive Leah comes good in the end. Director Mike Tweddle has focused on the positive aspects of the story. The most menacing characters, Ste’s alcoholic father and drug-dealing brother, are heard but not seen, and any sense of real danger is downplayed. This is a sentimental play at heart, but no less enjoyable for that. In an age of civil partnerships and gay weddings it may no longer be quite as cutting-edge as it was in 1993, but it is uplifting, life-affirming and great fun. Catch Beautiful Thing if you can – the community choir singing Smells Like Teen Spirit is alone worth the price of a ticket!
★★★★☆ Mike Whitton 17th October 2018
Rehearsal photos by Mark Dawson
