'Beautiful' boys

18/1/06

A fantastic new London production of Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing is set to close this week. Don't miss it!

Ah, young love!

Known primarily for the successful film adaptation - Beautiful Thing - Jonathan Harvey's uplifting story of adolescent gay love returns to the London stage in a one month engagement at the Sound Theatre in the Swiss Centre.

In this witty coming-of-age drama, a pair of teenage boys growing up in a working-class neighbourhood become aware of their homosexuality.

One hot summer in a South London housing estate, we meet Jamie, played by Andrew Garfield, unpopular and awkward, who lives with his tough but warm-hearted mother Sandra, a struggling barmaid.

He lives next door to his classmate Ste, an athletic type who often has to take a beating from his hard-drinking father and brother. When Sandra discovers the abuse, she offers refuge to Ste, who then bunks up with Jamie, thus unintentionally initiating the boys' budding romance.
Set against the backdrop of working-class 1980s London, the play deals with the trials and tribulations of the boys coming to terms with their sexuality and of their growing attraction.

It also explores the tender relationship between Jamie and his mother, with the subplot of Sandra’s desire to buy her own pub as a means to escape the dismal estate.

Adding some much needed comic relief there is Leah, a brassy high school dropout obsessed with Mama Cass, who spends her time smoking and doing a variety of mind altering drugs. If you’re tired of gay tragedies, Beautiful Thing offers an optimistic alternative, poignantly illustrating that out of the dreariest, angst-ridden circumstances comes a glimpse of hope.

Beautiful Thing
Sound Theatre in the Swiss Centre, W1
Featuring Andrew Garflied and Gavin Brocker
January 10- February 4
Box Office 0870 890 0503