BEAUTIFUL THING. To 29 June.

Tour.

BEAUTIFUL THING
by Jonathan Harvey.

Nottingham Playhouse on tour to 29 June 2002.
Runs 2hr 10min One interval.

Review Hazel Brown 17 June at Nuffield Theatre, Southampton.

Young love tentatively blooms in the uncompromising setting of a South London estate.
Three fifteen year old neighbours on a South London council estate take their first, faltering steps towards finding out who and what they are. Jamie, a quiet, studious boy who bunks off school to get out of doing PE, lives with his barmaid mother, Sandra - loud-mouthed, brash, pushy, but played with an undercurrent of vulnerability by Julie Riley.

To one side lives Leah, kicked out of school, dreaming of singing like Mama Cass and whose mother is rarely at home. Petra Letang plays her with bolshie pride and sings beautifully. On the other side is motherless Ste, who loves sport and lives in fear of his father and brother. The final character is Tony, Sandra's boyfriend, a latterday hippie, whose spiky arm movements echo his unease at dealing with teenagers. They all gather on the balcony outside the flats in the lazy hot days and nights of summer.

Both Jamie, played with touching, hang-dog simplicity by Craig Vye, and Leah, who flaunts her 'mature' body with naïve sexuality, vie for Ste's attention and friendship. However, the truth about the boys' sexuality is revealed tentatively to them and to the audience, when Ste takes refuge in Jamie's flat after being beaten again by his drunken father. It is a beautiful, tender scene, recalling those heart-stopping moments when you realise that you have fallen in love and are unsure how to proceed or even if your feelings are reciprocated.

The rest of the play deals with how the boys cope with their situation and the impact it has upon those around them. It is sub-titled an urban fairytale and this it is. All four main characters realise that they need to escape in some way from their environment, but it's doubtful all will be 'happy ever after'.

Jamie: Craig Vye.
Leah: Petra Letang.
Sandra: Julie Riley.
Ste: Elliott Jordan.
Tony: Tom Oldham.

Director: Natalie Wilson.
Designer: Emma Donovan.
Lighting: Paul Stear.
Fight director: Terry King.

2002-06-21 08:17:26