Preview: Beautiful Thing, Tobacco Factory Theatres

Tobacco Factory Theatres’ major in-house show for autumn 2018 is a staging of Jonathan Harvey’s 1993 play Beautiful Thing, which inspired a cult 1996 film of the same name. Artistic director Mike Tweddle directs.

Teenagers Ste and Jamie are next-door neighbours on the Thamesmead estate in South London. Jamie’s being bullied at school and Ste’s being bullied at home. One evening when it all gets too much, Ste seeks refuge at Jamie’s and something frightening and beautiful begins.

Promising a razor-sharp depiction of life and love on a post-war council estate, and a gloriously nostalgic trip back to the early nineties, Tobacco Factory Theatres’ production will feature pop songs from the ‘60s and ‘90s performed live each night by TFT’s Get Singing Community Choir, who have been brought together especially for this production.

Reheasals for ‘Beautiful Thing’. Pics: Mark Dawson Photography

Here’s Mike to tell us more.

It feels as though the story has two big things going for it: the unusual and touching story of love between two tough inner-city teenage boys, and (for us now, more than when the film came out!) a nostalgic look back at the early 1990s. How much do these two themes dominate your production?
Great question! I think they both dominate, as the period is inextricable from the unusual and touching nature of the story. The teenage characters’ courage and resourcefulness is all the more inspiring when you look at their historical setting. In the early 90s, the age of consent for homosexual men was still 21, many gay people were feeling demonised over the AIDS epidemic, and it was illegal to speak of homosexuality in schools.
Meanwhile, 14 years of Conservative rule had left many working-class communities feeling disenfranchised and hopeless about the future. So, a play that dispelled prejudices and misunderstandings about teenage gay love, but also about residents of so-called ‘sink estates’ like Thamesmead, was genuinely ground-breaking.
Meanwhile, the many 90s pop culture references are fundamental to the play’s irresistible humour and characterisation.

The production is directed by Tobacco Factory Theatres’ artistic director Mike Tweddle

How recognisable, and how different, does that early 1990s world feel now? At what moments is the passage of time most evident?
It’s striking how far away it feels, whilst also feeling so familiar in its references, which perhaps means I’m getting old! I think the most significant difference is the absence of mobile phones and internet. So for teenagers feeling isolated and scared about their sexuality, they can only access and learn about the LGBTQ community by taking bold, brave steps – like buying a copy of Gay Times, going incognito to a gay pub, or carefully and scarily reaching out to someone they think might be in the same boat. Also, both the boys clearly fancy Gary Lineker, who is no longer quite the pin-up that he was in 1993!

Tell us about both Ste and Jamie, and what propels each of them towards this moment.
I don’t want to give too much away, but both are suffering traumatic abuse either at school or at home, and they are needing someone who will care for, listen to, respect and support them – the main ingredients of a truly beautiful romance. Physical desire is only one small element in a very rich and nuanced mix of feelings that bring them together.

The play “shows how community can lift you out of isolation and suffering. ” Can you say more about that – is it not only each other that the boys come to for help?
This play is about the healing power of extended or alternative families, neighbourliness and community. Everyone in the play is looking for peace and safety, and they find it – in some cases fleetingly, in others lastingly – in the solidarity of belonging. Hence, this has been the perfect opportunity to work with another community ensemble, made up of brilliant singers who will bring to life the period and themes of the play through the joyful power of pop!

What would you say is the prevailing mood of the story, or does it oscillate between different moods?
I’d say it travels between heart-achingly touching, rib-strainingly funny and jaw-droppingly beautiful. And hopefully the production will do it justice (no pressure!)

Beautiful Thing is at Tobacco Factory Theatres until Oct 27. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/beautiful-thing

Read more: “The gay community is still seen as an impenetrable other”