Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Since Beautiful Thing was written in 1993, the cultural landscape regarding sexuality has changed dramatically.  Discovering love for the first time, however, remains thrilling, exciting, and scary.  If only the discovery of Jamie and Ste’s love ached with the ecstasy that’s on the page on the stage, then all the irksomeness of this very under produced and inadequately designed affair could be forgiven.  Unfortunately, the sparks of passion that have to fly out fast and bright to give this simple story the dramatic momentum it needs merely sputter.

The simple yet touching and lovely story revolves around two 15 year old boys in working class England who are each in family situations that are far from ideal.  They are also neighbors and classmates.  While trying to work through the growing pains of adolescence, they find that their friendship may be deeper and more meaningful than anything either of them had anticipated.  This may not be so problematic except that it also requires the following identity: queer.  The emotional upheaval that occurs in Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing as a result of Jamie and Ste’s unique situation is consistent and consistently exciting.  It’s not just that they’re gay in an unaccepting world.  It’s that Ste’s father beats him, that Jamie’s dad is out of the picture and his mom has men issues of her own, that their friend and neighbor has been kicked out of school and is constantly on their cases, and that any stability on almost any—academic, social, familial, etc.—level is unattainable.  All the actors seem game to take us on the ride, but like the sparks that only sputter, the ride that should eventually twist, turn, and maybe even do a loop-the-loop, just keeps slowly moving along…very slowly.

The major cause of the problem is Michelle Kuchuk’s pedantic and terribly uninspired direction.  The staging is often awkward, the subtext in the play is handled oddly or left unexplored, and the most wrenching scenes either fall flat or feel forced.  Part of the forced feeling comes from the rather sophomoric British accents the cast employs.  Trip Langley (Jamie) and Rebecca Lee Lerman (Leah) have particular trouble with theirs.  Julie Campbell (Sandra), however, anchors the show with a solid performance.  She starts off brash and confident but slowly reveals vulnerability, sorrow, and some humor too as she deals with mothering Jamie, bettering her career, and building a relationship with Tony, whom Tim Romero plays in a rather carefree yet appealing manner.  Michael Abourizk rounds out the cast as Ste, the more introverted and conflicted member of the love struck pair.  His uncertainty and fear are palpable as Abourizk tentatively maneuvers his way from his abusive home to Jamie’s comfort to his own demons and back again.

For all of Abourizk and Campell’s talents, though, too many weak elements keep the play at a decidedly amateur level.  The sets, costumes, and lights were not only overly basic and uninteresting, they were misplaced, misused, and mystifyingly mindless.  Still, nothing can stop two hearts that beat for each other and then beat all odds so that they continue to do just that.  One cannot help but be touched by this moving self-described urban fairytale.  Well, Ste and Jamie’s love is undoubtedly a beautiful thing, but this production, a paltry thing.