Beautiful Thing
Binsey Walk, Thamesmead, 3 July - 7 July 2018
Seldom do I find myself in a position when writing a review where I realise no words, or even production images, will do justice to the incredible vision on display in this interpretation of Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing, currently being performed as part of the Greenwich & Docklands International Festival. This is a site-specific retelling of the original 1993 play (made into a film in 1996), bringing the story quite literally back to the streets of Thamesmead, where the original was set, the backdrop for this outdoor performance being a very real 4 story 9 apartment housing complex into which families had first moved fifty years ago. Now scheduled for demolition directors Bradley Hemmings and Robby Graham along with FESTIVAL.ORG, have seized a rare and unique opportunity to transform this urban landscape into a piece of vibrant living theatre.
As the audience take their seats, singer/cabaret performer George Hicks works his way through the crowd like a minstrel, singing a medley of retro hits to his own ukulele accompaniment. It’s the instrument synonymous with his cabaret alter-ego Lord Hicks, but he is instead seen here in the role of Cupid, complete with angels wings and a pair of very snug shorts. There is already a sense of attending something special, and as the production gets underway with a JCB driving through the housing estate setting, the audience prepares for storytelling on a grand scale.
What follows is a dance-theatre interpretation of the landmark LGBTQ tale of young love blossoming on the often hostile environment of the South East London housing estate. To achieve this, not only are the surrounding streets, stairways and balcony’s utilised for the story to play out on, but the frontages of three of the flats have been removed, and the rooms lit and dressed to accommodate the casts synchronised choreography! It’s an impressive site that is made all the more spectacular by the minutiae of those performances being themselves interpreted by a series of incredible visuals projected across the 9 flat block. These visuals are intelligently used to enhance rather than distract from the performance, and helps bring a visual physical and emotional cohesion to the vast space in which the actors find themselves.
There are plenty of nods back to the original, it’s familiar soundtrack immediately bringing back the 1996 movie for those of the audience that will have seen it. (Of which I am sure there were many). With such shorthand triggers I wondered how well the piece might have stood up for someone less familiar with either the play or the film, but such concerns soon dissipated as not only did the story manage all of the impact of the original, it also managed a strong emotional resonance throughout. No mean feat given the size and scale of the undertaking. The electricity of Ste (Tom Wohlfahrt) and Jamies (James Rosental) first kiss, the homophobia they face when discovered on the estate and the elation of leaving the estate behind to visit the pubs and clubs in town on a double decker bus. (And yes… they leave on a real bus!)
The ambition of this production is matched only by the unmitigated success of its execution. With so little in the way of reference points to even begin to compare this to, my advice is just to sit back and allow yourself to become completely immersed in the imagination of something so original in concept, the likes of which you might not get the chance to see again.
★★★★★
