To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Jonathan Harvey’s breakout play Beautiful Thing, a new production will be staged in the West End this Spring.
Running at the Arts Theatre from 13 April 2013 following a short UK tour, the play will star TV and stage actress Suranne Jones as Sandra, Jamie’s mother. The director is Nikolai Foster.
When the play premiered at the Bush Theatre in 1993 it proved to be a turning point in gay drama entering the mainstream, as this tender urban love story between two teenagers on a South London council estate – both of whom happen to be male – transferred into the West End and became a hit Channel 4 film.
Only 24 when Beautiful Thing premiered, Jonathan Harvey has gone on to be a regular writer on Coronation Street and wrote the TV comedy Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, best-selling 2012 novel All She Wants, and the plays include Canary and Corrie!
In recent years Harvey has been quite protective over granting permission for revivals of the play, relenting last year for a successful Royal Exchange Manchester production, and now allowing this 20th anniversary production to go ahead.
Suranne Jones is best known for playing Karen McDonald in Coronation Street and DC Rachel Bailey in Scott & Bailey. Other TV work includes Doctor Who, A Touch of Cloth and The Secret of Crickley Hall. Stage work includes Top Girls, A Few Good Men and Blithe Spirit.
LINKS
Book tickets to Beautiful Thing at the Arts Theatre in London
