Beautiful Thing at Theatre Royal Stratford East – Reviews

"A brilliantly refreshing and tender revival of a coming-out classic"

"Stratford East's warm and nostalgic production of Jonathan Harvey's 1993 queer drama does it full justice"

"By casting black actors as the protagonists, however, Anthony Simpson-Pike’s 30th anniversary revival distinguishes itself, foregrounding race as a core factor in Harvey’s witty examination of the intersection between class, gender and sexuality. It’s a simple but canny way to refresh the play for audiences who might not have even been alive during its first outing."

"Thanks to committed and authentic performances from Owokoniran and Akuwudike, it’s in this inarticulate interaction, during which Jamie and Ste lean into their burgeoning queerness together, that the play finds its big, open heart."

"90s teens navigating tough times in a tender-hearted triumph"

"Jonathan Harvey’s breakthrough play still blazes with a stubborn utopian impulse thanks to finely pitched performances and delicately balanced banter"

"Harvey’s play goes to challenging places – violence offstage and on, the fear that lives might already be written off at 16. Anthony Simpson-Pike’s direction knows when to hold a silence, to feel the doubt beneath the banter."

"Soap and panto, big heart and shameless gags: they were already there in Beautiful Thing. It’s a bumpy mix, but there’s also a stubborn utopian impulse – an insistence that love will find a way, that lives can take the shape they need."

"Gleefully of its time but more timeless than ever"

"It is, indeed, a rather beautiful thing"

"Thirty years later it’s still beautiful, and as Anthony Simpson-Pike’s solid but slightly stilted anniversary revival shows, it’s got this other quality about it too: gleefully of its time – aspic clings to the mentions of Autumnal Shades tissues – but more timeless than ever."

"Most productions have had white casts, but here it’s an all black cast except for Mama Cass-obsessed teenager Leah, a fabulously bolshy, sometimes devastatingly vulnerable Scarlett Rayner... Jamie’s unfiltered pub landlady mother Sandra is a gift of a part, and Shvorne Marks seizes it with her walloping tongue and weary cynicism."

"We’ve got Heartstopper now. We’ve got gender discourse. You’d think the radicalism of Beautiful Thing has dimmed. Far from it. Even if it clunks occasionally, Simpson-Pike’s production, without much fuss, renews the play’s claim to gay greatness."

"Simpson Pike brings out some wonderful performances, especially Raphael Akuwudike who finds the sweet spot as Ste"

"Time has turned Johnathan Harvey’s classic ’90s queer play into a period piece, but this thirtieth-anniversary revival is powerfully affecting"

"The soul-searching, open conversations that their fizzing new connection brings sting as much today as ever."

"Fear and secrecy is key to the central relationship. But Harvey’s words celebrate gay love in all its glory and the fact that the play is now something of a period piece does little to erode it."

"In Anthony Simpson-Pike’s anniversary production, the fear of violence is always there, crackling, but so is the excitement of early flirtation."

"In this production, the cast is Black – apart from Leah... It’s a visible contrast from most other productions, bold and socially inclusive. But it’s a directorial decision doesn't quite match with a text that simply avoids the topic of race entirely."

"Message of 1990s play remains pertinent"

"Enjoyable revival that reinforces Jonathan Harvey’s play as a cultural landmark"

"This 30th-anniversary production directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike doesn’t attempt to update it, apart from a few very minor references and a surprise ending celebrating the play’s legacy of acceptance. The music has been edited to offer a more balanced mix of 1990s tunes, but the excising of The Sound of Music punchline is an own goal."

"Simpson-Pike’s production takes a little while to bed in, but eventually the mix of relationships fall into place and the style becomes warmer and more natural."

"Although neither Owokoniran nor Akuwudike physically convince as teens, both suggest the innocence required, and they have an awkward chemistry that morphs into a convincing romance."