Brighton Little Theatre is performing Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing, as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival.

The play premièred at The Bush Theatre in 1993 before transferring to the West End. It was turned into a  feature film in 1995, has been revived in London several times and also performed all over the world.

A spokesman for the theatre describes the play:
"Leah is the girl next door with a passion for Mama Cass. Ste is the boy next door who loves his sports but is beaten and bullied by his drunken father. Jamie, a quiet shy boy, lives between with his single mother Sandra. Sandra works hard as barmaid and struggles to bring Jamie up in the best way she can. Tony is Sandra’s well-meaning middle class boyfriend who befriends Jamie at Sandra’s request.
Escaping briefly from his father’s clutches, Ste spends a night “top to tail” with Jamie and to the blaring sound of Leah’s sound system romance blooms.

"The play remains set in the mid 1990s and the music of Mama Cass and the Mama and Papas features strongly throughout. The play still has much to say about the coming out process for young gay people and the struggles they go through both externally and internally. At a time when homophobic attacks and abuse are on the increase it reflects the fear of gay people as they consider how coming out will change their lives.

"It also speaks strongly about the relationships between mothers and sons and how working class single mothers have to fight to bring up their children. In the character of Leah we also see how being bought up on a council estate can shape and effect a young person’s character, as they attempt to find purpose in their life.

"Through all of this Jonathan Harvey writes with his trademark wit and subtle naturalistic dialogue. The play is truly an urban fairytale full of humour, conflict and romance. The play has not been performed in Brighton for some years and was last seen in London in 2003.

"The parts of Jamie and Ste have been cast with local teenage actors who are 16 and 18, rather than older actors playing younger as is often the case."

Beautiful Thing is at Brighton Little Theatre, Clarence Gardens from Saturday 15 to Sat 22 May.

For more information view:
www.the-little.co.uk