THE THING I like about amateur theatre is that you really never know what to expect.
When it’s good, there is a certain energy that comes with seeing the actors perform live, and a real satisfaction of watching it unfold as one seamless performance. When it’s bad, that couldn’t be further from the case.
Luckily for everyone, Beautiful Thing falls very much into the former category. While my generally cynical nature causes me to cringe at the thought of giving praise, I must say that it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Beautiful Thing, presented by RedTIE production, and written by Liverpool born playwright Jonathan Harvey, is ultimately a story about sexuality and acceptance but it’s also more than just that.
It’s a well paced script that, despite being nearly two hours long, absolutely flew by.
Credit for this is most due to Carl Burch, who played the lead Jamie.
While seemingly less comfortable in the more innocuous moments, he really came to life when the script called for an intense or explosive performance.
The same can very much be said about the entire cast, all of whom excelled during the difficult moments of the play.
Beautiful Thing deals with some heavy subject material and won’t be for everyone, but it’s not the sort of depressing slog it could have been. It’s upbeat when it needs to be but won’t pull any punches.
Tonight (Friday) is the closing night and I couldn’t recommend it more highly as an alternative to the football. Try something different tonight. You won’t regret it.

Reporter: htaylor@iwcpmail.co.uk