Garrett Losack and Bryan Durden

Beautiful Thing came out in 1993 in London and has been popular in the UK ever since. This is almost certainly the first production in New Mexico, and I wonder why it took so long for us to see it. Thanks to Shiela Freed, who directed, and Michael Montroy for finding it.

Johnathan Harvey was in his early twenties when he wrote this play, but for the most part, it has very little of the novice about it. It's one of those teenage-boys-falling-in-love stories (a la My Beautiful Laundrette of 1985), but it never seems derivative. One of the characters is obsessed with the songs of Mama Cass Elliot, both from The Mamas and The Papas and from her solo career, and those songs are an integral part of the play. I was reminded of the use of ABBA songs in Muriel's Wedding, and was relieved to learn that that movie came out in 1994, one year after this play. (Cass Elliot died in London in 1974 at age 32, as a result of undiagnosed heart disease, after two weeks of sold-out concerts at the London Palladium, so she might have been a bigger star there than here.)

The setting is a council estate, which is the UK equivalent of public housing: cramped row houses with thin walls and, it seems, shared toilets. Most of the action takes place just outside of three neighboring homes: one occupied by 17-year-old Jamie and his mother Sandra, a barmaid, who is visited at times by her current boyfriend Tony; one by Ste (short for Steve), an athletic teen who lives with his abusive father and older brother; and one by Leah, who has been kicked out of school and hangs around singing Mama Cass songs. The other setting is Jamie's bedroom, where Ste sometimes has to stay after having been beaten up at home. Things happen.

This is an England of broken families, of just scraping by, of limited futures, but the characters remain undefeated by their circumstances. It's a heartwarming play. It falls apart in the last 15 minutes, when there is an unnecessary scene of Leah having some sort of hallucinogenic trip, but up to that point, it generated such good will on my part that I was willing to forgive this dramaturgical mistake.

Even if the subject matter doesn't sound appealing to you, this show should be seen for the truly terrific performance of Bryan Durden as Jamie. Wow, is he good. He doesn't play Jamie effeminately, and at first the only clues that he's gay are his unwillingness to play football (soccer), which is enough to get him bullied at school, and knowing that it was Eleanor Parker who played the Baroness in The Sound of Music. (Stereotyping, or a nicely observed touch by Mr. Harvey? I think the latter.) When Jamie cries, Bryan cries real tears. It's one of the best performances I've seen by a young actor. (I hope I'm not putting it into his head that he's too good for New Mexico.)

Margie Maes is very convincing as Sandra, a woman who likes her fun and, despite appearances, is a loving mother. Christopher Chase does another of his wonderful characterizations as Tony; any time Christopher does a British play, I totally forget that he's American. (No one is credited as costume designer, so I don't know whose idea it was to have Tony appear in one scene in a woman's see-through negligee, but I don't understand why they made that choice.)

Dani Villareal is a force of nature as Leah. Plus-size plus, she is perfectly cast as someone who would idolize Mama Cass. Dani gets to sing most of the songs, and does a fine job with them. Garrett Losack as Ste is good, but he doesn't have the stage experience yet to shine compared to the other four cast members. Shiela Freed has assembled an excellent cast, handled the scene transitions well, and coaxed believable lower-class English accents from all of her actors.

The set is cleverly designed and painted by Shiela Freed, Michael Montroy, Dagmar Garza, Mikaela Montroy, Jeannie Emery, and Bryan Durden. Good lighting and sound is provided by Dagmar Garza, Chris Love, and Avery Scott. The Desert Rose is a seat-of-your-pants kind of place, literally a storefront theater, and I really appreciate the fact that here are people putting on a play just for the love of theater. If you're anything like me, you'll be singing "Dream a Little Dream of Me" to yourself for days after seeing this play.

Beautiful Thing, a play by Johnathan Harvey, directed by Shiela Freed, is being presented at The Desert Rose Playhouse on Montgomery just west of Louisiana in Albuquerque. Through March 15, 2015. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00, Sundays at 2:00. Info at 505-881-0503 and www.desertroseplayhouse.org. Tickets are $15, or $12 for students, seniors, and ATG/TLC members.

Photo: Leah Scott

--Dean Yannias