Full casting announced for 2015 UK Tour of Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing

Full casting has been announced for the 2015 UK Tour of Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing. Nikolai Foster's production, which ran in the West End last year, will open in Canterbury next March.

Gerard McCarthy (Hollyoaks) and Vanessa Babirye (Our Girl) will star as Tony and Leah respectively. They join the previously announced Charlie Brooks (EastEnders, pictured right), Thomas Law (EastEnders) and Sam Jackson (Skins) as Sandra, Ste and Jamie. The cast is completed by Rob Ellis and Natalie Law

Jonathan Harvey wrote Beautiful Thing when he was just 24. It premiered at the Bush Theatre in 1993 and sold out its five-week run before transferring to the Donmar Warehouse, and then the Duke of York's, eventually winning its author an Olivier Award nomination and the John Whiting Award. A screen adaptation of the play was released in 1996 by Channel 4 films, which went on to be a cult hit.

Beautiful Thing is a glorious urban love story between two young men set on an inner city housing estate. It tells the story of teenager Jamie's relationship with classmate and neighbour Ste. Together the two boys find comedy, warmth and the music of Mama Cass through their loud-mouthed next door neighbour Leah. The play exquisitely depicts what it is to be sixteen, in the first flush of love, and full of optimism.

Photo Credit: Anton Belmonte

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