The Beautiful Game (sometimes performed as The Boys in the Photograph) is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton about a group of teenagers growing up during The Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1969.
The title of the musical (The Beautiful Game) is a commonly used reference to association football, the origins of which are disputed. The plot, which is centred on a local football (soccer) team, focuses on the attempt to overcome the violence that has engulfed their community. The Catholic team has one atheist player, Del (who comes from a Protestant family) and the coach is a priest. The musical chronicles some of the key players during the emerging political and religious violence. Some of the players become IRA volunteers, and another is knee-capped. The musical also chronicles the emotional change in the protagonist from political ambivalence to becoming an IRA volunteer.
The most successful song from the score was "Our Kind of Love", which had originally been performed by Kiri Te Kanawa as "The Heart Is Slow to Learn". It was cut from the re-worked version of the show in 2008, and used as the title song to Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies.
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Production history
In 1998, Lloyd Webber invited Elton to dinner to discuss the possibility of the latter working on a rewrite of the script for Starlight Express, updating the humour of the original. Elton declined but suggested the possibility of a new musical, with an entirely original storyline, having observed that most musicals were based upon existing ideas. The two writers settled upon the idea of setting a story amid The Troubles in Belfast.
The world premiere of The Beautiful Game opened on 26 September 2000 at the Cambridge Theatre in London and closed 1 September 2001, after a total run of slightly more than 11 months. The production featured Josie Walker, David Shannon, Ben Goddard, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Sharpe and Michael Shaeffer in leading roles. Dianne Pilkington and Shonagh Daly were ensemble members. It was directed by Robert Carsen with choreography by Australian choreographer Meryl Tankard.
The show was met with a mixed reception from the critics: while the production and Lloyd Webber's score were largely praised, Elton's book and lyrics came under fire for being crass, predictable and undistinguished although John Peter in his review in The Sunday Times wrote "Elton's book and lyrics burst with energy, indignation and intelligence. Brave and bitterly truthful...this show...need not fear comparison with West Side Story. Offhand, I cannot think of greater praise". The show never made it to Broadway.
A rewrite by Lloyd-Webber and Elton, with the new title The Boys in the Photograph, received a workshop production by students at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in April 2008, directed by Nick Phillips. Subsequently, in April 2009 a full-scale production was presented at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This production transferred to the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in September 2009. The rewrite gave a more uplifting ending than in the original production.
In February 2012, Northern Ireland youth group Fusion Theatre produced the show for the first time in its native Northern Ireland. Directed by Ian Milford with choreography by Rebecca Leonard, the cross-community youth chorus performed it for a week-long run. The show was attended by representatives of Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. The company took the show to compete at the Waterford Festival of Light Opera in Ireland in May 2012.
Synopsis
The Beautiful Game
Act One
Football is part of everyday life in 1960s and 1970s Northern Ireland, as the overture and opening number ("The Beautiful Game") demonstrate. It is especially important for Father O'Donnell's team, who are having their first practice on the first day of the season. The star player, John Kelly, seems to be a little more interested in one of the girls on the sidelines than he is in the priest, and as a punishment is forced to stay behind and take care of the equipment ("Clean the Kit"). Meanwhile, Thomas, a fervent Irish Catholic nationalist leads a group of thugs to force Del off the team. Mary, the girl John had been noticing during the practice, comes to the locker room to talk to him. Although they initially fight their attraction (Don't Like You), they soon decide to give it a try.
Time passes. John and Mary are quite serious with each other now. She asks him one evening to join her in a civil rights march but he is more interested in going drinking with his friends. Left alone, Mary is unable to understand why anyone would not love Ireland and want to make it better. Her sentiments are echoed - almost - by a girl with the rival Protestant team ("God's Own Country"). John changes his mind and returns to go to the march with Mary, because she is more important to him ("God's Own Country", "Protestant March").
The team makes it to the final, but their celebration is cut short when a group of Protestants trash the locker room. Christine and Del emerge to find the wreckage - they had been making love in hiding during the raid. Surveying the mess, they both wish all the fighting would stop so they could get on with their lives ("Let Us Love in Peace").
It comes down to the final. After the other team tied the goal on a penalty shot, John scores the winning goal ("The Final"). The boys celebrate at a local pub ("Off to the Party, The Craic"). Del comes to see Christine, but Thomas and his friends quickly remind him that he isn't welcome. Rather than causing any more unpleasantness, he leaves. Meanwhile, Ginger has finally got up the nerve to speak to Bernadette, who returns his affection ("Don't Like You Reprise"). They have a first, small kiss, and then she has to go, and Ginger helps Daniel home. After seeing him to his door, Ginger is about to head home himself when he's confronted by a gang of Protestant thugs. He attempts, unsuccessfully, to escape.
The Boys in the Photograph
Act One
The Boys in the Photograph begins with Mary, Christine and Bernadette singing the titular number ("The Boys in the Photograph") in front of a monochrome photograph of the Belfast soccer team that is the focus of the play. After this the majority of the casts join in a number about the importance of soccer or football in the lives of the young people of Belfast, Northern Ireland which is currently on the brink of a cultural war. After this Father O'Donnell begins the roll call for the football team including: John Kelly, the team's star player who is more interested in showing off in front of girls than practicing seriously; Thomas Malloy, John's best friend, who is more driven, a fervent Catholic nationalist who wears glasses (which need to be taped to his head while playing and are referred to multiple times during the play); Del Copeland, the only Protestant on the team (who states he is an atheist); Daniel Gillen, who has a reputation of stealing radios from cars (though he argues that with so many riots taking place it only makes sense to steal the radios before the cars are burnt), and Ginger O'Shaughnessy, who wants the conflicts between Protestants and Catholics to end and to be called by his real name (Gregory). We also meet Mary a bright out-spoken young woman who believes that the conflict can be resolved through peaceful protests; Bernadette, a very religious and prudent girl who has been in love with Ginger since they were children; and Christine, who defies her Catholic up-bringing not only by going with several boys but also by the man she marries later on.
After the practice Father O'Donnell gives each member of the team a copy of the team photograph along with the lecture to "…Never forget the promise of your youth. This picture is who you are, who you become is up to you". He puts John on equipment cleaning duty, much to John's annoyance ("Cleaning Kit"). While John is imagining his future as the star player for a national team, Mary walks in and tells him that he'll never make a national team since he spends too much time chasing girls. Father O'Donnell then enters the locker room and tells John that the reason he's harder on him is because he believes that John could be great if he focuses on his game and that there will be plenty of time for girls once he's famous and can have any kind of girl he wants (to the disgust of Mary, who is hiding nearby as girls aren't allowed in the locker room). John and Mary further argue with each other ("Don't Like You") and eventually grow close and fall in love. Meanwhile, Thomas, along with a couple of nameless teammates, threaten Del with violence if he comes to practice again. (Thomas has no tolerance for Protestants after one beat up his sister; this also provides a hint of things to come).
List of musical numbers
(*= Songs added for The Boys in the Photograph)
(**= Songs removed from The Beautiful Game for The Boys in the Photograph)
Other performances
Shonagh Daly performed "Let Us Love in Peace" as the closing song at the memorial service for families of the September 11 attacks in October 2001
A selection of songs from the musical were performed for President-elect George W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair at a reception in Washington on 18 January 2001
Awards and nominations
Best Musical Award, Critics' Circle Theatre Awards (2000)
Best Actress in a musical, Josie Walker (Olivier Awards 2001) Nominee
Best Performer in a Supporting Role – Musical Theatre, Samuel Skuthorp (Green Room Awards 2020) Nominee
Best Sound Design – Musical Theatre, Marcello Lo Ricco (Green Room Awards 2020) Nominee