Beautiful Game

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton’s 'The Beautiful Game' (later revised as The Boys in the Photograph) is a deeply moving, politically fierce musical drama that stands as a unique, highly serious entry in the Lloyd Webber theatrical canon. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the late 1960s on the precipice of the violent socio-political fractures known as the Troubles, the narrative tracks an exceptionally talented, tight-knit local amateur youth football team as their athletic dreams, romances, and lifelong friendships are systematically torn apart by the escalating sectarian violence and paramilitary recruitment. Featuring Elton’s sharp, naturalistic book, the work captures a powerful document of social realism on the stage.