Brokeback Mountain review: A mournful retelling of one of the most heartbreaking queer stories ever told

I had some reservations when I heard they were doing Brokeback Mountain on stage with music by Dan Gillespie Sells. But this isn’t a musical with songs about the joy of sheep herding and the perils of forbidden love. It’s “a play with music” in which the superb score evokes the atmosphere of 1963 Wyoming and comments on the narrative.

In 1997 Annie Proulx told a short story about two cowboys falling passionately in love in an era when to do so risked hatred and violence. In 2005 Ang Lee turned it into a long, brilliant, devastating film, fleshing out the story and lingering over the beautiful but often harsh and unforgiving wilderness.

Succinctly penned by Ashley Robinson in his debut play, the stage version pares it back to basics across 90 minutes, with no pause. Tom Pye’s set – consisting of just a bed, a tent, a campfire and kitchen sink – is equally economical.

“Indie kids Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges are perfectly cast as Jack and Ennis”

There’s some snow and sound effects but it’s left to the songs, performed by Fairground Attraction’s Eddi Reader and a four-piece band, to fill in the rest. The husky vocals, wistful lyrics, harmonica and slide guitar create a vast soundscape for a contained production with a cast of just seven.

Reader doubles as the Balladeer and Jack’s Mother, Jack being Jack Twist – a rambunctious rancher who meets the more reserved Ellis Del Mar. A one-time-only drunken tussle turns into a long-term affair, complicated by family commitments and homophobia and Ellis’s terror of being found out. The ending, as anyone who’s seen the film or read the book will know, is a tragic one. 

The iconic image of two intertwined cowboy shirts is blunted somewhat by revealing it in the first scene. But under Jonathan (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) Butterell’s sensitive direction, that ending is still devastating.

“Their kisses, though, are deep and passionate in a mournful, melancholy retelling of one of the most heartbreaking queer stories ever told”

Indie kids Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges are perfectly cast as Jack and Ennis. Electrifying in Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, Faist is more animated than Jake Gyllenhaal was in Lee’s film. He brags about his injuries, yee-haws when he’s happy and can’t keep his hands off Ennis, with a recklessness that’s asking for trouble. Hedges’ Ennis is closer to Heath Ledger’s. He’s self-contained, laconic, initially in denial (“I’m not no queer”) and fearful, which makes his explosive rages all the more powerful.

Both of these guys are as tough as leather and their lovemaking (somewhat coyly staged) is rough and tumble. But some of the heat from the movie is dispelled on stage and that first close encounter is clumsily done. It’s in a tent, in silhouette, and very Rocky Horror Show, drawing unintentional laughter.

Their kisses, though, are deep and passionate in a mournful, melancholy retelling of one of the most heartbreaking queer stories ever told. Receiving its world premiere for a short season at London’s @sohoplace, I predict it will have a much brighter future than its star-crossed lovers.

Brokeback Mountain is at @sohoplace, London, until 12 August. Get tickets here