Sweaty male bonding but gratefully no tap dancing in the new musical adaptation of ‘Brokeback Mountain’

The Rundown

Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar might not have a tap number (insert Some Like It Hot) to climax the musical version of Brokeback Mountain, but the latest adaptation of Annie Proulx’s short story has prompted excitement and curiosity among gay theater fans worldwide. London is the lucky city chosen to host the premiere, which plays a limited run at the West End’s newest theater, @sohoplace.

Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased) and Mike Faist (West Side Story) star as the ill-fated lovers. The production reunites director Jonathan Butterell and composer Dan Gillespie Sells, who collaborated on Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

No Tea, No Shade

Have Butterell and Gillespie-Sells turned in a similarly all-singing, all-dancing version of the Annie Proulx classic? Gratefully, no. It should be stressed this isn’t quite a musical but more of a play with songs. A country-flavored band sits to the side of the stage and provides musical interludes led by singer and “balladeer” Eddi Reader (of the band Fairground Attraction).

You may well ask, “Does Brokeback Mountain need songs?” Well, there is a logic to the idea. Part of the power of the 2005, Oscar-winning movie, starring the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, was the stunning landscapes and cinematography. That obviously can’t be recreated on stage. Dialogue in both the movie and the original novella was sparse. Ennis, in particular, is a man of few words.

Take away the Wyoming vista, and you’re left with two men on a mountaintop herding sheep. However, the addition of musical interludes brings something to the mix.

That said, on first hearing, the actual songs are somewhat forgettable. That’s not to deny that the music heightens the mood of the piece, with the twangs of a steel pedal guitar tugging on the heartstrings.

Is the play any different from the movie in terms of story? Again, “no” would be the short answer. Ashley Robinson’s 90-minute script sticks faithfully to the novella. If anything, it emphasizes Brokeback Mountain as a story of regret. An older actor, Paul Hickey, plays an aged Ennis. The story unfolds through his eyes, and his presence haunts the action — literally. Hickey hangs around the stage’s edge for the whole play, looking back longingly but rarely saying a word.

And a quick word about that stage. Opened in October 2022, @sohoplace is the first newly-built theater in London’s West End in 50 years. It’s a gorgeous, in-the-round venue, with tiered seating surrounding the stage. It’s an intimate space for an equally intimate story, even if it occasionally means you’re staring at the actors’ backs.

Let’s Have a Moment

There are probably few queer readers that have not seen the movie version of Brokeback Mountain. Ennis and Jack meet while herding sheep one summer on the titular mountain. A deep love for one another follows lust at a time when such passion was taboo. Both marry women but meet again for camping or fishing trips over the intervening years. Jack pushes Ennis for more, but he decries it as impossible.

Faist commands the stage as Jack, the slightly cockier, would-be rodeo rider with a taste for danger. Hedges seemed a little more stilted at the start of the press night performance but soon warmed up, either overcoming nerves or responding in character to the overtures from his lover. Both men strip down at one point or another for plenty of sweaty male bonding.

Besides Faist and Hedges, kudos to stage newcomer Emily Fairn, who perfectly captures the fragility and confusion of Ennis’ wife, Alma. The moment she discovers her husband kissing his Jack is (as it was in the film) one of the story’s most devastating moments.

The ending also remains genuinely moving. Like the leads in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains Of The Day, there’s something gut-wrenching about characters who want a life together but are constrained by the mores of the day to reject happiness.

The Final Word

Some may consider Brokeback Mountain a historical piece, but that quick dismissal fails to acknowledge the heartache faced by gay men today who are deep in the closet, married to women, and hiding their true selves.

After the movie and an opera, do we need a Brokeback Mountain musical? Maybe not, but there’s plenty here to make it worthwhile. That’s probably a testament to Proulx’s source material as it is to this ambitious reimaging. Her brief smoldering tale of forbidden love in the wilds of Wyoming continues to resonate.

Brokeback Mountain plays at @sohoplace on London’s West End through August 12.