The Beautiful Game

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The Beautiful Game is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton about a group of teenagers growing up amid religious intolerance in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1969.

The title of the musical is taken from the Pelé's autobiography "My Life and the Beautiful Game". The musical opened September 26, 2000 at the Cambridge Theatre in London and closed September 1, 2001, after a total run of slightly more than 11 months.

The plot, which is centered on a local football (soccer) team, focuses on te attempt to overcome religious intolerance and violence that has engulfed their community. The team is made up of Catholic and Protestant youths and the coach is a priest. The musical chronicles the ups and downs of the team players as the emerging political and religious violence overwhelms them. Some of the players become members of the IRA, one gets kneecapped.

The musical also chronicles the emotional change in the lead protagonist from political ambivalence to becoming an IRA terrorist. Highlights of the play include the dual singing of "God's Own Country" by two females, one Catholic, one Protestant; the rainy scene; the soccer match; the transformation of the football net into a prison.

The most successful song from the score was "Our Kind of Love" for the two lead protagonists.

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