Tongues of the West: Brokeback Mountain Gets Seriously Steamy

by

If you’ve been feeling a sudden heatwave lately, it might have something to do with the resurgence of Brokeback Mountain—not the 2005 film, but the 2023 London stage adaptation that starred none other than Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges. Let’s just say… they didn’t hold back.

Advertisement

Staged at the slick and intimate @sohoplace theatre, this West End “play with music” (we’ll get to that in a bit) written by Ashley Robinson had audiences gasping, swooning, and, if we’re being honest, probably fanning themselves with their Playbills. Based on Annie Proulx’s iconic short story and featuring original music by Dan Gillespie Sells, this adaptation leaned fully into the emotional—and physical—intensity of Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist’s forbidden, decades-spanning love story.

RELATED: Things Get Steamy in Lucas Hedges and Mike Faist’s ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Musical

Lucas Hedges took on the famously repressed Ennis (originally played by Heath Ledger), while Mike Faist slipped—quite literally—into Jake Gyllenhaal’s boots as the dreamy, passionate Jack. And baby, they delivered.

Advertisement

Let’s talk chemistry. These two don’t just hold hands and longingly stare into the Wyoming sky. No, no. They straddle each other. They grind. They undress one another with the urgency of two men who haven’t been touched in years—which, to be fair, is kind of the whole point. They’re in bed together. In their underwear. With their hands everywhere. And we do mean everywhere. Okay, deep, calming breaths now, everyone. 

It’s sultry. It’s emotional. It’s “wait, is this allowed on stage?” kind of hot.

While the original film had us crying into our flannel shirts, the stage version adds a whole new level of visceral intensity by bringing the love—and lust—front and center. One moment they’re brawling like only two emotionally damaged cowboys can, the next they’re lip-locked, rolling across the stage in a tangle of limbs and heartbreak. How the audience survived eight shows a week is anyone’s guess.

Advertisement

And yet, beyond all the steamy scenes and shirtless embraces, what makes this revival stick is the acting. Hedges brings a quiet storm to Ennis—his fear, his confusion, his deep and unspoken longing all simmer just below the surface. Faist, on the other hand, is like a spark set loose—his Jack is bold, yearning, and devastatingly charismatic. The pair aren’t just hot together—they’re believable. You feel the weight of 20 years of love denied in every kiss, every silence, every stolen moment–and all of this in a 90-minute stage play. 

Though the show wrapped its original run in August 2023, clips of the steamy duo have recently resurfaced online—just in time for the 20th anniversary of the Brokeback Mountain film. Naturally, fans are now demanding a return (and maybe an HD pro-shot, please?). Because let’s face it, if thirst tweets were box office votes, this show would be playing forever.

Until then, we’ll just have to rewatch those clips…for the plot. Obviously. But if you can hold out, it is having a US premiere at Chicago Shakespeare, June 2026! Pride of next year!

3 thoughts on “Tongues of the West: Brokeback Mountain Gets Seriously Steamy”

  1. They need to put Faist in regular old tighty whities…those weird white boxer briefs do not look like something Jack would have had in the west in that time. Get that man in some regular old briefs.

    Reply

  2. Mike Faist can do whatever he wants to me,lol. But seriously,they both are amazing actors, would love to see this on Broadway. Though I’d probably have to end up catching a national tour.

    Reply

Leave a Comment