Beautiful Thing

Teenage boys Ste and Jamie are neighbours on a South London estate. Jamie is more knowledgeable about The Sound of Music than football, while classmate Ste never misses a sports day. Both are being bullied, Jamie at school and Ste at home by his violent father and brother. One night, when things get too much, Ste seeks refuge in Jamie's flat and, sharing a bed, the boys strike up a new relationship. Together they come to terms with their sexuality and explore their feelings alongside their Mama Cass loving, rebellious friend Leah and with the much-needed emotional support of Jamie's lioness mother, Sandra. Thirty years on from its initial publication, Jonathan Harvey's iconic, coming-out and coming-of-age story set in the nineties still resonates with ideas on community, friendship, rites of passage and what it is to be sixteen and in love. This edition is published to coincide with the revival at London's Stratford East theatre, in September, 2023.