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Beautiful Thing
8 September – 7 October 2023
Theatre Royal Stratford East
By Jonathan Harvey
Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike
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.
This 30th-anniversary revival of Jonathan Harvey‘s iconic, coming-out and coming-of-age story set in the nineties, is about community, friendship, rites of passage and what it is to be 16 and in love.
Beautiful Thing is a touching, urban love story, full of warmth and humour.
Age guidance: 14+