Beautiful Thing

By Jonathan Harvey

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1350448710
• ISBN13: 9781350448711
• Release Date: October 2023
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

They Made Their Own Kind Of Music

For a change, we have here a most outstanding gay story which doesn't mention AIDS every three paragraphs - in fact, I believe it only comes up once. What a relief! It's the most moving love story, where those who fall in love just happen to be two boys. This really has to be read to be believed - no review could do it justice, so my advice to you is simply to get hold of a copy! You will also fall in love - with Jamie & Ste, Leah, her Mum and Sandra - Jamie's Mum. You will laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. A modern masterpiece. Some further advice to you, when you've finished reading, find a Mama Cass/The Mamas And The Papas CD and lap up the atmosphere. You'll notice how many songs could have been written especially for "Beautiful Thing". By the way, Mama Cass didn't die choking on a sandwich - she had a heart attack.

Beautiful Thing : A Screenplay by Jonathan Harvey

It is about two school boys who fall in love.A long hot summer on a housing estate in South London. James is bunking off school, whilst his Mother Sandra juggles job promotion and her relationship with hippy-dippy boyfriend Tony.Next door lives Sassy Leah, who spends her day listening to Mama Cass records. In the same block, Jamie's class mate Steve, although sporty and popular at school, Is bullied by his drunken father. One day Steve, seeks refuge in Sandra's flat and ends up sleeping head to toe with Jamie...Author says "The only images I really had of gay people when I was growing up were those public boys in cricket jumpers taking each other punting on the river, or the working class boys who got kicked out and ended up working as rent boys. This play in which somebody can be working class and still have their sexuality accepted. That was my agenda. It's not about what you get up to after lights out, it's about falling in love."The feel good book of the summer film 96We love the book and the filmgayteens.org

A Wonderful Story of First Love

Beautiful Thing is one of the warmest, most positive stories about gay love I have ever read. More importantly, it is about love in general, and all the fears, hopes, dreams, etc. that go with first love, not just gay love. I can't recommend it more highly for anyone, gay or straight.

Truly a Beautiful Thing...

I saw the show in Chicago and it was brilliant! The story is so honest and heart-felt. Harvey did a magnificent job of not turning the show into a cliched "gay" play.

"Beautiful Thing" Is Just That

The tale of two British boys who fall in love in the Thamesmead council estate hits home for all of us, no matter what sexual orientation, age, nationality or upbringing. Jonathan Harvey does a great job of translating his simple, well-written stage production into a broadened, wonderful screenplay. The big screen gave him the chance to further develop the characters of Jamie, Ste and the others. And the "BT" script gives avid fans the opportunity to pick up and understand the thick south London tongue used in the movie