Beautiful Thing: The History Boys

“When it first went out on tour a few people made repulsed noises when the boys kissed,” Harvey says. “I also remember a woman in Leeds saying very loudly to her neighbour, ‘They’ve got the same carpet as you, Joan.’ ” 

Jonathan Harvey recalls some early reactions to his play, Beautiful Thing, in a lovely article by Tim Teeman in The Times.
A twentieth anniversary production is currently on at the Arts Theatre, London, then touring.
But you probably knew that. 

Just like Armistead Maupin’s equally, defiantly untragic novel cycle, Tales of The City — the TV version of the first novel also debuted in 1993 — Beautiful Thing is a modern gay classic. When it was first performed there was no equal age of consent (it was 21 for gays, 16 for heterosexuals) or civil partnerships. There was a ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces, “queers” were bashed and killed on the streets, Section 28, forbidding the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools, was in force, making the isolated gay teenager’s lot that much worse. Tabloids frothed with homophobia. There was fledgeling visibility in pop culture, but gays were still the bullseye on intolerance’s dartboard. 

Is it worth pointing out the obvious; that this was the (gay) world Thatcher created - and promoted?
After the last week, sadly it's clear some gay men need reminding.
The beautiful thing about Beautiful Thing is it's about people like us breaking free from all that.

“The changes have been massive,” Harvey says. “Some Tories have even turned pro-gay. You have to remember this play was written when there weren’t many gay characters on TV, and mostly gay characters died or they were kicked out of their house and sold their arses for 20 Woodbines. Visibility is immeasurably better. But, of course, homophobia hasn’t gone away.” 

Update: Jonathan Harvey was interviewed by HomoLab and talked about the inspiration for Beautiful Thing; "It was growing up under Thatcher with her Section 28. I had been a teacher and was very aware you couldn’t talk about being gay with kids.
"It seemed that any discussion about being gay was all about sex, or anal sex. That’s not how we define ourselves, so for me it was about readdressing that balance.
"I just wanted to tell a simple story about two young lads who fell in love."