Steel (NHB Modern Plays)

Two lads. Twelve hours. One million pounds.

On the rain-drenched West Cumbrian coast, James and Kamran have been mates for more than a decade. They're seventeen, so the world should be theirs – but Workington is a ghost town, an unemployment blackspot where lasses drink Bacardi by the pint and boys don't cry.

When James discovers he is heir to a single mile of the British railway network, the lads set out on a high-stakes chase through town, where annihilated aunties, Snakebite-drenched drag queens and a zombie Princess Diana are lying in wait.

Lee Mattinson's Steel is a hilarious and heartfelt play about first loves, forging identities and the wild, wild hearts of teenage boys. It was first performed at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, in 2024 followed by a UK tour.

'Beautiful and breath-stopping… a raw, gorgeous evocation of a damaged community and its routes to healing' – The Stage

'A play to be treasured… speaks to the heart of the youth today… harrowing but also wonderfully uplifting… a delightful play that is absolutely ideal for teenagers to go and see' – Northern Arts Review

'An acerbic script full of great lines' – Theatre Reviews North