Everybody's Talking About Jamie

Act One

The year 11 students are in the middle of their final careers lesson at Mayfield School in Sheffield. Their teacher, Miss Hedge, is (unsuccessfully) trying to hold the students’ attention, but they are more interested in chatting about what they’re doing on Friday night. Miss Hedge wants them to realize they need to have realistic expectations about what they will do after they leave school One student, Pritti, declares that she wants to be a doctor but none of the rest of the class take the discussion seriously. Meanwhile, Jamie New, sits quietly at the back, reading a magazine and daydreaming about his ambitions to become a drag queen (“And You Don’t Even Know It”).

Over at Jamie’s house, Jamie’s mum, Margaret, and her best friend, Ray, are putting up decorations for Jamie’s birthday celebrations. Ray is seeing a new man--Dave--and she is trying to get Margaret to hit the dating scene. Ray is annoyed that Jamie’s dad hasn’t bothered to show up for his son’s birthday again,