An Awfully Big Adventure is a novel written by Beryl Bainbridge.

The story was inspired by Bainbridge's own experiences working at the Liverpool Playhouse in her youth.

Set in working-class England in 1950,[3] the story observes sexual politics among a troupe of actors working at a shabby regional playhouse.

During a Christmas production of Peter Pan, the play turns into a dark metaphor for youth when Stella Bradshaw, an ambitious teenage girl from the slums of Liverpool, joins the company and gets entangled in the backstage intrigue.

In 1995, Fine Line Features released a motion picture adaptation starring Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant and then-unknown actress Georgina Cates in the central role.