Based on Robert Tressell's classic novel of working class life in small town in Edwardian England, Stephen Lowe's stage adaptation of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists stays faithful to the spirit and passion of the original.

It introduces us to a group of painters and decorators struggling for survival in the face of an indifferent employer, ruthless works foreman Hunter, and hypocritical local 'worthies' including Rev Belcher, Mayor Sweater, and landlord Lettum.

The play is full of humour and compassion and, finally, hope. The men are 'philanthropists' not only in their comradeship with one another, but towards their bosses in giving of their skill with so little in return. The men's resignation is gradually undermined, however, by the introduction into their midst of Frank Owen, craftsman-artist and visionary.