Robert Tressell's novel 'The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists', first published in 1914 after his death in 1911, is a recognised classic of working-class literature. It is an account of the working lives of a group of housepainters and decorators in the fictional town of Mugsborough, based on the southern English coastal town of Hastings. Howard Brenton's stage adaptation lays bare the many social injustices perpetrated on these men whilst capturing their individual characters.