Rita, Sue and Bob Too & A State Affair

It is 20 years since Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar's most famous play was first performed. But the comic tale of two teenagers looking for sex and drink amid life on a Bradford council estate is still as funny, abrasive and thoughtful as it was when it was first performed in 1982.

The first scene when Bob shows babysitters Rita and Sue a good time in his car is still pretty startling now. Out of Joint Theatre Company do a fine job with a play that manages to combine a reality, humour and acceptance of a hard life that few have touched since.

A State Affair by Robin Soans brings us bang up-to-date with the lives of people on the Buttershaw estate and the destructive hold that drugs have taken on the community. It is a collection of real life stories from young people caught in a cycle of domestic abuse, poverty, drug addiction and crime.

In particular it focuses on the Church on the Way and heroin users who try to kick their habit with love of the Lord. Perhaps the most telling contribution is from Dunbar's daughter, who has become a heroin user herself.

The result is a piece of theatre that is crushingly depressing and yet has the power to be uplifting and humorous. The excellent cast do more than justice to the script that is constructed entirely from conversations with people in and around Bradford in July 2000.

Both plays are handled with pace and understanding by director Max Stafford-Clark. This double bill tells it how it is and doesn't gloss over the harsh realities of inner-city life. As such it is a vital piece of theatre which I urge you to see.

* West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, until February 2. Phone 0113 213 7700.

RICHARD BRUGGER