[2] Mr Sloane, a young man looking for a place to board, happens by the residence of Kath, a middle-aged landlady whose home is on the outskirts of a rubbish dump.

Getting acquainted with Mr Sloane, Kath is open about a previous relationship she had which led to her bearing a child; her brother insisted that she give it up for adoption because it was conceived out of wedlock.

The action resumes "some months later" and begins with Mr Sloane recounting an evening in which a young woman gave him her telephone number.

[3] It was directed by Patrick Dromgoole and starred Madge Ryan as Kath, Dudley Sutton as Sloane, Charles Lamb as Kemp, and Peter Vaughan as Ed.

[5][6] A subsequent London production at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in 1981 was directed by Kenneth Williams and starred Barbara Windsor as Kath.

Produced by Howard Feuer, Jeremy Ritzer, Laurence Gordon and Sidney Shlenker and directed by John Tillinger, it starred Maxwell Caulfield as Sloane, Barbara Bryne as Kath, Gwyllum Evans as Kemp, and Jerome Dempsey as Ed.

In 1985 Greg Hersov directed a production at the Royal Exchange, Manchester with Adam Ant as Sloane, Sylvia Syms as Kath and James Maxwell as Ed.

The design team included Allen Moyer (sets), Michael Krass (costumes), Ken Posner (lights), and John Gromada (original music and sound).

Directed by Simon Phillips, it starred Richard Piper as Ed, Ben Guerens as Sloane, Amanda Muggleton as Kath, and Bob Hornery as Kemp.

[13] From 29 January 2009, a production at the Trafalgar Studios in London starred Imelda Staunton as Kath, Mathew Horne as Sloane, Simon Paisley Day as Ed and Richard Bremmer as Kemp.

It starred Sheila Hancock as Kath, Edward Woodward as Ed, Clive Francis as Sloane, and Arthur Lovegrove as Kemp.

[18] Clive Exton wrote the screenplay for a 1970 feature film directed by Douglas Hickox and starring Beryl Reid, Peter McEnery, Harry Andrews and Alan Webb.