FIGHTING, falling out and making out all feature in The Straits, a coming-of-age story presented by the multi-award-winning theatre company, Paines Plough, at The Corn Exchange on Tuesday, April 20, and Wednesday, April 21, at 7.45pm.

Rosia Bay, Gibraltar, 1982. Doink, Jock and Darren have the longest, hottest summer ahead - yomping, watching pirate copies of Rambo and fighting the local "spics" over a lucrative fleet of octopus. With Darren's fit older sister Tracy to sell the bounty, Rosia Bay is theirs for the taking.

But Doink's brother is away in the Falklands on HMS Sheffield and news quickly reaches them when the Sheffield is sunk. No one knows if he's survived and Doink (pictured) vehemently throws himself into anti-English day and the fight over the octopus.

The four-strong teenage cast includes Peter McNicholl as Darren, who played Vinnie Jones' son in British gangstar flick Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and James Marchant, who reprises his role as Doink.

Following his smash-hit debut Gagarin Way, The Straits sees writer Gregory Burke drawing on his experiences growing up in Gibraltar during the Falklands War. The play won the Pearson Bursary award for Best Play in 2003.

The driving force behind Paines Plough is the vision of the playwright, and the company has been discovering outstanding new voices in British theatre since 1974.

They seek, encourage, develop, support and produce writers nationwide, touring plays throughout the UK and Europe.

At every level, writers are encouraged to be courageous in their work, to challenge our notions of theatre and the society we live in.

Writer Gregory Burke was born in Dunfermline in 1968. His first play, Gagarin Way, was produced by the Traverse Theatre in association with the National Theatre Studio in 2001, opening at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, then at the National Theatre and transferring to the Arts Theatre, West End, in April 2002.

Gagarin Way has since been translated into 20 different languages and produced all over the world.

Tickets, priced £11, with concessions available, can be purchased from the box office on 01635 522733 or online at www.cornexchangenew.com