It's holiday week in the Lancashire town of Hindle, just before the First World War. Fanny Hawthorne, a spirited, determined mill girl, has just returned from a weekend in Blackpool with her friend Mary Hollins. At least that's what she tells her parents. In fact, she's been spending the weekend with Alan Jeffcote, a wealthy mill owner's son who is engaged to someone else. When Fanny's parents discover the truth, they set out to ensure that Alan will do the decentthing and marry her – only to discover that Fanny has her own ideas on the matter... One of the first plays to have a working class female protagonist, Hindle Wakes was hugely controversial at the time of its writing.