A REVIVAL of Mart Crowley’s ground-breaking play The Boys In The Band is in Leeds from Monday to Saturday, November 14 to 19.

Mark Gatiss, Olivier Award winner and star of TV’s Sherlock, will star alongside his husband Ian Hallard in the production at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

A spokesman said: “There’s a party about to commence when nine men gather in a New York apartment for a birthday celebration.

“Harold, a self-confessed ‘Jew fairy’, receives a surprise birthday gift - a beautiful male hustler dubbed Cowboy. Meanwhile, party host Michael gets an unwanted surprise of his own in the shape of a figure from his past.

“As the booze is drunk and the dope smoked, the mood swings from hilarity to heart-break.”

The Boys From The Band comes from the producers of critically-acclaimed revivals of Beautiful Thing, Our Boys and Another Country, and the forthcoming stage adaptation of Brokeback Mountain.

Mart Crowley’s witty and dark American play premiered in 1968 just before the Stonewall riots, changing the landscape of gay theatre. It was adapted into a film in 1970, becoming a cult hit.

The play was last revived in New York in 2010, and this UK revival, which is on tour, will mark almost 20 years since the last West End production.

Mark Gatiss and Ian Hallard said they were thrilled to be part of the production.

In a joint statement they said: ”It will bring this classic gay play back to London for the first time in 18 years.

"The script is razor sharp, with huge amounts of wit and pathos, and is as fresh, startling and relevant as it was back in 1968. It's tremendously exciting to be working with a superb creative and production team."

Visit wyp.org.uk or call 0113 213 to book tickets.