GORDON Graham's The Boys was first staged a few years after the horrific rape and murder of Sydney nurse Anita Cobby by five men in 1986.
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Decades later, the Newcastle Theatre Company has decided to revive the stage play, which disturbed and intrigued so many audiences in years past.
Director John Wood said the themes explored throughout The Boys were still relevant in society today.
Central to both The Boys and the Cobby murder is the relationship between three brothers and their attack on a woman.
Wood said the play explored how families living in low socio-economic areas could carry out such a brutal crime.
"In rehearsals we were talking about a Melbourne woman who was attacked by five men just two weeks earlier.
"It's been close to 30 years since the Anita Cobby murder but these kinds of attacks are still happening now," he said.
In The Boys Brett Spragie is reunited with his mum Sandra and brothers Glenn and Stevie, not long after being released from jail.
But a lot has changed since he has been behind bars, with Stevie expecting a child and Glenn moving out of home.
As Brett spirals out of control he brings his two brothers down with him.
The Boys is an intense theatre experience that may not be to everyone's liking.
■The Boys by the Newcastle Theatre Company is on at 90 De Vitre Street Lambton from October 4-18. Tickets from newcastletheatrecompany.com.au or phone 4952 4958.