SET during the political tensions of 1950s America, The Hook's focus is the exploited workforce and union corruption in New York’s docks.

Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse and Royal & Derngate Northampton offer a powerful co-production of Arthur Miller's work.

The original script drew the attention of the FBI because they believed it would cause labour friction in the Big Apple's dockyards.

To mark the centenary of the prize-winning playwright's birth, The Hook - which was actually written for the screen -  is being staged for the first time.

The piece has been adapted for the theatre by Ron Hutchinson and directed by James Dacre, and the play made its premiere in June in Northampton.

Here the story finds resonance in a city that has produced so many dockers who helped build the fortunes of the great Mersey port.

In 1946, Miller had become fascinated by Red Hook, Brooklyn, and its docks.

He saw in them “a dangerous and mysterious world at the water’s edge that drama and literature had never touched.”

At the Everyman, this dockland waterfront is created by designer Patrick Connellan in a slick, stylish and innovative set.

Marty Ferrara (Jamie Sives) is a longshoreman who challenges the mob men and pin-striped fat-cats of New York.

The amazing 11-strong cast make you feel the power and the glory of Marty's struggle in the run-down misery of 50s America and has been described as a piece that calls for revolution.

Marty stands up against the rotting corpses of corruption. He says the docks are no place for an honest man trying to build a good life for his family.

This is a stunning, polished performance of a play that has taken six decades to get on the boards.

It has been worth the wait.

It that makes you think about close-knit communities grappling with crime and punishment.

The Hook is a master study in integrity and ultimate betrayal.

Dockers had to wait in line to be hired - a point made to great dramatic effect here.

This is a situation where everyone actually is in it together.

My dad was a Liverpool docker so this production holds echoes for me. I saw him in there, part of a great story that crosses oceans.

Globe rating: 9/10 - a brutally honest portrayal.