IN the opening ten minutes of Christmas Is Miles Away there are more "f" words than you can shake a stick at.

Not that there's anything wrong with swearing in plays of course - expletives can be highly effective dramatic tools if they're used sparingly.

They can be even more effective when they fall out of the mouths of characters you wouldn't expect to swear but when they're used so often, it just becomes annoying. And, as far as writers are concerned, it all shows a woeful lack of imagination.

Chloe Moss's dialogue in this routine coming of age piece is laboured and predictable and, while there are one or two poignant moments, this forgettable work adds nothing to the wealth of drama that currently exists about growing pains.

Georgia Taylor, the former Coronation Street star, demonstrated in both that programme and later in the BBC's excellent comedy drama Blackpool that she is much more talented than many of the one dimensional actors who inhabit soap land. In this play, however, she is scandalously under used.

Taylor plays Julie Bridges, the girlfriend of Christie, best mate of Luke. The setting is Manchester - sorry, Manchest-o - and all three are thinking about the future. Christie and Luke have known each other since they were in short trousers, but Julie comes between them and is the catalyst for the ultimate break up of their friendship.

While the performances from Georgia, David Judge (Christie) and Paul Stocker (Luke) are strong, full of attitude and at times painfully realistic, you're left feeling sorry for them, wondering what they could've achieved if they'd had a decent script to work with. The whole play screams opportunity missed.

The music is fantastic though, with Mancunian legends The Stone Roses providing the majority of the soundtrack. But you can play CDs at home, which is where I suggest you stay if you're contemplating a trip to the Royal Exchange Studio over the next week or so. For one of the top theatres in the country, this is decidedly poor fare.

Rick Bowen

* Until November 19.