First produced in Manchester in 1989, Townsend's play is set in the year 2001 where the class system is numbered from one to five and only the upper classes are allowed to breed. 'Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes' is about the births of a perfect but illegal 'class five' baby, and an imperfect 'government' baby bought by a 'class three' mother and exterminated at birth because of her nine toes.