Synopsis
Scuttlers
Published by Nick Hern Books
Large Mixed Cast
It's 1885 and the streets of Manchester are crackling with energy, youth and violence
As workers pour into Ancoats to power the Industrial Revolution, 50,000 people are crammed into one square mile
The mills rumble thunderously day and night
The air is thick with smoke
And life is lived largely on the street
This is the world's very first industrial suburb and the young mill workers who are the living cogs in its machines form the very first urban gangs
Fighting over their territory with belts, fists and knives
Until now invisible in history, their lives, deaths, loves, lusts and defiant energy tell stories that repeat over the decades and finally reach us today
Inspired by the Manchester riots of 2011 and the stories of the Manchester gangs between the nineteenth century and today, Rona Munro's play smashes the nineteenth century against a twenty-first century sensibility to bring the young Scuttlers back to vivid, potent life
With nine leading roles and a large cast of mill workers and gang members, Scuttlers is well suited to performance by schools and youth groups, who will enjoy and appreciate its physical energy and dramatic storyline