"Director Wils Wilson and movement director Eddie Kay with their talented 10-strong cast and supporting community actors communicate the harshness, the hopefulness, the vigour and desperation of youngsters fighting to find identity in urban, industrial uniformity." Clare Brennan The Observer****
"Wils Wilson maintains a sense of mechanistic, industrial power throbbing through the city as persistently as the blood in the scuttlers' veins" Financial Times
'Wils Wilson's production is a visual and sonic treat" Exeunt
Scuttlers were the first urban youth gangs. They erupted out of the volcano of change which was the Industrial Revolution, born in Cottonopolis, Ancoats, Manchester.
Rona Munro's new play dived into a world where life was often short and brutal, and told the story of a group of young mill workers carving out their lives with fierce energy, navigating the pressures of work, the street, reputation, friendship, sex and love.
A live score performed and composed by Denis Jones 'played' the Royal Exchange building, turning it into a huge percussion machine, creating contemporary urban sounds which were a powerhouse, driving the action continually onwards. Fly Davis' design created an epic and finely textured environment. A young and talented professional company of 9 were joined by 30 community cast members who created a crowded, fast-moving, ever-shifting world.
Director - Wils Wilson
Writer - Rona Munro
Designer - Fly Davis
Composer - Denis Jones
Movement Director - Eddie Kay
Lighting Design - Natasha Chivers
Sound design - Peter Rice