Jan has run away from an alcohol detoxification unit and stolen a bus on which she intends to escape to London. Whilst trying to persuade her boyfriend Se to come with her, she discovers that she has taken more than she bargained for, as the bus is where Rosie, an old woman secretly lives, and she is coming with them too.
A play that followed the journey of three characters, all trying to escape from something. Se wanted to escape a father who doesn’t listen; Mikey was trying to escape an unpromising future if he joined the army, and the old woman was trying to escape being old and forgotten.
Set in an inner-city urban neighbourhood, the play reflected the problems facing young people in the 1990s as they struggled with what it means to be independent and how society is full of temptations and frustrations and where nicking a bus from your Dad’s bus station wasn’t going to solve anything.
This piece toured to schools and youth centres and was a new production of a play originally commissioned by Red Ladder Theatre Company.
Jenny Sealey was an actor and member of the Half Moon Theatre’s young people’s company in the 1980s. She talks about Rattlin’ the Cage and its importance for young male audiences. Interviewed by Rosie Vincent.
Deborah Bestwick was Director of the Half Moon Theatre young people’s company in the late 1980s and became Director of Half Moon Young People’s Theatre in 1990. She talks about Rattlin’ The Cage, the first show done by the newly established Half moon Young People’s Theatre in 1990. Interviewed by Aimee Thompson.