I was one of many people lucky enough to see Rona Munro’s Scuttlers in Manchester at the Royal Exchange. The play was based on real life people, which made it even more intriguing, and used Alex Davies book ‘The Gangs of Manchester’ to create it.

The scenery for this play was minimal but that only gave the actors greater scape to create the illusion of the streets of Manchester. You became immersed right from the beginning scene and this was greatly helped by the entrancing soundscape composed by Denis Jones and designed by Peter Rice. The sounds themselves were enough to send chills down your spine.

Real Scuttlers who have been convicted in the 1800s

The play consisted of two rival gangs, the Bengal Street Tigers and the Prussia Street. Both gangs want to own the streets and have their own ‘king’. As neither gang is willing to back down…