Angels with Manky Faces

Synopsis

Jimmy Johnson is the leader of the Bengal Tigers, the most feared of all the scuttling gangs. Leading a life of gratuitous violence and casual sex, Jimmy is a lucky lad. But when a sultry Irish beauty arrives at his favourite brothel, trouble breaks out between the sheets and in the streets. Angels With Manky Faces is inspired by The Gangs of Manchester, the best-selling book by Andrew Davies, which tells the story of the scuttlers, Britain's first youth cult. Set in the streets and gin shops of Ancoats in 1894.

Our Review:

19 August 2009

The lights dim, a sepia-tinged black and white film starts to roll, and two fingers hit the keys of an old fashioned typewriter to the opening rhythm of New Order's "Blue Monday." This might be a play about fighting gangs in Victorian Manchester, but it is not going to be an ordinary ride. This is the MaD Theatre Company doing what they do best.

Angels with Manky Faces, adapted from Andrew Davies's book The Gangs of Manchester, follows the lives and loves of a gang of Manchester 'Scuttlers' from the end of the 19th century. It focuses on one such gang, The Bengal Tigers - made up of members of the Johnson family -  and their feud with the Meadow Lads. Much of the action takes place in the pub/brothel where Biddy Flanagan and her daughters hold court, and the story alternates between the violent, the funny and the downright rude, reflecting th...

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