Images from Southwark Playhouse 2024 © Claire Bilyard
Cassie and the Lights
by Alex Howarth
VAULT and Adelaide Festivals 2020
Big Belly, Underbelly, Edinburgh Fringe 2022
Brits Off Broadway, New York, 13th June- 2nd July 2023
Southwark Playhouse, London, 3rd-20th April 2024 & Theatre Royal Plymouth 24th-27th April 2024
Written an directed by Alex Howarth
Producer: 3 Hearts Canvas in association with Verse Unbound and Southwark Playhouse
Live score composed by Ellie and Imogen Mason
Set Designer: Ruth Badila
Southwark Playhouse Lighting Design: Will Monks
Lighting and Video Design: Rachel Sampley
Originally produced at VAULT and Adelaide Festivals by Sam Brain and Zoe Weldon
Stage Manager: Lauren Cross
Images: Claire Bilyard
PR: Kate Morley PR
CASSIE- Alex Brain
TIN- Helen Chong
KIT- Emily McGlynn
SUPER SWING- Martha Walker
MUSICIAN- Ellie / Imogen Mason
Can kids be parents? When Cassie's mother disappears, the teen wants to care for her younger sisters on her own. But is Cassie the right person to be a parent now, or should she let her foster parents adopt her sisters and create a new family? Based on real life events and interviews with children in care, Cassie and the Lights examines our ideas of what makes a family, and celebrates the incredible determination and resilience of teenagers.
Cassie and the Lights will return to London 3rd-20th April 2024 at Southwark Playhouse before transferring to the Theatre Royal Plymouth.
CRITIC'S BEST SHOWS OF EDINBURGH FRINGE 2022- The Stage
WINNER- Best Theatre Week 2, Adelaide Fringe
WINNER- Excellent Play Award, Central Academy Awards, China
NOMINATED- The Popcorn Award for New Writing, in association with the BBC Writers' Room
NOMINATED- The SitupAward for social change
★★★★- 'glows in the darkness.. a thoughtful, warm, moving hour that will leave you wanting to call whoever you think of as family'- The Guardian
★★★★- 'bursts with life and quirkily observed truths, and it's guaranteed to break your heart'- Lyn Gardner, The Stage
★★★★- 'simply phenomenal'- New York Stage Review
★★★★★ ‘the future is bright for this illuminating masterpiece’ - All That Dazzles
★★★★★ ‘a shot to the heart’- Broadway World
★★★★★ ‘a heart-breaking story, guaranteed to bowl you over’ - Theatre Weekly
★★★★★ ‘Alex Howarth’s unmissable work may only be 70 minutes long, but it remains in your heart for far longer’ - The Reviews Hub
★★★★★ ‘Cassie and the Lights is, to put it simply, perfect theatre.’ - Theatre & Tonic
★★★★★ ‘a beautifully moving piece of theatre that asks the hard questions’ -Adventures in Theatreland
★★★★★- 'authentic and heartwarming'- Theatre Life
★★★★★- 'charming and joyful... a uniquely beautiful show, and one I will not forget'- Lost In Theatreland
★★★★★ - ''something quite extraordinary' - Creative Reviews UK
★★★★★ - 'subtly captures the injustice... you may need tissues' - The Adelaide Advertiser
★★★★★ - 'delicately simple and wrenchingly complex...it is unmissable' - Adelaide Theatre Guide
★★★★★ - Glam Adelaide
★★★★★ - 'flawless...unlike anything you've ever seen' - Radelaide
★★★★★ - 'phenomenal, outstanding theatre... landing every wrenching blow, then picking us up with each wonderful moment' - Stage Whispers
★★★★★- UK Theatre Web
★★★★★ ‘broke my heart’ - My Borderline Life
★★★★ - The Arts Desk
★★★★ - London Pub Theatres
★★★★- The List
★★★★- Edinburgh Guide
★★★★- The Wee Review
★★★★- London Theatre 1
★★★★- Mickey Jo Theatre
★★★★ - ThreeDRadio
★★★★ - InDaily
