Details

Rough Music opens in London in 1892. In a court of law two women are unfairly tried and convicted. The third case begins: the trial of Jessie Sanders. We see her story. Jessie is a young northern girl from a harsh and oppressive background. All she wants is to escape and she sets her sights on London. Fleeced by a con-woman, she takes work in a factory, where she learns to use her wits to avoid the advances of the boss who tries to seduce her. She gets to sing in a pub and finds her true vocation: to make her way in the world as an entertainer. Along the way she encounters a succession of would-be lovers, a troupe of strolling players who perform illegally and a woman passing as a man who unwittingly sets off the 'rough music' of the title. Weaving expertly between comedy and drama the play draws upon the rich variety of forms of popular entertainment of the day: popular songs, cheap novelettes, penny gaffs, stand-up comedians and melodrama.

Creatives/Company

Book by: Sylvia Freedman