It’s 1979, rubbish is on the streets of Bristol, and it’s tricky being Fiz. She’s thirteen, she’s got no money, her sister’s pregnant and her mum thinks she’s a waste of space…
Rick remembers what it’s like to be a teenager. So he thinks it won’t take much to get a bunch of kids to help him build a playground out of junk.
He’s wrong. It takes everything he’s got. But when it’s finished, it’s going to be something. It’s going to be everything…
Jack Thorne’s honest and witty Junkyard, with music by Stephen Warbeck, premiered in 2017 in a co-production between Headlong, Bristol Old Vic, Rose Theatre Kingston and Theatr Clwyd, and directed by Jeremy Herrin.
‘A touching tale… an engagingly ramshackle musical’
— The Times
‘A rallying cry for the celebration of imagination, and the value of that above all. It is warm and funny, and I can imagine it could be inspiring to young people who need to be reminded that their voice matters’
— Exeunt Magazine
‘This is not your usual West End musical fare. The songs here flow in and out of the dialogue effortlessly and add subtle depth and warmth to the characters’
— The Reviews Hub
‘A joyful musical for school misfits… left me smiling throughout as it celebrates the right of children and young people to turn their individual lives into an adventure through physical and imaginative play’
— Guardian
‘Highly entertaining… [has an] anarchic, playful free-form spirit… Thorne’s script is genuinely funny and poignant while composer Stephen Warbeck’s score has its pulse on the ska revival of the late ’70s populated by those such as Bad Manners and Suggs. It also feels, in its mixing of everyday dialogue to music, akin to the understated beauty of London Road‘
— WhatsOnStage
‘A heartfelt new musical… energetic and fun… like Jacqueline Wilson meets Skins‘
— The Stage
