Cast announced for Bad Lads

International leader and innovator in accessible world-class theatre, Graeae, in association with Live Theatre, Newcastle announce the cast for the world premiere of Bad Lads by Mike Kenny this autumn.

Directed by Graeae Artistic Director Jenny Sealey the production, which opens at Live Theatre on Thursday 2 October before a national tour, will feature Robin Paley Yorke (theatre productions Billy Elliot - CURVE, The Three Bears - Kitchen Zoo, If You Fall - Ad Infinitum) as Younger Jackie and Danny Raynor (I Fought the Law - Hera Pictures/ITV, the feature film Not All Men – DalyDarby Media and the theatre production A Way Home - CaroleW Productions) as Older Jackie, alongside Performance Interpreter, Craig Painting.  

Created from the personal testimonies of former inmates, Bad Lads, tells the gripping and devastating true story of the boys held at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre in County Durham in the 1980s. Sold to the public as a "short, sharp shock" for wayward youth, behind the walls of the prison for young offenders hid something much darker.

Mike Kenny’s play uncovers the truth behind what happened to these young men, revealing how it still impacts their lives some forty years after the events and looks at a system that failed these working-class men. At a time when the cry for accountability is louder than ever; Bad Lads demands remembrance and calls for justice.

Jenny Sealey, Graeae’s Artistic Director says:
"I have been with the Bad Lads men’s stories since 2021. They have been holding them for over forty years. It is time for them to be heard and for this living history of government funded brutality to be out in the public domain. We are very privileged the men have trusted Graeae to take care of them, yet not shy away from the truth."

All performances will integrate British Sign Language (BSL), audio description, creative captions and will be presented in a relaxed environment. For Graeae’s language guide click here.