Rattle Snake
Produced by Open Clasp and Live Theatre
Written by Catrina McHugh MBE
Directed by Charlotte Bennett
Starring Eilidh Talman and Christina Berriman Dawson
A story with no ending; a chance meeting with one man changes the lives of two women forever. Now they both live trying to predict the unpredictable.
Spine tingling and visceral, Rattle Snake will literally take your breath away. An epic tale based on real life stories of women who have faced and survived coercive controlling domestic abuse.
Continuing their long association with Live Theatre, this mesmerising and emotional tour-de force follows Open Clasp’s hugely successful Key Change, which premiered at Live Theatre before winning the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award in 2015 and transferring to off-Broadway, featuring as a New York Times Critics Pick in 2016.
Rattle Snake was created by Open Clasp and funded by Durham PCC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), to train frontline officers in better responding to sexual and domestic violence - coinciding with the change of law making coercive control in relationships a crime in 2015.
Rattle Snake Trailer
Writer of the play Catrina McHugh MBE tells us about Rattle Snake
Rattle Snake production images
Actors Eilidh Talman & Christina Berriman Dawson talk about Rattle Snake
★★★★★
'totally hooked...an amazing production'
London Theatre 1
'Subtle, sensitive and deeply moving, and a worthy successor to Open Clasp’s phenomenally successful Key Change.'
British Theatre Guide
'hard-hitting and sophisticated production shines a light on all-too invisible domestic abuse'
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
£10-£14, concs from £6
Approx. 1 hr
Suitable for ages 15+, contains references to domestic abuse and violence
Preview performances (5 June) Friends 2 for 1 tickets (5 June, 7.30pm)
Post Show Talk (BSL)
Thursday 7 June (after 7.30pm show)
An industry panel including Richinda Taylor, CEO EVA Women's Aid, Sophie Murther Independent Domestic Violence Advocate, West End Women and Girls Centre, Professor Catherine Donovan from the Sociology Department of the University of Sunderland and Cris McCurley from Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors discuss issues raised in the play along with writer Catrina McHugh and the cast.
FREE with a ticket to that evening’s performance.
Suitable for Artsmark visits
Post show talks are audio recorded and available to listen again on the Archive & Library page