by Maeve Ingoldsby

“[Barnstorm have] another winner in their new production” – Irish Times, February 15th, 1999

Scaredycats

Matty and Billy Phelan live in Ballyowen. Following the recent death of their mother, their father has decided to move the family to Dublin. Frankie Kelly is from Dublin but his parents plan to move to Ballyowen. Frankie hates “culchies” and is scared of being picked on by the local children. He acts tough to hide his fear. Matty, angry and upset at her father’s plan to move, hates anything to do with Dublin. Billy has been having nightmares and is scared of the dark.

When the children meet at the site of a new house Mr. Phelan is building for the Kellys, sparks fly. Billy sees Frankie as a hero who seems to be afraid of nothing. Matty is determined to prove otherwise.

The action takes place over the course of a Hallowe’en weekend and the children’s secret fears become tangled up with the imaginary spooks and ghouls of the season. Their parents, preoccupied with their own anxieties about the future, are less than receptive to the fears and needs of their children. When Matty challenges Frankie to a dare on Hallowe’en night things get our of hand leading to an inevitable showdown. Both children and parents have a lot sorting out to do…

Scaredycats explores children’s fears of change, of loss, and of “things that go bump in the night”. Packed with fun, thrills and deliciously scary situations, the play employs an exciting mix of live music, songs, comedy and dramatic story to explore the children’s world, their efforts to identify and deal with their fears and their relationship with the adult world.

A play for children aged 6 to 12 years.

Running time approx 80 minutes.