Who cares?

Matt Woodhead
 Synopsis and characters
 “Who cares?” is a play written around 3 kids based in Salford who were
forced to take care of their families. Adapted from a year worth of real life
testimonies the play follows three young carers; Connor a 15 years old with
an alcoholic mother that is struggling with an uncurable mental illness and
a father who has fibromyalgia; Jade a 18 years old girl with a disabled
father, deaf brother and a lack of mother and Nicole a 13 years old who’s
mother over came a stroke but is suffering lack of physical mobility and no
father.
 The play also highlights the issue of the government cutting the Disability
Living Allowance and the lack of support young carers get. These issues are
explored by the three main characters, as well as side characters that were
interviewed from both offices and young careers service giving a wider
view and opinion on the topic.
Connor

 Age: 15
 He lives at home with his mum, his dad lives in Ireland at the beginning of
the play but at the end his dad moves back which results in Connor having
to look after both parents.
 As a character he doesn't like to talk about problems at home, he is a bit of
a nerd. He’s a very lonely boy.
 Alcoholic mother that is struggling with an incurable mental illness and a
father who has fibromyalgia.
Nicole

 Age: 13
 She lives at home with her mum who had a stroke when Nicole was very
little.
 As a character she is angry, she is a very rebellious teen. She feels very
rejected by her mum so she's very frustrated causing her sudden outbursts
of anger
 mother over came a stroke but is suffering lack of physical mobility and no
father.
Jade

 Age: 18
 She looks after her dad and brother. Her dad was in a motorbike crash and
is paralysed, her brother is deaf and her mum is out of the picture. She left
when jades dad got worse.
 As a character jade is probably the most together out of the three, she
gives off the impression that she has to just get on with it because she's got
her brother and her dad so she has to keep it together.
 Themes and style
 School being ignorant – the teachers knew of all three of them being a
young carer but didn’t do anything to help them.
 Affect of having to grow up too fast – the behaviour they developed
because of it, the physcial and mental toll of it all.
 Young carers – duhh

 This play shows how school, the government and society overlooks young
carers and the responsibilities they have to take on at such a young age.
 Playwright
 Matt Woodhead
 Contemporary
 Revbarteum theatre
 Original production
 Written and directed by Matt Woodhead, Jessica Temple as Jade, Lizzie
Mounter as Nichole and Joey Phillips as Connor.
 It was originally put on by Lung theatre which is associated with artists of Salford
based venue
 The original 27 tour dates were of all venues were chosen in partnership with
onside youth zone – onside youth zone is a facility for young kids to go to hang
out, be part of activities to occupy their time, “ there for young people in
deprived areas, where the alternative for many is spending their evenings on
the streets or isolated in their bedrooms”.
 The tour of Who Cares has been generously supported by; Arts Council England,
Curious Minds, LUNG, The Gaddum Centre, The Lowry, The Oglesby Trust, Salford
City Council, Salford Young Carers
 The Lowry’s ongoing work with Young Carers has been made possible by ; BBC
Children in Need, The Booth Charities, The Lyndal Tree Foundation, The Taylor
Family Foundation, The Zochonis Charitable Trust.
 The play was created in 2016.
Reviews and revivals
Playlist
2 minute reading rehearsal