Mugs Like Us is a trilogy of one-woman plays inspired by images of women from the 1920s taken just after they were arrested.
Riff Raff Theatre is working with three writers to develop three one-woman, one-hour plays inspired by this photo collection. The plays will be self-contained with the potential to be performed on their own but they are connected by common characters, time and place, similar personal circumstances and of course by the moment when they pose in front of the camera. When these plays are performed together they will provide the audience with a richer extra-narrative.
We hope not only to create a rich narrative but a different and informative experience for the audience. We envisage these plays being performed in non-theatrical spaces, perhaps spaces with an historical connection to the criminal justice system such as former police stations or prisons. We want to experiment with how the audiences engage with the themes in the plays, perhaps by inviting them to engage with the process of arrest; taking their belongings, taking their fingerprints and photographing them.