'I needed to be better... and summat needed to change – to keep them safe. To fix my family.'



When her mother disappears, teenager Cassie wants to care for her sisters on her own. But can kids be parents? Or should Cassie let foster parents adopt her sisters and create a new family?



Alex Howarth's play Cassie and the Lights is a tender and playful examination of what makes a family and what holds it together. Based on real-life events and interviews with children in care, it celebrates the resilience of young people and the power of sisterhood.



The play has been performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, VAULT Festival in London, 59E59 in New York City and Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia. It toured the UK in 2024, produced by Patch of Blue and 3 hearts canvas, in association with Southwark Playhouse and Verse Unbound.