Cash Carraway

Cash Carraway is a British-Irish author, playwright and screenwriter, best known for creating and writing the HBO series, '' Rain Dogs.'' Carraway first came to prominence for her bestselling book '' Skint Estate.'' Her writing is often compared to Hubert Selby Jr. and Charles Bukowski. ''Time'' described Carraway's writing style as "Raunchy gallows humour. And she's genius at it."

Early life

Cash Carraway grew up in South East London and studied theatre at the BRIT School. As a teenager Carraway worked in a Soho clip joint and lived on the Churchill Gardens estate in Pimlico.

Career

Theatre

Before becoming a writer Carraway trained as an actor. In 2001, she started writing and performing sketch comedy which led to Soho Theatre commissioning her first play ''The Last Peepshow in Soho.''

Carraway profiled the Mark Ravenhill play ''Shopping and Fucking'' for Tortoise Media describing it as “the closest experience Xennials got to seeing the Sex Pistols at The Lesser Free Trade Hall.”

''Skint Estate''

In 2019 Penguin Books called her "The new voice of a generation." A prequel to ''Skint Estate'' entitled ''Fleshpot'' was announced by Ebury Publishing in 2020.

The film and television rights to ''Skint Estate'' were sold in a bidding war and the project went into formal development with the BBC. Billie Piper was attached to play the role of Cash Carraway.

Carraway began work on the screenplay before quitting the project, stating it was "too exposing." She later told the Hollywood Reporter "I don't dislike ''Skint Estate'' but I disliked the fact that writing about myself was the only way I was allowed to make money from writing. I never wanted to tell my story, so I quit."

A rumour started by the online pseudonym ‘Alice In Wanderlust’ claimed ''Skint Estate'' was a hoax leading The Guardian to investigate Carraway for literary fraud. Carraway proved the authenticity of her memoir and in an interview with journalist Laura Pezzino for L'Espresso Carraway said “I was not treated as a writer but like someone who sold her story to a tabloid. I have discovered that writing really is the most dangerous sport for a working class woman and for this I have decided that I will no longer publish anything autobiographical."

''Rain Dogs''

In March 2022, the BBC announced that production had begun on Carraway's original comedy drama series ''Rain Dogs''. As the creator, writer and executive producer of ''Rain Dogs'', Carraway serves as showrunner on the BBC and HBO original starring Daisy May Cooper.

In an interview with Warner Media, Carraway said "''Rain Dogs'' isn't ''Skint Estate'', it isn't autobiographical but it definitely has firm roots in the chip on my shoulder."

In March 2023, Carraway told the Hollywood Reporter "There's a lot of me in ''Rain Dogs'' but it's not my life story. I'm not Costello Jones, if anything I'm more like Selby, I've just hidden myself inside an upper class gay man."

Carraway was originally going to call the series ''All Shook Down'' after an album by The Replacements but later changed it to ''Rain Dogs'' after Tom Waits’ booze-soaked record about “people who sleep in doorways”

All of the music featured in ''Rain Dogs'' was specified in the scripts written by Carraway. It features tracks by Nick Lowe, Warren Zevon, Justin Townes Earle, Caroline Rose and The Replacements.

Episode 1 takes its name from Bruce Springsteen’s ‘ It’s Hard To Be A Saint in the City’ and Episode 7 from The Smiths ‘ You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby’.

The lead character Costello Jones is named after Elvis Costello and all of the supporting male roles are named after members of the English rock band Suede.

Film

Carraway wrote and directed the BBC film ''L'Opera del Lavoratore'' starring Neil Maskell which premiered at the 2022 Glasgow Film Festival.

Published works

Plays

* ''The Last Peepshow in Soho'' (Soho Theatre)
* ''The French Inhaler'' ( Clean Break)
* ''Refuge Woman'' (Battersea Arts Centre)

Books

* ''Skint Estate: Notes from the Poverty Line'' (2019; Penguin Random House)
* ''La Porca Miseria'' (2023; Alegre)

TV

* ''L'Opera del Lavoratore'' (BBC
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