Rats! is a musical version of the story of the pied piper of Hamelin. The music is by Andy Merifield and the book and lyrics by Christopher Loft.

Rats! was originally written for The Drama Club at Streatham Wells Primary School. Its first performance was in December 2001 and the following year it was selected for performance as part of The Young Vic's Schools Theatre Festival.

In 2004, a production of Rats! was staged at South London Theatre in West Norwood. For this production, it was felt the show needed to be a bit longer and to involve adult performers as well as children. Extra scenes and a new song were added and the music was re-recorded. Christopher Loft directed the show and Andy Merrifield was Musical Director. Two separate casts of young people were required and adults took on the parts of the rats themselves. The show had a week-long sell-out run and there was a profitable sideline for the theatre in the sale of T-Shirts and videos!

Rats! has since been performed in numerous schools around the south and east of England. It remains a very popular show and there is now a novelised version of the script, called The Pied Piper of Ham-A-Lee-In.

 Poster Design: Jon Heal