this passage is from Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth, what Hayley’s referring to? and where is The ’Rakers?
JOHNNY. Serves you right. Why don’t you fuck off home like the rest of ’em. Stop round Hayley’s, you don’t wanna go home…
JOHNNY collects an axe from the porch. He goes over to a pile of logs to the side of the trailer. He takes one, puts it on a stump.
LEE. Here, Tanya. You seen Phaedra?
TANYA. What?
LEE. Phaedra. Her mum said she ain’t been home for days.
JOHNNY splits a log.
TANYA. I ain’t seen her all week, mate.
PEA. Who’s that?
LEE. Phaedra? She ain’t been home.
PEA. Last time I saw Phaedra, right, was… fancy-dress night.
Fancy-dress night at The ’Rakers.
TANYA. That doorman is a wanker.
GINGER. Why?
TANYA. He is. He’s such a tuss.
GINGER. What happened?
PEA. She’d made her own costume, right, made a real effort, stitching, sequins, and she shows up at The ’Rakers and the fucking doorman turns her away.
Hayley's
is Hayley's home. The leading apostrophe in’Rakers
tells us it is a contraction. It has a doorman, we know, and is probably a nightclub or bar. Very few English words end inrakers
, a common one beingmoonrakers
. A quick Google for "Jez Butterworth Jerusalem rakers" shows that The Moonrakers is a real pub in Pewsey, Wiltshire, that Butterworth drank in. Local reviewers of the play have pointed out that they call it "Moonies", and not 'Rakers.