Recently I have seen nine one act plays by Noël Coward and Miss Julie by Strindberg at the tiny Jermyn Street Theatre; all excellent. Last night Jermyn Street continued its winning streak.
My memory was at fault – I was under the impression that Burke and Hare dug up newly buried bodies in Edinburgh and sold them to an anatomist for dissection. Well, I will give myself 5/10 as the second part is correct but B&H didn’t dig up bodies, they were murderers. As it happens they were both born in Northern Ireland but in 1828 William Hare and his wife had a lodging house in Edinburgh and William Burke was their friend. When a lodger died of a fever they sold the cadaver to an anatomist at the Royal College of Surgeons, receiving £7 10s – an improvement on Burke’s usual income of £1 a week. To maintain this lucrative business they had to turn to murder and over about ten months they notched up sixteen victims before they were found out. Hare confessed and turned king’s evidence. As a result he was only imprisoned for a few weeks and that was for his own protection. Burke was hanged and his cadaver used for dissection; justice of a sort. His skeleton remains on display in the Anatomical Museum at the Edinburgh Medical School.
This gruesome tale might be dramatised as a dark melodrama. In fact it is a comedy with music performed by a cast of three. It is fast-moving, inventive and very funny. I enjoyed it as much as the critics.
★★★★‘Hare raising hilarity…drop dead funny’ Reviews Gate
★★★★‘I loved every black comedy minute of it, laughing with tears streaming down my face.’ Remote Goat
★★★★‘thoroughly recommended as an uproarious evening out!’ London Theatre 1
‘all three cast keep things going with great gusto and a light touch.’ British Theatre Guide
‘murderously funny comedy drama’ Theatre World Internet Magazine
‘vibrant performances and snappy dialogue’ The Plays the Thing