Lullabies of Broadmoor: The Murder Club
The
Murder Club is just
one of the four linked plays that Bristol-based Stepping Out
Theatre are presenting in rep at this year’s Fringe. The season tells
the stories of five of Broadmoor’s most notorious patients,
exploring the madness behind their crimes and the effects of their
actions on their victims.
The
Murder Club takes as
its subjects Ronald True, the small-time swindler who bludgeoned
prostitute Olive Young to death with a rolling pin, and Richard
Prince, the unsuccessful actor who killed stage star William Terriss
in a fit of jealous rage. The play is engagingly
narrated from beyond the grave by Young, who stops and starts the
action as she pleases to reveal ugly truths about True and Prince, as
well as as some enthralling and gruesome details of her own death.
Murder Club takes as
its subjects Ronald True, the small-time swindler who bludgeoned
prostitute Olive Young to death with a rolling pin, and Richard
Prince, the unsuccessful actor who killed stage star William Terriss
in a fit of jealous rage. The play is engagingly
narrated from beyond the grave by Young, who stops and starts the
action as she pleases to reveal ugly truths about True and Prince, as
well as as some enthralling and gruesome details of her own death.
The
cast are an able bunch, but Violet Ryder, who plays Young, is without
doubt the best thing about this show. Her heartrending speeches
lighten the rest of the piece, which although absorbing, too often
crosses the line into melodrama.
