The Quality of Mercy

From his cell in the early hours of the morning Harold Shipman breaks his silence to record a confessional tape, laying down his version of events as he prepares to end one more life. Performer and playwright Edwin Flay has a unique perspective on the subject matter, as a former patient of Shipman’s from childhood. His family lived in Hyde throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s and his grandmother, Renee Lacey, was one of Shipman’s victims, aged just 63. In an effort to understand this senseless crime, Flay conducted extensive research into Shipman’s career, including a thorough examination of the Smith Report into Shipman’s history and motivations. Among the records he found the details of his own family’s evidence to the inquiry when Dame Smith reviewed Ms Lacey’s death, all of which directly informed the crafting of the play. The Quality of Mercy is a piece of investigative theatre, exploring with unflinching candour the motives of Britain’s most prolific serial killer, and interrogating society’s attitudes towards death, justice and compassion.