Burke & Hare - New Wolsey Theatre

Burke & Hare

Performed from Fri 6 — Sat 21 May


Warehouse Digital

Warehouse Digital

Burke & Hare 2022

BURKE AND HARE

A new version by Tom Wentworth.
Directed by Abigail Pickard Price.
Originally created by Jenny Wren Productions.
This production of 'Burke & Hare' was premiered at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury.

The 1830s - and in Edinburgh’s back streets and alleys, there’s an absolute killing to be made. Scientific research Hares on at great speed; the surgeons are crying out for fresh bodies to dissect and you’d need to be a right Burke not to spot a gap in the market!

But it’s only a small step from robbing graves to helping people into them…

Three versatile actors, supplied with an array of hats, a variety of disguises and an extraordinary collection of accents play the entire cast of this notorious story – living and (soon to be) dead. Music, murder and mayhem combine in Tom Wentworth’s fast-paced take on the notorious grave-robbing duo. Playing fast and loose with the facts, he creates an evening’s entertainment that’s more hysterical than historical.

‘A gleeful mash up of history and penny dreadful scandal, fast funny and ever so slightly sick’
The Times

‘Pitch black and wickedly funny’
The Stage

‘Gleefully macabre’
Broadway World


Cast & Creatives

Josie Dunn — Mrs Hare, Helen (and others)

Josie trained at Rose Bruford College.

For the NWT: One Man, Two Guvnors; Our Blue Heaven & Never Lost at Home

Theatre includes: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (The Old Vic); As You Like It, After The Dance (Theatre by the Lake); Backbeat (West End, U.S. & Canada); Alice in Wonderland (Stephen Joseph Theatre); Snow White and Other Tales from the Brothers Grimm (Creation Theatre) Desert Rats (Arts Theatre West End); Alice in Wonderland (The Watermill); Dark Tourism (Park Theatre); James and the Giant Peach (Colchester Mercury); Here Be Monsters (UK Tour); After Orlando (Theatre Royal Stratford East/The Vaults); The Story Giant (Shanty Theatre Company); Occupied (Theatre 503); Faust (Greenwich Theatre).

Television includes: Doctors (BBC); Playhouse Presents: Hey Diddly Dee (Sky Arts).

Workshops include: Torgus & Snow (RSC).

Josie also voices audiobooks and is a Founding Director of Chaskis Theatre - an international actor training and performance company.

Hayden Wood — William Burke (and others)

Hayden Wood

Hayden has recently finished a year in Immersive Everywhere's production of Doctor Who: Time Fracture. His theatre credits include Chris in The Play That Goes Wrong (West End)King/Father Canty in The Prince and the Pauper (Watermill), Bagot in Richard II (Arcola, Houses of Parliament), Mad Hatter/Knave of Hearts in the original cast of the Olivier-nominated Alice's Adventures Underground (The Vaults).

Other theatre credits include Roald Dahl and the Imagination Seekers (UK Tour), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Park Theatre), Ghost City (King's Head), The Bunker Trilogy (Southwark Playhouse, Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe- Winner Best Theatre Award 2014), Confetti & Chaos (Edinburgh Fringe), Sherlock Holmes: A Working Hypothesis (UK Tour), Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty (Hawthorne Theatre), The Owls Are Not What They Seem (Theatre Delicatessen), LINE (Stephen Joseph), The Girl With The Imagination (Greenwich Theatre), The Boy James, Lorca Is Dead, Outland and The Tartuffe (all with Edinburgh International Festival Award winners, Belt Up Theatre.)    

Hayden tours the world with Interactive Theatre International, playing Basil in Faulty Towers The Dining Experience.

His credits as a composer include The Beggar's Opera, Lorca is Dead and Octavia (all with Belt Up Theatre.)

He has directed two acclaimed solo shows (Ladyface and Lois) both for the comedian Lucy Farrett.

Hayden is delighted to be returning to Burke and Hare, having originated the role of Burke at The Watermill in 2018before playing him again for the show's transfer to Jermyn Street later that year. On this occasion, the show was nominated at the Offies for Best Director and Best Ensemble.

James Mack — William Hare (and others)

James Mack

James trained at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, graduating in 2013.

He has most recently appeared as Dennis Main-Wilson and Peter Eton in the premiere of Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s comedy SPIKE at The Watermill Theatre.

Previous theatre credits include: Cinderella (The Torch Theatre), The Hound of the Baskervilles (The Watermill Theatre and Tour), One Man, Two Guvnors (The Torch Theatre), The Rivals (The Watermill Theatre), Robin Hood (The Old Market Theatre - Brighton), Ragtime (The Charing Cross Theatre), Dr. Faustus (Matchstick Theatre Company), Mermaid (London Shuffle Festival), Macbeth (The Watermill Theatre), This Heaven (The Finborough Theatre), Hay Fever (The Duke of Yorks, West End), A Christmas Carol (The Old Red Lion), Journey’s End (The Watermill Theatre), Confusions & The Insect Play (Theatre Royal Haymarket Youth Company).

Film and television credits include: Bad Snappers (Comedy Central).

Abigail Pickard Price — Director

Abigail is a freelance director and Associate Director of The Watermill Theatre. Her recent credits include: 

As Director: Just So, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Prince and the Pauper, Burke and Hare. The Watermill; Sophia, Circle Productions, Arcola Theatre; Pen Pals, Rural Arts; Burke and Hare, Jermyn Street Theatre, transfer from The Watermill (nominated Best Director, Off West End Awards); Macbeth, Big Brum;  Bee Happy, The Old Red Lion Theatre; The Tinderbox, Charing Cross Theatre; Baby, The Hope Theatre; Anna Weiss, The Space (nominated Best Director, Off West End Awards);  Shrew, International Tour. As well as productions for drama schools including GSA, Mountview and Drama Studio.

As Associate/ Resident/ Assistant Director: God of Carnage, UK Tour; The Argument, Theatre Royal Bath; Titanic, International Tour; The Nightingales, Theatre Royal Bath and on tour;  Twelfth Night, Wiltons Music Hall; Violet, Harold and Maude, The Woman in White,  Ragtime, Death Takes a Holiday and Titanic, Charing Cross Theatre; Crazy For You, UK Tour; Twelfth Night/ Romeo and Juliet (performing in rep), The Watermill & International Tour;  Crazy For You, The Adventures of Pinocchio, The Watermill.

Toots Butcher — Set & Costume Designer

Toots is a London based designer who trained at Bath Spa University. She works across the U.K
and internationally.

Recent Theatre includes:
September in the rain (Salisbury Playhouse) Little Robin Redbreast (Salisbury Playhouse), (Burke
and Hare (Jermyn St Theatre & The Watermill), The Borrowers (Watermill), Ragtime
(Charing Cross Theatre), Thoroughly Modern Millie Showtime Challenge
(The Adelphi),The Railway Children (The Watermill),Romeo and Juliet
(Some Voices-The Southbank Centre), Gormenghast, Tuxedo
Junction,The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Twelfth Night, You Can’t
Take It With You (all Watermill) Excuse Me Mrs Pardon (Theatre Tots,
UK Tour).

As Associate or Assistant recent work includes:
Six (West End, UK and International Tour), The Cher Show (Uk Tour), We Will Rock you
(International Tour) Phantom (Umeda Arts, Japan), The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (West End), 9
To 5 (West End and Tour), All My Sons(The Old Vic), Close Quarters (Sheffield Crucible), A
Christmas Carol(Bristol Old Vic), Shakespeare in Love (Theatre Royal, Bath), Road
(Leeds Playhouse), Written on Skin (Philadelphia Opera House), Big
Fish (The Other Palace Theatre), Goat (Rambert Tour), The Secret Diary
of Adrian Mole (Menier Chocolate Factory), Iphigenia in Splott
(Sherman Cymru,National Theatre, 59E59 New York)

www.tootsbutcher.com

Matt Clutterham — Lighting Designer

Matt is a critically acclaimed, multi award nominated, international lighting designer. Matt’s designs are influenced by his love and affinity with colour, form and music, delivering lighting which is intrinsic to the motion, atmosphere and rhythm of the performance, applying this quality and his passion to all the genres in which he works

Recent credits include:

The Woman in Black, (UK Tour); Emily Attack, (ITV); The Hound of the Baskervilles, (Riverside Studios); Proms in the Park – Hyde Park (BBC); Dead Good (Vamos Theatre); Harold and Maude, (Charing Cross Theatre); A Brave Face, (Vamos Theatre and Mercury Theatre Colchester); The Dreaming, (Lichfield Garrick Theatre);  Fame the Musical (West End & UK Tour); Saturday Night Fever (UK & Asia Tours); Witches of Eastwick (UK Tour); High Society (West End), The Snowman (West End & UK Tour); Sweet Charity (West End); The Roy Orbison Story (UK Tour); The West End Men (UK Arena tour); Thank You For the Music (UK Tour); Simply Ballroom (UK Tour); La Danza (Qdos Entertainment); Journey of a Lifetime (Piccadilly Theatre London); Sirens (Qdos Entertainment); In the Arms of Strangers (Gardener Arts Centre, Richard Lindfield); Half a Sixpence (Broadway Theatre, Peel Entertainment); Inaugural Gala (Crewe Lyceum, Qdos Entertainment); I Hollywood (Qdos Entertainment); Can’t Buy Me Love (Theatre Royal Windsor, Gary Lloyd); The Strangest of Islands (Gardener Arts Centre, Tempest Productions); Jesus Christ Superstar (Theatre Royal Brighton); Tutti Voici (Broadway Theatre);  Sunday Night at the Birmingham Hippodrome (Birmingham Hippodrome), Show Girls (Trafalgar Studios); Man in the Mirror (Peel Entertainment), An Evening with Brian Conley (UK Tour); Viva La Diva (Trends Productions).

Sound Designer

Burke & Hare 2022

Bethany Hardman — Company Stage Manager

Beth graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2019 and has previously worked as an ASM and CSM on regional shows in the midlands and on UK tours, as well working as a puppets and stage management dep across the West End. This is Beth's first time at the New Wolsey, and she's thrilled to be working on Burke and Hare.

Emily Davies — Deputy Stage Manager

Emily is a freelance Stage Manager based in the West Midlands. She graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2019 and has since gone onto work on a wide variety of immersive, site specific and new theatre with companies such as Stan's Cafe, Changeling Theatre and DashArts. Emily is very excited to be back in Suffolk and at The New Wolsey.

Elspeth Morrison — Dialect Coach

Theatre includes: Amelie (Criterion) When the Long Trick's Over (New Wolsey) Beautiful (Curve) My Cousin Rachel (Theatre Royal Bath) Rose (Hope Mill Theatre) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (tour) I Wanna be Yours, Sorry You're Not a Winner (Paines Plough) Little Voice (Theatre by the Lake) Ink (Almeida) Baskerville (Chinese tour) Strangers on a Train (tour) Jerusalem, Our Man in Havana (Watermill) Skellig (Nottingham Playhouse) Wolf of Wall Street (Sun Street) Napoli Brooklyn (Park Theatre) Hogarth's Success (Rose Theatre) Sketching (Wilton's Music Hall) Contractions (Deafinitely Theatre) Trouble in Mind (Print Room) My Mother Said (Crucible) Intemperance (New Vic Theatre)

TV includes: Horrible Histories; Endeavour, Gangs of London, Life after Life, Flatmates, Vera, Citadel, Prime Suspect 1973; Clique; Coronation Street; Eastenders, Eric, Ernie and Me, The Loudest Voice, Das Boot, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Documentary Now

Radio includes: The Chronicles of Burke Street, X Files: ColdCases; My Name is Why, The Testaments

Film includes: The Railway Children Return, Chuck Chuck Baby, Legend of Ochi, The Mad Axeman; Watcher in the Woods, The Professor and the Madman, The More you Ignore Me

Elspeth regularly makes expert contributions on programmes such as Melvyn Bragg's Matter of the North (BBC), An Immigrant's Guide to Britain (Channel 4) The Royals (Netflix) most recently BBC Radio 4's 'Broadcasting House'

Peter Hazelwood — Livestream

Pete has worked full time at the New Wolsey Theatre since 2010. During that time he has designed and created video content for Once: the Musical (New Wolsey Theatre and UK Tour 2020), Trevor Nuns production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the New Wolsey Theatre’s Grandma Saves the Day, The Who’s: Tommy (A Ramps on the Moon Production and UK tour), Our Blue Heaven and Never Lost at Home. Pete has also worked as Sound #1 on the New Wolsey Theatre’s The Last 5 Years, as well as on many of the New Wolsey’s Rock ‘n’ Roll pantomimes and in-house productions.

Find out more about Pete’s video production work at www.warehousedigital.co.uk.

Kay Hill — Assistant Stage Manager

Kay has been working in theatre for the past 3 years. She has experience working in Wardrobe, dressing and is now going into stage management.

This is Kay’s first time working at the New Wolsey Theatre and is very excited to be ASM for Burke and Hare.


Reviews of Burke & Hare

What the public say

Amazing in every sense of the word. Cast, production, staging. Quick fire reactions evidenced multiple times by the talented actors. A thoroughly enjoyable night out. Thank you all.

Jennifer Hughes

Absolutely fabulous - one of the best things we have seen for a long while. Brilliantly written and performed, and the 3 actors are exceptionally talented. Very funny, very fast and a great show

Maureen Browning

An outstanding cast take you through a fantastic madcap but true story. Their skills take your very breath away as they take on so many roles that really work, both clever and funny.

Audience Member

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