05/08/25

Pleasance Dome (Queen Dome), Edinburgh

I’ve long been fascinated by the case of Lizzie Borden, after reading Evan Hunter’s fictionalised account of her story back in my youth – and, of course, many people are aware of the little poem that begins, ‘Lizzie Borden took an axe…’

I don’t think I’ve ever used the word ‘playful’ to describe a true-crime drama before – but it’s the first word that springs to mind when thinking about Out of the Forest’s production of Bury the Hatchet. It’s not that Sasha Wilson’s script treats its grave subject disrespectfully, far from it. It’s just that the story is handled in such an offbeat and refreshing way.

This fascinating hybrid – part true-crime investigation, part re-evaluation – looks at all the different threads of the mysterious murder of Lizzie Borden’s parents in the prosperous neighbourhood of Fall River, Massachusetts, in the year 1892. With all the relevant pieces in place, it attempts to make sense of them. Wilson plays Lizzie, while Lawrence Boothman and David Leopold embody a whole cast of different characters, switching from role to role with only a token item of clothing or a simple prop to ensure I’m never confused as to who is who. And trust me, it’s a tangled tale.

At key moments, Lizzie will snatch up a mandolin, while her companions grab a violin and a guitar, and they bash out a series of bluegrass standards (at one point, even a Nina Simone classic), their voices blending in stirring harmony. In other fourth-wall-breaking moments, the actors briefly step out of their guises, bewildered by the complexity of the task they’ve taken on, pausing to question the likelihood of some of the weird evidence submitted by Lizzie in her defence.

‘She said what? Mosquito bites?’

If I’m making this sound too convoluted, don’t be misled. Bury the Hatchet is an inspired piece of theatre, wonderfully propulsive, perfectly judged and by turns shocking, intriguing and acerbically funny. Vicky Moran’s direction keeps everything bubbling away at full throttle so that the pace is never allowed to lag. This is an object lesson in how to pitch a true-crime drama – and how to hold an audience absolutely spellbound.

So was Lizzie Borden guilty of a heinous crime? Did she walk away from the gallows simply by virtue of being a prosperous white woman? Or was there another, more complex explanation for what happened to the Bordens? Whatever the case, they were brutally murdered and nobody ever had to answer for the crime.

Interested parties should make their way to the Pleasance Queen Dome to judge for themselves – and prepare to be utterly captivated by this thrilling production.

5 stars

Philip Caveney