Theatre review: Fascinating take on an enduring mystery

Published on Monday 10 November 2008 08:59

Yours Truly Jack the Ripper **** Brunton Theatre THERE was a palpable air of uncertainty in the Supper Room of Brunton Theatre on Saturday night as the strains of Abide with Me faded and the lights rose on the simple set – a piano and a table with some manila folders tied with red ribbons sitting atop it – of Yours Truly Jack the Ripper.

The first in a series of one-course meals followed by a 90-minute play, nobody knew quite what to expect from this journey back in time, almost 120 years to the day, to the London of 1888.

Opening on the evening of November 10 1888 in the office of the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police Sir Charles Warren (Pat Abernethy), the world outside his window is baying for his blood, or at least his resignation, following the fifth murder in ten weeks by Jack the Ripper. With the media whipping up a frenzy of rumour and a government in panic over the lack of an arrest, Warren reflects on recent events as he pores over the case files.

Offering evocative descriptions of an East End rife with racial and social tensions, the air thick with the stench of slaughterhouses and human waste, Abernethy and his stage partner Dave Marsden – taking on multiple roles – led the audience into the busy streets with intensity and much gallows humour.

Offering a running commentary on the final hours of the poor souls who had their dates with death in scarlet at the hands of Jack, at times this was like watching a 19th century episode of TV's 24, the clock ticking on the final hours of five women who would never have their deaths avenged with the capture of the Ripper.

Although not interacting on stage, the combination of Abernethy's gravitas and Marsden's ability to effortlessly switch personas meant the pair complemented each other throughout. While never reaching any conclusion on the true identity of Jack, this was both a timely reminder of the birth of the scandal obsessed British press and a non-sensationalist account of a bleak period in London's history.