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Using accounts from his 2-day trial in 1828, this telling of the story will challenge the common perception about who the main protagonist was in the deadly partnership between William Burke and William Hare.
Set in the cold, dank death-cell of Calton Jail days before his execution, Burke languishes with only his jailor Captain Rose for company. Wanting to see the good in all men, the honourable Captain Rose strives to discover why these two men committed such atrocities. Set at a time when attention was focused on the splendour of Edinburgh's emerging New Town – earning the city the name ‘the Athens of the North’ – while those living in the poorer Old Town were left to fend for themselves.
'Burke' has been written by Edinburgh writer Caroline Dunford. It was her keen interest in the criminal mind which led West Port Productions' Stuart Nicoll and John Baxter, who also operate the 'Burke and Hare Murder Tour' to commission her to write this new play. West Port then approached Siege Perilous because of its focus on new writing to discuss staging the play. Stuart Nicoll is directing ‘Burke’, Siege Perilous is producing, and the show will also feature original music by talented Edinburgh musician Fiona Rutherford
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