Reviewer: Christine Stanton
Writer: Jacob Marx Rice
Director: Victoria Hadel
“New Spin on a Known Narrative”
3 / 5
Jack The Ripper is one of the most well-known serial killers in all of history, but the mystery remains about who he is and why he was able to get away with his crimes, even after all these years have passed, making him a great subject for a storyline – especially in the lead up to Halloween.
Writer Jacob Marx Rice doesn’t make Jack the central protagonist in his narrative though, instead he focuses on a fictional female reporter Gillian (Gemma Tubbs) who is desperate to break the story and rise in the ranks at the newspaper her father owns. She trawls the streets of London, befriending prostitutes and hoping to get a scoop that will put her byline on the front page. One evening she visits a brothel and comes face to face with the Whitehall killer himself (James Tudor Jones), who kills a girl right in front of her. Although armed with a gun, she’s frozen to the spot – unable to react and kicking herself for letting him get away. But when she realises she has an angle that other reporters don’t, how far will she cross a line to get the scoop? Does she value human life more than her own career?
This is an interesting storyline – that takes real facts and excerpts from the Ripper stories, and mixes them in with a quirky interpretation, giving a new spin to an otherwise well-known narrative. The cast undertake their roles well – Emma Cobby especially, who has perfected the Cockney accent and brings an element of humour to her characters with her well-practiced mannerisms. There is a good amount of suspense in the performance, although it is occasionally dissipated with the frequent scene transitions, with the cast going on and off stage slightly too often, and for slightly too long. The murder scenes are well-done, amplifying the eerie narrative with an element of gore.
The set is simple, but effective. An old-fashioned lamppost eerily marks one corner of the darkened stage, while the newspaper office is situated on the opposite side. The time-accurate costumes and props create the effect of old London with ease. Director Victoria Hadel does a good job of making use of the large stage, although some scenes (notably one of the murders) would benefit from being staged slightly further back, so audiences in the back seats can still see what is happening.
The underlying elements of how the media work and the public obsession with true crime are interesting, and making the main character a female reporter in a story and time period that is otherwise very heavily male-dominant is a great way to keep an otherwise well-trodden plot unique.
Runs Until 28 October 2023
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