Burke and Hare
C, Chambers Street, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Group: Skullduggery Theatre Company

Stuart Simpson

Skullduggery have turned the story of Scotland's two infamous bodysnatchers into a comedy. The first half of the production is simple entertaining slapstick, the second is darker and more thoughtful. The switch between the two styles is rather abrupt and confusing, giving the impression that the company are a little unsure as to exactly what the play is about.

The play opens with the two men deciding what should be done with a dead friend of theirs. He owed Hare some money, more money than will be covered by the sale of the dead man's boots. Between the two of them they convince themselves that as the dead man was a good Christian (he was often heard calling out for God's assistance when trying to mount the stairs drunk), then his last wish would be to honour his debt to Hare. The two men would be performing their Christian duty if they sold his body to the surgeons.

Burke and Hare are ridiculed in the play as two amoral drunks hypocritically justifying their acts of murder as a necessary social service. If the state were more enlightened we would be provided with uniforms, says Hare, and a hat replies Burke, women like men in hats.

About midway through the play, the tone changes. Burke suddenly finds he has a conscience, he will not be a party to murder. Hare is as taken aback by this as the audience is. He asks Burke what he thinks they've been doing to all the people whose bodies they've sold to Dr Knox. Burke can't really provide a convincing answer, because there isn't one. To change a character from a drunken amoral hypocrite in the first half of the play into the hard-done-by working man of the second half is simply not believable.

The change in the play is more than the change in Burke. Burke and Hare, once arrested for their crimes, begin to philosophise on the issues of morality and justice. Burke and Hare sit on either side of the stage, facing the audience and their imagined jailers. Hare seeks to strike a deal that will set him free. For Hare justice is another commodity to be traded in, just like the bodies of the men he has killed. He isn't shocked or appalled when his offer to incriminate Dr Knox is refused, he simply changes the deal, he offers his silence concerning Dr Knox's involvement.

Burke comes across as even more morally deficient than Hare. Hare rejects morality, Burke is just morally repugnant. Burke understands that what he has done is morally wrong, but refuses to accept any responsibility for it himself. We are merely products of our time, and while God may wish for us to overcome our limitations, should we really be blamed for our actions if we fail? Failure to overcome what life throws at us is presented as the human condition. I'll go for the self-serving amoral Hare anytime. And since when did not becoming a mass murderer become something to which we need to aspire?

The themes of justice and morality are presented well, and make for an interesting second half of the play, but simply don't sit well with the slapstick sitcom style humour of the first half. Skullduggery have presented an enjoyable production, but as they seem a little confused about just what they are trying to achieve the show is ultimately unsatisfying.

30 July to 24 August.

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