We all love a lazy bank holiday but let’s be hones at times it can become a bit, well, tedious. If you fall into this camp and enjoy bluegrass music, history, and tales of people being bludgeoned with an axe (and really, who doesn’t) then we have JUST the activity for you!
We just toddled along to the Borough/Elephant outpost of Southwark Playhouse to see the play/musical ‘Bury the Hatchet’. The play is about Lizzie Borden, a Massachusetts woman who in 1892 murdered her parents (or did she?) with an axe. The house was locked and she was inside, but would a lady possess the strength and disposition to perpetrate such a heinous crime?
The chain of events is presented to us as a macabre comedy by an absurdly talented trio of actors who take on multiple roles and adopt a range of accents while singing, playing instruments, and reciting events of the bloody occurrence. There are definite elements of physical theatre as the actors writhe on the floor and dance wildly. And at times breaking down the fourth wall to address the audience directly.
It’s hard to classify this engaging and terrific 90 minute show as having a particular genre, which is perhaps what makes it so fascinating. Part musical, part concert, part play, Bury the Hatchet asks questions which are still relevant today, such as how the media can impact opinion, and how wealthy and articulate white people can get away with…murder. And what other play can be set in the 19th century whilst name checking the Daily Mail and Jet2holidays?
Bury the Hatchet is on now until 5 September and tickets can be nabbed here. As of lunchtime 28.8 tickets were available for all performances over our lazy, languid Greater Kennington weekend.
