Women in the spotlight remain our favourite bloodsport
Every murder ballad needs a body. 134 years ago this August 4th, Andrew and Abby Borden are found brutally murdered in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Their daughter Lizzie is the prime suspect.
The story goes that she wielded the axe that killed them. Part courtroom drama, part live bluegrass folk gig, part historical whodunnit, Off West End and Vault Festival award winning Bury The Hatchet comes to Southwark Playhouse Borough.
The show reopens the infamous cold case with Out Of The Forest Theatre’s signature dark humour and razor-sharp storytelling. Combining bluegrass murder ballads with courtroom transcript, this irreverently presented show unpicks Lizzie Borden’s trial and America’s greatest unsolved murder mystery.
Although acquitted, Lizzie was forever a condemned woman, her story written not by evidence but by the media’s hunger for scandal. When the public decides a woman’s fate before the jury, does the truth even matter? Women in the spotlight remain our favourite bloodsport: if there’s one thing more lucrative than elevating a woman to untouchable heights, it’s the inevitable feeding frenzy when we rip her to shreds.
Writer and performer Sasha Wilson comments, “I like to think my plays are Trojan Horses for my politics – smuggled in under the guise of historical intrigue but carrying something far more contemporary. Bury The Hatchet isn’t really about whether Lizzie Borden ‘did it.’ It’s about what we demand from women in the public eye. Because when the media shapes a narrative, it doesn’t just report the story: it devours it ‘
This theatrical retelling of a notorious true-crime case is driven by bluegrass-inspired music, played live on fiddle, mandolin and guitar. The show is directed by Vicky Moran, and sumptuously designed by Damien Stanton, evocatively lit by Will Alder, with immaculate costumes from Helen Stewart.
Southwark Playhouse Borough, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD
Dates & Times: 12 August – 5 September 2026. Monday – Saturday:
7:30pm, Tuesday and Saturday Matinees: 3pm
Booking and full details: southwarkplayhouse.co.uk | www.outoftheforesttheatre
