True crime has long had the ability to intrigue playwrights and
thrill audiences. Here we look at some of the fascinating stories
that inspired two of our upcoming shows at STC, and many in our
past…
(Ruth Snyder's police mugshot)
Machinal by Sophie
Treadwell
This play was inspired by the case of Ruth Snyder, who was
executed in 1928 for her role in the murder of her husband, Albert.
After beginning an affair with Henry Judd Gray in 1925, Snyder
began planning the murder, first encouraging her husband to take
out life insurance, then making numerous failed attempts on his
life. Finally, on 20 March, 1927, Snyder and Judd Gray attacked
Albert, strangling and gagging him, and faking a burglary. They
were soon found out and taken to Sing Sing prison in New York where
Snyder became the first woman executed there since 1899. A press
photographer amongst the witnesses present at the execution took a
famous shot of Snyder in the final moments of life using a tiny
camera strapped to his ankle. The case has inspired plays, films
and novels including Double Indemnity, the 1944 film
starring Fred Macmurray and Barbara
Stanwyck.Machinal plays at STC from 21 November,
2013.
(A police photo of Christine and Lea Papin)
The Maidsby Jean
Genet
Genet based this play on the true story of two sisters, Christine
and Lea Papin, who worked as domestic help for a family in Le Mans
in France and on 2 February 1933 murdered their mistress and her
daughter. The girls gouged out the eyes of their superiors and beat
them about the head until they were unrecognisable. They went to
prison where Christine died four years later from wasting away
after experiencing severe depression after being separated from her
sister, with whom it is suspected she had a sexual relationship.
Lea, who was considered to have had a lesser involvement in the
crime, was released after eight years and lived for many years as a
maid in a different part of France. The case attracted the
attention of Genet and many other writers, artists and
intellectuals as it was considered to have been the result of class
struggle, with the sisters having been forced to work long hours in
poor conditions. The Maidsplays at STC from 8 June,
2013.
(Judi Connelli and Nancye Hayes in Chicago, 1981)
Chicagoby John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob
Fosse
This toe-tapping musical is based on a play by the same name,
which was written by playwright Maurine Dallas Watkins in 1926 and
was based on various crimes she had covered during a short stint as
a journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Watkins was
particularly inspired by two cases, those of Beulah Annan and Belva
Gaertner, who were both suspected of murder and later acquitted.
23-year-old Annan was accused of the murder of a man called Harry
Kalstedt after she called her husband to say she had killed a man
who had made advances on her, and Gaertner was a cabaret singer who
was accused after a man named Walter Law was found dead in her car.
The musical was performed at STC in 1981, featuring Nancye Hayes
and Judi Connelli.
(Sophie Ross in Blood Wedding, 2011. Photo: Brett
Boardman)
Blood Weddingby Gabriel Garcia
Lorca
García Lorca is thought to have loosely based his pastoral drama
Blood Weddingon a shocking crime that took place in a
stone church in near the town of Nijar in the Andalucian desert. In
July 1928, a reportedly plain young woman (with a large dowry)
called Francisca Cañada Morales was due to be married in the stone
church to dull but dependable local labourer called Casimiro Perez
Pino.
Francisca was not keen on the marriage, but rather in love
with her cousin Curro Montes Cañada. After an argument with her
fiancée the night before the wedding, Francisca abandoned the
wedding plan and eloped with her cousin, but they ran into
Casimiro's brother Jose in the church on their escape. He shot
Curro Montes dead in a bid to save his family's honour.
The crime
was first reported in the newspaper Heraldo de Madridin
1928. It is believed García Lorca would have read articles about
the crime and used it as inspiration for the tragic love story he
wrote in 1932. Blood Weddingwas performed at STC in 2011,
directed by Iain Sinclair.
Other honourable mentions:
Tot Mom
This devised work, directed by Stephen Soderberg for STC in 2010,
was based on the response of television personality Nancy Grace to
the case of the death of the two-year-old child Caylee Anthony in
2008.
Six Degrees of Separation
Playwright John Guare was inspired by the story of young conman
David Hampton, who convinced people (including Melanie Griffiths
and Gary Sinise) that he was the son of Sidney Poitier and was
given money, clothing, expensive dinners and accomodation. Hampton
was later tried and acquitted of harassing Guare. The play was
performed at STC in 1992, directed by Wayne Harrison and with a
cast lead by Jacki Weaver and John O'May.
Blackrock
This 1995 play (which was made into a film two years later) was
written by Nick Enright in response to the rape and murder of
14-year-old Leigh Leigh near Newcastle on 3 November, 1989. It was
performed at STC in 1995/6 by a cast that included Joel Edgerton,
Simon Lyndon, Dan Wyllie and Kym Wilson. It was made into a film in
1997.