A dark and moving tragic comedy about the last woman to be publicly hanged in Dorset
The Ballad of Martha Brown is a brand new show, created by acclaimed Dorset based physical theatre company Angel Exit. Set in 1856, a tale of jealousy and passion is brought to life, based on the true story of Martha Brown, the last woman to be publicly hanged in Dorset. Martha murdered her husband with an axe and then accused a horse of killing him. The Ballad of Martha Brown examines the story behind the headline.
Martha began life as a dairymaid in rural Dorset, a hard life of mud and toil, and after surviving her first husband and her two children, she gave up on the notion of happiness until she met her second husband John Brown. He was twenty years her junior and theirs was a passionate relationship which descended into domestic violence and infidelity. Angel Exit look at the circumstances that catapulted Martha Brown from being an insignificant milkmaid to an infamous murderess tried in Dorchester County Court and hanged by the infamous hangman William Calcraft in front of 3000 people.
Presented in the company’s rich visual style, blending ensemble storytelling with striking physicality, this new show is spliced through with wicked humour, an original score, macabre songs and live music, as a grim chorus of hollow-eyed storytellers invite you into their mysterious world where reality and fantasy blur as the events of Martha’s life are played out under the constant stare of the gallows above.
It’s said that a young Thomas Hardy watched Martha hang, and that this vivid memory inspired him to write Tess of the D’Urbevilles. The company have taken this true story and retold it usingan ensemble of five actor-musicians who bring this tale to life with music inspired by the dark cabaret of Kurt Weill, and the theatricality of Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble. Expect to be moved by the touching humanity of a relationship on the rocks and find yourself laughing at the absurdity of Martha’s situation, as highlighted by the mischievous chorus of storytellers. Embarking on a seven week UK tour, with 32 dates in 22 venues the company will perform just once on the Artsreach circuit here in Dorset this summer.
Sunday 15 June, 7pm. The Exchange, Sturminster Newton. 01258 475137
