Bloody Mary’s
★★★★★ Riveting
theSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45): Fri 14 – Wed 19 August 2026
Review by Rebecca Mahar.
Fat Pooch Productions makes its theatre debut at theSpace @ Venue 45 with Bloody Mary’s, a rich, raw, riveting look inside the life and death of Mary McKinnon, a figure of notoriety and injustice in Edinburgh’s history.
In 1823 McKinnon was the proprietor of a fashionable South Bridge brothel where, in Fat Pooch’s version of events, the women who worked as prostitutes received both care and protection from her. Regardless of how they had ended up in a life of sex work, Bloody Mary’s was a haven of choice – to engage or not engage with customers, and to perform only the acts which they desired, including that of simply providing companionship.
Erin Clark as Mary McKinnon. Pic: Supplied
The play opens on a night like any other, but the convivial atmosphere of the brothel is broken by the arrival of William Howatt, a predatory clerk who demands service from Heather, who does not lie with men. He is rebuffed, but returns when Mary has gone out to rendezvous with her own lover, a pack of accomplices in tow.
Mary returns to ensuing violence and Howatt is fatally stabbed. With nothing but her word of innocence to rely upon, Mary must face the fate she knows is inevitable.
might-have-been details
Bloody Mary’s is infused with movement, music, song, and humanising might-have-been details that give a fuller picture of McKinnon and her house than history has provided, all delivered by a powerhouse cast.
Each performance is nuanced and each character fully realised, a credit both to the actors and to writer/directors Julia Gonzalez Franco and Jade L. Hutchison. Music, composed and directed by Eleanor McMahon (who also plays Heather), is performed live onstage by members of the ensemble, who take on smaller speaking parts as well as playing.
Sophie Nell Williams with Connie Bailie and Erin Clark. Pic: Supplied.
There is tenderness and violence suffusing the world of Bloody Mary’s, deftly handled by the directors and intimacy coordinator Sophie McCarthy. At no point is either of these aspects made gratuitous: they are present and true and not apologised for.
There is not a weak link among the cast, and standouts include Sophie Nell Williams as irrepressible (until they’re not) The Gossip, Samuela Noumtchuet as Meg, full of softness and power, and Jordan Monks as the terrible William Howatt.
At the centre of it all, Erin Clark holds the stage as Mary McKinnon herself. Strong and steady and all too aware of the realities of the desperately unfair world in which she lives, Clark’s McKinnon skilfully balances brashness and vulnerability, opening her face and her heart to the audience even while concealing her fear from those under her care.
Fat Pooch Productions have made a shattering debut, and are a company to watch when they return in future.
Running time: One hour with no interval.
theSpace @ Venue 45, 63 Jeffrey Street EH1 1DH (Venue 45).
Friday 14 – Wednesday 19 August 2026.
Daily: 5pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Facebook: @FatPoochProductions
Instagram: @fatpoochproductions
Linktree: @Fatpoochproductions.
Samuela Noumtchuet, Jorgie Buchan, Aimée Campbell and Eleanor McMahon. Pic: Supplied.
ENDS
