Burke’n’Hare: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor
★★★★★ Bangin’
PBH’s Free Fringe @ CC Blooms (Venue 171): Sat 8 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Review by Rebecca Mahar.
Burke’n’Hare: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor at CC Blooms is a wildly irreverent, casually gruesome, curiously grounded look at Edinburgh’s most notorious serial killers.
From Old’n’Dead Productions, the company behind Elizabeth I: Regina Vagina and Charles II: Living Libido Loca, this is the third instalment in Beth Eltringham’s Horrible Histories-inspired series of musical histories.
A Scene from Burke’n’Hare: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor. Pic: Old’n’Dead Productions.
Burke’n’Hare establishes itself at once as a musical parody, opening to the strains of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, with lyrics altered to gems such as “Edinburgh in the 1820s, every day’s like the one before, shitty town full of shitty people”; and “in Edinburgh we are obsessed with science, biology is cool as hell”.
The Bells of Notre Dame, that is, The Tale of Burke and Hare, is up next, and we’re off into the meat of the story, narrated by Abigail Simpson (one of the duo’s victims) and Dr. Robert Knox (the anatomist who bought the bodies).
While there is some murky history of Burke and Hare, this show is committed to correcting common misconceptions, such as the idea that they were bodysnatchers. Grave-robbing was certainly a problem in this era of rapid evolution in medical science, but Burke’n’Hare points out that that wasn’t what these two were about: they were murderers, plain and simple. And no matter how hilarious Eltringham’s story, she never lets them (or Knox, who didn’t ask questions) off the hook.
Equal parts sinister and silly
Burke and Hare are played by the dynamic duo of Steven Shayegh and Andrew Lodge respectively. Equal parts sinister and silly, with a Pinky and the Brain-like energy in their murderous escapades.
As Robert Knox, Damien Smith is the blithely insidious mad scientist, ruffling Burke’s beard with a croon of “I don’t want to knoooooow”, while encouraging them to bring more fresh specimens.
A Scene from Burke’n’Hare: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor. Pic: Old’n’Dead Productions.
Rosamund Vickers appears as Helen McDougal, Burke’s long-term mistress who ends up having to work very hard to maintain her obliviousness/plausible deniability as the killings grow ever more brazen.
Rounding out the company is Eltringham as victim Simpson and Hare’s wife Margaret, the initial brains behind the operation – along with writing, directing, choreographing, costuming, prop-making, and tech design all and sundry.
real lives were cut short
Eltringham’s direction makes the most of the restricted playing space at CC Blooms, utilising every possible entrance, exit, and level; although a moment of shadow puppetry is regretfully invisible beyond the first row or two on the right side. The ingenuity of the rest of the production and the cast’s rip-roaring enthusiasm (and ability to work through the occasional scenic malfunction) more than makes up for this.
At the end, after Burke and Hare are caught, and in the guise of the murdered Simpson, Eltringham exhorts the audience to remember the victims: no matter how much fun we can have nowadays exploring this nasty bit of history, it’s vital to remember that real lives were cut short, real crimes committed, and not everyone brought to justice. Medical science advanced, but at what cost?
Up the close and doon the stair
But and ben wi’ Burke and Hare.
Burke’s the butcher, Hare’s the thief,
Knox the boy who buys the beef.
Running time: One hour (no interval).
PBH’s Free Fringe @ CC Blooms (LAB), 23-24 Greenside Place EH1 3AA (Venue 171).
Saturday 8 – Sunday 30 August 2026.
Daily (Even days only – not 28 Aug): 5.30pm.
Details: Info here at EdFringe.com.
Details from venue: Book here.
Facebook: @Old’n’DeadProductions
Instagram: @oldndeadproductions
A Scene from Burke’n’Hare: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor. Pic: Old’n’Dead Productions.
ENDS
