Steve Donelan, David Attrill, Chris Miller. Photo: Phyllis Wong
Did she or didn’t she? Louisa Collins was the last woman to be hanged in NSW, found guilty of the poisoning death of two husbands. Dubbed the ‘Borgia of Botany’ by the newspapers of the day, she went to her death in January 1889, having endured four trials in front of 48 men, the first first three juries having failed to convict.
Intrigued by this tale, Actors Anonymous and Blancmange Productions have brought the ‘dead back to life’ (as it were) with Louisa Collins: A Poison Crown, part of Season 2 of Deadhouse: Tales of Sydney Morgue. As its executive producer Stephen Carnell says, the work combines immersive theatre with Australian true crime stories in an historic setting, in this case the Crypt under St James Church in Sydney’s King Street.
Appropriately dressed for the late 19th century, Kyla Ward is the Guide who welcomes the audience to the crypt – and what could very well be a body under a sheet – and works up the atmospherics. Are we ready to set aside our fears and venture farther into the crypt? Of course we are, and soon we meet the two male doctors Dr Martin (Shaun Foley) and Dr Marshall (Liviu Monsted) whose suspicions have been aroused by two cases of arsenic poisoning in the same street and, what’s more in the same house. It is not long before the long arm of the law has plucked Louisa Collins into gaol and into her first trial – and puts the audience into the benches of the members of the jury.
Between 1854 and 1972, Sydney’s deadhouse was the Sydney Morgue and Coroner’s Court located in George Street, not far from St James’ Church. It’s fun to have the story enacted in the crypt, even though its ambience is clean and clinical rather than eerie. The low ceilings and enclosed spaces provide very effective acoustics. The jury could not possibly miss the arguments for the Crown and the Defence (as provided by Steven Donelan and Chris Miller) as Louisa (Jacqui Robson) sits mutely awaiting her fate. As the Paperboy, Alexandra Smith energetically and enthusiastically reminds us that sensationalism and true crime sold papers and engaged the public’s attention back in 1889, just as it does today.
Of course, 70 minutes is not long enough to go into all the details of the Louisa Collins case but if, like me, you knew naught of it beforehand, it is enough to provoke curiosity and perhaps a glimmer of doubt.
A Poison Crown runs until 9 November and is followed shortly afterwards by another dastardly tale from this 25-strong ensemble of actors, directors and creatives. Simmonds & Newcombe: The Deadly Run by Liviu Monsted (20-30 November) recounts the two convicts’ escape from Long Bay in 1959, which led to one of the biggest manhunts in NSW history.
$69.66 – $80.21; discounts available for groups
