The Playground Theatre – 28th October 2023
Review by Fiona Leyman
5*****
“People say they just want justice, but they don’t. Not really. What they want is power. They want to play God.”
Every day we entrust our lives to our doctors, never thinking that there is a possibility our trust is in the hands of someone who wishes us harm. We all know the name Dr Harold Shipman. We all know the story, we all know his crimes, but do we know why? Shipman was convicted of claiming the lives of 15 vulnerable woman, and an estimation of over 200 more victims. Shipman’s victims trusted him for one reason only, he was their doctor.
The Playground Theatre is hosting its Pick of Fringe season, showcasing some of 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festivals best productions. A small intimate theatre that allows the audience to be up close to the production.
In the dead of night on the 13th January 2004, Harold Shipman sits in his cell wishing to put the record straight. No one knew why he did what he did, so as he prepares to end his life, he reflects on what lead him down this dark path. With the help of his cassette player, he explains his life and how it was his ‘right’, to control when someone lived or died. Recounting his life from childhood, he helplessly watched whilst his own mother died in pain, with lung cancer. Unable to help her or to ease her pain, Shipman now knew what his purpose in life was meant to be.
The Quality of Mercy was written and performed by Edwin Flay, who remarkably, is one of Shipman’s former patients and a relative to one of those, whom he killed. This in itself shows the astonishing strength Flay has a person, and to be able to perform as the man that killed his own grandmother is admirable. Flay had an exceptional skill of switching between the calm and collective person Shipman portrayed to those around him, to his immense anger he had for those who questioned him. The poignancy of his narrative is heightened by the straightforward listing of each victim on the wall.
We have all seen those “Confession Tapes” documentaries on streaming platforms, that gives you an insight as to why murderers do what they do. Seeing this on a TV screen is nothing compared to seeing it acted out in front of you. Flay managed to make us feel like you were actually there, sitting in Shipman’s cell as he tells you his darkest secrets. Needless to say, this play is intense but it is also outstanding. It is a masterful production that makes me what to see this all over again, but it also conflicts my mind. Did this play make me understand the reason he killed all those people? Did he watch his own mother die in pain and want to spare those of the same fate, or, did this just show what a God Complex he had, thinking it was his right to decide who lived and who died? These questions in themselves worthies ‘The Quality of Mercy’ of receiving 5 stars.