Book, Music & Lyrics by Joseph Aragon
Nominee: Dora Award, Outstanding Musical, 2013
Winner: Harry S. Rintoul Award, 2009
Up the close and down the stair,
A but-and-ben with Burke and Hare.
Burke’s the butcher,
Hare’s the thief,
Knox the boy who buys the beef.
Robbing graves for medical science is backbreaking work. So why dig up corpses when you can create your own?
Two 19th-century serial killers go into business selling corpses to Edinburgh anatomy schools in this true-crime thriller.
Genre: Musical Drama
Run Time: 100 min, two acts.
Cast: 5F, 6M, chorus.
Set: Multiple locations, flexible staging.
2009 Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival, July 2009
Produced by White Rabbit Productions, directed by Sharon Bajer
Winner: 2009 Harry S. Rintoul Memorial Award for Best New Manitoban Play
Panasonic Theatre, Toronto ON, October 2012
Produced by Theatre 20, directed by Adam Brazier
Nominee: 2013 Dora Awards, Outstanding Musical
CAST
| Evan Buliung | William Burke |
| Eddie Glen | William Hare |
| Jan Alexandra Smith | Margaret Hare |
| Trish Lindström | Helen McDougal |
| Carly Street | Janet Brown |
| Kaylee Harwood | Mary Paterson |
| David W. Keeley | Dr. Robert Knox |
| Jeff Irving | Thomas Wharton Jones |
| Donnie Macphee | William Fergusson |
| Sweeney MacArthur | Sir William Rae |
| Laura Jean Elligsen | Abigail Simpson/Ensemble |
| Jonathan Logan | Ensemble |
| Amir Haidar | Ensemble |
| Glen Mills | Ensemble |
CREW
| Adam Brazier | Director |
| Jason Jestadt | Musical Director/Orchestrations |
| Linda Garneau | Associate Director |
| Beth Kates | Set Designer |
| Melanie McNeill | Costume Designer |
| Stephen Ross | Lighting Designer |
| Emily Porter | Sound Designer |
| Alex Vass | Prop Designer |
| Paul Shaw | Producing Consultant |
| Carolyn Mykytyshyn | Stage Manager |
| Wilson Klodt Wong | Assistant Stage Manager |
| Rosie Shaw | General Manager |
| Michael Rubinstein | Producer |
| Colm Wilkinson | Creative Consultant |
Cercle Moliere, Winnipeg MB, May 2013
Produced by White Rabbit Productions, directed by Sharon Bajer
CAST
| Carson Nattrass | William Burke |
| Cory Wojcik | William Hare |
| Heather Madill | Margaret Hare |
| Jaclyn Kurceba | Helen McDougal |
| Mallory Schellenberg | Janet Brown |
| Emma Stefanchuk | Mary Paterson |
| Doug McKeag | Dr. Robert Knox |
| Nyk Bielak | Thomas Wharton Jones |
| Murray Farnell | William Fergusson |
| Gordon Tanner | Sir William Rae |
| Dorothy Carroll | Abigail Simpson/Ensemble |
| Mitch Krohn | Ensemble |
| David Fox | Ensemble |
| Taras Luchak | Ensemble |
| Elena Howard-Scott | Ensemble |
CREW
| Sharon Bajer | Director |
| Andrew St. Hilaire | Musical Director |
| Melissa Novecosky | Stage Manager |
| Heather Lee Brereton | Assistant Stage Manager |
| Eric Bossé | Lighting Design |
| Gerri Stemler | Costume Coordinator |
| Ryan Schultz | Multi-Media Design |
| Kimberley Rampersad | Choreographer |
| Jillian Willems | Apprentice Choreographer |
| Jeffrey Kohut | Executive Producer |
Song Samples
Reviews
Bloodless is an off-beat tour de force: smart, dark, and daring. ★★★★
—Winnipeg Free Press (2009)
Aragon’s music is tuneful, the lyrics even better. ★★★★
—Winnipeg Free Press (2013)
Aragon can write a catchy tune and craft witty lyrics. He also is clever at pastiche … Aragon’s homages to these musical theatre icons are also his own stamp.
—Paula Citron
Toronto 2012 Production: Opening Night Reactions
The Agenda with Steve Paikin: Theatre 20 interview
CityTV Winnipeg: Interview with director Sharon Bajer