Anger over Fringe play with letters from killer

A PLAY created with the help of letters written by Ian Brady is set to be staged at this year's Fringe despite protests from the family of one of his victims.

Check performance times and buy tickets for Wasted at edinburgh-festivals.com

Wasted has been given a three-week run at the Pleasance Theatre and is partly based on correspondence between Brady and playwright Henry Filloux-Bennett.

The play was set to be staged in Nottingham but was pulled after theatre bosses were upset by the script, which tries to portray Myra Hindley in a sympathetic light.

The playwright said he used the content of the letters to help mould his portrayal of Brady and his partner Hindley.

Today, the mother of Keith Bennett, who was murdered by Brady and Hindley aged just 12, said the play was inappropriate.

Winnie Johnson said: "The Festival is supposed to have a good atmosphere. I don't think this kind of play is appropriate as something that people go to for enjoyment. I haven't been told about it but it would have been nice to be invited to see it before it goes on stage."

Law graduate Filloux-Bennett, 23, got in touch with mass-murderer Brady after drafting the play because he wanted to create a historically accurate script. He received a series of letters from Brady who is held at Merseyside's high-security Ashworth Hospital.

Set in Hindley's prison cell just days before she died, it involves a number of monologues from her, as well as flashbacks to the period between the night of the final murder and the couple's arrival in court the following year. Mr Filloux-Bennett also drew on psychiatrists' reports and court transcripts to try to get inside the heads of Brady and Hindley, who murdered five children in the 1960s.

He today defended his decision to write the play saying: "There is always a section of society which is offended by something and we respect their views. But it is not a reason to attempt to ban it. You can choose not to go and see something rather than try to ban it.

"I think it is narrow-minded. I have real issues with people who either with or without reading the script decide that just because of the subject matter and their own personal opinions you shouldn't be able to express your point of view or an artistic piece.

"The way it was written originally was to present Hindley not as a picture but as a human being who was actually sorry for what she had done."

The playwright described serial killer Brady as "helpful and courteous". He added: "He has been exceptionally helpful in allowing us a first-hand account of what happened. Obviously the man is clinically ill and insane so you do have to take what he writes with a pinch of salt sometimes."

"He's not tried to stop us or do anything except help us on how we've portrayed him and Hindley. When you're trying to do a play it is very helpful to get that kind of first-hand information. The cast often have questions they want to ask about habits and quirks and he can help with that."

The play's cast are bracing themselves for a storm of protests when the show comes to Edinburgh. Fringe bosses today said they did not regulate any of the plays staged as it is an open arts festival.

But Antony Alderson, director of the Pleasance, said: "Part of the role of the Edinburgh festivals is to provide a social forum and to bring up different issues. It is up to people to make up their minds about this play. I think it is a good play and a very relevant play.

"It is an issue that is difficult to talk about but that does not mean we shouldn't talk about it. The writer is not glorifying Hindley or Brady, or anything that they have done. I think it is a very good play."

Alastair Paisley, the Tory culture spokesman on the city council, said he was appalled that the play is to be performed at the Fringe. He said: "There is no justification for any performance to even start to justify what they did."

AN EXTRACT FROM CONTROVERSIAL PLAY WASTED

Extract from scene 6: Myra, 59, in her cell:

"When you saw me, it wasn't what you expected was it? No, but then again you didn't know what to expect - the same bleached hair from when I was 24?

"To you, I'm a name and a crime. More to the point I'm the crime that put me here. When you look at me you just think of that, and I accept that. You don't know me. Now I don't give a f*** if you don't want to know me, but I'm sitting here, and so are you, and I hate silence, so I'm going to talk, cos you lot haven't said a word since you saw me.

"Next thing - you don't get to judge me. I'm not here to be judged. Someone's already done that in this life, and someone's waiting to do it in the next life - so get in line. More to the point, you don't have the right to judge me; I've felt more, done more, and lost more than most of you will ever feel, do or lose, so don't think that just because you're not in a cell and I am that I'm here to ask for acceptance. Because I'm not.

"I'm an angry person. This place has made me angry. I was born with freedom, and that's been taken away from me. What I have now is a Mam I can hardly see and a cell bed and packet of fags that I can see all too well. That's it. Yes, I'm angry. You have to wait for a bus that's two minutes late and you get p***** off. I think we've got different perspectives."