The play is a musical reconstruction of incidents relating to the East End murders which took place between Friday, August 31st and Friday, November 9th, 1888. A solution of Jack the Ripper’s identity is hinted at, but the play is an atmospheric commentary rather than an historical re-enactment, shifting between reality and artificiality, with characters representing “real” people as well as members of the music hall audience and players.
It is an essential feature that some characters play more than one role. This gives them a life within the Music Hall and also in reality. The Chairman also plays the authoritative roles of Sir Charles Warren, the Magistrate, and the Dock’s Foreman, while Montague Druitt is also known as Toynbee and plays the villain in the melodrama and the magician.
All of this is laced with memorable songs and a real feel of the area at the time of the crimes.