Old Ground is a heart-breaking tribute to Moors mothers who never gave up

Debbie Manley | 3rd October 2017

There are some crimes that are so horrific that it feels like they will never be forgotten but Old Ground still manages to reveal new angles to the Moors Murders that younger generations may not be aware of.

Writer Lee Joseph has centred his play around the 1980s when Hindley was campaigning for her freedom from her prison cell, only to be thwarted by Brady’s confessions to a Sunday People reporter.

Those confessions lead Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Topping (Liam Grunshaw) to take Hindley back to Saddleworth Moor in a bid to find the two missing children Brady had confessed to killing, Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett.

Sue Womersley’s Hindley, by then in her 40s and without the brassy blonde hair, tried to persuade anyone that would listen that she wasn’t there for the murders of Edward Evans, John Kilbride and Lesley Ann Downey.

Her stories of repentance to fellow prisoner Janice Ogden (Tracy Gabbitas), surrounded by crosses and religious pictures, contrasted sharply with Eve Burley’s younger, cold, street-wise Myra in her short skirts and long boots, helping her boyfriend by luring their victims into their vehicle 1963-1965.

The young Ian was expertly played by Michael Whittaker, who some may recognise from his previous role as Ian Curtis in Brian Gorman’s New Dawn Fades, along with Sean Patrick Croke, playing a threatening Myra’s dad and a troubled Myra’s brother-in-law David Smith.

Phil Dennison was genuinely sinister and manipulative as the older Brady, as the action cuts between him and Womersley’s Hindley in their cells at either end of the theatre. On the whole this works well, with the use of lights to shift the action, like a tennis match, as they contradicted each other.

There were a couple of moments where the lack of a stage means that the action on the floor with the younger characters is hard to see however that gave us in the audience a feeling of “rubber-necking”, which reflected the theme at the beginning of the media trying to see what was going on when Hindley and Brady were taken back to the Moors (separately).

Directed by Neil Bell (Peaky Blinders), Old Ground does not idolize them. Dedicated to the memories of their victims, it is also the heart-breaking story of the mothers, Joan Reade (Elizabeth Poole) and Winnie Johnston (Anne Baron), who never gave up the search for their children, and Topping.

Most of the audience was not born when the murders happened but many will remember Winnie on television and the candle in front of Keith’s photograph, during the play, was a moving reminder that although Pauline’s body was found in 1987, Keith’s never was.

As stated in the play, many of us will have heard stories about a friend of a relative of a friend having worked on the trial and could never work again. It haunted people for the rest of their lives.

The mere mention of the names of places in Manchester and Ashton where the children were taken from, was chilling. It was all so close. It was the stuff of nightmares. Add The Smiths at the end and you can’t help but reach for the tissues.

Hindley died in 2002 after 36 years in prison and Brady earlier this year, after 51 years, without ever being released or revealing where Keith is.

With an incredibly large cast of 16, this is not to be missed.

Greater Manchester Police officially ended the search for Keith Bennett on 1 July 2009 but his family continues to campaign via http://searchingforkeith.com and https://www.facebook.com/SearchingForKeithBennett

It is at the King’s Arms until Sunday 8 October (except Friday and Saturday) however it is advisable to book as it has been selling out. Tickets are available via http://www.kingsarmssalford.com/whats-on/

Photographs by Shay Rowan.

Produced by Gayle Hare and co-produced by Daniel Thackeray.

Presented by Organised Chaos Productions.

Costume designer Kaeran Dooley.

Album 1

Liam Grunshaw (Topping) and Sue Womersley (Hindley)Eve Burley as Myra in the 1960sSean Patrick Croke as Bob Hindley and Lucy Hilton Jones as young MyraElizabeth Poole as Mrs Joan Reade and Lucy Hilton-Jones as Pauline ReadeEve Burley as MyraMichael Whittaker as the young Ian BradyMichael Whittaker and Eve BurleyLucy Hilton Jones (Pauline Reade) and Eve Burley (young Myra Hindley)Elizabeth Poole as Mrs Joan ReadeEve Burley (Myra) and Michael Whittaker (Hindley)Anne Baron as Mrs Winnie JohnsonGeoff Baron, Dan Sheader and Michael WhittakerMichael Whittaker (Ian) and Eve Burley (Myra)Macaulay Cooper (Edward Evans) and Michael WhittakerPhil Dennison (Brady) and Paul Fraser Smith (journalist Fred Harrison)Phil Dennison and Paul Fraser SmithLiam Grunshaw (Topping)Tracy Gabbitas as Janice OgdenPhil Dennison (Brady) and Liam Grunshaw (Topping)Sue Womersley as Hindley in her cellLiam Grunshaw and Laura MartinPhil Dennison (Brady) and Lia Grunshaw (Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Topping)Liam Grunshaw (Topping) and Anne Baron (Winnie Johnson)