Blood Relations – The story of Lizzie Borden

Playwright Sharon Pollock’s psychological thriller examines the infamous 1892 double murder in Fall River, Massachusetts, from a structural distance. Staged in the Venice Theatre’s intimate Pinkerton space, the drama centers on Lizzie Borden ten years after her acquittal. When an actress friend visits and presses her for the truth, Lizzie proposes a role-playing game: the actress will play Lizzie on the days leading up to the murders, while Lizzie assumes the role of the maid. As the women reconstruct the oppressive household dynamics and the looming threat of being cut out of her father's will, the play forces the audience to decide what actually happened with the ax.