Award-winning Cornish theatre company, Ha Hum Ah Productions will premiere their brand-new dark comedy, Making a Killing this autumn, stopping at the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen, for a gripping night of theatre on 23rd October.
As one of the oldest towns in Wales — and the birthplace of the Arthurian legend of Merlin — Carmarthen is steeped in history. At its heart stands Carmarthen Castle, a site with a thousand years of bloody tales of crime and punishment. This makes the Lyric Theatre the perfect stage for a production that explores questions of justice and survival.
Set in 16th-century Nuremberg, this powerful two-actor production explores the complex relationship between seasoned executioner Frantz Schmidt and his new apprentice Claus Kohler. As the two men navigate a world where duty, morality and power collide, their fates become dangerously entwined, forcing each to confront fundamental questions about justice, corruption and the cost of survival. While rooted in Germany’s past, the play’s themes resonate strikingly with Carmarthen’s own morbid history.
Just a stone’s throw from the Lyric Theatre lie the ruins of Carmarthen Castle — a place of battles, sieges, and uprisings, and the death place of Edmund Tudor (father of Henry VII) during the Wars of the Roses. For centuries, it was fought over by the English and the Welsh, led by legendary Welsh figures such as Gruffydd ap Rhys, Owain Gwynedd, and the last native-born Welsh Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndŵr.
The castle later became Carmarthen Gaol, where public executions drew huge crowds. In 1829, more than 10,000 people gathered on Spilman Street to witness the last public hanging: that of David Evans, convicted of the brutal murder of Hannah Davies. While Evans was the last person to be publicly hanged in Carmarthen it would be another six decades before the town would see its last execution. This time it would be 26-year-old George Thomas facing the gallows, for the murder of Mary Jane Jones in a strikingly similar crime to that carried out by Evans 64 years prior.
These dark tales make Carmarthen a fitting backdrop for Making a Killing. Based on the infamous diary of executioner Frantz Schmidt, the play explores a world of corruption, superstition, and personal struggle in a Europe on the brink of modernity. Schmidt’s battle to escape his family curse, and the arrival of a new assistant who threatens to upend everything, create a gripping tale that feels as relevant today as it did 400 years ago.
Though the story takes place in Nuremberg, its themes of justice, morality, and humanity’s fascination with punishment are universal. Carmarthen’s own past offers a powerful reminder of how close these histories still feel.
Making a Killing will be performed at the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen, on 23rd October at 7:30pm — a fitting show for the Halloween season.
Tickets are available now at www.theatrausirgar.co.uk or with the Box Office on 0345 2263510.
