Based on an actual murder case in Edwardian England, The Drowning Girls combines true-crime thriller and clever theatricality with echoes to contemporary issues of domestic abuse. It is based on a real-life Scotland Yard serial murder known as the “Brides in the Bath” case. In the early 1900’s, bigamous conman George Joseph Smith used a series of fake identities to seduce and marry seven women, murdering three. He also convinced each wife to sign over her property to him, and collected on their life insurance policies.

The Drowning Girls, focuses on three of Smith’s ill-fated brides. It premiered at the 1999 Edmonton Fringe Festival. An expanded version premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects in 2008, and has since been performed around the world.

Beth Graham and Daniela Vlaskalic met at the University of Alberta, where they were both studying acting. After graduating from the program in 1998, they teamed up with director Charlie Tomlinson to write The Drowning Girls.

The play is told from the perspective of the brides – Bessie, Alice and Margaret. Their narratives are woven together with very poetic language and rhythms, each telling their story from beyond the grave – their hopes and dreams of life and marriage, their choices and their regrets.

The Brides In The Bathtub Photo by Dahlia Katz

Alumnae Theatre Company’s production of The Drowning Girls will feature three actors playing the “brides in the bathtubs” as well as other roles – male and female – and each takes a turn portraying her murderer: Jennifer Neales as Alice (the youngest; a vibrant, passionate woman who abandons her values), Tennille Read as Bessie (a posh, accomplished woman distanced from her family), and Emily Opal Smith as Margaret(a lonely spinster who falls for the wrong man).

Definitely an interesting take on representing all sides of this intricate story…