The incident Room

Ashton Hayes Group

The Incident Room

18/6/25

‘The Incident Room’ by Olivia Hirst and David Byrne is a play about the Yorkshire Ripper case, specifically focusing on the police investigation in the 1970s.  It begins in 1975 in Leeds, where the Millgarth incident room is the epicentre for the biggest manhunt in British police history, the search for the “Yorkshire Ripper”, as dubbed by the press, later revealed as Peter William Sutcliffe. The fascinating thing about this play and about this whole true story it has been meticulously researched, combining police procedural with a human drama.

The police in the incident room are just ordinary people in an extraordinary situation. Police officers Jim Hobson (Sean Duvall) Dick Holland (Adrian Grace) and Sergeant Meg Winterburn (Kathryn Cooke), Inspector George Oldfield (Jac Wardle) and junior officer Andrew Laptew (Dan Aynsley) credited as being the first to identify Peter Sutcliffe after interviewing him.  Sylvia Swanson (Kat Tanczos) Police administer, ambitious female journalist (Tish Morgan) Prime suspect Terence Hawkshaw (Steve Lincoln), Maureen Long (Emily Duffy) surviving Ripper victim. With the men competing with each other, the regions competing with each other; the failure was a systemic one, where too much focus had been given to clues which turned out to be entirely false. There are some very good performances here, capturing how their characters became obsessed, taunted and in some cases traumatised by events. The incident room set itself looked good and convincingly set the atmosphere of very busy and chaotic surroundings, with growing piles of paperwork, boxes etc. Headshots of the ‘Rippers’ victims are clearly displayed, a large area map above. Sitting room set on area stage right, accurate era plus TV for effective use of multimedia snippets, (provide by Lisa Thomas. Alexander Davies. Lesley Halsall. Aaron Watling. Gareth Cark. Matt Jones and Ian Lancaster as Richard Madeley). giving you crucial pieces of timely information. An interview area placed on area stage left, leaving adequate space for activity to come, disco, etc. Director Yvette Owen knew what she wanted from this demanding play, great casting, great production team, Sound/Film/ News recording, editing James Clifford, Andy Walker, Steve Lincoln, Lighting Mathew Parry, Stage Management Nita Lawton and Jo Ridgley. I would just like to mention Christine Tickell (Ticket Ticker & Greeter) who now retired was a serving Police Officer at the time of the enquiry whose input was a great asset to Yvette.

With mounting urgency, the investigation follows several red herrings. Sergeant Megan Winterburn (Kathryn Cooke) carries the weight of the case on her shoulders.  Manchester CID had identified a possible Ripper victim sending Detective Inspecter Jack Ridgeway to support the investigation at Millgarth. Inspector George Oldfield resents this, announcing that the Ripper has made a mistake, he’s killed someone who isn’t a prostitute: ‘He’s killed an innocent woman’. As the action of the story unfolds it becomes clear that there is still a long way to go with male police officers such as Andrew Laptew being promoted more easily than Meg Winterburn.

The play builds suspense as it follows the police investigation, highlighting the pressure they faced from the public and the media. And as Meg says: ‘if he was a monster, we’d have caught him by now’; both the police and the media had demonised him so much that they couldn’t even recognise him when they caught him, because he was just ‘ordinary’.

As previously mentioned, there were compelling performances in this Ashton Hayes production, there are two performances that standout. The beautifully emotional performance of Emily Duffy as Maureen Long: a survivor of a Ripper attack. The fragility she shows even in anger is so moving, Ian Lancaster as Jack Ridgeway brash, irritating, arrogant but funny, his arrival at Millgarth immediately raised the pace which the audience clearly appreciated.

It is emphasised that the play is not just a murder mystery but an examination of institutional attitudes and incompetence within the police force at that time. It highlights the sexism and undervaluation of women during the time period. We see this as the action of the story unfolds it becomes clear that there is still a long way to go with male police officers such as Andrew Laptew being promoted more easily than Meg Winterburn. In 1975, as a result of the Sex Discrimination Act and four years before the case began, women were fully integrated into the UK police force. This production was a complete team performance everyone on stage gave their all.

The play had an incredibly moving yet not even slightly sentimental ending, Peter Sutcliff’s victims were ordinary women, just living their lives. The Incident Room is a powerful and moving piece of theatre that leaves a lasting impression that will linger in the mind for a long time. Congratulations Ashton Hayes.

 

Joanne Rymer

NODA

District 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

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