Gunter

Synopsis

A disturbing history of murder and witchcraft that all kicked off with a football match.

In a small village just outside Oxford in 1604, Anne Gunter starts convulsing, vomiting pins, and accusing local women of bewitching her.

Two boys have been murdered by local brute Brian Gunter at a football match and their mum wants justice. But Brian is the richest and most powerful man in the village, and has an ego too fragile to tolerate public slander. A nasty feud begins, and when Brian’s daughter Anne starts demonstrating strange afflictions, an allegation is made: she has been bewitched. Dirty Hare introduces a harrowing, real-life tale of abuse and fear set in the idyll of a country scarred by witch trials.

Dirty Hare’s award-winning production of Gunter, co-created by Lydia Higman, Julia Grogan and Rachel Lemon, transfers to London following its sold-out premiere at Summerhall at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023.