Vertigo Present AMITYVILLE: THE DEFEO MURDERS

Vertigo Theatre Productions, one of Manchester's premier fringe theatre companies, has announced their next play, set to open at Taurus Bar on Canal Street Manchester. Following OUT!, which opens June 9th, the company will bring the story of one of the most shocking murders in American history to the stage with Amityville - The DeFeo Murders.

In 1974 22 year old Ronnie DeFeo Jr. was found guilty of the murders of his entire family including his mother and father and four younger siblings in the famous Amityville House. To this day DeFeo has told so many different versions of what happened that night and who was or wasn't involved that the full truth may never be known. Writers Craig Hepworth and Adele Stanhope - based on interviews, facts and rumours - put together a drama that looks behind the perfect suburban exterior to look at a family that were at breaking point and a son who was ready to explode.

"The play is a dark drama which takes a peek through the curtains to see what was going on with this family," says Hepworth. "The DeFeos were having to deal with a son whose drugs, criminal behaviour and hatred were destroying them, a father who was violent towards him and his wife and so much more, the research in to these people and this situation were both exhilarating and heartbreaking but it makes for a great stage drama."

Hepworth is keen to point out that this is not the horror story of ghosts and things that go bump in the night. "The horror story came a year and a half later when the Lutz family moved in after the DeFeo murders; that was a story myself and my co-writer Adele were not interested in telling, we wanted to do the story which was a human story about a family, I find that far more interesting than a did it or didn't it happen ghost story, plus I think the Lutz story has been dramatized so many times that there is really nothing new left to say. The DeFeos however apart from one movie which was very loosely based on the story has never really had this treatment given to it."

Hepworth continues: "We have to tread carefully because we are dealing with real people whose lives were destroyed by this crime, however we have to look at all the evidence and facts and paint a real picture. The DeFeo Murders whilst having 90 per cent fictional dialogue will all be based on the facts that we know about the family, the incidents and the murder."

Amityville - The DeFeo Murders will open November 8th and close on the anniversary of the murders on November 13th. The play will see Rick Carter (CB in the UK premiere of Dog Sees God) return to Vertigo in the role of Ronnie DeFeo and Vertigo regular Emma Willcox who gained rave reviews in M and Rage steps up to the lead female role playing Dawn DeFeo. More casting will be announced later.

 

 

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